The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara

Dancing through the New York drag ball scene of the 1980s, this is a heartbreaking, fantastic story of love and friendship.

A young queen in love begins the first Latino house on the circuit. But we know gay love stories of the 80s usually end badly, so she must rely on friends to be her real family. There is music and fashion, there are drugs and there are tears. There is money to be made the hard way, because there is always rent to be paid.

But don't let me depress you out of reading this, because it's wonderful. Angel and Venus and Hector and Daniel and all the rest are friends you'll be glad to have met.

Also, the 80s weren't so long ago, and we should not forget.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

In a near-distant future, life on earth sucks. So everybody lives full, rich lives inside "the OASIS" - a virtual reality computer world; you can live, love, work, and play all in the OASIS, only rarely venturing to reality for food or other personal needs.

When the guy who invented the OASIS dies, he reveals he's left an "easter egg" inside, and the first to find it and solve its puzzles will be his heir. Everybody loses their minds, looking for it.

We follow from the perspective of one teen, scraping by and mostly homeless in the real world, and also searching for the egg and attending high school in the virtual world.

I loved, loved, loved this book and I can't stop talking about it! Everybody in the future is obsessed with the 1980s, so the book is futuristic and sci-fi while also reveling in John Hughes movies, electro pop music, and Atari games. There are these parallels of future and past, while also the parallels of real and virtual. It's a lot to keep sorted, and it's done sooo well.

A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

In a series of short stories we discover one man's effect on popular music in the past, the present, and the near future. Also, we see the world around him and it's interconnectedness.

Bennie was a punk kid in a rotten band who couldn't get a date. Bennie is a record company owner navigating a new world of tech. His long-time assistant takes care of everything - and pockets quite a lot, too. Her best friend in college met a terrible end. Her son is interested in pauses during songs.

This book won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and I have no idea why I have not read it until now. It's all the things I love: music, fandom, quality writing, interconnected short stories.

Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man's Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut by Rob Sheffield

With each chapter titled by a song, music critic Rob Sheffield uses this memoir to tells stories about his sisters, their influence on his listening (and fashion), and his ongoing affection for 1980s pop music.

His summer as an ice cream truck driver (titled not with Van Halen's "Ice Cream Man" but with Prince's "Purple Rain"), his almost-seduction by a former teacher, his love of cassingles, a season in the discos of Spain, his high school wrestling career - these are all stories told with nostalgia through their links to songs of the 1980s.

You don't have to love the music to understand the book, but it helps (it also helps that I'm roughly the same age as the author with a similar familiarity to John Hughes movies and MTV) But Sheffield is a guy who writes about music and its effect on our emotions in a really accessible way (see also Love is a Mixtape). This is really a series of stories about growing up and figuring things out.

He's a brave man to admit some of his more bubblegum proclivities, to sing the praises of recreational karaoke, and to analyze what it is about Duran Duran that makes them so irresistible (along with their baffling career longevity). Also, it's adorable the way he dotes on his sisters.

The Star Side of Bird Hill by Naomi Jackson

Two New York City kids get to know their grandmother (and learn about their whole family, really) when they're sent to spend a summer in Barbados.

Teenager Dionne is sure Bird Hill is hell; her mother's always threatened with "sending her home," and she's not sure what she's done to deserve this punishment. Her younger sister, Phaedra, is more accepting of the trip, making friends and exploring this new terrain.

It's a heartbreaking, heart-warming story of family and disappointment and love and growing up. Again and again, men prove to be a disappointment, but the warmth and strength of the community's women buoy the spirit and the story.

The audiobook, read by Robin Miles, was simply INCREDIBLE and added a rich layer to the story's depth with the various accents and patois. We chose to read this title for the library's book discussion, and I'm glad we found it.

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

Over several decades, the owners, editors, and reporters of a Rome-based English newspaper deal with one another, the quick-turnaround news cycle, family, life abroad, and the decline of print journalism in this comic novel.

The book's like an interconnected series of short stories - vignettes of life from the modern-day editor of the paper, the original founder, his descendants, the copy editors, a wanna-be stringer, and more. There's love, there's hate, it's funny and it's sad.

I really liked this book - it's a gossipy bit of behind the scenes in the world of journalism. I've been listening to the audiobook in the quilting studio, and it's been sort of like serial television: office rivalries and home life and a lot of the challenges of expatriates in Italy.

This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz

Love is at the center of this short story collection, but it's equally a look at the American immigrant experience.

The collection revolves around Yunior: - the stories are about his brother, his parents, his past and present lovers. He's a Dominican in America, smart but naive, and like many, he's struggling to figure out his own life while getting older every day.

