LitQueuelitqueue

After

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

David Grann

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • The Lincoln Conspiracy

    Brad Meltzer2020

    This account details a secret society's 1861 plot to kill Abraham Lincoln in Baltimore before his first inauguration.

    clinical → propulsive, still true crime

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison

    Michel Foucault

    A philosophical history examines the shift from public torture to modern prison surveillance. It analyzes how power controls the body.

    Same clinical register, still history

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • The Gulag Archipeligo 1918-1956: An Experiment In Literary Investigation I - Ii.

    Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

    A history of the Soviet forced labor camp system based on survivor reports and the author's own imprisonment. It documents state-run repression.

    clinical → bleak, still history

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • The Annals of Imperial Rome

    Tacitus1956

    A Roman historian chronicles the reigns of emperors from Tiberius to Nero. He focuses on the corruption of power and the decline of political liberty.

    clinical → sardonic, still history

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Medusa

    Clive Cussler2009

    The NUMA team investigates a missing undersea lab and a bathysphere attack. They uncover a corporate plot involving a deadly virus and jellyfish.

    clinical → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • The cat who blew the whistle

    Lilian Jackson Braun1994

    A journalist and his two Siamese cats investigate a missing railroad enthusiast and a bank scandal. It is a small-town mystery.

    clinical → playful

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Larceny and Old Lace

    Tamar Myers1996

    An antique shop owner investigates the murder of her aunt, who was strangled with a bell pull. She navigates the local collectibles market for clues.

    clinical → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • American Kingpin

    Nick Bilton2017

    This account follows Ross Ulbricht as he builds the Silk Road dark web market and the federal agents who spend years tracking him down.

    clinical → propulsive, still true crime

    pace+1·prose0·bleak-1

  • The Sun and Her Flowers

    Rupi Kaur2017

    A collection of short, illustrated poems organized into five stages of growth. It covers themes of loss, trauma, and self-healing.

    clinical → earnest

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Pillow Thoughts

    Courtney Peppernell2016

    A collection of short poems and prose pieces organized by emotional state. It focuses on themes of heartbreak, healing, and loneliness.

    clinical → tender

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Slower

3 more ↓

  • The Frontier in American History

    Frederick Jackson Turner1920

    A series of essays arguing that the American character and democracy were shaped by the continuous expansion into the western wilderness.

    Same clinical register, still history

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2

  • Confessions

    Augustine of Hippo

    A 4th-century bishop writes a spiritual autobiography addressed to God. He recounts his sinful youth and his eventual conversion to Christianity.

    clinical → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-2

  • How to Read a Book

    Mortimer J. Adler1940

    This is a guide to active reading techniques for different genres. It outlines levels of reading from basic literacy to syntopical analysis.

    clinical → mysterious

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • A Thousand Lives

    Julia Scheeres2011

    This history follows the members of the Peoples Temple from their beginnings in Indiana to the mass murder-suicide in Jonestown, Guyana.

    clinical → bleak, still true crime

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • The Blood of Emmett Till

    Timothy B. Tyson2017

    A historical account of the 1955 lynching of a Black teenager in Mississippi. It uses new interviews and recently found trial transcripts.

    clinical → elegiac, still true crime

    pace-1·prose0·bleak+1

  • The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II

    Iris Chang

    A historical account of the 1937 Japanese invasion of Nanking. It documents systematic mass execution and sexual violence.

    clinical → bleak, still true crime

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1