Tom Doyle (5)

Running Up That Hill, by Tom Doyle, is an insightful and far more personal look at Kate Bush than what we usually get in writings about her.

These short chapters touch on most of her career, from writing and recording through personal feelings and even song analysis. This makes for a fun straight through read, but I think someone could read this a chapter or two at a time, maybe interspersed with listening to her work again, and spread it out over a week or two.

I was fortunate to have been show more going to and from the UK at about the time of her first recording and became a fan early on, turning some of my friends at home in the US on to her as well. This book brought back memories but, more importantly, it reminded me of her great talent. Sometimes it is easy, as time passes, to let favorites slip into the past. Books like this serves not just as a nostalgic trip but as a reminder to get some of her work into my regular playlists again.

I would highly recommend this to both fans of hers as well as those who just enjoy music history and/or biographies (though admittedly this isn't so much a biography as a series of visions that together tells a good part of her life). If you're just looking for a picture book, this might not be for you, there are a lot of words.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. show less

Until Kate gets around to writing her own book, this will have to do, as it is, it's pretty interesting.