What does music teach us about time—and ourselves? In Uncommon Measure, classical violinist Natalie Hodges reflects on her journey as a young Korean American who devoted her life to music until performance anxiety derailed her path to the concert stage. In this genre-defying memoir, she turns to science to make sense of it, offering illuminating research in neuroscience and quantum physics in this part memoir, part scientific exploration of how rhythm shapes our lives. It's a fascinating exploration of burnout in the music world told through a scientific lens, and it will stay with you long after the final note.

Borrow for free in the Libby app as an ebook and audiobook from May 15-29 as part of the Libby book club, Big Library Read. This reading program through your library connects readers around the world with the same book at the same time without any wait lists or holds.

Book club info

Uncommon Measure: A Journey Through Music, Performance, and the Science of Time
by Natalie Hodges
📚 Borrow the ebook
🎧 Borrow the audiobook
🚫 No holds or waitlists
📅 May 15-29
💳 All you need is your library card

More ways to participate

💬 Share your thoughts on the discussion board.
✨ Check out bonus material like a letter from the author and reader group guide.
📱 Use #biglibraryread on social media for a chance to win prizes!

Virtual author event with AARP

To cap off this year’s Big Library Read, Libby, in collaboration with AARP, will host an exclusive virtual event and Q&A with author Natalie Hodges on May 30 at noon EDT. This engaging session will allow readers to connect directly with the author, gain deeper insights into her work, and have their burning questions answered. AARP’s Director of Book Publishing, Leah Miller, will lead the event, guiding the conversation and ensuring an enriching experience for all attendees.

To register for the virtual author event with AARP, visit here.

About the author

Natalie Hodges has performed as a classical violinist throughout Colorado and in New York, Boston, Paris, and the Italian Piedmont, as well as at the Aspen Music Festival and the Stowe Tango Music Festival. She is a graduate of Harvard University, where she studied English and music, and currently lives in Boulder, Colorado. Her first book, Uncommon Measure, was longlisted for the National Book Award, shortlisted for the Saroyan Prize, and named a New York Times “Editors’ Choice.”

Read-alikes: Books on music

Listen to This by Alex Ross
🎧 Audiobook

This vibrant collection of essays blending classical and popular music criticism, showcases Ross’s insightful writing and explores how music, across genres and centuries, reflects the depth of the human experience.

They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib
🎧 Audiobook

In essays that have been published by the New York Times, MTV, and Pitchfork, among others, Abdurraqib uses music and culture as a lens through which to view our world, so that we might better understand ourselves.

This Is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitin
🎧 Audiobook

What can music teach us about the brain? What can the brain teach us about music? And what can both teach us about ourselves?

In this groundbreaking union of art and science, rocker-turned-neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin explores the connection between music, its performance, its composition, how we listen to it, why we enjoy it, and the human brain.

Watch-alikes: Films on music

For the Left Hand
Gordon Quinn & Leslie Simmer
2021 | 1hr 13min

At age 10, aspiring pianist Norman Malone is paralyzed on his right side after being attacked by his father. Over the next several decades he masters the left-hand repertoire in secret, before a chance discovery of his talent leads him towards making his concert debut. Aged 78, he will perform the greatest work in the canon: Ravel’s Piano Concerto For the Left Hand.

Small Wonders
Allan Miller
1995 | 1hr 17min
🌟Academy Award nominee

Divorced mother Roberta Guaspari-Tzavaras taught music in the New York City school system until the budget ax eliminated her job. Dedicated to music and her students, she established a foundation and raised money to create her own violin program in three East Harlem schools. The film follows Roberta as she lugs her equipment from school to school, teaching students who range from young beginners to high-school students. The students' recitals include playing the "Star-Spangled Banner" before a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden and making a Carnegie Hall appearance.

The Music of Strangers
Morgan Neville
2016 | 1hr 35min

Blending performance footage, personal interviews, and archival film, this film follows an ever-changing lineup of performers drawn from The Silk Road Ensemble’s more than 50 instrumentalists, vocalists, composers, arrangers, visual artists, and storytellers as they gather in locations across the world, exploring the ways art can both preserve traditions and shape cultural evolution. The focus on the journeys of a small group of mainstays from across the globe creates an intensely personal chronicle of passion, talent, and sacrifice.

*Title availability may vary.

The next book club pick will be announced soon. Get notified about the next selection (plus get tons of great book recs while you wait!) by subscribing to Libby Life.

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