I'd second in spades (if that isn't a mixed metaphor) the previously mentioned and brilliant 'Last Night's Fun', also Bob Copper's books and Atkinson's 'English Traditional Ballad' (if you're looking for something a bit more academic). And if you like ballads, Clinton Heylin's 'Dylan's Demon Lover' (which is about Child 243 rather than El Zimmo's sex life) is a fascinating, quirky and accessible piece of research. 'White Bicycles' is good, and I'd suggest Rob Young's 'Electric Eden' except that it's possibly too bulky and heavy for airborne entertainment.

I have to admit to reading Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt's joint autobiography 'XS All Areas' on a holiday poolside last summer. It didn't make me like them.