The most recent book I have read off NPR’s list of the 10 best books of 2016 is Born the Run by Bruce Springsteen.
I don’t know much about Bruce Springsteen and have never really been a big fan, but I do love rock musician biographies. I have read many. This one started as most of them do, with the musician’s modest upbringing and hard-knock beginnings playing gigs in dive bars.
But Springsteen’s honest description of his battle with depression, rocky relationship with his father, and love for his three children make the book an interesting and inspiring read. I was most touched by his writing about his mother. He writes about her with the respect and devotion we all hope our children will have for us when they are grown.
Born to Run has all the elements I enjoy in a rock biography, but in the end it’s something more. Even though I don’t really listen to The Boss, the book was well worth reading.
(Image from amazon.com)
Here is the updated list:
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone by Olivia Laing
The Wonder by Emma Donoghue
Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Home going by Yaa Gyasi
Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen
Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters
Eleanor Roosevelt: The War Years and After, 1939-1962 by Blanche Wiesen Cook
Eyes on the Street: The Life of Jane Jacobs by Robert Kanigel
A HOUSE WITH CHARACTER 