Recs if you like Absolutely on Music: Conversations with Seiji Ozawa...

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 🎧💓

This list is for books about understanding music in so many ways! From history to theory to neuroscience to philosophy, this list can offer a comprehensive guide to understanding music. Currently has a lot of books on Black Americans and their influences on modern music.

i love murakami but I haven't read enough! full list of all his works here, from the bottom up we have:

• novels
• short stories
• non-fiction and essays

I did too, but here's a list of books that have turned what I have often found to be a dry genre into readable and engaging text and narratives for me. Also includes, apart from 'strict non-fiction' (whatever that may be): essay collections and memoirs. (This is, of course, a limited list because a single person knowing everything would be rather catastrophic, so suggestions for more books fitting the bill are welcome in the comments, thanks!)