Here are 100 books that This Bird Has Flown fans have personally recommended if you like
This Bird Has Flown.
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It’s open, honest, and really helps you get inside the head of someone who wants to play guitar, maybe more than anything. There’s great insight into addiction, too. And, of course, it has the gossipy rock and roll stuff that can’t be avoided when you’re a member of The Rolling Stones.
The book covers many decades; it’s an intimate look at a long, creative life.
As lead guitarist of the Rolling Stones, Keith Richards created the riffs, the lyrics, and the songs that roused the world. A true and towering original, he has always walked his own path, spoken his mind, and done things his own way.Now at last Richards pauses to tell his story in the most anticipated autobiography in decades. And what a story! Listening obsessively to Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters records in a coldwater flat with Mick Jagger and Brian Jones, building a sound and a band out of music they loved. Finding fame and success as a bad-boy band, only…
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 love the ’70s vibe happening in this book. And it takes place in California, where I grew up.
There’s mystery and suspense woven throughout these pages. Jackie, our protagonist, tries to reconcile her memories and past “truths” with what she eventually discovers really happened in those years. You won’t be able to stop reading—this is a fast book that pulls you along like a riptide.
“A delicious daydream of a book.” —Elin Hilderbrand, New York Times bestselling author of 28 Summers
“With lyrical writing and a page-turning plot, this sun-dappled book has it all.” —Karen Dukess, author of The Last Book Party
ONE ICONIC FAMILY. ONE SUMMER OF SECRETS. THE DAZZLING SPIRIT OF 1970S CALIFORNIA.
For Jackie Pierce, everything changed the summer of 1979, when she spent three months of infinite freedom at her bohemian uncle’s sprawling estate on the California coast. As musicians, artists, and free spirits gathered at The Sandcastle for the season in pursuit of inspiration and communal living, Jackie and her…
You’re thrown into the world of grunge music here with a couple, Jane and Elijah, who meet in a chat room (historical fiction!).
Soon enough, the couple is worldwide famous, something Jane had always wanted. Jane, who writes the songs, is misunderstood and underappreciated, while Elijah takes center stage. That’s okay with Jane until Elijah disappears, and Jane is heartbroken and lost while also being demonized by their fans.
This is a wonderfully compelling page-turner with likeable characters and some dislikeable ones, too.
The author of New York Times bestseller and Reese’s Book Club pick Lucky, a “fiercely visceral and exquisitely written” (People) story of rock ‘n’ roll and star-crossed love—about grunge-era musician Jane Pyre’s journey to unravel the secrets behind her husband’s mysterious disappearance.
He was the troubled face of rock ‘n’ roll…until he suddenly disappeared without a trace.
Jane Pyre was once half of the famous rock ‘n’ roll duo, the Lightning Bottles. Years later, she’s perhaps the most hated—and least understood—woman in music. She was never as popular with fans as her bandmate (and soulmate), Elijah Hart—even if Jane was…
Stealing technology from parallel Earths was supposed to make Declan rich. Instead, it might destroy everything.
Declan is a self-proclaimed interdimensional interloper, travelling to parallel Earths to retrieve futuristic cutting-edge technology for his employer. It's profitable work, and he doesn't ask questions. But when he befriends an amazing humanoid robot,…
This book takes place in Baltimore, which always fascinates me (I lived there for a couple of decades).
There’s a fan (a father, who’s a music teacher), a kid (his son, who wants his dad to be happy), and a female rockstar (the drummer from the music teacher’s favorite band) who’s been in hiding for decades. Of course, they all come together (what more could you want?!).
In the end, this is the sweetest love story I’ve read in years.
When a single dad meets the former rock-star crush of his youth, everything they thought they knew about happiness and love is thrown into chaos in this hopeful, heartwarming romantic comedy.
“Bound to charm readers from page one . . . You’ll root for everyone in this sweet love story.”—Elissa Sussman, bestselling author of Funny You Should Ask
Billy Perkins is happy. And why wouldn’t he be? He loves his job as an independent music teacher and his apartment in Baltimore above a record shop called Charm City Rocks. Most of all, he loves his brainy teenage son, Caleb.
I have been hiking up mountains all my life. From Long’s Peak in Colorado to Mt. Washington in New Hampshire to the Cairngorms in Scotland to the Laugavegur in Iceland, I have always drawn strength and inspiration from thin alpine air. As a midwesterner, when I can’t go to the mountains, I love finding new stories about them, particularly on the page. I wrote Above the Fire in 2020 during the pandemic, when I desperately wanted to leave home and climb something. But quarantine and family responsibilities meant I had to do the next best thing, by setting a novel in the mountains instead!
