Reddit mentions: The best international mystery & crime books

Scavenger hunts are too much fun! I should be working! RAWR! Thanks for the fun break =]


1.) Something that is grey. My name is makeup and I am grey! WL

2.) Something reminiscent of rain. This color is called "Naughty Nautical". Nautical = water, water = rain. =D?? WL

3.) Something food related that is unusual. Pretty sure most people don't have teeney shaped veggie cutters. WL

4.) Something on your list that is for someone other than yourself. Tell me who it's for and why. (Yes, pets count!) This is for my two parrots! My quaker especially loves dried papaya. I'm teaching her how to fly right now and have been using food as a reward, but we ran out of papaya a couple of weeks ago, and our local bird store has been out of stock for a long time. Turns out that Whole Foods doesn't carry dried papaya either. Rawr! WL


5.) A book I should read! I am an avid reader, so take your best shot and tell me why I need to read it! The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I had heard about this when the movie came out in English. I liked the movie and then moved on with my life. Come this spring, I found myself facing a LOT LOT LOT of driving by myself, so I started borrowing audiobooks from the library. I borrowed all three of these books and REALLY enjoyed them. It wasn't at all what I expected. They're murder mysteries with a lot of themes about violence against women. When I learned about the author, it became that much more interesting. The author wrote these books with the intention of making 10, but died after the third one. They found them after he died. The themes about sexual violence stem from a gang rape he witnessed as a teenager. He never forgave himself for not being able to help her, so he channeled all those emotions into his writing later in life. Anyway.....interesting stuff. Good books. I recommend them :)


6.) An item that is less than a dollar, including shipping... that is not jewelry, nail polish, and or hair related! Pfft.


7.) Something related to cats. I love cats! (keep this SFW, you know who you are...) If I was a cat, this would be my JAM!


8.) Something that is not useful, but so beautiful you must have it. Dresses are admittedly useful for avoiding public indecency charges, but not really useful beyond that. BUT LOOK AT THE RAINBOWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WL


9.) A movie everyone should watch at least once in their life. Why? Not on my wishlist (it's on American Netflix though!), but everyone should be aware of the impact of plastic on the environment and our bodies. Education is everything. Plus, there's a newborn baby at the end.


10.) Something that would be useful when the zombies attack. Explain. 1. Stab zombie in the skull. 2. ??? 3. Profit. The reviews rave that it's super sharp and doesn't stick so it probably wouldn't get stuck in their skull like other knives. WL


11.) Something that would have a profound impact on your life and help you to achieve your current goals. I don't know if I'd use the word profound, but it would sure help me out. A big passion of mine is learning to ID birds. I'm pretty good at most birds, but finding information on juveniles is VERY difficult sometimes. I've used this book before to help identify birds in hand, but I think the information regarding juvenile plumage would help me identify young birds from afar. It's even part of my job to identify birds! WL


12.) One of those pesky Add-On items. This is an Add-On item, but it's also a hair addon =P Not on my WL, but I'm losing my hair like crazy so I might have to look into these >.>


13.) The most expensive thing on your list. Your dream item. Why? This isn't the most expensive item on my list (that was #8), but it's the one that would help me the most! When I do field work, I tend to have a lot of gear on me at once, and the extra strain of binoculars around my neck tends to give me some really freaking sore muscles. A harness would be MUCH easier on my shoulders/neck/back. I start field work again in October, so I plan on buying it for myself by then anyway =] WL


14.) Something bigger than a bread box. EDIT A bread box is typically similar in size to a microwave. This is larger than the average bread box.

15.) Something smaller than a golf ball. I am smaller than a golf ball! WL

16.) Something that smells wonderful. This smells amazing!!! I'm infatuated with cinnamon, but had to stop using cinnamon Crest YEARS ago because I developed a bad reaction to it. This stuff is expensive, but the company is very environmentally responsible and I feel good giving my business to them. WL


17.) A (SFW) toy. This seems pretty SFW unless you're playing Cards Against Humanity. evil grin WL


18.) Something that would be helpful for going back to school. I used sticky notes all the time in school! WL


19.) Something related to your current obsession, whatever that may be. I've obsessed with birds since I was 11. I've been obsessed with rainbows forever. I'm currently obsessed with sushi. THIS IS ALL THREE! WL


20.) Something that is just so amazing and awe-inspiring that I simply must see it. Explain why it is so grand. Hear me out! This baby can keep ice for DAYS. Sitting out in the sun for hours on end? NO PROBLEM! YOU'LL HAVE ICE AT THE END OF THE DAY!! Seriously, Thermos needs to pay me for how much I rave about their stuff. My water bottle has still had ice in it after three days AND being refilled twice. No joke.

