Attention, music lovers–looking for something new to do this fall? Tom Moon, author of 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die, has created a wonderful guide to starting a listening group. If you want to get fancy, go ahead and call it a “salon.” (Pronounce that in the manner of the French.) All in all, a smart, budget-friendly way to enjoy great music and company.

Check out Tom’s pamphlet below, and if you’re looking for further diversion, go here to read his always-interesting blog.

Tom Moon’s Listening Group Guide

I spent yesterday with music and culture critic Jessica Hopper while she was in New York promoting The Girls’ Guide to Rocking.  A full day of radio and TV interviews ended at Barnes and Noble in Greenwich Village where more than 60 people of all ages showed up to support Jessica on one of the last stops of her multi-city tour.

Throughout the day, women kept thanking Jessica for writing the book they wished they’d had when they were growing up.  But plenty of guys—a cameraman and even Craig Finn from The Hold Steady—said her book would’ve helped them too, when they were first getting into music.

As a publicist, I’m always imagining a book’s audience, but it’s easy to forget the way a single person can be affected by reading something, even if that person is a lot like me.  Like lots of the women we met, when I was young and wanted to learn, someone said my hands were too small for the guitar.  I didn’t want to play piano like that person thought I should, so I just got obsessed with bands and songs and records instead.

Hearing young girls ask Jessica how they might know if they had musical talent or which instrument they should learn to play, or how they could get people to listen to their new band, or what they should do when learning their instrument starts to get really hard, I was reminded of the ways books can make a difference especially to young readers.

Read an excerpt from The Girls’ Guide to Rocking.

–Andrea Bussell, Senior Publicist, Workman Publishing

All right, bonus edition might be overstating it. But we all love this book (I can’t wait to give it to my nieces), and so we were thrilled when author Jessica Hopper gifted several of us with custom-made, rocking-girl CDs. (Full disclosure: I did not work on the book and hence did not receive a CD–I’m just a nosy fan!)

Without further ado, here is the Unofficial, Totally Uncensored Girls’ Guide to Rocking Playlist.

1. “Les Petits Chevaux” by Brigitte Fontaine (click to listen)
2. “Meadowlands” by Nancy Jacobs and Her Sisters
3. “Holiday Song” by Marine Girls (click to listen)
4. “I Won’t Tell” by Tracy Dey
5. “Poor Little City Boy” by Nedelle (click to listen)
6. “I’ve Got A Feelin’” by Big Maybelle (click to listen)
7. “I’ve Just Begun (Having My Fun)” by Brittany Spears (click to listen)
8. “I Drive My Friend” by Frida Hyvonen (click to listen)
9. “What Can I Do For You?” by Labelle (click to listen)
10. “Cherry Bomb” by The Runaways (click to listen)
11. “52 Girl’s” by The B-52’s (click to listen)
12. “Have You Got Someone Else On the String” by Texas Ruby
13. “Victim of Rock and Roll” by Care Bears on Fire
14. “Thank God for a Mother Like Mine” by Kitty Wells
15. “Go Tell It On the Mountain” by Mahalia Jackson (click to listen)
16. “Pink Bedroom” by Lou Ann Barton
17. “Are You Going to Leave Me?” by Shirley & Dolly Collins (click to listen)
18. “Hose & I” by Bat for Lashes (click to listen)
19. “Shadow of a Doubt” by Sonic Youth (click to listen)
20. “I Found a Reason” by Cat Power (click to listen)
21. “You’re No Good” by ESG (click to listen)
22. “A_OL” by Sister Rosetta Tharpe
23. “Break In the Road” by Betty Harris (click to listen)
24. “Il Macquillage Lady” by Sister Sledge (click to listen)
25. “The Wait” [Single Version] by The Pretenders (click to listen)