life and loss, one song at a time

I recently finished the book Love is a Mix Tape.

I'm still in awe.

This book is incredible. Out of all of the books I have read, this is my favorite. I have read a lot of books and it seems strange that this simple, new-age book is my favorite. But it is. As I read, I kept marking pages with quotes that moved me, there are a lot of little paper strips poking out from the top.

Rob Sheffield lost his wife after five years of marriage. You learn this from the beginning. And while tragic and heartbreaking, this is not what the book is all about. Rob and his wife's relationship was bound by music. From the moment they met, through their time together, and even after she passed away, music was their rock.

They made mix tapes for each other constantly, for all occasions. Sheffield says in the book that he bought a china cabinet and instead of filling it with dishes, he filled it with tapes, and that cabinet still couldn't hold all of the mixes he had.

Of course it was hard for Sheffield to be ok after losing the love of his life. It was also hard for him to listen to music again, something he had done 24/7. But it was through music and those mix tapes that he was able to be ok again.

This book is inspiring. Sheffield is a writer for Rolling Stone magazine. He wrote this book with such a casual dialect, but it is beautiful. I want to write like this. My goal as a journalist is to write the way Sheffield does.

If you have ever loved and lost someone, or made a mix tape, read this book. Borrow it from a friend, the library, or buy it off of amazon.com like I did. Just read it. You will have a whole new appreciation for music.