This May, The Reading Agency, working in partnership with BBC Arts, were part of EuroFestival, joining in the Eurovision celebrations in Liverpool. Between 1-14 May, we hosted a Reading Den full of books from our Big Eurovision Read reading list outside Liverpool Central Library as an alternative space to engage with Eurovision.
We also went out to the public and asked you to tell us about other titles that have the power of music as a key theme. Below are a selection of some of the wonderful recommendations we had across the campaign.
Your Recommendations
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Our most popular suggestion, Daisy Jones & The Six has taken the world by storm. A gripping novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their enigmatic lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous break up. Now a popular TV series on Amazon Prime.
Mix Tape by Jane Sanderson
A grown-up love story, about Alison and Daniel and a love rekindled. Join them as they communicate 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.
The Storyteller by Dave Grohl
The man dubbed “the nicest man in rock” has certainly lived. From behind the drums with Nirvana to leading the Foo Fighters, jamming with Paul McCartney and Tom Petty, The Storyteller recounts his stellar career in his own words.
An Equal Music by Vikram Seth
A book about music and how the love of music can run like a passionate melody through life. A detailed novel of forbidden love between a violinist and married pianist who is slowly losing his hearing. Regarded as Vikram Seth’s masterpiece by many.
Night Music by Jojo Moyes
From the bestselling author of Me Before You, Night Music follows Isabel, a music who inherits a coveted Spanish House. As Moyes delves deep into ideas about obsession, music and passion, Isabel will be forced to discover an instinct for
survival she never knew she had.
Swing Time by Zadie Smith
Longlisted for the 2017 Booker Prize, Swing Time, from renowned author Zadie Smith, is a novel that crosses continents to look at the threads that bind us together as two friends move through their lives.
Music and Silence by Rose Tremain
In the year 1629, a young English lutenist arrives at the Danish Court to join King Christian IV’s Royal Orchestra. As he finds himself caught in a place where opposing states of light and dark are battling a war to the death, he falls in love with the Queen’s Danish servant. With his loyalties fatally divided between duty and passion, how can he find the path that will realise his hopes and save his soul?
This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Levitin
Renowned neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin explores the science behind how we react to music and why we are obsessed with it. Praised by scientists and musicians alike, this non-fiction title is as fascinating as it is important.
The Commitments by Roddy Doyle
Roddy Doyle’s much loved debut novel, The Commitments, follows a group of unemployed youngsters in the north side of Dublin as they attempt to make it as a soul band. The first title in Doyle’s The Barrytown trilogy.
Somewhere in the Crowd by Katrina Logan
What better way to celebrate the joy we witnessed at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest than by digging into Katrina Logan’s Somewhere in the Crowd. Follow four unlikely friends from across the globe as they reunite every year for Eurovision.
The Big Eurovision Read Titles
- Greetings from Bury Park by Sarfraz Manzoor (Bloomsbury)
- Ellie Pillai is Brown by Christine Pillainayagam (Faber & Faber)
- Musical Truth by Jeffrey Boakye (Faber & Faber)
- Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell (Sceptre, Hodder & Stoughton)
- Space Opera by Catherynne M Valente (Corsair, Little, Brown Book Group)
- High Fidelity by Nick Hornby (Penguin, Penguin Random House)
- The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce (Black Swan, Penguin Random House)
- Rise Up: The #Merky Story So Far by Stormzy, edited and co-written by Jude Yawson (Merky Books, Penguin Random House)
- Soul Music by Terry Pratchett (Penguin, Penguin Random House)
- Broken Greek: A Story of Chip Shops and Pop Songs by Pete Paphides (Quercus)
- The Songs You’ve Never Heard by Becky Jerams & Ellie Wyatt (Sweet Cherry Publishing)
- The Madonna of Bolton by Matt Cain (Unbound)
The Big Eurovision Read campaign was delivered in partnership with BBC Arts and The Reading Agency with support from public libraries and funding from Liverpool City Council’s Culture Liverpool team, as part of EuroFestival.
