Here are 83 books that The Violin Conspiracy fans have personally recommended if you like
The Violin Conspiracy.
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This recommendation list is a celebration of these authors’ creativity! Like every reader I love a good story, and this list highlights five books that not only weave entertainment within their respective genres—but also tell their stories in unique visual ways by being fearless with formatting. I love being into a story and seeing there’s a journal entry or letter coming up—it’s like an intimate view into the characters’ world and experiences, and I want to eat it up! If you’re interested in finding more authors who do this, Googling “epistolary novels” will help.
The storyline in this book was so realistic, I searched the world wide web multiple times to see if Daisy Jones & The Six was a real band.
And get this, the entire book is formatted as interviews! Band members, their managers, and some groupies—they all get their chance to tell their side of this fascinating, juicy, and oh, so emotional story.
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
I’m a used-to-be, going-to-be pianist, like Sarah, the protagonist in my book. Even though I didn’t take to the concert stage after studying music, I have integrated music throughout my career as a culture journalist and now as a novelist. I interviewed young bands as a radio host, presented German pop music as a TV host, spoke with A-level conductors as an online journalist, and have written two books about musicians who’ve had to rethink their life paths. Now as mom to three young children, including twins, I am known to sing either Schumann’s Dichterliebe or The Itsy Bitsy Spider too loudly during bathtime.
Like Sarah in my book (and me at one point, too), the mysterious German woman in the pea-green coat who faints in front of an eclectic London music shop has a broken relationship with music. Ironically, she’s good at fixing things and begins an awkward friendship with the shop’s owner Frank, who has a magical ability to match music with people. With its wonderfully flawed characters, this book is a tender tale of healing—both from music and with music—and a celebration of all musical genres.
BBC Radio 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME from 17-28 July. From the author of the world-wide bestseller, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, a new novel about learning how to listen and how to feel; and about second chances and choosing to be brave despite the odds. Because in the end, music can save us all ... 1988. Frank owns a music shop. It is jam-packed with records of every speed, size and genre. Classical, jazz, punk - as long as it's vinyl he sells it. Day after day Frank finds his customers the music they need. Then into his life…
I’m a used-to-be, going-to-be pianist, like Sarah, the protagonist in my book. Even though I didn’t take to the concert stage after studying music, I have integrated music throughout my career as a culture journalist and now as a novelist. I interviewed young bands as a radio host, presented German pop music as a TV host, spoke with A-level conductors as an online journalist, and have written two books about musicians who’ve had to rethink their life paths. Now as mom to three young children, including twins, I am known to sing either Schumann’s Dichterliebe or The Itsy Bitsy Spider too loudly during bathtime.
As mom to three preschoolers, I read more kids’ books than grown-up ones. This gem by Amanda Gorman and Loren Long is a particularly powerful favorite of ours. The lyrical verse, an anthem for change, is empowering while not downplaying social challenges as a boy and girl go through town helping those in need, showing tolerance to skeptics, and drumming up a diverse band. It is not music itself that brings about change, but you and me.
A lyrical picture book debut from #1 New York Times bestselling author and presidential inaugural poet Amanda Gorman and #1 New York Times bestselling illustrator Loren Long
"I can hear change humming In its loudest, proudest song. I don't fear change coming, And so I sing along."
In this stirring, much-anticipated picture book by presidential inaugural poet and activist Amanda Gorman, anything is possible when our voices join together. As a young girl leads a cast of characters on a musical journey, they learn that they have the power to make changes—big or small—in the world, in their communities, and…
Trapped in our world, the fae are dying from drugs, contaminants, and hopelessness. Kicked out of the dark fae court for tainting his body and magic, Riasg only wants one thing: to die a bit faster. It’s already the end of his world, after all.
I’m often asked: “Are you a musician? You mustbe, in order to write so beautifully and convincingly, through the eyes of a musician!” Actually, I’m what’s known as a “serious amateur”—which means that I study the piano “seriously” but not professionally, purely for the love of it. In fact, my understanding of the piano deepened tremendously as I worked on this book, as if my protagonist required that of me, in order to bring her to life the way she needed. The piano has become more and more vital to me, as a writer, because it allows me to explore and express in ways that don’t depend on words.
In The Lost Concerto a woman has set aside her career as a classical pianist, for deeply personal reasons—then finds herself not only reclaiming her music, but also finding answers to a past mystery as well as new connections in the present. Both novels are about loss, love, and the power of music to lift and heal us. What makes The Lost Concerto especially appealing is its cross-genre blend of suspense, intrigue, stolen art, and the journey from vengeance to courage. You won’t be able to put it down!
FINALIST: 2016 International Book Award – Mystery/Suspense Category
A woman and her young son flee to a convent on a remote island off the Breton coast of France. Generations of seafarers have named the place Ile de la Brume, or Fog Island. In a chapel high on a cliff, a tragic death occurs and a terrified child vanishes into the mist.
