Sounds Like Me: My Life (So Far) in Song

In this balanced, honest collection of eight essays, each “anchored by song,” Grammy-nominated singer Bareilles shares the story of her life “so far,” beginning with her childhood in Eureka, Calif. When she was 12, her parents divorced but remained on good terms; Bareilles journaled her way through the experience, learning early on to use paper and pen as a way to process her innermost feelings. Teased by peers as a child, she was scarred by “fat trashing” but eventually found her way to a new school and friends, theater, and singing. After a broken teenage love affair, Bareilles wrote the popular song “Gravity” and began her journey to professional songwriting and singing, eventually signing a record contract and releasing five albums with and several hits. Readers will also learn the inspiration behind “Once upon Another Time,” “Love Song,” “Beautiful Girl,” “Red,” “Many the Miles,” “Brave” and “She Used to Be Mine” were birthed. Though Bareilles asserts that writing the book was the hardest thing she’s ever done, her prose has a natural rhythm, and the stories behind each song are organically woven throughout. Fans will be more enamored, as, like Bareilles’s music, this biography resonates with authentic and hard-won truths. (Oct.)