The Best Books of 2024
PopMatters Best Books of 2024 include a broad range of nonfiction, many books on music, short fiction, a novel that turns a Mark Twain classic inside out, and much more.
memoir
You Could Have Written Alex Van Halen’s ‘Brothers’
Alex Van Halen’s Brothers is infuriating for fans of Eddie Van Halen because we’ve read all this before. We don’t need this high school term paper of a memoir.
What Is the Goal of Andrea Warner’s ‘We Oughta Know’?
Andrea Warner purportedly wants to do right by popular Canadian women musicians in her book of revisionist album reviews, We Oughta Know.
‘Mettlework’ Excavates Myths of American Motherhood
Poet and author Jessica E. Johnson’s memoir Mettlework excavates myths of motherhood and girlhood in mining towns across America.
Kathleen Hanna, Riot Grrrl, and Punk
Riot Grrrl’s activism and grass-roots activity showed the movement was more concerned with breaking the rules and conventions than breaking through in punk.
When Silence Roars: Rock Widows on When the Music Stops
The interviews of rock widows in I Can’t Remember If I Cried reveal life for these women when their husbands exit the stage, the music stops, and the silence roars
‘Grief Is for People’ Is a Loving Model for Sudden Loss
Grief Is for People is a loving portrait of a dear friend and an offering of shared wisdom for the bereaved rooted in emotional chaos and its subsequent clarity.
The Magnificent Dance of ‘The Swans of Harlem’
In her dance history book The Swans of Harlem, author Karen Valby structures a magnificent, wide-ranging, complex narrative that’s both engaging and emotional.
‘1967’ and Robyn Hitchcock’s Quest to Stay High for Eternity
Robyn Hitchcock’s memoir 1967 taps into the music high that untethered the restraints of boarding school and shaped his life and music for eternity.
Patric Gagne Calls for Empathy in ‘Sociopath: A Memoir’
Sociopath author Patric Gagne asks readers to reconsider their perceptions of sociopathy, arguing that people who struggle to feel empathy still deserve to receive it.
Steve Reich’s Music Echoes in Jordan Mechner’s Graphic Memoir ‘Replay’
Like Steve Reich’s Different Trains, Jordan Mechner’s graphic memoir Replay is a work of introspection that looks to history and tragic synchronicity.
The Tooth Hurts: John Patrick Higgins on Pain and Porcelain
John Patrick Higgins chatters about his newfound porcelain immortality and the tooth hurt endured for his new book, Teeth: An Oral History.