Here are 100 books that Mother of Souls fans have personally recommended if you like
Mother of Souls.
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It’s often been said of musical theatre that the point when the characters begin to sing is the point their emotions become too much to express in words alone. I think that’s one reason I’m so obsessed with books about people connecting over music, art, and performance—it allows for so much passion and intensity. Having sung and played instruments over the years, I know how powerful it can feel to make music with other people, even when you’re not in love! These days, though, I spend more time reading and writing about music than I do playing it.
This Young Adult romance takes place over the course of a single weekend, and it captures the urgency of young love perfectly. Sure Olivia and Toni fall hard and fast, but it’s no wonder—a great music festival can pull you far enough from your day-to-day that you feel as though you’ve been there a lifetime, even as an adult. And this book captures that so clearly, bringing you right into both girls’ perspectives, letting you feel every triumph and every moment of despair as they chase their dreams, musical and otherwise, and figure out who they are.
A stunning novel about being brave enough to be true to yourself, and learning to find joy even when times are unimaginably dark. Three days.
Two girls.
One life-changing music festival.
Toni is grieving the loss of her roadie father and needing to figure out where her life will go from here - and she's desperate to get back to loving music. Olivia is a hopeless romantic whose heart has just taken a beating (again) and is beginning to feel like she'll always be a square peg in a round hole - but the Farmland Music and Arts Festival is…
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
It’s often been said of musical theatre that the point when the characters begin to sing is the point their emotions become too much to express in words alone. I think that’s one reason I’m so obsessed with books about people connecting over music, art, and performance—it allows for so much passion and intensity. Having sung and played instruments over the years, I know how powerful it can feel to make music with other people, even when you’re not in love! These days, though, I spend more time reading and writing about music than I do playing it.
This romance novel takes the classic “opposites attract” trope and spins it into a heartfelt exploration of loneliness and connection, turning points and second chances. Indie rock guitarist Ali knows she should quit dreaming about her brother’s band hitting the big time and commit to her future career in engineering, but it hurts to let go. Kristen has been a country pop star since she was a kid, and the grueling lifestyle has already taken its toll on her. I loved seeing them gradually come to trust one another through their shared passion for music, and the scenes where they write songs together are as intense and charged as the romantic scenes.
Alison has been in her brother's indie rock band, Right Turn, since she was a teenager. Right as she's about to graduate college and will have to start making real decisions about her future, there comes an offer for them to go on a small tour with pop-country sensation Kristen Nichols, who is looking to make serious changes to her sound and image and believes touring with indie darlings Right Turn will give the new 'her' credibility.
Kristen Nichols is the embodiment of everything about the music industry that Ali scoffs at, but she's offering them an affordable, real tour,…
It’s often been said of musical theatre that the point when the characters begin to sing is the point their emotions become too much to express in words alone. I think that’s one reason I’m so obsessed with books about people connecting over music, art, and performance—it allows for so much passion and intensity. Having sung and played instruments over the years, I know how powerful it can feel to make music with other people, even when you’re not in love! These days, though, I spend more time reading and writing about music than I do playing it.
This is a comfort read I come back to again and again. It’s a historical fantasy filled with political intrigue and with multiple overlapping storylines, and I revel in the rich historical detail of 18th-century Austria. But the heart of the novel is the romance between timid young widow Charlotte von Steinbeck and charismatic castrato Carlo Morelli. Both outsiders in their own ways, they’re brought together by a shared appreciation of music, and their relationship gives both of them the courage to push back against the narrow expectations imposed on them by society.
The year is 1779, and Carlo Morelli, the most renowned castrato singer in Europe, has been invited as an honored guest to Eszterháza Palace. With Carlo in Prince Nikolaus Esterházy's carriage, ride a Prussian spy and one of the most notorious alchemists in the Habsburg Empire. Already at Eszterháza is Charlotte von Steinbeck, the very proper sister of Prince Nikolaus's mistress. Charlotte has retreated to the countryside to mourn her husband's death. Now, she must overcome the ingrained rules of her society in order to uncover the dangerous secrets lurking within the palace's golden walls. Music, magic, and blackmail mingle…
A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.
Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…
It’s often been said of musical theatre that the point when the characters begin to sing is the point their emotions become too much to express in words alone. I think that’s one reason I’m so obsessed with books about people connecting over music, art, and performance—it allows for so much passion and intensity. Having sung and played instruments over the years, I know how powerful it can feel to make music with other people, even when you’re not in love! These days, though, I spend more time reading and writing about music than I do playing it.