The child’s godmother, Maggie O’Shea, haunted by the violent deaths of her husband and best friend, has withdrawn from her life as a classical pianist. But…
I’m often asked: “Are you a musician? You mustbe, in order to write so beautifully and convincingly, through the eyes of a musician!” Actually, I’m what’s known as a “serious amateur”—which means that I study the piano “seriously” but not professionally, purely for the love of it. In fact, my understanding of the piano deepened tremendously as I worked on this book, as if my protagonist required that of me, in order to bring her to life the way she needed. The piano has become more and more vital to me, as a writer, because it allows me to explore and express in ways that don’t depend on words.
In Everything You Are, Braden is a cellist who has lost the use of his hands—in his case, through a tragic twist of fate. Enter Ophelia, granddaughter of the man who sold Branden his cello and made Ophelia swear that he will always play it. Author Kerry Anne King weaves a magical spell around these two characters as, together, they find their way to forgiveness. This is a story full of twists and turns, culminating in a beautiful ending that depicts the healing power of music.
From the bestselling author of Whisper Me This comes a haunting and lyrical novel about the promises we make and the forgiveness we need when we break them.
One tragic twist of fate destroyed Braden Healey's hands, his musical career, and his family. Now, unable to play, adrift in an alcoholic daze, and with only fragmented memories of his past, Braden wants desperately to escape the darkness of the last eleven years.
When his ex-wife and son are killed in a car accident, Braden returns home, hoping to forge a relationship with his troubled seventeen-year-old daughter, Allie. But how can…
I’m often asked: “Are you a musician? You mustbe, in order to write so beautifully and convincingly, through the eyes of a musician!” Actually, I’m what’s known as a “serious amateur”—which means that I study the piano “seriously” but not professionally, purely for the love of it. In fact, my understanding of the piano deepened tremendously as I worked on this book, as if my protagonist required that of me, in order to bring her to life the way she needed. The piano has become more and more vital to me, as a writer, because it allows me to explore and express in ways that don’t depend on words.
The Weight of a Pianois about Clara, a young woman desperate to find her own path—freedom, identity, and connection—but it is also the story of an actual piano, as if the piano were a character, and how that piano has shaped the lives of its owners. Clara is haunted by a past she doesn’t understand, and by an unexpected hand injury that changes the course of her life. There are no easy answers in Cander’s book, and an ending you won’t see coming. Truly an original novel that will linger in your heart and mind for a long time.
For fans of Ann Patchett's Bel Canto, Annie Proulx's Accordion Crimes, Amanda Coplin's The Orchardist
A tour-de-force about two women and the piano that inexorably ties their lives together through time and across continents, for better and for worse.
In 1962, in the Soviet Union, eight-year-old Katya is bequeathed what will become the love of her life: a Blüthner piano, built at the turn of the century in Germany, on which she discovers everything that she herself can do with music and what music, in turn, does for her. Yet after marrying, she emigrates with her young family from Russia…
Everyday Medical Miracles
by
Joseph S. Sanfilippo (editor),
Frontiers of Women from the healthcare perspective. A compilation of 60 true short stories written by an extensive array of healthcare providers, physicians, and advanced practice providers.
All designed to give you, the reader, a glimpse into the day-to-day activities of all of us who provide your health care. Come…
Classical music has been one of the great passions of my life, ever since at the age of 6 my father introduced me to the magic of Chopin’s Polonaise héroïque, by improvising the story that the music was telling, creating a magical mosaic of notes and words. I then realized that music tells stories and that musical stories do not only offer pleasure, excitement, and consolation, but also act as sources of insight into the world we inhabit, in all its complexity and drama. I have since made classical music a regular part of my life, Bach, Mozart, Chopin, and Beethoven being intimate friends and acquaintances, not distant historical figures.
Among the many works of fiction inspired by classical music, that include Tolstoy’s Kreutzer Sonata, Mann’s Doctor Faustus,and Tremain’s Music and Silence, I have opted for Vikram Seth’s, exquisitely written and highly personal novel of unrequited love, loss, and longing, because his intimate knowledge of the world of classical music, the music and the characters is unsurpassed.
