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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
6 word review: This is now my favorite book.
Longer review: I’ve been a voracious reader for 5+ decades, and never had a book that connected so directly with my heart, mind, ears, and that nameless sixth sense of memory/nostagia/subconscious.
Author Rob Sheffield is a famous rock journalist, but in this deeply personal account he’s a just a guy who has rock music coursing through his veins as he navigates life. Music gets him through growing up, finding his passions, experiencing authentic love, and losing that love in an excruciatingly cruel twist of fate.
In just 219 pages, Sheffield manages to cue the soundtrack of my entire teen and young adult years. He makes me laugh at his wit, and savor memories of music mixes I made or wish I was cool enough to make. While all that swirls in my head, I am gripped by Sheffield’s personal story of living with grief so raw and real.
I read “ Love is a Mix Tape” on a train along the Mississippi, heading to a concert of an artist that was the subject of the first mixtape I ever received (on TDK, of course. It was 1985). The 20-year-old college classmate who made it for me is now my husband of 37 years, sitting next to me on the train, handing me a tissue as the emotions of Sheffield’s work spilled out.
Longer review: I’ve been a voracious reader for 5+ decades, and never had a book that connected so directly with my heart, mind, ears, and that nameless sixth sense of memory/nostagia/subconscious.
Author Rob Sheffield is a famous rock journalist, but in this deeply personal account he’s a just a guy who has rock music coursing through his veins as he navigates life. Music gets him through growing up, finding his passions, experiencing authentic love, and losing that love in an excruciatingly cruel twist of fate.
In just 219 pages, Sheffield manages to cue the soundtrack of my entire teen and young adult years. He makes me laugh at his wit, and savor memories of music mixes I made or wish I was cool enough to make. While all that swirls in my head, I am gripped by Sheffield’s personal story of living with grief so raw and real.
I read “ Love is a Mix Tape” on a train along the Mississippi, heading to a concert of an artist that was the subject of the first mixtape I ever received (on TDK, of course. It was 1985). The 20-year-old college classmate who made it for me is now my husband of 37 years, sitting next to me on the train, handing me a tissue as the emotions of Sheffield’s work spilled out.
emotional
Caroline’s favorite book from when she was 13, definitely defined her. I’ve been waiting to read it, as I knew it would come to me when I needed it. I did.
I thought the book lacked a bit of focus in the first 1/2-2/3, but the back portion felt more cohesive. I'm definitely motivated to dig out my Nirvana CDs and it brought back some fond mix tape memories.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-paced
emotional
This book written by a music journalist, so it's not going to be the next great Amerian novel, but it's a great book. It's the story of his obsession with music and his wife, who he lost after only 5 years of marriage. The story of he and his wife is funny, sad, sincere. The story of his loss is sad, confusing, heartbreaking. I often wondered if there were other people out there who were so connected to music - songs that reminded you of people, of times, of places, and this book proved there are those people out there.
The most surprising thing about it is that it made me horribly nostalgic for the nineties. Those were the years of my adolescence. I remember making the mix tapes from the weekly top 40. I remember KLF. I was reassured when I read and found that I was not the only person who could remember everything about the day that Kurt Cobain died. (Where I was, who I was with, what was said...). I think back and wonder how I lived through those years without realizing exactly how important they were for music, for girls, for everything indie. We had zines, we had mixed tapes, I listened to L7 and Bikini Kill.
My favorite part of the book was when they were psyched to go to a Pavement concert - because they wanted to see what they looked like. Do you remember that? Before the internet was huge when there was a little band on an indie label that you knew the songs but wouldn't be able to pick them out of a crowd? Or to find that it was really a guy singing & not a girl? I suddenly feel the urge to go listen to some Ace of Base and Soundgarden or to make my 90's mix...
The most surprising thing about it is that it made me horribly nostalgic for the nineties. Those were the years of my adolescence. I remember making the mix tapes from the weekly top 40. I remember KLF. I was reassured when I read and found that I was not the only person who could remember everything about the day that Kurt Cobain died. (Where I was, who I was with, what was said...). I think back and wonder how I lived through those years without realizing exactly how important they were for music, for girls, for everything indie. We had zines, we had mixed tapes, I listened to L7 and Bikini Kill.
My favorite part of the book was when they were psyched to go to a Pavement concert - because they wanted to see what they looked like. Do you remember that? Before the internet was huge when there was a little band on an indie label that you knew the songs but wouldn't be able to pick them out of a crowd? Or to find that it was really a guy singing & not a girl? I suddenly feel the urge to go listen to some Ace of Base and Soundgarden or to make my 90's mix...
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
I think I picked this on recommendation of Harry Styles? Anyways, this is not a book I would have ever chosen to read, but somehow I did. The first part I didn’t love, the second half made me so sad. It broke my heart. I could feel Sheffield’s pain so hard. The music was really cool- my goal was to listen to every song, but I quickly gave up on that. There’s so much! I will one day though. I didn’t love the end where he talks about how music now doesn’t have meaning. Regardless, heart-breaking yet simultaneously heart-warming.