“There is no worse thief than a bad book”
- Italian Proverb
What was your favorite book you read in 2025? Favorite movie? Favorite TV show? Favorite, fill in the blank. It's that time of year when people like to list their favorites from the past 365 days.
Reading-wise, it's been a fine year for me and especially a banner year for music biographies and memoirs. I'll list the standouts, many I've already mentioned at one time or another.
The Name of This Band is R.E.M. by Peter Ames Carlin: What can I say, I came of age with this band. I waited anxiously for every new album after I discovered their debut record, Murmur, in 1983. Their music is the soundtrack to my 1980s. The four members are about my age. My life parallels with theirs. That matters when I read these types of things.
Earth to Moon by Moon Unit Zappa: I talked about this book already in a previous post. It's a wonderful read. Moon is a beautiful writer and it's a story that could only be told by her. No one else could speak the authentic gonzo truth of being Frank Zappa's daughter.
Heartbreaker by Mike Campbell and Ari Surdoval: Mike Campbell was by Tom Petty's side through it all. From ragged roots as kids and bandmates in Gainesville, FL, driving across America with no money in a wheezing van to seek fame in California, to eventual superstardom. Campbell and his guitar were there and he has his own story to tell about all of it. It's fascinating inside baseball type stuff. You might not be aware that Mike Campbell wrote the music and played on Boys of Summer, the song that Don Henley hit into orbit in 1984. He ran the song by Petty to see if he wanted to record it. Petty said he didn't care for it. He didn't like one of the jazzy chords in it and didn't think it was a fit for the record they were working on. Campbell got word that Don Henley was looking for songs for a solo album. He pitched the music to Henley who latched onto it immediately and wrote the lyrics. We all know the rest. I doubt any of us can imagine it being a Petty song now.
Rumors of My Demise by Evan Dando: From their breakthrough album in 1992 until their dissolution in 1997 The Lemonheads were big time favorites of the alternative music world. Count me among their fans. Mix infectious, jangly pop melodies, beguiling lyrics and the molasses thick baritone voice of Evan Dando and you have alternative rock nirvana. Dando though lived on the razors edge of addiction. People in the know never thought he would last long. After the band's breakup, Dando entered into a long hazy existence. There were many reports of his death. Who would have been surprised? He is to this day still among the living, though, and has written an honest account of himself. Not an inviable task given the baggage he carries. I appreciated his candor and I'm glad he's still here. His voice is one for the ages.
Living in the Present With John Prine by Tom Piazza: In 2018, Piazza was granted access to John Prine to write a profile for the Oxford American Magazine. They took a road trip to Florida as part of the project and a deep friendship developed. Prine had always balked at the idea of writing a memoir. As they spent more time together he came around to the idea of letting Piazza assist in writing one. He insisted though that it not be a traditional linear type of story and Piazza agreed to write it in a style Prine was agreeable with. They had just completed their first interview for the book when COVID shut down the world in March 2020. Prine was one of the first to contract the disease. Though he had survived two major battles with cancer, he wasn't able to win against the virus. He died on April 7, 2020. This book is a tender look at John Prine's sly humor and common man's way of negotiating the world. His favorite food was a hotdog. That tells you a lot. Any Prine devote would love the book.
The Cars: Let The Stories Be Told by Bill Janovitz: The second part of the title comes from the opening song on The Cars eponymous debut record in 1978, Good Times Roll:
Let the stories be told
Let them say what they want
I just talked about The Cars a couple of days ago and their enigmatic leader, Ric Ocasek. And although Ocasek was the planet that things orbited around, The Cars would not have been The Cars without the other four members of the band. Their unique contributions are what gave the band the sound that made them a monster act through the mid-80s. The book covers the entirety of their existence with all the great behind the scenes stories any music nerd would want to know. Some folks aren't aware that the tall, angular, lurch-like person of Ric Ocaesk was married to the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Supermodel, Paulina Porizkova, for 30 years. It was an odd pairing, one akin to Julia Roberts marrying Lyle Lovett. You just never know.
The Uncool by Cameron Crowe: I talked in some depth about this book not long ago. It's a story that could never, under any circumstance, happen again. Check it out on my blog entry on 12-6-25. I didn't mention it there but for those not familiar, Cameron Crowe was married to Nancy Wilson of the band Heart (the blond) for 24 years. In the book, out of respect or some other reason, he only mentions her once, a passing reference to “my girlfriend Nancy." That's rock and roll, I guess.
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