Author Guide · Music Memoir
Books Written by
Linda Ronstadt has won 11 Grammy Awards and recorded rock, country, operetta, standards and, on Canciones de Mi Padre (1987), traditional Mexican folk songs. She announced her retirement from singing in 2011. Two years later Simon & Schuster published Simple Dreams, a memoir about her life in music, and the 2019 documentary Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice was based on her memoirs. In 2022 she followed it with Feels Like Home, a book about the Sonoran borderlands where her family comes from. This guide covers her 2 key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 2 key books · 2013–2022 · Updated October 2026
ClickTap a spine to jump to that book below.
Quick answer
Linda Ronstadt has published two books: Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir (2013) and Feels Like Home: A Song for the Sonoran Borderlands (2022), written with Lawrence Downes. Start with Simple Dreams, the story of her career; read Feels Like Home for her family, the desert and its food.
Where to Start with Linda Ronstadt
If you want her life in music
→ Simple Dreams (2013) — the 2013 memoir.
If you want her family, Sonora and its recipes
→ Feels Like Home (2022) — the 2022 book with Lawrence Downes.
2 Linda Ronstadt Books, in Order
Simple Dreams
Her memoir, published by Simon & Schuster on 17 September 2013, follows her through the many kinds of music she sang, from country rock and the Great American Songbook to The Pirates of Penzance and Mexican mariachi songs. Kirkus Reviews noted that it says little about her personal relationships and concentrates on the music. It shares its title with her 1977 album, and the 2019 documentary The Sound of My Voice was based on her memoirs.
Feels Like Home
Written with the journalist Lawrence Downes, with photographs by Bill Steen, and published by Heyday on 4 October 2022 (248 pages). It is about the Sonoran Desert on both sides of the US–Mexico border, her hometown of Tucson and her family’s ancestral town of Banámichi in Sonora, with family stories and recipes such as albondigas. In it she calls the border wall “a scar and an abomination”.
In What Order to Read Linda Ronstadt
Read them in the order they came out. Simple Dreams tells the career story, through each style she took on, so it gives you the background for everything else.
Feels Like Home goes back to where it began: the desert, her family and the songs and food of Sonora. It works on its own, but it reads as a companion once you know the career.
A reading path
1. Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir (2013)
2. Feels Like Home: A Song for the Sonoran Borderlands (2022)
The years · 1946–2022
Quick facts about Linda Ronstadt
- Known for
- Ronstadt is known for a singing career that moved between rock, country, the Great American Songbook, operetta and traditional Mexican song.
- 1946
- Born in Tucson, Arizona
- 1964
- Moves to Los Angeles
- 1987
- Album Canciones de Mi Padre
- 2013
- Simple Dreams
- 2022
- Feels Like Home
- Born
- 15 July 1946, Tucson, Arizona
- Awards
- 11 Grammy Awards; Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2016)
- Honours
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2014); National Medal of Arts (2014); Kennedy Center Honors (2019)
- Retired
- Announced her retirement from singing in 2011
- Health
- Diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, later found to be progressive supranuclear palsy
- Film
- Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice (2019), based on her memoirs
The red mark is 2013: Simple Dreams, her musical memoir.
How Linda Ronstadt Writes
Simple Dreams is credited to her alone and is, as its subtitle says, a musical memoir. The book is organised around the music she made rather than her private life; reviewers noted how little it says about her relationships.
She writes plainly about why she kept changing direction. “I never felt that rock and roll defined me,” she writes, and she describes the stagnation of touring the same songs until her music “had begun to sound like my washing machine”.
Feels Like Home is a different kind of book: written with Lawrence Downes and built from photographs, family stories, recipes and the landscape of the Sonoran Desert. Speaking to PBS NewsHour in 2022, she called it “my impression of the desert as I was traveling in it with my family”.
Watch
Linda Ronstadt on Feels Like Home
Linda Ronstadt talks to PBS NewsHour in 2022 about her roots and her book Feels Like Home.
Frequently asked questions about Linda Ronstadt’s books
How many books has Linda Ronstadt written?
Two: Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir (2013) and Feels Like Home: A Song for the Sonoran Borderlands (2022), the second written with Lawrence Downes.
What are Linda Ronstadt’s books in order?
Simple Dreams (2013), then Feels Like Home (2022).
Where should I start with Linda Ronstadt?
With Simple Dreams (2013), her memoir of her life in music. Feels Like Home is about her family and the Sonoran borderlands and makes a good second book.
What is Linda Ronstadt’s most famous book?
Simple Dreams (2013), her musical memoir, published by Simon & Schuster.
Did Linda Ronstadt write her books herself?
Simple Dreams carries only her name. Feels Like Home was written with the journalist Lawrence Downes, with photographs by Bill Steen.
Is Simple Dreams the same as her album Simple Dreams?
No. Simple Dreams was a 1977 album; the 2013 book shares its title and is a memoir of her career.
Is the documentary The Sound of My Voice based on her book?
Yes. Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice (2019) was based on her memoirs.
Does Simple Dreams talk about her relationships?
Very little. Kirkus Reviews noted that the book is light on personal details and relationships and concentrates on the music.
Does Feels Like Home have recipes?
Yes. Family recipes, such as albondigas, are part of the book alongside stories of her family and the Sonoran Desert.
Does Linda Ronstadt still sing?
No. She announced her retirement in 2011 and has said she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, later found to be progressive supranuclear palsy.
Footnotes
- Linda Ronstadt — Wikipedia
- Simple Dreams — Kirkus Reviews
- Feels Like Home — Kirkus Reviews
- Singer Linda Ronstadt reflects on her roots in new book — PBS NewsHour, 2022
- In memoir, Linda Ronstadt describes her ‘Simple Dreams’ — NPR, 2013
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“I never felt that rock and roll defined me.”
— Linda Ronstadt, Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir (2013)
If this shelf interested you, the full bookshelf has more: reading lists by theme, author guides, and notes on what is actually worth your time.
Browse the full bookshelf Get book recommendations