Music bestsellers

The Creative Act

“The Creative Act by Rick Rubin is a wise and inspiring discussion of what it means to be an artist, a maker. He emphasizes that creativity is a way of being in the world - open, attentive, accepting of awe. And makes the case that each of us has a unique vantage onto the world and that expressing how life looks and feels to us is worth communicating, and that those exchanges are vital to our human project. ”

Carol, A Great Good Place for Books

Broken Horses

“For Brandi Carlile fans, her memoir Broken Horses is an intimate look into her life and her music. I always pull up songs mention in books I am reading, but in this case, the Libro.fm audiobook makes it even better. Brandi not only reads, but sings throughout the book. ”

Nona, CoffeeTree Books

Read by Dave Grohl. Features excerpts from five never before heard demos performed by Dave Grohl and an original story exclusive to The Storyteller audiobook.So, I've written a book.Having entertained the idea for years, and even offered a few questionable opportunities ("It's a piece of cake! Just do four hours of interviews, find someone else... Read more »

From the woman who is credited for launching what we know as the celebrity focused, “brand” driven, social media obsessed popular culture of today, comes an honest and surprising memoir that reckons with that truth, and shows that there is so much more to Paris Hilton than you might believe.I was born in New York City on February 17, 1981, three... Read more »

An intimate memoir from international pop star Melanie Chisholm--better known as Mel C. or Sporty Spice--chronicling her trajectory from small-town girl to overnight icon as part of the Spice Girls.

25 years ago, The Spice Girls, a girl band that began after five women answered an ad in the paper, released their first single. 'Wannabe' became a... Read more »

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The iconic singer-songwriter and three-time Grammy winner opens up about her traumatic childhood in the Deep South, her years of being overlooked in the music industry, and the stories that inspired her enduring songs in this “bracingly candid” (The Wall Street Journal) memoir.
 
“[Williams’s] memoir transmutes the... Read more »

This program is read by the author, and includes excerpts from Richard Wagner's musical compositions throughout.

A New York Times Notable Books of 2020

Alex Ross, renowned New Yorker music critic and author of the international bestseller and Pulitzer Prize finalist The Rest Is Noise, reveals how Richard Wagner became the proving ground for... Read more »

The full life of one of the greatest singer-songwriters of the twentieth century, with a Foreword by his sister Gabrielle Drake.

'This is the book we've been waiting for - the one Nick's legacy deserves and so badly needs. Richard Morton Jack has reconstructed Nick's life with great sensitivity and care, and in remarkable detail. It is a... Read more »

In this New York Times bestseller, Tina Turner—the long-reigning queen of rock & roll—reveals personal stories she’s never told before in print or film, about her complicated relationship with her mother, the tragic death of her son, and finally finding true love with Erwin, setting the record straight about her illustrious career in this... Read more »

The revelatory and wildly bestselling memoir by legendary rock star Bruce Springsteen: “Glorious…a philosophically rich ramble through a rock ’n roll life…It’s the lyric he was born to write” (USA TODAY, 4 out of 4 stars).

Over the past seven years, Bruce Springsteen has privately devoted himself to writing the story of his life. The result is... Read more »

This program is read by the authors. Featuring sixteen musical codas and elements from the Carnage, Skeleton Tree and Ghosteen albums, it also includes an exclusive, additional 12-minute conversation between Cave and O’Hagan about the production of the recording.

Faith, Hope and Carnage is a book about Nick Cave’s inner life.

Created from more... Read more »

Audiobook exclusive: original and never-before-released music from the author, Margo Price. When Margo Price was nineteen years old, she dropped out of college and moved to Nashville to become a musician. She busked on the street, played open mics, and even threw out her TV so that she would do nothing but write songs. She met Jeremy Ivey, a... Read more »

The #1 New York Times BestsellerIncludes six new songs by Jessica Simpson, available exclusively in the Open Book audiobook.
Performed by the author featuring her music throughout.
Jessica reveals for the first time her inner monologue and most intimate struggles. Guided by the journals she's kept since age fifteen, and brimming with her unique... Read more »

The fascinating story behind the making of Bruce Springsteen’s most surprising album, Nebraska, revealing its pivotal role in Springsteen’s career

“Brilliant reading . . . For fans of American music, Deliver Me from Nowhere makes a great ghost story.”—The Boston Globe

