My first thought reading this awesome tome in August of last year: No one in the world could possibly have such an encyclopedic knowledge of music. No one, that is, except for the cofounder of Amoeba Music, Yvonne Prinz. If you’ve ever been to the Bay Area, and you care even a little bit about music, you’ve been to Amoeba.
It’s a freakin’ oasis. And a place not unlike Amoeba — on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley — is where we meet The Vinyl Princess. Her real name is Allie. Actually, her real name is Alberta. But that’s a long story.
Okay, so here’s the story: Allie loves vinyl. She loves records. She detests MP3s. And so, in the break between her junior and senior years of high school, she starts her very own blog, The Vinyl Princess.
The book itself is a love story, of sorts. There are guys in bands, hot guys who drop by the record store, guys Allie’s mom dates, guys Allies’ best friend dates … it’s just a big ol’ barrel of boys, this book.
Some of them, of course, are jerks. I’ll leave you to figure that part out on your own.
What’s really outstanding about Prinz’s novel, though, is the music. You need to be a music lover to enjoy The Vinyl Princess, but don’t even try to be as knowledgeable as our heroine. She knows it all, and Prinz’s entire book could serve as a sort of top 10,000 list.
I’ve been meaning to post this review for ages, ever since I had the honor of meeting Yvonne in August. I also have a (partial) interview with her that I intend to post ASAP (i.e. before the world ends). For now, please go read and enjoy Yvonne’s latest, and I’ll be back with more … eventually.
Much love,
brina
Great review for an incredible book. I heard ‘The Vinyl Princess’ as much as read it and fell really hard in love.