MINNEAPOLIS — What should you give music lovers on your holiday shopping list?

Good luck trying to gift someone concert tickets; ticket services can be confounding. There are always gift cards to a streaming service or record store. And there are books about music.
Even if you don’t know the recipient’s Spotify Wrapped list, we have some music book recommendations from Taylor to Tupac.

“Taylor Swift: Album by Album”

By Kase Wickham, Joanna Weiss, Moira McAvoy (Motorbooks, $30)

Hardly a month goes by without a new book about the world’s biggest music star, but this one may rank as the most fun and fan-friendly. Three girl-moms who are professional writers collaborated on an album-by-album recap (including the Taylor’s Version discs), teeming with facts, opinions, gossip, thoughtful discussions and 175 photos.

“Waiting on the Moon”

By Peter Wolf (Little Brown, $30).

Best known as the lead singer of Boston’s underrated group, the J. Geils Band, Wolf is a captivating storyteller who has crossed paths with dozens of boldface names in music and movies — from the time he sat next to Marilyn Monroe in a New York movie theater at age 10 to recording with Aretha Franklin. He roomed with David Lynch in their college days, befriended Van Morrison and romanced Faye Dunaway (she pursued him and they married). A memoir that’s hard to put down because you keep saying “Really?”

“Heart Life Music”

By Kenny Chesney (William Morrow, $32.50

This memoir by country music’s stadium king is a lot like his music — at turns fun-loving and sincere without being overly personal or reflective. If you were hoping for a big reveal about his short marriage to Renée Zellweger, well, he offers brief, superficial publicist-like spin. He’s married to his music and the job. We learn about his small-town childhood, his mom giving birth to him as a high school senior, the sports-loving dad who coached him up and how he developed his love for the ocean.

Fans will come away thinking Chesney is a super nice guy, a careerist whose band, crew and staff have become his family and his life.

“Only God Can Judge Me: The Many Lives of Tupac Shakur”

By Jeff Pearlman (Mariner, $32.50)

Known as a sportswriter, bestselling author Pearlman conducted 652 interviews, including with the subject’s high school girlfriend and California crack dealers, to paint this portrait of the hip-hop star who was shot and killed at age 25 in 1996.

Pearlman portrays Tupac as a contradiction, a sensitive, poetry-loving student who projected a gangsta rap image while he was devoted to his crack-addicted, Black Panther mother. Pearlman’s storytelling skills combined with his dogged reporting (he even tracked down the baby in the single “Brenda’s Got a Baby” about a 12-year-old Brooklyn girl who tossed her newborn down a garbage chute) make this a compelling and captivating read.

“Willie Nelson: All the Albums”

By Geoffrey Himes (Motorbooks, $40)

A longtime critic for the Washington Post, Himes undertook the daunting task of grading 132 of Willie’s albums (and 20 compilation projects). Amazingly, 44 LPs earned a grade of A-minus or higher, including eight at A-plus, and only three discs merited a grade of F. Himes divides the albums into chronological eras and approaches his words with the right combination of criticism, quotes and anecdotes.

Tribune News Service

(HarperCollins/TNS)
(Photo amazon.com)