Without Nebraska, Bruce Springsteen might not be who he is today. The natural... Read more »

This “smart, confident, and necessary” (Shea Serrano, New York Times bestselling author) first cultural biography of rap superstar and “master of storytelling” (The New Yorker) Kendrick Lamar explores his meteoric rise to fame and his profound impact on a racially fraught America­—perfect for fans of Zack O’Malley Greenburg’s Empire State of... Read more »

Jan Swafford’s biographies have established him as a revered music historian, capable of bringing his subjects vibrantly to life. His magnificent new biography of Ludwig van Beethoven peels away layers of legend to get to the living, breathing human being who composed some of the world’s most iconic music.

Swafford mines sources never before... Read more »

One of The Telegraph's Best Music Books 2011

Alex Ross's award-winning international bestseller, The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, has become a contemporary classic, establishing Ross as one of our most popular and acclaimed cultural historians. Listen to This, which takes its title from a beloved 2004 essay in which Ross... Read more »

Forged in the fires of the Bronx and Kingston, Jamaica, hip-hop became the Esperanto of youth rebellion and a generation-defining movement. In a post–civil rights era defined by deindustrialization and globalization, hip-hop crystallized a multiracial, polycultural generation's worldview, and transformed American politics and culture. But that... Read more »

Among the noise and clamour of the Britpop era, Blur co-founder Graham Coxon managed to carve out a niche to become one of the most innovative and respected guitarists of his generation - but it wasn't always easy.

Graham grew up as an Army kid, moving frequently in his early years from West Germany to Derbyshire and Winchester before settling in... Read more »

As with many self-destructive kids, Noah Levine's search for meaning led him first to punk rock, drugs, drinking, and dissatisfaction. But the search didn't end there. Having clearly seen the uselessness of drugs and violence, Noah looked for positive ways to channel his rebellion against what he saw as the lies of society. Fueled by his anger... Read more »

Following his memoir Cured, a fascinating deep dive into the dark Romanticism of Goth music, a misunderstood genre and culture, by co-founder of The Cure, Lol Tolhurst
 
GOTH is an entertaining and engaging historical memoir, and a journey through Goth music and culture, exploring creative giants like The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus,... Read more »

Me

“This is highly entertaining, and Taron Egerton's narration is spot on. Libro.fm is the way to go on this one.”

Leah, Bright Side Bookshop

*2018 "12 best books to give this holiday season" TODAY Show*Best Books of 2018* Rolling Stone"A Best Book of 2017" NPR, Buzzfeed, Paste Magazine, Esquire, Chicago Tribune, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, CBC, Stereogum, National Post, Entropy, Heavy, Book Riot, Chicago Review of Books, The Los Angeles Review, Michigan Daily*American Booksellers Association... Read more »

Miracle and Wonder: Conversations with Paul Simon is unlike any artistic portrait you’ve ever heard before. Recorded over a series of 30 hours of conversation between Simon, Malcolm Gladwell, and Broken Record podcast co-host Bruce Headlam, the conversation flows from Simon’s music to his childhood in Queens, NY, his frequent collaborators... Read more »

A Recorded Books Audio Original production of songs and stories performed by Dolly herself, Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics goes beyond the glitz, glamour, and rhinestones to the warmth, heart, and soul of a treasured pop-culture icon. In this exclusive audio performance, the ten-time Grammy Award–winning artist weaves her words... Read more »

**Winner of the 2021 Audie Award for Narration by Author or Authors**
**An AudioFile Earphones Award-winning production**

This program is read by Alicia Keys, with special guest appearances by family and friends, including Oprah Winfrey, Jay-Z, and Michelle Obama.

An intimate, revealing look at one artist’s journey from self-censorship to full... Read more »

In MUSIC IS HISTORY bestselling author and Sundance award-winning director Questlove harnesses his encyclopedic knowledge of popular music and his deep curiosity about history to examine America over the past fifty years. MUSIC IS HISTORY focuses on the years 1971 to the present, not only the country’s most complex and rewarding half-century... Read more »

From the acclaimed, controversial singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor comes a revelatory memoir of her fraught childhood, musical triumphs, fearless activism, and of the enduring power of song.
 
