Ever read a book that was sooo good, you have keep going back to it after reading it for the first time…and it never gets old?

Right now I’m just about finishing up my third round of Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon–And the Journey of a Generation by Sheila Weller.  I discovered Girls Like Us two summers ago, after reading an excerpt from it in Vanity Fair, and I’m pretty sure right now it’s close to the top of the list of my all-time favorite books ever.

Since my creative writing juices aren’t really flowing right now and I’m sorta tired, I’m giving you the Publisher’s Weekly editorial review from back in April of ‘08:

The epic story of three generational icons, this triple biography from author and Glamour senior editor Weller (Dancing at Ciro’s) examines the careers of singer-songwriters Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon, whose success reflected, enervated and shaped the feminist movement that grew up with them. After short sketches of their early years, Weller begins in earnest with the 1960s, switching off among the women as their public lives begin. A time of extremes, the 60s found folk music and feminist cultures just beginning to define themselves, while the buttoned-down mainstream was still treating unwed pregnant women, in Mitchell’s terms, like you murdered somebody (thus the big, traditional wedding thrown for King, pregnant by songwriting partner Gerry Goffin, in 1959). Pioneering success in the music business led inevitably to similar roles in women’s movement, but Weller doesn’t overlook the content of their songs and the effect they have on a generation of women facing a lot more choice, but with no one to guide them. Taking readers in-depth through the late 80s, Weller brings the story up to date with a short but satisfying roundup. A must-read for any fan of these artists, this bio will prove an absorbing, eye-opening tour of rock (and American) history for anyone who’s appreciated a female musician in the past thirty years.

I flewww through this the first time I read it, as did my sister Trish and my good friend Robin who each borrowed it that same summer.  So if you’ve been looking for a good stay-in-and-read-all-day-on-a-Sunday-book now that it’s getting colder out and darker earlier, you’ve found it.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 9:56 pm and is filed under Great Reads. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.