Songs by Honeybird

Oh, man. I love this book.
60s music is my music.
Southern rock is my very soul.
I have seen The Allman Bros. live a couple dozen times and saw Gregg Allman in the last show he did before leaving this earth, his voice as sweet and clear as it was back when he first started singing.
I lived in Midtown Atlanta before it was cool.
Have witnessed the racial ignorance of the deep south.
Of course I was going to enjoy this book.
But I had no idea I was going to love it.
I'll be shouting about this lovely novel to everyone I know, and thank you, Peter McDade, for writing it.

It's been a while since I've compulsively read a book in one sitting, but I just didn't want to put this one down. While the main plot line revolves around the end of the relationship between Ben and Nina, an interesting cast - friends, family, acquaintances - move in and out of their lives, sharing secrets and impacting their choices. "Songs by Honeybird" is funny, touching, and real.

Will Ben and Nina make it? And what to make of the talking dog?
I wasn't sure what to expect going into this. It sounded interesting. Music from the '60's got me excited.
Throw in a talking dog, and we have ourselves a pretty interesting book.
On the surface, it's a couple at the end of their relationship, as each is pulled in different directions for their career.
Mixed in we have several layers on underlying stories, a talking dog, a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor, and a moral about life and relationships.
Very interesting overall.

This new novel by Peter McDade is scheduled for release on March 29th, 2022. His publisher Wampus gave me the opportunity to get an early look for an honest review.

I first read about this upcoming book in an independent publishing catalog I get at work at the library. The brief synopsis really intrigued me, especially with the angle of the late 1960's southern music scene. I had to seek it out just on those elements. As noted above, the story follows a couple who have just broken up with the book laid out in alternating chapters between each as they move on with their lives and interests. No surprise, Ben's story and his research into the band Honeybird really resonated with me more. In fact, I would have been perfectly content with a novel that focused just on Ben's dive into the fictional band's history - perhaps balancing the present-day investigation with flashbacks to the characters in the 1960's (as opposed to hearing it second hand from Darlene and Toni). This approach could have allowed us to better get into the heads all three band members and the racially tense world wherein they lived.

Nina's story is a bit odder to me, especially with the whole "talking dog" aspect. Still, her story is about how someone moves on to a new relationship. It felt very genuine and honest to me. The author has a good ear for dialogue; all of his characters come across as natural and not forced.

Music plays an important part in both halves of the novel. McDade peppers a lot of references throughout his story, to songs and bands I am very familiar. Those kinds of topical references really resonate with me and often similarly find their way into my own writing as well. I like when an author forges that kind of connection with his readers. I also like the fact that the author is also himself a musician. As such, he has made a number of the songs from the book available on his YouTube channel.

This is a new author for me. I don't often read books about or set around the music scene so thought this would offer something different. I enjoyed Ben's story the most though would have enjoyed some scenes set in the 60's when the band were around to get a real sense of the people. Nina's story didn't work as well to me and I found the whole talking dog thing just plain weird. I thought this was well written and different.

Songs by Honeybird by Peter McDade is a highly recommended novel about a break-up, a band, and a talking dog.

It's been two weeks since Ben and Nina broke up. They were planning to move together when Nina confessed to Ben that her dog, Sid, talks and is actually a reincarnated being. This was more than Ben was willing to accept. Ben, a Doctoral candidate, is researching the South's first integrated rock band, Honeybird, for his dissertation. The band ended abruptly after a tragic fire and information on the band is scarce.

The narrative alternates between Nina and Ben's point-of-view and covers their past relationship and their current activities as they move on after the breakup. While Ben is researching and uncovering information on the band, Nina begins to seek the truth about her father's death. The characters are well-developed and their portrayal is authentic and empathetic. Many will be able to relate to both of them. Even supporting characters resemble the real friends and family members many of us have.

The writing is very good and allows the plot to unfold in an honest manner while also examining their past relationship. Admittedly, the whole talking dog direction of Nina's story arch hindered the complete enjoyment of the narrative for me. Alternately, I relished Ben's chapters and following his research on Honeybird and the past. 3.5 rounded up

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Wampus via NetGalley.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Google Books, and Amazon.

Songs by Honeybird is a book that not only focuses on songs and music, but also other themes such as racism. It is rather historical, but the themes are still somewhat relevant. I found the characters did have some interesting perspectives.


This book was certainly medium paced, and I found that this matched the story well. Even though I didn't connect with the characters myself, I did appreciate each one's section and they all contributed well to the story.


Overall this book is one for those music history buffs. Music is universal. 


Rating: 3.75/5

Thank you to Mindbuck Media/Wampus for a copy of this title to review!

I was captivated by the subject of Ben's thesis - an integrated band in the mid-60s whose end came too soon after the lead singer and guitarist is found dead in a fire and the drummer is presumed to have either perished in the same fire or started the fire that took the life of the leader of the band.

This story has several different plot lines that are loosely tied together by Ben and Nina. They previously dated but he decided she was a bit much when he learned she could hear her dog speak to her. He actually suggested that she see a therapist. This doesn't bode well for their relationship.

I found the research that Ben was doing fascinating and what it takes to seek out details for someone that died many years ago and the family is hard to find. But he hits jackpot with Foxy, a photographer that has a lot of photos of this group during that time. I found myself caught up in the research and the story of this band, even though fictional.

I liked how the story alternated between Ben and Nina and what they were going through post-breakup between family and trying to get their lives back on track. More details are shared as the story progresses and I had a better understanding of the characters and what they were thinking and feeling about themselves and their lives.

I think I would have enjoyed this story even it was only about Ben searching for more information about the Honeybirds and uncovering the truth.

We give this book 4 paws up.

This book has a soundtrack album. I only found that our after I finished it, but it was the cherry on top of a marvellous book.
I was intrigued by the premise of this book: couples breaking up, talking dogs, inter-racial music groups, and i requested and received it on NetGalley. the copy they sent had weird formatting, and so I bought I on Amazon. And then I felt silly, because if it wasn't any good I'd just paid for a book I also got for free. Luckily this was a really good book. Quirky and heartwarming and affirming. It covers some big issues, particularly around fathers, relationships, race and growing up, but I would describe it as a thoughtful - rather than heavy - book. there were things that worked here that surprised me (talking dog? Sure, why not). There are two plotlines that weave around each other, and I loved both of them. All in all a thoughtful, satisfying book.

It seems I didn't get the point of Songs by Honeybird. It's an overall interesting book, especially with the whole talking dog thing, but I admittedly found nothing about it that truly interested me. In the nostalgia-obsessed era we are in, populated by the likes of Daisy Jones & the Six, I'm beginning to find the concept of using fictional artists set in iconic periods to articulate profound observations about humanity a bit tiring at this point. A me issue, for sure. There's something to appreciate in this, especially if you're someone unlike me who seems to have consumed every book that has the same basic story structure.