From migrations to pop culture, loss to la dérive, Life in a Country Album is a soundtrack of the global cultural landscape—borders and citizenship, hybrid identities and home, freedom and pleasure. It’s a vast and moving look at the world, at what home means, and the ways we coexist in an increasingly divided world. These poems are about the dialects of the heart—those we are incapable of parting from, and those that are largely forgotten. Life in a Country Album is a vital book for our times. With this beautiful, epic collection, Nathalie Handal affirms herself as one of our most diverse and important contemporary poets.

An emotional, small-town, first-love romance between a spirited athlete and her football hero neighbor. Feisty, dive queen Cam Swayne refuses to give up on her destiny. For as long as she can remember, her heart has belonged to the dreamy boy next door. But despite their lifelong friendship, the three years separating them seems like an insurmountable hurdle to the relationship she really wants. Until one summer night, when everything changes and Jake finally sees her for the woman she's become. Can Cam's sheer determination keep them together when college, illness, and fate come calling? Or will she be left to pick up the pieces without him? "You were my only wish. My only dream come true. But what if I couldn't keep you?" Inspired by Taylor Swift's "Begin Again," this heartbreaking story of love, resilience, and unexpected happily ever afters might just leave a permanent mark on your soul. Warning: tears may fall... Start the complete, interconnected series today.

As recommended by USA Today and excerpted on Rolling Stone.com! More than forty years after breaking up, The Beatles remain the biggest-selling and most influential group in the history of popular music. Fans endlessly replay their songs, craving more, while thousands of cover versions of their songs have been recorded and performed. Band biographies, pop music histories, song books, and academic titles on the Fab Four clutter shelves. But never has there been a definitive guide to the finest songs of The Beatles after they called it quits. Still the Greatest is a love song to the songwriting and recording achievements of Paul, John, George, and Ringo after each struck out on his own. In this creative history, Jackson selects the best songs in each solo career and organizes them into fantasy albums they might have formed had the legendary group stayed together. This romp through the post–Beatles history of each artist delves into the circumstances behind the composition, recording, and reception of each work, offering a refreshing take on how spectacular much of The Beatles’ second act truly is. Jackson assesses the more than seventy albums and nine hundred songs the four collectively released, selecting the crème de la crème of their output. Still the Greatest brims with facts (release dates, writing and performing credits, and information about production techniques) and insightful analyses of the music and lyrics. In telling the stories behind the songs, Jackson recounts the remarkable influence the Post Fab Four continued to have long after the big split. Both a handy reference and an engrossing cover-to-cover read, Still the Greatest is an invaluable companion for those who thought it all ended with the 1970 album Let It Be.

At one moment, while reading James Capozzi’s manuscript, it occurred to me that he might actually be a Martian who learned to write by studying the incomplete works of John Donne, Raymond Queneau, and J. G. Ballard. But that only tells part of the story. He seems to have traveled to different countries—Spain, New Jersey, and Nevada—and recognized that all of them are foreign. Ghosts and ghostly voices rise up from the ground. Without falling into some obvious pattern or strategy, Capozzi puts words together that sound as if they have been connubial all along. The best poems worm their way into the reader’s brain, adding their own wires and synapses. —JOHN YAU

A Variety Best Music Book of 2022 A No Depression Most Memorable Music Book of 2022 A Library Journal Best Arts and Humanities Book of 2022 A Pitchfork Best Music Book of 2022 A Boot Best Music Book of 2022 A Ticketmaster Best Music Book of 2022 A Happy Magazine Best Music Book of 2022 Though frequently ignored by the music mainstream, queer and transgender country and Americana artists have made essential contributions as musicians, performers, songwriters, and producers. Queer Country blends ethnographic research with analysis and history to provide the first in-depth study of these artists and their work. Shana Goldin-Perschbacher delves into the careers of well-known lesbian artists like k.d. lang and Amy Ray and examines the unlikely success of singer-songwriter Patrick Haggerty, who found fame forty years after releasing the first out gay country album. She also focuses on later figures like nonbinary transgender musician Rae Spoon and renowned drag queen country artist Trixie Mattel; and on recent breakthrough artists like Orville Peck, Amythyst Kiah, and chart-topping Grammy-winning phenomenon Lil Nas X. Many of these musicians place gender and sexuality front and center even as it complicates their careers. But their ongoing efforts have widened the circle of country/Americana by cultivating new audiences eager to connect with the artists’ expansive music and personal identities. Detailed and one-of-a-kind, Queer Country reinterprets country and Americana music through the lives and work of artists forced to the margins of the genre's history.

Break out the flannel, scrunchies, and high-rise jeans and indulge in this nostalgic illustrated trip through the 1990s’ most influential albums across all genres. In 501 Essential Albums of the ’90s, Gary Graff leads a cast of fellow music journalists in presenting the music of everyone’s favorite decade…the last decade before the proliferation of social media and digital downloads. With lively descriptions of the releases and over 600 images, this hefty 448-page volume curates 501 albums spanning genres and subgenres—pop, hip-hop, R&B, grunge, metal, country, world music—and features: Year-by-year organization Knowledgeable rundowns of every album featured Album art for each selection Artist imagery Record label, release date, and producer(s) for each Soundtracks and compilation releases also included The journalists detail the circumstances of the releases, notable singles from each, their influence on contemporary and later artists…in short, why each is considered one of the best of the decade. Britney or Body Count, Nirvana or NSync, Metallica or Morisette, Garth or Green Day, Weezer or Wu Tang—whatever your tastes, you will relish this ultimate retrospective of the decade’s music.

Chris Smith tells the fascinating stories behind the most groundbreaking, influential, and often controversial albums ever recorded.