"Music on my Mind", the autobiography of Harlem stride piano player Willie "The Lion" Smith. Strangely, I'm not a big fan of that style of playing, but the book is very evocative and captures an amazing period in popular music history when the piano was king.

Another book that I really love is "The Flamencos of Cadez Bay" by Gerald Howson which is the story of an Englishman who travels to Spain in the 1950s to learn flamenco guitar. The book is full of humour and a weird array of fascinating characters. And, is - most importantly - a great insight in to the last years of the golden age of flamenco music.