The language is raw - but appropriately so - and often it's a mix of Spanglish (and it's not translated, so you'd better dust off your high school espanol). Yunior's a bit of a fuck-up where it comes to love and sex, but granted he's got no solid role models to show him otherwise.

I understand why the book got so much love. It's not necessarily a happy tale, but it's told well and offers a unique perspective on the American experience. I listened to the audiobook (awesome) and it was interesting to hear the "street" come and go from the dialog across the stories.

Old Records Never Die: One Man's Quest for His Vinyl and His Past by Eric Spitznagel

Sure, it's crazy. But Eric Spitznagel decided he didn't just want to recreate his long-gone vinyl music collection - he wanted the EXACT records back. The one with his first girlfriend's phone number on the cover, and the one sporting his brother's threatening note about not borrowing it. The ones will all the familiar, unique pops, skips and scratches.

It's really nuts. But also a little understandable - it's a modern midlife crisis, right?

Spitznagel is funny and that's what makes this doomed quest bearable. He's got a real way with words, and there were times I laughed out loud at his descriptions. And yet there were other times I was physically uncomfortable with his mania - I got embarrassed for him when he was too blinded to realize how dumb he was acting.

There's some language in this book (you were warned), but it's the way guys this age really talk when they're telling you their best stories. It's really a good book, and the audiobook narration by Ramiz Monsef was spot-on.

Love May Fail by Matthew Quick

In a mid-life crisis meltdown mode (after not quite shooting her philandering husband), Portia Kane returns to her childhood home to figure out her next step - little knowing it will lead her on an epic journey of discovery and disappointment.

Author Matthew Quick has become famous for his fair, honest depiction of human frailties and mental disorder, and this novel is well within that wheelhouse. Every character in the book has his or her issues, but they're not presented as a problem to be solved, just a thing to be experienced.

Portia's quest to "save" her beloved high school English teacher leads her down nostalgia's path in many ways, and the book is full of 1980s-vintage metal and hard rock lyrics, puns, and references. It's also full of strange coincidences, chance meetings, and what may be divine inspiration.

My only quibble is that I found the character Danielle Bass flat. She's a means to move the story along, but I don't feel that we really get her perspective or struggles in any real way like we do every other character in the novel.

The Big Rewind by Libby Cudmore

The horror of discovering her downstairs neighbor's bludgeoned body soon turns to curiosity as a young urban hipster strives to learn about the woman who was more acquaintance than friend - and uncovers a musical mystery that may lead to the real killer.

With a few minor tweaks, this could have been a teen book - as it is, I think it's targeted at the new "young adult" category that's become trendy in publishing: intended for those out of school, but still early in their careers and adulthood.

Jett and her neighbor KitKat live in a super trendy part of Brooklyn where neighbors hardly use cash and instead barter services and goods. Jett's scraping by, working only as a temp but living cheap in her honeymooning grandmother's rent-controlled apartment. Her passion for vintage vinyl means she's shopping the dollar bins and debating whether 1990's solo Sting is hot or not while drinking Two Buck Chuck with her friend-not-boyfriend Sid.

For all its ironic pop culture and snarky musical references, I really enjoyed this book. The mystery at its heart is twisty and dark without an obvious end, and the will-they/won't-they tension with Sid adds a bit of salty-sweet. Super-short chapters keep the action clipping along briskly, and you'll probably burn up iTunes hunting down the lesser-know lyrics and bands spread liberally through the story.

I Don't Have a Happy Place: Cheerful Stories of Despondency and Gloom by Kim Korson

Kim Korson's not really depressed - she's just got a pessimistic (she'd say realistic) kind of look at the events of the world around her. In this memoir, we get a glimpse at her life as a mother and wife, but also as a daughter growing up and dating before she met Buzz.

It's funny, in a dark way. Everybody knows someone like Kim - the one with a perpetual slightly-cloudly look at life, rather than a full-out rain cloud over their head. (Some of us may even BE that person.)

And you'll enjoy her humorous anecdotes and stories as they're presented here. But it's not a gut-busting funny book, and Kim doesn't really find resolution or a message to bring the experience to a close. I felt ready-to-be-done but missed feeling a sense of completion at the book's end.

Let's Go Crazy: Prince and the Making of Purple Rain by Alan Light

The song, album, and film "Purple Rain" epitomize a certain spot on the 1980s timeline, and I was surprised when I read this book was being released for their 30th anniversary. (It seems like just yesterday!)