I love fantasy stories where music and magic intertwine, and this novel combines that with one of my other favourite tropes—characters going on a shared journey. It’s the perfect way to throw characters together, force them to get close, and make them jointly deal with all kinds of situations. Annice is a bard whose flute playing has magical powers. Finding herself pregnant after a one-night stand, she ends up on the run with the baby’s father, a man she never expected to see again. They’re drawn together initially by Annice’s music, and I love the way music helps them come to understand each other better.
The Bards of Shkoder hold the country together. They, and the elemental spirits they Sing – earth, air, fire, and water - bring the news of the sea to the mountains, news of the mountains to the plains. They give their people, from peasant to king, a song in common.
Annice is a rare talent, able to Sing all four quarters, but her brother, the newly enthroned King Theron, sees her request to study at the Bardic Hall as a betrayal. To his surprise, Annice accepts his conditions, renouncing her royal blood and swearing to remain childless so as not…
Tales of magic have captivated me since I was a small child, and I started writing fantasy stories in high school. But it was only when I discovered the YA faerie subgenre several years ago that I truly found my niche. As my book recommendations will demonstrate, there’s a delicious connection between faerie magic and teenage angst, and it’s the tension that arises that makes for fantastic worldbuilding and storytelling. I hope that you enjoy my top books in the genre and find a new favorite for yourself!
In the first of two books, Stiefvater introduces us to Deirdre, an accomplished teen musician who has just met the mysterious Luke—who just happens to be a faerie that none of her friends or family can see. Oh, and he’s also an assassin. Caught between a mundane life of music recitals, school, and her family on one side, and the dangerous world of faerie on the other, what’s a girl to do? As a nerd and a loner growing up, what I wouldn’t have given for a secret faerie friend who dragged me into a world of magic and danger! Although Stiefvater has gone on to write more complex novels, her faerie duology will always have a place in my heart.
FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING NOVEL SHIVER
"Vibrant and potent, YA readers searching for faerie stories will be happy to find this accomplished debut novel." –Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"This beautiful and out-of-the-ordinary debut novel, with its authentic depiction of Celtic Faerie lore and dangerous forbidden love in a contemporary American setting, will appeal to readers of Nancy Werlin's Impossible and Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series." –Booklist (starred review)
"Part adventure, part fantasy, and wholly riveting love story, Lament will delight nearly all audiences with its skillful blend of magic and ordinary life." ―KLIATT (starred review)
Though I’m not personally an orphan, I’ve always been drawn to books that feature them. Maybe it’s because I felt the lack of a father; mine wasn’t around much during my childhood, since he worked at a job in the city through the week. The absent or distant father is a recurring theme in my novels, including the Shakespeare Stealer series, Moonshine, The Imposter, The Year of the Hangman, and Curiosity. Of course, when you write for young readers, orphans also make ideal protagonists, since they’re forced to use their own resources to confront and resolve the story’s conflict, rather than relying on grownups.
And speaking of funny, they don’t get much better than Pratchett’s Discworld novels. Though they’re usually classified as fantasy, they’re really very pointed satire. He sends up everything from movies to opera to the postal system. Soul Music takes on popular music, and it’s one of his best.
Discworld is about to rock...Deputising for death was never going to be easy, not least when he has gone walkabout in search of the Meaning of Life - without even leaving a forwarding address. But for his granddaughter, Susan, it becomes even more difficult when she breaks one of the cardinal rules of the family business - don't get involved! All around the Disc, crowds are shouting out for Buddy Celyn and The Band With Rocks In. They are in the grip of a new and dangerous music and Buddy is under its thumb. It's alive, it changes people -…
The Duke's Christmas Redemption
by
Arietta Richmond,
A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.
Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…
My first interests in music were artists and bands that fell outside convenient genre pigeon-holing, and I wondered why conventional musical “histories” overlooked them. When I started to dig around, I discovered whole worlds of music that were far more compelling than anything that fit neatly into tidy narratives. It taught me to always look in the corners, between the cracks, beneath the floorboards, for the real weirdos and dreamers. With that healthy skepticism in hand, everything I did subsequently at my label ignored the pressures to conform to such silly and confining definitions. It was a way more fun, creative, and liberating way to run things.
As a kid, I thought, because that is what I was taught by simplified historic revisionism, that Rock n Roll was invented one day when Bill Haley perfected his spit curl, or when Elvis went on the Ed Sullivan Show to shake his hips.
Lost Highway fundamentally reshaped my understanding of the dynamics that shaped this music, and thus, ultimately, everything that followed.
By delving into headwaters that crossed race and genre, I learned of the elemental—and mythical—forces that had been percolating for decades (centuries?) beneath our feet, and unleashed an enormous cultural shift.