One of the most underrated novels of the twentieth century.
Patrick O’Brian is known first and foremost for his exceptional Aubrey-Maturin series about the British Navy during the age of sail. I love those books as much as any on my shelf. Yet before he found his way to that subject, O’Brian wrote other novels, including this exquisite love story set in a Welsh mountain valley.
Published in 1952, Testimonies is haunting, tragic, and remarkably self-assured. It captures as well as any book the romance of the mountains and their invigorating effect on the spirit: “the vast country opened and strengthened my being in ways that I had never imagined. Many things that had appeared all-important dwindled to trifles, and other values rose.” I return to this book frequently and often give it as a gift.
Delmore Schwartz, the most influential critic in postwar America, wrote of Patrick O'Brian's first novel Testimonies: "A triumph...drawn forward by lyric eloquence and the story's fascination, [the reader] discovers in the end that he has encountered in a new way the sphinx and the riddle of existence itself." Schwartz' imagination was fired by this sinister tale of love and death set in Wales, a timeless story with echoes of Thomas Hardy and Mary Webb.
Joseph Pugh, sick of Oxford and of teaching, decides to take some time off to live in a wild and beautiful Welsh farm valley. There he…
I’ve had a love-hate relationship with pop music since I was a kid singing Britney Spear’s “Lucky” with my friends. Eventually, I evolved into a punk-ass cynical teenager who disavowed my love of pop, but the fascination remained. In college, I started a pop star romance that would–many, many years later–become my debut book Love in the Liner Notes. In the process, I read an obsessively large number of books touching on music, celebrities, musicians, and the entertainment industry. I hope you enjoy a selection of my favorites, mostly romances (what can I say, I have a type) that brought me the kind of joy only a pop star can.
I was sucked in by this sweet, fluffy reimagining of The Little Mermaid with its delightful cast and thoughtful slow-burn romance. Is it Disney IP? Yes. Does it reference a not-so-subtle number of Disney properties? Absolutely, but the found family bonding on a rock tour was kind-hearted and hopeful.
I’m a sucker for celebrities out of their comfort zone so, Ariel, a former child star, all grown-up and leaving her family band to find herself while disguised as a merch girl was totally my catnip. Though an optimistic look at child stars, it touched on interesting issues such as her controlling father/manager who held all her assets, the whirlwind of fame, and the people who get screwed over by the music industry.
"Kiss the Girl is sheer delight. It’s full of joy and love and self discovery, and I smiled the whole time I read it. Zoraida Córdova wrote the rock star/pop princess romance of my dreams!" —Jasmine Guillory, New York Times best-selling author
A modern tale of unexpectedly falling in love and finding your voice, Kiss the Girl is the highly anticipated third installment in the acclaimed and best-selling Meant to Be collection.
Ariel del Mar is one of the most famous singers in the world. She and her sisters—together, known as the band Siren Seven—have been a pop culture phenomenon…
Nature writer Sharman Apt Russell tells stories of her experiences tracking wildlife—mostly mammals, from mountain lions to pocket mice—near her home in New Mexico, with lessons that hold true across North America. She guides readers through the basics of identifying tracks and signs, revealing a landscape filled with the marks…
I’ve been fascinated by musicians almost my entire life, but I always wanted more than the slick on-screen video, profile on the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, or interview. I wanted to know the whys and hows: why they wrote a certain way, what made them want to be a musician first, and where the inspiration and determination came from. What are they like when they’re hanging out at home, not in the spotlight? This research led me to the music and musicians of Laurel Canyon in particular and how one small area of Los Angeles has managed to create music still influential today.
I love this book because it honestly sets the scene of the early 1970s rock world with such heart and passion for the music, the musicians of the time, and the challenges they faced in the industry and even from their peers.
I wanted to shake the main character sometimes, but the world she builds is so realistic and engaging that I felt like I was in it with her. When I found out that it was loosely based on an actual romance of a popular 70s singer/songwriter couple, I was even more intrigued. It paints a vivid picture of love, friendship, and relationships, centered around the 70s rock music and lifestyle I love.
'Emma Brodie perfectly channels the languorous romance of the time . . . I got chills' Kevin Kwan, No.1 bestselling author of Crazy Rich Asians
Behind every greatest hit, is an even greater love story.
The summer of 1969
From the moment Jane Quinn steps barefoot onto the main stage at Island Folk festival, her golden hair glinting, her voice soaring into the summer dusk, a star is born - and so is a passionate love story.
