Ran into an old friend the other night at the Cat Power show. As I was heading out, he asked, “What are you reading?” I damn near fell over. It’s one of my favorite questions to ask, if not answer, and so I told him I’m deep into “The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science,” by Norman Doidge, M.D.: A truly inspiring read for anyone interested in growth, reinvention, creativity, love, motor skills, etc. It’s nothing short of a life-changer, and instills the same sort of hope in the micro that’s going on in the macro with the historic political season unfolding before us.

To continue the hope-mongering, I asked a few musicians, writers, and other book lovers what they’re digging in these grey days of winter. The verdicts:

Ben Kyle, singer/songwriter, Romantica

Ben Kyle - Photo by Alexa Jones

Dennis Pernu, editor, MBI Publishing

Berlin Noir by Philip Kerr. It’s his trilogy that follows the prewar and postwar exploits of Berlin-based P.I. Bernard Gunther. Kerr packs it all in: a two-fisted private dick, hairy armed Russians, beheading by train, black marketeers, effete Nazis, fey Viennese, blustery Americans, smokin’ hot molls. Kind of like Raymond Chandler meets Graham Greene. It’s also a window on a comparatively simpler world which I’m sure seemed hopelessly broken at the time. I bought the book in 1994 when I worked at Borders but for whatever reason never got around to reading it. Also, the April issue of Rod & Custom.

Nick Tosches, essayist, critic, author (Where Dead Voices Gather and many others)

I am re-reading Jack London's John Barleycorn: Alcoholic Memoirs. This book from more than ninety years ago is not only London at his best, but also still stands as the best book about booze ever written.

Diablo Cody, Oscar-nominated writer (Juno) and author (Candy Girl: A Year In The Life Of An Unlikely Stripper)

Currently, I'm reading The Perry Bible Fellowship: The Trial of Colenol Sweeto and Other Stories by Nicholas Gurewitch. It's a collection of Gurewitch's brilliantly mordant comics. I crave beautiful, shocking, hilarious things in the dimmer months.

Mayda Miller, singer/songwriter

Candy Girl: A Year In The Life Of An Unlikely Stripper by Diablo Cody. I like it. She is hilarious and honest.

Adam Levy - Photo by Steve Cohen

Adam Levy, musician, Honeydogs/Hookers & Blow

I am severely ADD. I read a couple books at a time. Right now I'm juggling three. What's unusual for me is that each one is very hopeful—I would recommend all of them.

Ray Kurzweil's The Singularity is Near is blowing my mind. He's a somewhat crackpot futurist arguing that human evolution is going to start being effected by computer developments within the next century; it's unreal and a bit scary but mostly exciting.

In The End of Poverty Jeffrey Sachs, using some interesting case studies, paints an optimistic view of eliminating abject international poverty through raising development aid from each first world country by a mere .07%. That extra dough will be used in creating politically stable landscapes, eliminating corruption, improving international health, and reducing protectionist barriers. I am having trouble understanding a lot of it but The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene is trying to bring together the seemingly contradictory ideas around relativity and superstring theory. I missed all this stuff in college because it's just too freaking hard to wrap your head around it. Thankfully he uses great and amusing examples to illustrate complex ideas.

Craig Finn, musician, The Hold Steady

Craig Finn - Photo by Barry Brecheisen

Pete Christensen/Karmaglide, musician/manager of Java Jack’s

Finished The Razor’s Edge and still ruminating on it, balancing it with Into the Wild and the various outcomes of the wandering, experiencing life mindset. You can take the path to your end in many ways. It's OK to check out from the mainstream but it's important to keep a few tethers to it.

Also reading Espresso Coffee—Professional Techniques and realizing you can take any subject to the outer limits of exploration in terms of science, technique, chemistry, etc. One can devote much time and effort to understanding the minutia of relationships, food, gardening—whatever. But at the end of the day, sometimes you just want a good, hot cup of coffee.

Sarah Askari, music editor, City Pages

The Miracle Letters of T. Rimberg by Geoff Herbach. The author, Herbach, lives here in town and he's one of the Electric Arc Radio Show performers. The book starts with the lead character in Minneapolis writing suicide letters to Madonna but there are jokes and puzzles and by the end he's in Poland writing suicide letters to Lech Walesa, although I'm not that far yet. It actually comes out big-time this spring, but his friends keep handing me advance copies and asking me to read it and tell them how it was.

Nick Hornby - Publicity Photo

Nick Hornby, author of High Fidelity, About A Boy, and Slam.

I'm reading Graham McCann's Spike And Co., about a bunch of brilliant comedy writers of the '50s and '60s who worked together above a greengrocer's shop in Shepherd's Bush, London, where they produced a whole string of series, including Steptoe (Sanford to you) And Son and Til Death Us Do Part (All In The Family). It's re-awakening very dormant good feelings about Britain, and making me itch to stop sitting in a study on my own.

Chris Riemenschneider, pop music critic, Star Tribune

At the risk of being utterly predictable: I just finished Charles Cross' Cobain biography, Heavier Than Heaven, which I'd never actually read, mainly because I'd already read too much on Nirvana by the time it came out. One of the reasons I decided to read it was because I loved Cross' Hendrix bio from a few years ago (Room Full of Mirrors), and of course the similarities between the two subjects are obvious. I couldn't help but think of Kurt as being something of a whiner and drama queen when it came to his childhood, which, yeah, certainly wasn't ideal but was Ozzy & Harriet compared to the shit Jimi and his kid brother went through.

Either way, Cross is one of the best. He doesn't sensationalize, he seems to be as accurate as they come, and he writes from the perspective of a music nut, not an "E Hollywood Story" kind of celebrity biographer.

Less predictable: I just started The Rising Tide, by Jeff Shaara. I've read a couple other Shaara books... fictionalized historical novels on different wars... and Ken Burns' The War got me to pick this one up. I make a concerted effort to alternate between one music book and one non-music book, just because I don't want to be That Guy, the one who can only carry on conversations like debating Stones albums and whatnot.

Mark Trehus, owner, Treehouse Records

Eye Mind: The Saga of Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators, The Pioneers of Psychedelic Sound by Paul Drummond. First in-depth look at a genuine rock and roll legend.