In 2025, the world got a little quieter as a large chorus of musician’s voices fell silent. The list of artists who died last year includes soul icons Brenton Wood and Sam Moore, metal innovator Ozzy Osbourne, folk legend Peter Yarrow, songwriting genius Brian Wilson, and consummate Americana storyteller Todd Snider. They will continue to live through their music, of course, but many of them will live through their books or the books written about them. In the first Reading Room of the new year, we honor these artists by taking a look at some of these books.
Todd Snider—Stories flowed out of Todd Snider, who died in November 2025, like water, and his easy with and laid-back take on music and storytelling eased his fans into intimate shows. In 2014, Snider gathered what he calls “mostly true tall tales” in his book I Never Met a Story I Didn’t Like (Da Capo), which is part memoir and part stand-up comedy show. Snider regales readers with entertaining, and often hilarious, stories of Jimmy Buffett throwing fruit at him and moments of “fear and loathing in the green room.” I Never Met a Story I Didn’t Like captures Snider as well as his albums do. In addition, music writer Brian T. Atkinson has paid tribute to Snider by gathering interviews with Snider, his friends, and other musicians in East Nashville Skyline: The Songwriting Legacy of Todd Snider (Texas State).
