Book Lovers Series

Book Lovers: Episode 20

Episode 20: True Crime

April 19, 2021


To say that true crime is popular is to say that ice cream is popular. Sure, it’s true, but that doesn’t really cover the scope of its popularity: there are different flavors and styles that broaden its reach to just about anyone who wants a taste. In this episode, we’re discussing true crime and why readers, listeners and watchers love it so much. We discuss how true crime came to be, and Jess stumps for nonviolent true crime as a solid alternative for readers who think true crime isn’t for them because it’s too graphic. We also dig into why, exactly, true crime keeps readers coming back for more, and why we all read three true crime books when each of us only meant to read one. What does this say about true crime’s appeal? A lot, we think.




Titles discussed:

  • In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
  • The Crime Book, published by Dorling Kindersley
  • Unspeakable Acts: True Tales of Crime, Murder, Deceit and Obsession, edited by Sarah Weinman
  • The Ocean’s series
  • Logan Lucky, directed by Steven Soderburgh
  • Knives Out, directed by Rian Johnson
  • Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History by Greg Campbell
  • The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron by Bethany McLean
  • Playing Dead: A Journey through the World of Death Fraud by Elizabeth Greenwood
  • Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
  • Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe
  • Catch & Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow
  • Professor and the Parson: A Story of Desire, Deceit, and Defrocking by Adam Sisman
  • I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara
  • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  • Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey N. Cep
  • The Blood of Emmett Till by Timothy B. Tyson
  • Narconomics: How to Run a Drug Cartel by Tom Wainwright
  • Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
  • The Son by Phillipp Meyer

 

Titles from the RA Corner:

  • The Painter and the Thief, directed by Benjamin Ree
  • The Five
  • The Irishman, directed by Martin Scorsese
  • “I Heard You Paint Houses”: Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran and the Inside Story of the Mafia, the Teamsters, and the Last Ride of Jimmy Hoffa by Charles Brandt
  • The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk W. Johnson
  • The Art of Forgery, published by Phaedon