A poet, essayist, music writer, and cultural commentator, Hanif Abdurraqib is equally adept at analyzing systemic racism as he is writing about the Ohio emo scene of the early ’00s, or the respective transformative live powers of Bruce Springsteen and Carly Rae Jepsen. His latest book, Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest, is a biography of the genre-redefining hip-hop group, a sweeping history of African American music, and a memoir of being an awkward, music-obsessed teen in the ’90s. Also reading: Kevin Sampsell, Tabitha Blankenbiller, and more! by Joshua James Amberson