Aside from being a great musician, a talented songwriter and an all-around nice guy, Josh Ritter is also pretty good when it comes to writing books.

Yes, the singer enjoyed critical acclaim last year with his novel Bright’s Passage and he’s just announced that he’s working on a second novel as we speak.

When we think of celebrities (be they musicians or models) and books, we always just assume that they’re going to be poorly written and completely boring.

Here are a few celebs who have flipped the script and have written books that are actually worth reading…

“An Object of Beauty” by Steve Martin:
A lot of us dismiss Steve Martin as being nothing more than a comedic actor. However, he showed he’s packing some serious talent in the writing department with his novel An Object of Beauty.

The book follows the life of Lacey Yeager, a young, ambitious woman who is aiming to make her mark on the art world. It’s well written, it’s funny, it’s thought-provoking and it’s definitely not what you would expect from Steve Martin.

“Palo Alto” by James Franco
Yes girls, not only is he drop-dead gorgeous, he’s also a bit of a writer (swoon!). James’ debut novel Palo Alto centres on the lives of some misfit teenagers and the various struggles that they face.

Okay, granted, Palo Alto didn’t receive any amazing reviews or anything, but if you’re a fan of Franco chances are you’ll enjoy this book. It’s a hit and miss kind of novel – you’ll either love it or you’ll hate it.

“Bright’s Passage” by Josh Ritter
Bright’s Passage began life as a song, but refused to cooperate and demanded a longer word count from Josh, so he turned it into a novel. And it’s a good thing he did because it’s been met with a slew of positive reviews.

The story is about Henry Bright, a soldier who returns from the First World War. It doesn’t sound like much, but there are twists aplenty. If you’re looking for something different, this is it.

“The Gun Seller” by Hugh Laurie
Hugh Laurie is a man of many talents: he’s a great actor, a writer, a comedy legend, an accomplished musician and, apparently, an acclaimed writer. The Gun Seller is a spoof spy novel, meaning that it contains action, hilarious one-liners and some loveable characters.

The novel focuses on the life of Thomas Lang, a spy who doesn’t enjoy assassinations. When he is ordered to carry out a hit on an industrialist, he decides to warn his target instead. The results are highly entertaining.