Blessed with a singular voice and a fiery temperament, Sinéad O’Connor rose to massive fame in the late 1980s and 1990s with a string of gold records. By... Read more »

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A panoramic experience that tells the story of Beastie Boys, a book as unique as the band itself—by band members ADROCK and Mike D, with contributions from Amy Poehler, Colson Whitehead, Wes Anderson, Luc Sante, and more.
 
The inspiration for the Spike Jonze “live documentary” Beastie Boys Story, coming soon to IMAX... Read more »

She Come By It Natural

“Part Dolly Parton biography and part Sarah Smarsh memoir, She Come By It Natural is an intriguing exploration of Parton both as an individual, and as a pop culture phenomenon who means so much to so many people. This collection of essays reads like a well plotted story, and wonderfully highlights Parton’s authenticity, ambition, grit, humility, and abundant heart, while also examining some of her missteps.”

Lucile, Copperfish Books

The Art of Asking

“What could an indie punk rock cabaret star (The Dresden Dolls), married to one of the world’s most celebrated fantasy writers (Neil Gaiman), teach the average person about asking for and accepting help? A lot, apparently! Personal stories turn into advice, vignettes turn into examples, revelations turn into promises; and before too long, The Art of Asking becomes a well-crafted roadmap for living your truth, advocating from the heart for what you need, and trusting in your community – your friends, your fans, and your family – to help provide it.”

BrocheAroe, River Dog Book Co.

Hollywood Park

“What I loved most about this books was Jollet's refusal to rely on any stereotypes about being raised in a family beset by addiction, mental illness, incarceration and violence. While he shares the full range of his painful, frightening, confusing childhood, (first in the infamous West Marin cult, Synanon, then in the care of his narcissistic mother in Salem, Oregon) he also shines a loving light on an incredible cast of characters including his father and a large and loving extended family who helped him discover and claim his many gifts. Strongly recommend!”

Samantha, A Great Good Place for Books

Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) had a lifelong attraction to children’s stories. By far the best known of all his music inspired by children’s literature is Peter and the Wolf. Prokofiev was asked to write a piece that would introduce young audiences to the workings of an orchestra and its instruments. Peter and the Wolf showcases the composer’s... Read more »

Writing with his customary verve and wit, author Ethan Mordden follows the steady liberation of gay themes on the American stage. The story begins in the early twentieth century, when gay characters were virtually banned from productions. The 1920s saw a flurry of plays closed on moral grounds as well as the Wales Padlock Act, which forbade... Read more »

With "virtuosic vulnerability" (The Atlantic), the iconic bassist and Red Hot Chili peppers co-founder pens a love letter to a youth spent wild in Los Angeles in his raw and riveting coming-of-age memoir.
In Acid for the Children, Flea takes readers on a deeply personal and revealing tour of his formative years, spanning from Australia to the New... Read more »

The Philosophy of Modern Song is Bob Dylan’s first book of new writing since 2004’s Chronicles: Volume One—and since winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016. The audio is narrated by an all-star lineup including Bob Dylan, Jeff Bridges, Steve Buscemi, John Goodman, Oscar Isaac, Helen Mirren, Rita Moreno, Sissy Spacek, Alfre Woodard,... Read more »

A legendary record producer–turned–brain scientist explains why you fall in love with music. This Is What It Sounds Like is a journey into the science and soul of music that reveals the secrets of why your favorite songs move you. But it’s also a story of a musical trailblazer who began as a humble audio tech in Los Angeles, rose to become... Read more »

Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl

“For music lovers, for fans of Sleater-Kinney or Portlandia, or for anyone who loves a great memoir. Brownstein dives into childhood, rebellion, dating, touring, and much more. She has a way of getting to the raw, hidden truth of each of these, exposing her heart to the reader in a way that will expose some of your own hidden truths. Also, there's music samples!”

Elon, Left Bank Books

How does time shape consciousness and consciousness, time? Do we live in time, or does time live in us? And how does music, with its patterns of rhythm and harmony, inform our experience of time? Uncommon Measure explores these questions from the perspective of a young Korean American who dedicated herself to perfecting her art until performance... Read more »

Our Band Could Be Your Life

“This is my absolute favorite music book - in-depth looks at indie rock bands all across the country during the late 1970s and 1980s showcasing the diversity of music on the margins throughout that decade. Punk aggression, twee affectations, jangly power pop, and college radio bands are all linked in their rejection of the mainstream (at least until they signed to major labels).”