BONUS
This beauty was made in OR.


fear cuts deeper than swords. She is my favorite character by far :)

IF men call you cute and adorable, it means they're NICE guys, not crude gross pigs. But never, never, never never think that doesn't secretly include "extremely fuckable" and "sexy" too. They are just smart enough not to blurt out their very real pervy thoughts of you because any guy who really shares what a lusting horndog he is inside his own head that to a modern, intelligent woman such as yourself figures he will probably get tasered and maced.

Being around N's your whole life has left deep scars about your beauty, your confidence, even just making a single mistake in you. Does your university have a counseling office? go talk to them about finding a good therapist you can work with while you are getting your PhD. Being 5'1, looking young, AND having this headtrip from your N's means that part of your preparation for your CAREER you need to battle these demons asap. When you get out into your field, you are going to need to have the self confidence to be assertive and to function as the well educated, competent professional you will be.... you will need to command respect. The good news is a PhD takes years, so you have the time and space to do this as a "personal learning and growth project" before you are out there in the workforce. But you can do this.

Tell me how you like Mama Gena once you read her. :)

Edited to add: Oh, and if you like reading fiction... The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest by Stieg Larsson... Lisabeth Salander is the heroine of this trilogy, and she is magnificent... and she has exactly your build.

I think someone already mentioned Julian by Gore Vidal. This would be an interesting topic, as the novel concerns Julian the Apostate. You could have a very interesting debate on the birth of the modern Christian faith. You could also include episodes 3, 4 and 5 of Twelve Byzantine Rulers, a very popular podcast and quite a good introduction to the "Eastern Roman Empire"; a topic sadly much overlooked in most history schooling.

The Cicero books of Robert Harris (author of excellent "What if Germany won WWII" novel Fatherland, itself a great potential for discussing what "could have been"), would make a good start for discussing the fall of the Roman Republic. There are two books in a triology currently published; Imperium and Conspirata, also published as Lustrum.

Apart from Ancient history, if you want to consider American history, you could try the wonderful novels of E. L. Doctorow. His Ragtime is often included in lists of "best American novels" and deals with racism, the early years of Jazz, includes many famous American persons and of course fictional characters. Another one of his is The March which might be rather topical at the moment, as it deals with Sherman's March to the Sea during the American Civil War. Very good reading (as most of Doctorow is) and not too long either.

I have been super obsessed with Agatha Christie this summer! Here are three of my favorite novels so far:

The Secret Adversary: Really smart dialogue and the characters are just so refreshingly original. Tuppence is such a unique female detective. I like her a lot. There are so many twists in the plot that will keep you guessing. The book is very fun to read. I finished it in two days!

Amazon link: The Secret Adversary

The Poirot mystery series is really fun to read because it is both intriguing and humorous. I enjoy the dynamics between Hastings and Poirot. The dialogue is really witty and the plot is fascinating. I just finished the first two books in the series both are great reads. Hope you enjoy them!

Amazon Link: The Murder on the Links, The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Wow, I am impressed by your knowledge of Polish writers. If you like science-fiction, Stanisław Lem is considered as one of respected Polish writers. Maybe you will find interesting trilogy by Zygmunt Miłoszewski (starts with Entanglement) - it is neither big name or nor Nobel-worth writing but that writer already gained some respect and prizes in Poland.

Regarding second question - Polish mountains in September. The day is still long enough, children are back in school so routes are not crowded and it is time when autumn starts, so you should expect picturesque views. I think that every time of year is good to come to Poland, it depends what you expect.

I haven't read anything good in years and the things I have read are usually due to finding new books for my kids or reading the books that have been adapted to tv/film.

One of my all time favorite series was from Robin Hobb. Starting with Assassin's Apprentice. This was a difficult read for me at the time, but I loved the story behind the characters.

I started reading less fantasy after reading Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Millennial Series. I read these after watching the original films. It is fantastic. Just don't buy the fourth book, it wasn't even written by him as he has been dead for a while now.

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. I didn't start reading those until Game of Thrones premiered on HBO.

Now for some really old school, Dragonlance by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. The fourth book came out years later and was fantastic. I have read more than a few of the side stories, but the main books are the best in my opinion, probably would not hold up well today.