Jane's band hits the road with none other than Jesse Reid, the musician whose bright…
There’s something deeply alluring about the glamour of fame, even if it’s not all as shiny when you look closer. My first celebrity crush was on Jason Donovan—I’m guessing that some of my fellow British Gen Xers might relate! In my arguably more mature 30s, I developed an interest in a show slightly more critically acclaimed than the Australian soap Jason had come to prominence in, and it ended up changing my life in ways I could never have predicted. I’m a passionate person, and those passions have shaped me, which I think is why I love tales of celebrity crushes.
This novel utterly gripped me, and when I finished it, I wrote an eight-word review: “I think this book might actually be perfect.” It’s got everything I could ever want in a story: beautiful writing, sizzling scenes, glamorous locations, and an emotionally resonant exploration of themes like age, fame, and motherhood, as well as, of course, love.
I’ve long since lost count of the number of times I’ve recommended it to people who are looking for a book they won’t be able to put down.
When Solene Marchand, the thirty-nine-year-old owner of a prestigious art gallery in Los Angeles, takes her daughter, Isabelle, to meet her favourite boy band, she does so reluctantly and at her ex-husband's request. The last thing she expects is to make a connection with one of the members of the world-famous August Moon. But Hayes Campbell is clever, winning, confident, and posh, and the attraction is immediate. That he is all of twenty years old further complicates things. What begins as a series of clandestine trysts quickly evolves into a passionate relationship. It is a journey that spans continents as…
Pet names in romance can make or break a book, in my opinion. Sometimes, they can be offputting, but other times, pet names make me smile. They elevate the chemistry between characters–turn the heat up a notch on a steam scene, make you blush, and make you fall in love with the characters. When I read a pet name I can imagine the tone, level, and timbre. It makes me feel like I'm there in the pages with the characters. I think it's because a pet name or nickname is special. A person assigns it to you because they care–or, better yet, within the pages of a romance, they love.
This book sparked my love for Carian Cole's books, and I've one clicked on her books ever since.
This age-gap romance between Toren and Kenzi happened organically, and I loved watching their platonic love morph into romantic love. Tor’s pet name for Kenzi was Angel, which was fitting for the kind-hearted, strong heroine.
I think what most impacted me about the nickname was how it transformed throughout the book. At first, Angel was just a sweet endearment, but it matured as Kenzi did. Every time she worried about animals or showed concern for her dad, the nickname felt more and more fitting.
When I was five years old, I told Toren Grace we were going to get married someday. He'd been my closest friend, my protector, and my rock since the day I was born. But during my senior year, our relationship slowly changed. Silly conversations morphed into serious heart-to-hearts. Innocent friendship turned to stolen glances.
Then one day, an unexpected kiss changed everything.
While that kiss was all I'd ever dreamed of, it knocked Tor clear off his axis. His strong moral compass makes it impossible for him to accept our feelings for each other. Because, not only am I eighteen…
The Bridge provides a compassionate and well researched window into the worlds of linear and circular thinking. A core pattern to the inner workings of these two thinking styles is revealed, and most importantly, insight into how to cross the distance between them. Some fascinating features emerged such as, circular…
When my daughter was three years old, I enrolled her in a “creative movement” class. I had taken dance lessons for ten years when I was younger, so this felt like an obvious choice. At age eleven, her teacher suggested that she had the facility, talent, and drive to pursue a career in ballet. What followed was seven years of being a “ballet mom,” as she studied, performed, competed, and ultimately left home to pursue her career. The Still Point comes from this experience. It's a novel about dark ambition, but it's also a love letter: to my daughter, to ballet, and to the mothers who became my closest friends inside the ballet studio walls.
Girl Through Glass offers readers entry into the magical and rarified world of an aspiring ballet dancer at the School of American Ballet and New York City Ballet.
For readers who love a gritty New York setting, glimpses behind the beautiful façade that ballet offers, and dark secrets, this novel has it all. Fans of My Dark Vanessa will also appreciate the #metoo elements of this story.
Long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize
An Amazon Best Book of the Month
A Buzzfeed Most Exciting Book of the Year
A The Millions Most Anticipated Book of the Year & Bestseller
Selected as a Skimm Read
A Refinery 29 Best Book of the Year
Chosen as a Rumpus Book Club Selection
Chosen as a Bustle Best Literary Debut Novel Written By Women in the Last 5 Years
An enthralling literary debut that tells the story of a young girl’s coming of age in the cutthroat world of New York City ballet—a story of obsession and the…
