We love a good playlist here at Wonderland, but what about the oft-forgotten reading list? It’s all well and good keeping up with obscure beats, but don’t let your lit-game slip. With that in mind, we asked the guys from Parlour Tricks to put together a list of their favourite novels of all time – some of them you’ll have heard of, others might be more of a suprise. Still, if you’re not familiar with Parlour Tricks yet, they’re the sextet from New York making unabashedly polished radio pop with a retro inflection.

Their debut, 2015’s Broken Hearts/Bones, was a supremely likeable slice of indie magic and now the band are putting out a wonderfully surreal video for the album’s title track that you can catch below. It features a lot of strangers singing to themselves in a supermarket (apparently a real life incident that frontman Lily Cato witnessed), dancing, and a whole host of other surreal occurrences. So, give it a watch and then give these gems a read – you won’t regret it.

Brian:

East Of Eden, by John Steinbeck

I’m a huge Steinbeck fan and I’ve never been more invested in a set of characters. I knew them, hated them, empathized with and learned from them.

Morgane:

L’Écume des jours (Froth of the Daydream), by Boris Vian

Yeah yeah it’s in French. [Morgane was born and raised in Paris] This was one of those books that was part of the curriculum for 8th graders when I was in middle school. I was completely fascinated by this book. It changed everything for me: the way I read and imagined stories, the way I wrote. It’s what made me decide to go on and study French literature and philosophy. My all time favorite, no question.

Lily:

In Cold Blood, Truman Capote

I read it for the first time when I was sixteen and it jump-started two big loves of my life: Truman Capote and true crime non-fiction. I’m actually rereading it on tour right now. He is my favorite writer, bar none.

Lily:

The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt

A proper epic that came out a few years ago. It deals with death and loss and adventure and art and Las Vegas and the neighborhood I live in in New York. It hits very close to home. I couldn’t put it down. “Walk In The Park” (on our album) is based on it.

Morgane:

Just Kids, by Patti Smith

Patti Smith talks about her life in such a poetic, unpretentious, honest way. The hardship, the hard work and heartbreak all handed to you, take it or leave it-style. When I finished it I wanted to read it all over again immediately. It’s my go-to book to gift, too!

Band fave:

Moby Dick, by Herman Melville

It’s so good. Just read it. You can skip some of the whale-innards stuff in “Cetology” if you want but it’s fun if you keep in mind Melville was def drunk when he wrote it. Brian and Lily became friends when they went to a staged reading of the sermon one night in a cemetery in Brooklyn. They got locked in by accident afterward and had to be released by the cops and it was totally worth it.

Lily:

Prophet’s Prey, by Sam Browers

Sam Browers’ investigation into the Fundamentalist Church of the Latter-Day Saints. It’s insanely entertaining, made terrifying when you remember that these people really exist, these things just happened, and they happened in our country.

Brian:

In Search of Captain Zero, by Allan Weisbecker

The true story of a man who sold his house, bought an RV, and took his dog and surfboard on a journey to find a (literally) lost friend. With a focus on the changes that come with war, drugs, and a passion for the ocean, it’s a powerful story about friendship and disillusionment.

DeeDee:

The First Bad Man, by Miranda July

It’s about a woman whose relationship with a younger girl starts as a physical altercation and then turns into a sexual connection. Crucial combo of incredible writing and surreally slow-burning plot. It just gets better and better and crazier and crazier.