A Very Harry Book List

I’m going to be a little cringy and write a blog post about Harry Styles on his 30th birthday. Harry is one of my favorite song writers, and one of my favorite style inspirations, but I love him even more for his taste in books. I was intrigued a few years ago when I found out he was such a big reader and read some of his favorites. They were so good, I’ve continued to make a point of reading whatever he recommends. I follow a lot of writers and their long book recommendation lists can be really intimidating, but I have found that I consistently enjoy everything Harry is seen reading or talks about, even if they are not my all time favorites. I haven’t regretted one read yet. So let’s do this count down style.

10. Notes on Camp by Susan Sontag

Not bad, but not particularly my thing. This is only 9 pages, so it’s worth checking out. It’s a bit academic, and a bit about nothing. Harry hosted the Met Gala the year this was a kind of manifesto for the theme. I have more Susan Sontag on my list for this year, including Against Interpretation which is supposedly also recommended by Harry, because I am writing an essay collection, and figured I should read more essay collections. I’ve heard her name a lot, but actually know very little about Ms. Sontag, so it’s about time I learned more.

9. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

This was an interesting philosophical book. It felt familiar, but I didn’t know where it was going. I don’t really believe that much in enlightenment or transcendentalism, but it was a nice, peaceful story, and I understand why it’s a classic. It wasn’t too long, and I listened to it on road trips when I wanted the boys to fall asleep.

8. In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan

Harry mentioned on his episode of Tiny Desk that this was on the coffee table when they were in the recording studio because Camille Rowe had given it to him, and so they tried it out for a song hook, and the rest, as they say is history. I prefer Harry’s version. I wasn’t really into Watermelon Sugar at first, but it has grown on me and is one of my favorites lately. This book is a bit like the short stories your high school English teacher recommends. Not awful, but a little bit like, what did I just read. I still think about it, so I think that’s a good sign, but I wouldn’t say I loved it.

7. The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondō

This is a helpful cleaning manual, and I haven’t gone full in like I know people do, but I find she has a useful approach. I actually read this a few years before I knew anything about Harry, but it makes sense he likes it because he is very aesthetic and thoughtful and loves Japan.

6. The Course of Love by Alain de Botton

Harry recommends a lot by Alain de Botton and has gone to hear him speak a few times. I have also listened to a few of his talks on YouTube, and he has really interesting perspectives on things. I think I should read some of his other books. This one was a beautiful picture of a realistic marriage, but a little brutal at times. It is mostly structured as a fiction novella, but has commentary interjections but de Botton with his philosophical understanding of romantic love. He has a pretty bleak outlook on marriage, but says we should do it anyway, which was amusing.

5. My Policeman by Bethan Roberts

This was such a beautiful story, the characters so well crafted. You should definitely read it if you liked the movie. It gave a lot more perspective in my opinion. I did feel very frustrated by the problems caused by lack of communication between the characters. I read it after I knew the casting, but before the movie, or even stills came out, which was an interesting experience world building-wise. It is one I think I will go back to, because I think even though there were parts I struggled with, they were the parts you were meant to struggle with, and I think it would reward a second reading with a little space.

4. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

My library doesn’t have many books by this author, or I would have read more already. I really enjoyed this book, and it is one that Harry talks about a lot, as well as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by the same author. It was really beautiful with unique characters. I love books where the characters refer to pop-culture from their era. It makes them feel so real, and it simultaneously sets them in their place and makes a connection because we can listen to the music and watch the movies that the characters do. I read somewhere recently about a John Baldessari quote from interview magazine that Emerald Fennel references, saying that all good art is in conversation with each other. I think it’s often seen as passé for a character in a story to refer to a pop song, but it’s so much more relatable and in our real lives all of the art we consume and talk about informs our lives and the art we create. That’s only a small part of this book. It’s a great coming of age, with so many relatable milestones, and navigating how we care for the people in our lives.

3. Love Is A Dog From Hell by Charles Bukowski

I wasn’t sure of this at first. I felt like Bukowski was just another man glorifying his crassness, but the beauty in the mundanity grew on me. Bukowski isn’t trying to be cool, he’s just being honest about the paths his life took. Writers often live in poverty during much of their careers. Many writers will paint a picture of a more glamorous world, imagine the lives of other people, or they will glorify alcholism and debauchery in a problematic way. Bukowski instead acknowledges that he has made choices, he’s made trade offs. I read a quote from him on the nitch instagram recently describing all of the dirty hotel rooms he lived in when he was traveling and writing, and how they became beloved places, even though they were dirty and meager because of the freedom they gave him, and how he learned so much from needing few things, from not becoming too dependent on creature comforts. I can really see his influence in Harry’s songs, especially From the Dining Table, Cherry, and Boyfriends.

2. The White Album by Joan Didion

Okay, I would have read this even if Harry hadn’t because I love Joan Didion so much. Several of her books are actually on lists associated with him, but this is the main one that makes me think of him. She talks about her packing list, about interviewing a member of the Manson “Family” and about hanging out in the recording studio with The Doors minus Jim Morrison. I love the essay on how much she loves the water control center in the south California valley. She is just an intensely curious and observant person, and is able to make you feel her excitement, her boredom, her morbid fascination. I just find myself googling her references the whole time.

1. Love is a Mixtape by Rob Sheffield

If you love pop culture references too, this book will blow your mind. If you love High Fidelity, like I do, you’ll be in heaven. If you, like me, feel a little triggered by books on loss and grief, be prepared, and make sure you have the space and capacity. This book is a memoir of Rob’s grief over the sudden loss of his wife, and the aftermath of processing. It is so familiar and specific at the same time. It’s such a good book about love. Such a good book about grief. Such a good book about music, and how the things we love connect us to others and keep us from being alone, even when we try.