Winner of Ishmael Reed's Before Columbus Foundation's American Book Award
This masterful explorationof American roots music--country, rockabilly, and the blues--spotlights the artists who created a distinctly American sound, including Ernest Tubb, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Elvis Presley, Merle Haggard, and Sleepy LaBeef. In incisive portraits based on searching interviews with these legendary performers, Peter Guralnick captures the boundless passion that drove these men to music-making and that kept them determinedly, and sometimes almost desperately, on the road.
Following mysterious trails and uncovering esoteric stories: it’s what I love to do, and it’s also what I love to read about. Before I released Extreme Music, I wrote extensively about unusual music subcultures and audiological anomalies, for example artists who put out hourlong blocks of unchanging white noise. I’ve learned that the most interesting ideas – and tales – exist in these outer fringes.
The definitive book on outsider musicians, from The Shaggs to Jandek to the hyper-obscure likes of Y. Bhekhirst, who left copies of his outrageously bizarre cassette album, Hot In the Airport, at several NYC record stores before permanently disappearing into thin air. A detailed work that required copious original research to dig up murky facts about obscure musicians, it has been an inspiration to me as a writer. In fact, in my book I dedicate an entire chapter to outsider musicians of the digital age, in obvious homage to this magical tome.
Outsider musicians can be the product of damaged DNA, alien abduction, drug fry, demonic possession, or simply sheer obliviousness. This book profiles dozens of outsider musicians, both prominent and obscure—figures such as The Shaggs, Syd Barrett, Tiny Tim, Jandek, Captain Beefheart, Daniel Johnston, Harry Partch, and The Legendary Stardust Cowboy—and presents their strange life stories along with photographs, interviews, cartoons, and discographies. About the only things these self-taught artists have in common are an utter lack of conventional tunefulness and an overabundance of earnestness and passion. But, believe it or not, they’re worth listening to, often outmatching all contenders for…
I have been a professional violinist and teacher for over 30 years. I perform in the Washington-Idaho Symphony and specialize in the Suzuki method. My studio at the University of Idaho Preparatory Division includes violin and viola students ages 5-18. My career as an author began when I searched the shelves at my local library for books for my students to read. Only a few books about classical music graced the shelves. So I decided to try to do something about the void I noticed. My second book, about a trailblazing woman composer erased in history because of her gender, is forthcoming from Bushel & Peck Books.
Mo Williams has hit all the right notes in this lushly illustrated book for young readers. How does one grow up to be a classical musician? Well… one beautiful moment leads to another…and another…and another.
Just as in this book, one magical experience in my young life changed everything. Because my 4th grade teacher took our class to see the original Disney Fantasia film, I heard, for the first time, the sound of The Philadelphia Orchestra. Shadows of violin bows danced across the panoramic movie screen as the musicians, conducted by Leopold Stokowski, performed Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor. Because of how that moment sounded and felt, I found my calling ̶ the violin. That’s how it happens. One precious musical moment leads to another, to places you never dreamed you would go.
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Mo Willems, a number one New York Times best-selling author and illustrator, composes a powerful symphony of chance, discovery, persistence, and magic in this moving tale of a young girl's journey to center stage. Illustrator Amber Ren brings Willems' music to life, conducting a stunning picture-book debut.
This book follows the journey of a writer in search of wisdom as he narrates encounters with 12 distinguished American men over 80, including Paul Volcker, the former head of the Federal Reserve, and Denton Cooley, the world’s most famous heart surgeon.
In these and other intimate conversations, the book…
I’ve loved jazz ever since I learned to play the clarinet as a child. My two great loves in life have been music and books, so it made sense to combine the two things and write novels with a link to jazz. These books are some of my favourites with a jazz theme. I promise that even if you’re not a jazz fan, these are all excellent novels, to be enjoyed with or without music playing in the background!
I love untold stories – those that look at people who history has often ignored. There are a lot of novels set in WWII, but this is the only one I’ve read that looks at what it was like to be an Afro-German during that period.
Hiero Falk is a mixed-race jazz trumpeter, member of a band who has been banned from playing live under Nazi laws. After escaping with two of his African-American bandmates to Paris, Hiero is forced into hiding as the trio struggle to get out of occupied France. There was so much history here that felt new to me and I was fascinated by Hiero’s story.
Man Booker Prize Finalist 2011 An Oprah Magazine Best Book of the Year
Shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction
Berlin, 1939. The Hot Time Swingers, a popular jazz band, has been forbidden to play by the Nazis. Their young trumpet-player Hieronymus Falk, declared a musical genius by none other than Louis Armstrong, is arrested in a Paris café. He is never heard from again. He was twenty years old, a German citizen. And he was black.
Berlin, 1952. Falk is a jazz legend. Hot Time Swingers band members Sid Griffiths and…
