Daisy Jones & the Six

Daisy Jones & the Six / Taylor Jenkins Reid, read by a full cast, 355 pgs.

One of the most popular bands of the 70's broke up at the height of their popularity.  No one know the story until now when a "band memoir" is published.  All the relevant people are interviewed and the dialog is put together to tell the story from each perspective. A lot of sex and drugs and rock and roll.  The story unfolds about how you expect but somehow it feels like you are hearing this sort of things for the first time.  I listened to the audio book which is just perfect with a cast that fully embodies each character.

We Sold Our Souls

We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix, 333 pages

Kris Pulaski was once the lead guitarist of Dürt Würk, an up-and-coming metal band out of New England. But just days into their gig opening for Slayer, Dürt Würk singer Terry Hunt throws an Axl Rose-level tantrum and gets the band kicked off the tour, killing off any chance of a big break for the crew. As these stories tend to go, the band breaks up, Terry Hunt finds himself a new band (Koffin) and rises to mega-stardom, while the rest of the band fades into anonymity. But when Koffin announces its farewell tour, Kris starts to realize that something feels...off. There are weird gaps of time that can't be explained away by the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, and she sets off to figure out the truth.

Hendrix has a way of creating horror that's campy and funny and well-structured and a terrifying examination of some aspect of society all at the same time, and this book is no exception. I love how he weaves together the metal-is-Satanic stereotype and the idea of bands selling out, creating something quite enjoyable. If you liked his previous novels (My Best Friend's Exorcism and Hörrorstör), you'll love this one.

P.S. Shout-out to whoever does the book design for Hendrix's novels. Your hard work and excellence is definitely pay off for this book, as well as the books I mentioned above. These books are as beautiful on the outside as the story is fantastic on the inside, and that's saying something. Go you!