But amidst his pain, there is deep hope in his lyrics. In his own life, Molina suffered from addiction and depression, something we hear in his music. Jason Molina - who grew up about twenty minutes from where I did - moans his songs, guttural and raw. I begin the book with an epigraph from this truly perfect Songs:Ohia song because, affectively, there is no song that better feels like my experience with the Rust Belt. Writing about this era of my life would have been impossible without writing about music. That period was a time of post-9/11 politicization through punk music, punk houses, and punk record stores. My book extends into my teenage years, at which point I spent less time in the woods and more time in the subcultural haven of Coventry Road, a known spot for artists, punks, and bohemians on the outskirts of Cleveland. As I was writing about coming-of-age in rural-ish, working-class Northeast Ohio I remembered music that propelled me through adventures in the woods and in our creek, the soundtrack of racecar tracks and childhood dreams. My memoir Rust Belt Femme is deeply anchored in music from my early life - nearly ever chapter title is taken from song lyrics. In her own words, here is Raechel Anne Jolie's Book Notes music playlist for her memoir Rust Belt Femme: Raechel Anne Jolie's Rust Belt Femme is a lyrical and powerful coming-of-age memoir. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Heidi Julavits, Roxane Gay, and many others. Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book.