The 16 Best Books About Music From the Last Decade

"I Put a Spell on You: The Autobiography Of Nina Simone" ($12)

A staggering fact: Nina Simone recorded more than 40 albums between 1958 and 1974. This prolific artist was easily one of the most influential of the 20th century, but her political and cultural legacy are only part of what's exposed in her autobiography, which also details her legal and financial troubles, her marriages, her attempted suicide, and her survival through it all.