Written by a former Rolling Stone editor, this book is chock full of memories and stories from the making of Prince's 1985 magnum opus. Unfortunately, very little of the information is from the notoriously press-shy artist himself - but the story stands up pretty well without Prince's input due to the wealth of truly inside information mined from band mates, friends, rivals, and business partners.
Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman participated fully in this book, and their up-front-and-personal insights may be the best look we'll ever get into the operations of Prince's mind; they were friends and collaborators in a way Prince has rarely allowed. The book also does a nice job putting the music and film into historical perspective, with criticism and analysis from the 80's but also delving into the larger context of their legacy.

It's not the kind of book you read if you're not already a fan of Purple Rain - but for those who are already fans, this deeper look at the behind-the-scenes machinations and little-known facts is a fun way to reminisce and revisit a classic.

Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby

Duncan is one of the world's biggest superfans of an obscure 80's musician nobody's ever heard of, and he runs a website dedicated to cracking the mysteries of Tucker Crowe's art and life. His long-time girlfriend Annie runs a tiny museum in their forgotten English seaside town. When a new album of old Tucker Crowe music is released, every thing changes: Duncan loses touch with reality, Annie gives up on Duncan, and the reclusive Tucker Crowe steps into the real world.

Hornby is widely known for his music geekiness (he also wrote "High Fidelity" about a record shop, which was eventually was turned into a John Cusack film), and this book is a wonderful multi-faceted look at fandom.

These are characters you enjoy spending time with, and their eccentricities are of the real-world kind. You probably know someone (or are someone) like these people. Nobody's got it all together - not by a long stretch - yet you find yourself rooting for them to get their shit together and SUCCEED just like you would a friend.

I listened to the excellent audiobook version of this novel recorded by three readers: American Bill Irwin, and Brits Ben Miles and Jennifer Wiltsie. Since the book is told in three voices, it was fun to have an audiobook read that way too. Later in the book it gets slightly odd, as there are conversations between the characters - for example, you hear Annie in Duncan's section, so that guy was mimicking the voice of the woman reading her sections. Not terrible, just a bit unusual.

There Goes Gravity: A Life in Rock and Roll by Lisa Robinson

Lisa Robinson has been everywhere and knows everyone ... or at least, most of the cool music people you wish you knew. That's what this book is about: a behind-the-scenes look at rock stars from the 1970s through today. It's not Robinson's memoir or autobiography; you only learn bits and pieces about her through the other stories. Instead, the book is about the people who make music, who tour to entertain us, and what they're like outside the spotlight.

Robinson toured with Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones, but she's not a relic of rock days gone by. Did you catch the book title is an Eminem lyric? Robinson's stories run the gamut from New York Dolls to Kanye West, Jay-Z, Michael Jackson, David Bowie, John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

There's no real cohesive timeline or thematic evolution in the order the stories are told. For the most part they work from oldest to newest, but that's not strictly enforced. It's more like a casual sit-down with a great storyteller who's had some awesome experiences.

I enjoyed the book, but if you're not already a music fan you won't be convinced; you really need a little knowledge going into this book to get the most out of it. And she's not terribly concerned with helping you place these icons into any perspective - the deep thoughts and philosophy will be strictly your own. She may have been the only sober one at the party, but she was more concerned with having fun than gaining any real insights.

Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father by Alysia Abbott

Steve Abbott gave his daughter an unusual life; he was a devoted and loving only parent, a struggling full-time poet and writer, and on the front line of the 1980s AIDS epidemic as an out gay man in San Francisco.

It's a good book, and Alysia's honest in a way many might have glossed over. She didn't always behave well - often demanding her father's full attention to the detriment of the rest of his life. But it's overall a loving look at a nontraditional life, and the kind of story we've not heard much; since the AIDS epidemic primarily claimed gay men, most of its history has been written about the community of friends that grew up around sick men and their partners. This is a look at a marginalized group that's just beginning to speak out: children and wives of AIDS victims.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Two teens thrown together by fate and the school bus become friends (then more) despite the odds - doesn't that sound like a book you want to read? YOU TOTALLY SHOULD!!

Eleanor's new to school, and things at home suck: becoming invisible may be the only way she'll survive her mother's explosive new husband. On the other hand, Park's been in the same neighborhood his whole life and lives a common middle-class existence with minimal family drama. It's not an easy or fast friendship but music and comic books become a common language and a bridge to understanding.

These are kids you relate to and root for - hell, odds are you knew or may have been one of them at some point in your life. And their story is stellar.

And a note: while it's marketed as a teen book, the 1986 setting meant that as a 40-something reader, the music and cultural references were especially poignant for me. Do not miss this one!

(I can see now why some people were so hard on Rowell's book Fangirl - which I read first although it came out second. I absolutely loved that book, but now that I've read this one I can see how Fangirl might falter in a direct comparison. I still think it's a great book ... but this one is EPIC and certainly would be a hard act to follow.)

Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir by Linda Ronstadt

Although she downplays it in her reminiscence, Linda Ronstadt's fame and that of her friends really is the history of American pop music in the 1970s and 1980s: They either were the zenith of stardom, or were reacting to it (and often in opposition to it) with their own styles and pursuits.

This is a wonderful memoir if you're a fan of music. Ronstadt talks about the importance influence of the music she heard as a child, and her evolution as an artist. While many claimed her voice was near perfect, she continually worked to hone her craft and improve her technique through new challenges and styles. I found it interesting that she was never a songwriter - always the interpreter and a collector of others' music.

But if you're looking for backstage gossip and personal revelations, you'll have to look elsewhere. While she's perfectly comfortable drawing back the curtain to reveal backstage influences and musical struggles, once she leaves "work" she's much less forthcoming. I often resorted to wikipedia for more personal background. For example: she does not talk about becoming a mother or parenthood; her children are solely mentioned in passing as inspiration for lullabies.

Pretty in Plaid by Jen Lancaster

Subtitled: "A Life, A Witch, and A Wardrobe, or the Wonder Years Before the Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered, Smart-Ass Phase"

Remember the glory days of childhood where your biggest wardrobe concerns were whether you shouldn't wear yellow on Tuesdays (or was that Thursdays?) and if you remembered your sash for the Girl Scout meeting this afternoon?  Jen Lancaster remembers that and so much more.

Lancaster's made a writing career by telling her own life stories with wit and sarcasm. I've read some of her other books (who could forget the story about going to the unemployment office carrying a designer bag?) and they're all really, really funny. This time around, Jen's mining her childhood, teen years, college, and early adulthood - the pre-career Jen, you could call it.

We all have special childhood memories, but in addition to remembering "the lobster birthday" Jen also recalls what she was wearing and why. Framing these great self-mocking memories with significant wardrobe choices gives the stories a connecting thread - and a bit of foreshadowing, in many cases. Also, the luxury of time allows Jen to look back with added wisdom that brings a new depth to the stories: one story's big gay reveal is all the funnier because there are a signs, references and hints sprinkled in the lead-up, to all of which teen-Jen is hilariously myopic.

I listened to the audio, read by Jamie Heinlein, and this is a perfect car-read. It's laugh-out-loud funny and likely to send you on your own mini-nostalgia trip of bad hairstyles and questionable fashion.

Kicking and Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll by Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson with Charles R. Cross

Behind-the-scenes rock-and-roll memoirs always fascinate to me if they're done honestly, and the Wilson sisters keep one another true in this double autobiography of their lives and careers (especially their band Heart, but also solo, as the Lovemongers, movie soundtracks and scoring, and more). The book spans 40 years in rock and roll history, along with background on the globe-trotting Marine Wilson family, their early music influences, romances, marriages, and family.

Rock's not always pretty, even for two gorgeous women: they were constantly questioned and belittled by the music machine, rarely taken seriously as musicians and songwriters, and frequently bullied about their appearance. Rumor and innuendo follow them (incest! sluts! fakers!) and while they didn't necessarily intend to pioneer, they truly blazed a new path for all who have followed.

The audiobook was interesting because the sisters read it themselves (with a bit of assist, but I can't find credits for other minor narrators anywhere). Ann's a natural storyteller and I felt like she was simply telling her tales - Nancy on the other hand is a bit stilted and often her reading felt mechanical and nervous.

Overall I was very happy with the book - they cover their story warts and all, and that always provides the best stories.

VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV's First Wave by Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, and Martha Quinn with Gavin Edwards

This book is a fun little moonwalk down memory lane for any child of the '80s; the five original VJ's may have been making it up as they went along, but we were certainly along for the joyride, too. I was the perfect age for MTV's early years, and I know these authors as well as any of my real-life preteen friends.

The book's divided up into themed chapters, but each VJ gets their say in bits and bites (remember, they invented our short attention spans). Most of the stories are just a paragraph or two, but some tales take a little more time to tell. And tell tales they do: MTV Spring Break, house parties, and clubbing, along with celebrity crushes and strange behavior. "Diamond" David Lee Roth gets his own chapter because there are so, so many stories.

It's kind of fun to get this behind-the-scenes look at MTV back when it actually was all about the music. I thought it was funny that they setup their own note-libraries about the videos, since they weren't really watching them (how does that one end? what happens in it? silly or serious?).

It's a little choppy in places, what with 4 author voices plus excerpts from the late J.J. Jackson. But that quality also makes this book excellent for pick-it-up-and-put-it-down reading (again, short attention span!).