The year's best music reads included open books on a roots-rocker, a dance icon, a punk poet and a rap pioneer; not to mention deep looks at everything from the Vietnam war to the current EDM explosion.

Here are 10 of the best. While you're at it, don't miss these great books by Rolling Stone staffers, either:

So Many Roads: The Life and Times of the Grateful Dead, by David Browne

Can I Say: Living Large, Cheating Death, and Drums, Drums, Drums, by Travis Barker with Gavin Edwards

MJ: The Genius of Michael Jackson, by Steve Knopper