Bree’s Book Corner: ATTENTION, ATTENTION, I AM IN THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I’ve had a song dedicated to me three times–twice by Yellowcard when they covered Michelle Branch’s “Everywhere” (which may have hinted at my fervent fandom, mmhmm) and “Nothing Serious” when Over It (now Runner Runner) played Chain Reaction. If I remember correctly, it was when they opened for New Found Glory who were performing under the “secret” name Styx and Stones. The point is, every time it made an emotional imprint (and a LiveJournal entry).

Having said that, you know that one of my top fangirl moments of 2008 involved Leslie Simon coming to work for Buzznet–fast forward to about 10 minutes ago, when I came to the last couple pages of Wish You Were Here: An Essential Guide Yo Your Favorite Music Scenes–From Punk To Indie And Everything In Between— and THERE’S MY NAME!

Why you should read this book, instead of searching Wikipedia everytime you aim to name check someone for scene points: Leslie is a fine storyteller, my friends. Look, I’ll be up front with you–my rock knowledge is so limited that I pretty much thought this title was in reference to an Incubus song (a google search indicates it could be Pink Floyd. That band I get confused with Led Zepplin). I’m not going to win any awards for remembering what label x band started out on or whatever. I mean, with Google, who really needs to cement in those details anyway? My point is (bet you thought I’d never get to it) if you can tell a good story, I’m in.

Leslie is a funny, conversational writer who will school you on the beginnings of Conor Oberst, Fugazi and Fall Out Boy alike, without the kind of snobbery that makes you want to chuck your converse at her head. You’re going exploring, and she is your guide.

The illustrations by Rob Dobi are fantastic as well, or maybe I’ve just been a sucker for books with pictures since I hit third grade and my teachers started denying me Dr. Seuss.

In other bookish notes,

-I’m still reading Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino

-I borrowed Chuck Klosterman’s “Killing Yourself To Live” from my friend Alex, but barely made a dent yet

-I won a GoodReads first read! Oddly enough, it’s a book that was published in 2004 so I don’t really get why it’s considered a “first read”… I’ll let you know when I get it in the mail.