Hillbilly Heart

Entertaining and engrossing, this autobiography is a swift read built around the premise that country music star Cyrus based his entire career on the advice of a voice he heard in his head. Though it's not great literature or very deep, Cyrus's book trades on the uplifting theme of the American Dream and is an absorbing read. The story of how a juvenile delinquent from a broken Southern home develops into an unlikely pop culture icon, the book kicks into high gear when Cyrus gives up a promising baseball career to play guitar in a band—because a voice told him to. That voice becomes a character in Cyrus's story, and finding out who it is and why it speaks to him is part of the allure of turning the pages. Along the way readers are treated to anecdotes about hanging out with Kurt Cobain, Waylon Jennings being a fan of Cyrus's acting career, and Cyrus's daughter Miley's rise to fame.