If You Like ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Add These To Your TBR
The next Martin Scorsese picture, Killers of the Flower Moon is based on the non-fiction novel written by American journalist David Grann. The colonization of Indigenous land has a tragic history that many brush under the rug. In this novel, Grann uses factual evidence and court filings surrounding the family of Mollie Brown. What was once the beautiful land of the Osage tribe had been tainted by manipulation and betrayal.
Killers of the Flower Moon is shocking, but a necessary read because it breaks down the corrupt system that has been cycled since the 1920s. Scorsese’s faithful adaptation as a mainstream filmmaker is important, so audiences can understand that the system is still broken. It’s a heartbreaking and authentic retelling of this American tragedy that will resonate with many.
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe.
Then, one by one, they began to be killed off. One Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, watched as her family was murdered. Her older sister was shot. Her mother was then slowly poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more Osage began to die under mysterious circumstances.
If you’ve read Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann here are the five books we recommend!
The Wager by David Grann
On January 28th, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. Then men, after being marooned for months and then facing starvation, built the flimsy craft and sailed for more than a hundred days, traversing nearly 3,000 miles of storm-wracked season. They were greeted as heroes.
The Devil in White City by Erik Larson
Daniel H. Burnham’s challenge was immense. In a short period of time, he was forced to overcome the death of his partner and numerous other obstacles to construct the famous “White City” around which the fair was built. His efforts to complete the project, and the fair’s incredible success, are skillfully related along with entertaining appearances by such notables as Buffalo Bill Cody, Susan B. Anthony, and Thomas Edison.
The activities of the sinister Dr. Holmes, who is believed to be responsible for scores of murders around the time of the fair, are equally remarkable. He devised and erected the World’s Fair Hotel, complete with crematorium and gas chamber, near the fairgrounds and used the event as well as his own charismatic personality to lure victims.
A Few Days Full of Trouble: Revelations on the Journey to Justice for My Cousin and Best Friend, Emmett Till by Reverend Wheeler Parker Jr. and Christopher Benson
In 1955, Emmett Till was lynched when he was fourteen years old. That remains an undisputed fact of the case that ignited a flame within the Civil Rights Movement that has yet to be extinguished. Yet the rest of the details surrounding the event remain distorted by the time and too many tellings. What does justice mean in the resolution of a cold case spanning nearly seven decades? This question drives a new perspective on the story of Emmett Till, relayed by his cousin and best friend — the Reverend Wheeler Parker Jr., a survivor of the night terror when young Emmett was taken from his family’s rural Mississippi Delta home in the dead of the night.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown
Using council records, autobiographies, and firsthand descriptions, Brown allows the great chiefs and warriors of the Dakota, Ute, Sioux, Cheyenne, and other tribes to tell us in their own words about the battles, massacres, and broken treaties that finally left them demoralized and defeated. A unique and disturbing narrative told with force and clarity.
I'll be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara, Gillian Flynn (Introduction), Patton Oswald (Afterword)
For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area.
Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist who created the popular website TrueCrimeDiary.com, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called, “the Golden State Killer.” Michelle pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was.
Have you read any of the books listed above? If you have, let us know which one is your favourite! If you have any recommendations drop them in the comments below.
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