Best of 2023: Our favourite pop-culture books of the year

As we enter the new year, there’s no better time to catch up on some of the best recent music and film books you may have missed.

From deep dives into the emo explosion, The Grateful Dead, and ’80s action stars to long-awaited autobiographies from the likes of Sir Patrick Stewart and Thurston Moore, these are our favourite pop-culture books of 2023.

You can find them at your online retailer of choice, or ideally, at your local neighbourhood book shop.

All the Years Combine: The Grateful Dead in Fifty Shows – Ray Robertson (Biblioasis)

Every Deadhead will tell you that the band’s live shows were where the real magic happened. Songs would spread out in new directions and stretch well beyond their original recorded versions, making a Dead live show a truly singular experience (the drugs likely helped as well).

Author Ray Robertson delves into a staggering fifty Grateful Dead shows in his new collection, All the Years Combine: The Grateful Dead in Fifty Shows. Since the band recorded all of their shows, Robertson is able to trace the band’s evolution through the decades from their humble San Francisco beginnings to their stadium-filling final years with Jerry Garcia. With these full shows available via elaborate box sets or as time-warped YouTube uploads, fans can now embark on a wild trip with Robertson and follow the trajectory of one of live music’s most groundbreaking acts.

The Amplified Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana – Michael Azerrad (HarperOne)

Michael Azerrad’s Come as You Are was the Nirvana biography on every moody teenager’s shelf in the ’90s. Initially released in 1993, it was the only book to feature the full cooperation of the band, including frontman Kurt Cobain, who would take his life just a year after the book was published.

30 years later, Azerrad has annotated his text with The Amplified Come As You Are. This updated version includes his thoughts on Cobain’s passing, his relationship with the band and Courtney Love, and his breakneck experience writing the book. 30 years of hindsight is an invaluable tool in which to view Nirvana’s story, allowing Azerrad the clarity to see where he may have been let astray in the original process while re-contextualizing Nirvana’s legacy for future generations to come.

The Last Action Heroes: The Triumphs, Flops, and Feuds of Hollywood’s Kings of Carnage – Nick de Semlyen (Crown)

After tackling the rise of mainstream ’80s Hollywood comedy icons with Wild and Crazy Guys, author Nick de Semlyen ups the testosterone levels with The Last Action Heroes. A compulsively readable tribute to the action superstars of the ’80s and ’90s, the book focuses on the rise (and in some cases, fall) of stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Jean Claude Van Damme, Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal, and more.

Filled with juicy gossip on the intense rivalry between Schwarzenegger and Stallone and the wild behaviour of emerging stars like Steven Seagal, The Last Action Heroes is a tribute to the time when action films held Hollywood in a headlock. If you ever watched Bloodsport at a sleepover or tried to perfect your take on Schwarzenegger’s classic one-liners in the mirror, The Last Action Heroes is an indispensable look back at a thrilling (and often ridiculous) era in Hollywood filmmaking.

Making It So: A Memoir – Patrick Stewart (Gallery Books)

Sir Patrick Stewart has finally released his long-awaited autobiography with Making It So.

The now 83-year-old actor recounts his humble beginnings growing up in the U.K. through his numerous productions with Britain’s Royal Shakespeare Company, his beloved roles as Captain Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and his late-career role as Professor Xavier in the X-Men franchise films.

Trekkies and Marvel fans will find plenty of behind-the-scenes nuggets to appreciate here, but you don’t have to be a genre fan to appreciate Stewart’s modest and eloquent look back at his remarkable life in and out of show business.

Lay It On The Line: A Backstage Pass to Rock Star Adventure, Conflict and TRIUMP – Rik Emmett (ECW Press)

Triumph vocalist and guitarist Rik Emmett offers up a mix of autobiography and life philosophy with Lay It On The Line.

Emmett touches on his time with the influential Canadian rock back Triumph but focuses on his approach to songwriting, guitar playing, family, and the music business at large. Pair this with the great recent documentary Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine for a well-rounded look at one of rock music’s most underrated bands and the musician behind rock radio mainstays like “Lay It On the Line” and “Magic Power.”

Sonic Life: A Memoir – Thurston Moore (Doubleday)

Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore has long been an advocate of underground music and the grimy underbelly of ’70s New York. Those twin passions now form the backbone of his long-awaited autobiography, Sonic Life.

From his early years as a music-obsessed teen in Connecticut to his arrival in New York City in 1978 and the formation of the groundbreaking indie-rock icons Sonic Youth, Moore lovingly explores how the burgeoning DIY ethos of the era birthed the alternative rock explosion that changed the music industry forever.

As much a love letter to a time and place as it is a reflective look at Moore’s life and career, Sonic Life is an indispensable gateway to a formative time in pop culture history, as guided by one of music’s most knowledgable and excitable ambassadors.

Transfigured New York: Interviews with Experimental Artists and Musicians, 1980-1990 – Brooke Wentz (Columbia University Press)

New York City in the ’80s was a hotbed of cultural exchange, as musicians and artists of all kinds expanded their boundaries and soaked in new influences. As host of Columbia University’s (WKCR) late night radio show “Transfigured Night,” Brooke Wentz was on-hand to interview emerging artists as diverse as Bill Frisell, Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, and Living Colour, along with NYC icons including John Cage.

With Transfigured New York, author, music producer, and music supervisor Brooke Wentz has gone back to those original tapes to present a wide-ranging collection of candid artist interviews from the time. Together, the collection represents a comprehensive look at an incredible era in New York’s artistic history, featuring an eclectic mix of acts that would go on to influence generations of artists to come.

Where Are Your Boys Tonight?: The Oral History of Emo’s Mainstream Explosion 1999-2008 – Chris Payne (Dey Street Books)

With the massive success of the When We Were Young festival, emo bands are as popular as they ever were, making this the perfect time to dive into Chris Payne’s exhaustive story of the mainstream emo explosion in the early aughts. Payne expertly traces the incubation and rise of bands like My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Paramore, and Jimmy Eat World from basement shows and VFW halls to sold-out arena tours and TRL appearances (it was a different time).

The oral history format allows for a multitude of voices and Payne takes full advantage of that set-up to include dozens of interview subjects, from the band members themselves to fans, journalists, record execs, concert promoters, booking agents, and various scene hanger-ons.

If you ever blasted The Black Parade on repeat while searching for the most incisive Taking Back Sunday lyrics for your AIM away message, Where Are Your Boys Tonight? deserves a place of pride on your bookshelf.