The perfect gift for music lovers, The Mixtape of My Life is a guided journal that offers prompts and questions to get everyone recalling the pivotal songs that have shaped our lives. No matter which musical generation you belong to, or whether your musical tastes range from doo-wop to Daft Punk, The Mixtape of My Life can be an instant conversation starter among friends and family--and a great way to rediscover the special tunes that played during key moments of your life. Everyone has those songs that take them back--to their first love, their favorite concert, or a memorable Saturday morning cartoon. The Mixtape of My Life provides more than 200 questions and prompts to help readers chronicle their lives through music and explore their personal soundtrack. Evoking memories, stories, and long-forgotten mix tapes, this guided journal includes questions like "What was the first record you owned?" and "What song did you later realize was smutty?" and provides room to draw a favorite album cover or create the perfect road trip playlist. With dozens of quirky illustrations throughout, The Mixtape of My Life can be a great tool for your next dinner party, or simply something any music lover can enjoy for themselves.

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.

This memoir is “an emotional journey that will make you laugh, cry, and everything in between” (Wanda Sykes) as it explores comedian, writer, and producer Cristela Alonzo’s childhood as a first-generation Mexican American in Texas and her dreams to pursue a career in comedy. When Cristela Alonzo and her family lived as squatters in an abandoned diner, they only had two luxuries: a television and a radio. These became her pop cultural touchstones and a guiding light that ushered her forward. In Music to My Years, Cristela shares her experiences and struggles of being a first-generation American, her dreams of becoming a comedian, and how it feels to be a creator in a world that often minimizes people of color and women. Her stories range from the ridiculous—like the time she made her own tap shoes out of bottle caps or how the theme song of The Golden Girls landed her in the principal’s office—to the sobering moments, like how she turned to stand-up comedy to grieve the heartbreaking loss of her mother and how, years later, she’s committed to giving back to the community. Each significant moment of the book relates to a song, and the resulting playlist is deeply moving, resonant, and unforgettable. Music to My Years is “a timely reminder that regardless of economic status, race, or gender, love is the connection that ties together all humanity” (Booklist).

The highly anticipated memoir from Gucci Mane, "one of hip-hop's most prolific and admired artists" (The New York Times).

Mixtape Nostalgia: Culture, Memory, and Representation tells the story of the mixtape from its history in 1970s bootlegging to its resurgence as an icon of nostalgic analog technology. Burns looks at the history of the mixtape from the early 1980s and the rise of the cassette as a fundamental aspect of the music industry. Stories from music fans collecting hip hop mixtapes in the Bronx or recording songs off the radio permeate the book. She discusses the continued contemporary appeal of the mixtape as musicians, novelists, memoirists, playwrights, and even podcasters have used it as a metaphor for connection and identity. From Rob Sheffield’s Love is a Mix Tape to Questlove’s Mixtape Potluck Cookbook, Burns analyzes how the mixtape can function as a plot point, a stand-in for emotional connection, or an organizing structure. The book shows how creators use the iconography of the mixtape cassette to create ephemera, from coffee subscriptions to board games, which speaks to the appreciation of the tangible and the analog. The desire to find connection through sharing a physical artifact permeates the various creative uses of the mixtape. From blockbuster films like Guardians of the Galaxy to mixtape throw pillows, Burns highlights the mixtape as a site of collective memory tied to youth culture, community identity, and sharing music.

'A lovely novel, delicately drawn, with characters that really linger in the mind . . . I got really swept up in it.' Laura Barnett, author of The Versions of Us You never forget the one that got away. Daniel was the first boy to make Alison a mix tape. But that was years ago and Ali hasn't thought about him in a very long time. Even if she had, she might not have called him 'the one that got away'; after all, she'd been the one to run. Then Dan's name pops up on her phone, with a link to a song from their shared past. For two blissful minutes, Alison is no longer an adult in Adelaide with temperamental daughters; she is sixteen in Sheffield, dancing in her skin-tight jeans. She cannot help but respond in kind. And so begins a new mix tape. Ali and Dan exchange songs - some new, some old - across oceans and time zones, across a lifetime of different experiences, until one of them breaks the rules and sends a message that will change everything... __________ PRAISE FOR MIX TAPE: 'Gorgeous novel about first love . . . guaranteed to make you think of your first love - and perhaps what might have been' Nina Pottell, Prima 'This grown-up love story is gorgeously written and romantic without being sentimental' Good Housekeeping 'Deftly written romantic novel' Red 'Touching, peppily nostalgic love story' Sainsbury's Magazine 'Funny, moving, relatable' Heat 'Fantastic, moving, beautiful novel' Daily Mail 'This tender tale of second chances...is a nostalgic delight' Sunday Mirror 'A brilliantly nostalgic story, with a great sound track' Best Magazine