Recs if you like A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance...

Nonfiction books that explore how pop culture reflects our identities and politics at large. These books examine music, celebrities, TV, film, games, literature, and the Internet to remind us that entertainment is never just entertainment, and it really is that deep.

All of his picks since 2008, both summer reading lists and yearly round-ups.

Books recommended by musician Lucy Dacus, a solo artist and member of the band boygenius. Pulled from her goodreads list.

This list was generated from a post on pagebound club on Juneteenth in 2026. I opted to not try and make this list comprehensive but just to document the community recs from that day - however, if you have more books to recommend please comment in the forum! Prompts from the original post will be in the comments. Note: prompts asked for books by Black authors, not only those from/books set in the US. See comments section for more discussion.

i'm obsessed with explorations and extrapolations of music in nonfiction, both under a microscope of a certain band and the broader lens of a genre or culture. all of these books read to me or seem to be reviewed as love letters to the sounds they explore, from the personal to the historical. the digital to the physical (just like the books themselves!) mainly this is inspired by my hero hanif abdurraqib, who does it all with a poet's heart 🎧💓

a list of music history + biography, focused on 60s and 70s rock and pop but with occasional other genres and scenes. suggestions welcome!

authors that grew up in Ohio or live in Ohio now! all genres

books about music & its social aspects that I want to read (excluding biographies), but lots of suggestions aren't on pb yet! note: v much american-focused