David, Avid Bookshop

Presenting an original audiobook performance of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, starring the cast of the National Theatre's 2018 Broadway revival.

In this production, adapted especially for the listening experience, Andrew Garfield, Nathan Lane, and the entire cast recreate their acclaimed performances from the 2018 Tony Award-winning National... Read more »

This program contains examples of J Dilla's music performed in the studio by drummer Nate Smith and is accompanied by a bonus PDF of maps, photos, guides, and more.

"This book is a must for everyone interested in illuminating the idea of unexplainable genius.” —QUESTLOVE

Equal parts biography, musicology, and cultural history, Dilla Time... Read more »

Year of the Monkey

“I’m convinced that Patti Smith is the reincarnation of some spiritual mystic. Someone like Joan of Arc or Hildegard von Bingen. At this point I am committed to only listening to her audiobooks because her words are even more powerful in her own dreamy cadence. I sound like a school girl mooning over her first loved celebrity but, I can’t say it’s that different for me. I’ve lived and read enough to know that Patti Smith will forever be a literary icon for me and if you disagree, I maintain that you either haven’t read her yet OR you are wrong (insert tongue sticking out emoji). Anyway. I always struggle to review Patti’s books because her dream-like writing style is hard for me to appropriately express. In Year of the Monkey, Patti struggles with two incredible losses of lifelong friends, she struggles with the odd world we all find ourselves living in now, she struggles with dreams. Her prose (as it always seems to, but more so in this book) jumps quickly and fluidly from heady esoteric musings to a fluorescent glimpse into reality. A fever dream of images, are they real or a part of her beautiful mind. Patti is obsessed with a beach covered in candy wrappers, why isn’t this in the news? An out of place conversation with strangers about Robert Bolano. A dreamy vision of discussing Ayers Rock with Sam Shepherd, and the stark reality of his declining health. If you are unfamiliar with Patti Smith and/or her books, I encourage you wholeheartedly to pick one of them up, get lost in her incredible mind and musings. If not for the sake of understanding this bumbling mess of a review, for yourself so that you too can be drunk on her words and lost for your own. ”

Chelsea, McLean & Eakin Booksellers

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • The Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and editor of The New Yorker gathers his writing on some of the essential musicians of our time—intimate portraits of Leonard Cohen, Buddy Guy, Mavis Staples, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith, and more.

The greatest popular songs, whether it’s Aretha Franklin singing... Read more »

This brutally honest memoir tells the story of The Go-Go’s bassist Kathy Valentine’s impact on the music world and how she moved forward following the end of the band that once defined her whole life.

At twenty-one, Kathy Valentine was at the Whisky in Los Angeles when she met a guitarist from a fledgling band called the Go-Go's-and the band... Read more »

American pop music is arguably this country’s greatest cultural contribution to the world, and its singular voice and virtuosity were created by a shining thread of Black women geniuses stretching back to the country’s founding. This is their surprising, heartbreaking, soaring story—from “one of the generation’s greatest, most insightful, most... Read more »

In this enchanting first novel, an irrepressibly optimistic oddball orphan is thrust into the wilds of postwar New York City after an extraordinary childhood in a theater—Candide by way of John Irving, with a hint of Charles Dickens Abandoned as an infant by his actress mother in her theater dressing room, August March was raised by an ancient... Read more »

A modern epic about the most consequential music culture today, Atlanta rap—a masterful, street-level story of art, money, race, class, and salvation from acclaimed New York Times reporter Joe Coscarelli.

From mansions to trap houses, office buildings to strip clubs, Atlanta is defined by its rap music. But this flashy and fast-paced world is... Read more »

An illuminating history of the banjo, revealing its origins at the crossroads of slavery, religion, and music.

In an extraordinary story unfolding across two hundred years, Kristina Gaddy uncovers the banjo's key role in Black spirituality, ritual, and rebellion. Through meticulous research in diaries, letters, archives, and art, she traces the... Read more »

In this New York Times bestselling follow-up to her critically acclaimed memoir, Home, Julie Andrews reflects on her astonishing career, including such classics as Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, and Victor/Victoria.
In Home, the number one New York Times international bestseller, Julie Andrews recounted her difficult childhood and her... Read more »