The novel’s protagonist is a member of a successful string quartet, haunted by memories of a relationship he had had ten years previously. An unlikely reunion with the object of his infatuation, a pianist now happily married with a son, unleashes all kinds of personal and musical dynamics against the magical setups of Venice, Vienna, and… Manchester. The music performed by the different characters and the emotions that music triggers and unleashes are described with consummate sensitivity and insight. Every music lover will love this novel which is a treasure-trove…
Set in the present, with flashbacks, An Equal Music (the title is a phrase from a John Donne sermon) is a story of obsessive love narrated by Michael, a violinist from Rochdale in the north of England. He plays in a trio in Vienna in which Julia, half Scottish, half Austrian, is the pianist. He is much taken with her and she with him. But the trio splits up and the participants go their separate ways. Michael goes to London, where he joins a string quartet as second violinist. He feels the absence of Julia from his life keenly. One…
As both a lifelong traveler and reader, I cannot start an adventure without a great book. Having owned a Kindle since 2008, I consistently carry a virtual library, curating an assortment of captivating reads for every journey. As a travel journalist, I fly multiple times a month, which amplifies my need and understanding of the perfect in-flight companions; stories that transport and captivate. As an author with a memoir to my name, I appreciate the transformative power of storytelling. This blend of literary passion, frequent travel, and personal authorship has led me on my search for engaging, unforgettable books that mesmerize the reader.
Each of Lisa Genova’s books brings her deep understanding of neuroscience into the portrayal of a family's journey with a medical issue, making the novel both heart-wrenching and enlightening.
This book is an emotionally charged novel about a renowned pianist confronting the devastating progression of ALS. It captures the complexities of love, loss, and redemption.
I was especially drawn to this book since my aunt had a similar progression with the same illness. Genova’s compelling exploration of the human spirit and the transformative power of compassion always brings me to tears. As you soar through the skies, let this book be your poignant and immersive literary escape.
An accomplished concert pianist, Richard received standing ovations from audiences all over the world in awe of his rare combination of emotional resonance and flawless technique. Every finger of his hands was a finely calibrated instrument, dancing across the keys and striking each note with exacting precision. That was eight months ago.
Richard now has ALS, and his entire right arm is paralyzed. His fingers are impotent, still, devoid of possibility. The loss of his hand feels like a death, a loss of true love, a divorce-his divorce.
I am a big believer in ghosts. I love to read about them both in fiction and in nonfiction. I think ghosts can be used to elevate a plot in so many ways, either in subtle ways via background influences or overtly by making the supernatural entity a vital character. Beyond ghosts, there are so many ways the supernatural and its various creatures/forms can add layers to a text. Not all supernatural stories have to be a horror story. I also enjoy comedic ones and ones that relay a meaningful message. It’s not the things we see that fascinate me; it’s the things we don’t see.
Music, madness, and a malevolent ghost made me love this book more than Interview With the Vampire. I found the twist in this book very compelling, as Rice made her main character human and female with no “gift” other than her musical talent.
I’m also drawn to novels that move across time periods, as this one does, and bring in so much rich history.
In the grand manner of Interview with the Vampire, this thrilling novel moves across time and the continents, from nineteenth-century Vienna to a St. Charles Greek Revival mansion in present-day New Orleans to the dazzling capitals of the modern-day world, telling a story of two charismatic figures bound to each other by a passionate commitment to music as a means of rapture, seduction, and liberation.
At the novel's center: a uniquely fascinating woman, Triana—who once dreamed of becoming a great musician—and the demonic fiddler Stefan, tormented ghost of a Russian aristocrat, who begins to prey upon her, using his magic…
Karl's War is a coming-of-age-meets-thriller set in Germany on the eve of Hitler coming to power. Karl – a reluctant poster boy for the Nazis – meets Jewish Ben and his world is up-turned.
Ben and his family flee to France. Karl joins the German army but deserts and finds…
Since 1996 when my first trip to Venice rearranged my interior life, I have been visiting the city and learning everything I can about it. Most of my reading led me to men’s history, but with some digging, I uncovered the stories of Venice’s inspired, undaunted, hardworking women. Their proto-feminism motivated me to share their stories with others in an attempt to redefine beauty. I’ve also created videos showing sites connected to these women’s lives, and I’ve written four books about Venetians, including extensive research into Giacomo Casanova and two anthologies celebrating Venetian life. Reading and writing about Venice helps me connect more deeply with my favorite city.
This historical fiction novel formed Anna Maria dal Violin into a real person for me and inspired me to humanize every woman I wrote about in my own book.
Anna Maria was abandoned at the church of the Pieta in Venice where she was taught to sing and play numerous instruments. She became a violin virtuoso and a favorite of Vivaldi, who wrote pieces specifically to challenge her.
Barbara Quick takes this real story and makes both Anna Maria and Venice live brightly in eighteenth-century Venice.
Fourteen-year-old Anna Maria, abandoned at the Ospedale della Pieta as an infant, is determined to find out who she is and where she came from. Her quest takes her beyond the cloister walls into the complex tapestry of Venetian society, from the impoverished alleyways of the Jewish Ghetto to a masked ball in the company of a king; from the passionate communal life of adolescent girls competing for their maestro's favor to the larger-than-life world of music and spectacle that kept the citizens of a dying republic in thrall. In this world, where for fully half the year the entire…
