Big Library Read: Insightful, Lyrical Memoir with No Holds, No Waiting
Posted on May 13, 2025 at 6:00 am
Big Library Read
MAY 15–29
Borrow the Big Library Read with no holds and no waiting!
Available through Libby and OverDrive
Uncommon Measure
A Journey Through Music, Performance, and the Science of Time
By Natalie Hodges
This memoir is an insightful and lyrical exploration of music, time, and self-discovery. It is a virtuosic debut from a gifted violinist searching for a new mode of artistic becoming.
How does time shape consciousness and consciousness, time? Do we live in time, or does time live in us? And how does music, with its patterns of rhythm and harmony, inform our experience of time?
Uncommon Measure explores these questions from the perspective of a young Korean American who dedicated herself to perfecting her art until performance anxiety forced her to give up the dream of becoming a concert solo violinist.
Anchoring her story in illuminating research in neuroscience and quantum physics, Hodges traces her own passage through difficult family dynamics, prejudice, and enormous personal expectations to come to terms with the meaning of a life reimagined—one still shaped by classical music but moving toward the freedom of improvisation.
Uncommon Measure: A Journey Through Music, Performance, and the Science of Time was longlisted for the National Book Award, shortlisted for the Saroyan Prize, and named a New York Times Editors’ Choice.
Themes: Mental health and burnout, music and science, Korean American experience
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. Visit her website at www.nataliehodges.com.
Discussion Board & Guide
Big Library Read Discussion Board
The Discussion Board for Uncommon Measure by Natalie Hodges is hosted by the Big Library Read. This pick for May 2025 is a thoughtful reflection on performance, cultural expectation, and finding meaning beyond mastery. You’ll find thoughtful questions that promote discussion and the sharing of ideas and experiences.
This guide has been created by the publisher of Uncommon Measure with 10 conversation starters designed to promote book group discussions.
Extras
A letter from Natalie Hodges to you, the reader.
Listening Through Uncommon Measure with Author Natalie Hodges
Author Natalie Hodges shares the music that constitutes a highlight reel of the music she references in each of the five chapters of Uncommon Measure—essentially, her personal playlist and a set of program notes for the book.
Uncommon Measure Playlist on Spotify
Listen to the music from the playlist as you read and ponder the memoir Uncommon Measure.
What Is Big Library Read?
Big Library Read is facilitated by OverDrive and is a reading program that connects readers around the world with the same digital read (eBook and audiobook) at the same time without any waitlists or holds. Essentially, it is the first global, virtual book club.
As a worldwide digital version of a local book club, the program is free through SCLD to in-district card holders.
Download Libby or head to the OverDrive website to borrow the free eBook or audiobook on your phone, tablet, or computer.
Read-alikes from Libby
They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us, by Hanif Abdurraqib
In an age of confusion, fear, and loss, Hanif Abdurraqib’s is a voice that matters. Whether he’s attending a Bruce Springsteen concert the day after visiting Michael Brown’s grave or discussing public displays of affection at a Carly Rae Jepsen show, he writes with a poignancy and magnetism that resonates profoundly.
This is Your Brain on Music, by Daniel J. Levitin
Whether you load your iPod with Bach or Bono, music has a significant role in your life—even if you never realized it. Why does music evoke such powerful moods? The answers are at last becoming clear, thanks to revolutionary neuroscience and the emerging field of evolutionary psychology. Both a cutting-edge study and a tribute to the beauty of music itself, This Is Your Brain on Music unravels a host of mysteries that affect everything from pop culture to our understanding of human nature.
Music Is History, by Questlove
Previous Big Library Read selection
A New York Times bestseller, Music Is History combines Questlove’s deep musical expertise with his curiosity about history, examining America over the past fifty years. Focusing on the years 1971 to the present, Questlove finds the hidden connections in the American tapestry, whether investigating how the blaxploitation era reshaped Black identity or considering the way disco took an assembly line approach to Black genius. A history of the last half-century and an intimate conversation with one of music’s most influential and original voices, Music Is History is a singular look at contemporary America.
Other Titles
Explore all nonfiction titles about music available from Libby and OverDrive.
Music Documentaries from Kanopy
1995 Academy-Award nominated documentary film
Divorced mother Roberta Guaspari-Tzavaras taught music in the New York City school system until the budget axe 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 students’ recitals include performing for an auditorium full of parents, playing the “Star-Spangled Banner” before a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden, and finally making a Carnegie Hall appearance accompanied by world renown violinists Isaac Stern and Itzhak Perlman.
The advent of electronic music in the 20th century was a radical break from all musical traditions that came before it. Narrated by legendary multimedia artist Laurie Anderson, Lisa Rovner’s superb Sisters with Transistors showcases the music of and rare interviews with female electronic pioneers Clara Rockmore, Delia Derbyshire, Daphne Oram, Éliane Radigue, Maryanne Amacher, Bebe Barron, Suzanne Ciani, Pauline Oliveros, Laurie Spiegel, and Wendy Carlos. Many of the women were classically trained musicians, brilliant mathematicians, or a combination of both and relished the freedom of electronic music, even as they were discriminated against because of their gender and chosen medium.
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World
Winner of a Special Jury Award for Masterful Storytelling at the Sundance Film Festival and Best Documentary at Hot Docs
This revelatory documentary brings to light the profound and overlooked influence of Indigenous people on popular music in North America. This documentary focuses on music icons such as Link Wray, Jimi Hendrix, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Taboo (Black Eyed Peas), Charley Patton, Mildred Bailey, Jesse Ed Davis, Robbie Robertson, and Randy Castillo. Rumble shows how these pioneering Indigenous musicians helped shape the soundtracks of our lives.
View More Music Documentaries
Discover Kanopy’s full collection of music documentaries.
Tags: adults, audiobook, Big Library Read, books, ebook, libby, memoir, overdrive, reading