Currently, I have The Martian by Andy Weir and Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan waiting for me to read.

The Five People You meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom is a book that I consider a must read. I don't consider it a spiritual book, but it did change my perspective on how I view my life in this world.

True, but I would feel remiss if I didn't recommend them as they're the two best spy thrillers/espionage etc books I've ever read. Fwiw, I also recommended a Mack Bolan book on this thread in case you're interested, that one is from the early 2000s. This one (https://www.amazon.com/Agent-Running-Field-John-Carr%C3%A9/dp/1984878875) comes out later this year, I'd recommend keeping an eye out for it since it's the sort of thing you're interested in

If it's "inevitable," it's a very, very long ways off. Modern machine learning techniques are more a result of huge data volumes than of particularly sophisticated math - even things like deep neural networks are more akin to doing a lot of calculus quickly than they are akin to anything you're recognize as "thinking." I know it's an old joke in the field that "anything we know how to do isn't AI any more," but we're not materially closer to creating a mechanical system we'd even hypothetically recognize as sapient than we were 30 years ago.

Once you start arguing about "brain in a box"-style AI, you rapidly run afoul of the sort of logical shortcuts that plague groups like LessWrong, where you rapidly start either rationalizing arbitrarily-strong characteristics into your supposed AI or start rationalizing away physical limits.

For further reading, I recommend Rule 34, by Charlie Stross. (Yes, the title is a reference.) He takes this premise a bit more seriously than I do, and follows one scenario (where a research lab creates a strong AI personal assistant, which then influences events beyond the lab) through to its conclusions. While he doesn't get into the legislative or judicial elements, he does explore the problems such a creation would pose for policework and investigation, and the kinds of things that might make the question "is an AI alive" rather urgent for the law.

Hitler wanted to control Europe and establish the 1,000 Year Reich, which was his idea of a modern version of the Roman Empire. Before the US began to help England and Russia with Lend/Lease and other programs, he didn't give a lot of thought to North America or Asia.

Specifically, Hitler wanted to create a homeland for his idea of the Aryan people, which would include western Europe, eastern Europe and a significant slice of the western Soviet Union. Much of the new, eastern lands were to exist almost entirely to provide raw materials and slave labor for the citizens of greater Germany. The existing populations of the newly conquered lands deemed to be not Aryan enough were either to be eliminated, or moved to the new lands and forcibly settled so they could be exploited.

As someone has already suggested, you can read about Generalplan Ost (General Plan East) to see the broad outlines of what he had in mind. Hitler also had plans to redesign Berlin to be the new capital, and do things like build the Führermuseum in Linz, his hometown.

If you want an entertaining alternate history novel about what might have happened had Hitler won, Fatherland, by Robert Harris gives a good idea of what might have been.

So the one I really like is the Alex Dryden series, which starts with Red to Black: http://www.amazon.com/Red-Black-Alex-Dryden-ebook/dp/B002JXB8CK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420587722&sr=8-1&keywords=alex+dryden.

It's a pretty classic KGB/MI6 spy intrigue series, written by a former journalist. If you're interested in modern Russia and it's roots in the KGB, they're great books.

And then if you've not read them, John Le Carre is the best.

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Thanks, UPS! For this awesome contest idea! And thank you for gifting /u/PinkShimmer! If possible, I would like a Gift Card as I am saving up for an ink and fountain pen purchase. However, if I can't get that, the this book would be awesome too!

Perhaps Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn would be something for your Grandmother.

As to Murder Mystery's I can recommen Scandinavian crime literature(I'm Scandinavian myself, so I might be a little biased). First I can recommend a series by Jo Nesbø, it's a link to the first book in his series about inspector Harry Hole.

I can also recommend Jussi Alder-Olsens series about Department Q It's also a link to the first book in the series. It's about a cop, who is not following the rules of the murder department and as a result gets put in the basement and have to work on old cases. It's quite good and surprisingly funny.

Somwhat of a classic series in Scandinavian Crime literature is The Millennium by Steig Larsson Series Series, which has a pretty damm good story. The first book is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

As to Horror The Shining by Stephen King is always a good read, maybe not gory, but it freaked me out, when I read the first time.

You can check them out and see if anything would fit to what your Grandmother enjoys. I hope you find something good.

Hello, my name is henry and i love the kindle app on my phbe.... but a real kindle? whoa.

Id like to read Jo Nesbo's The bat

I do love my scandinavian crime fiction and thisis the first in a series I do enjoy.

Literally finished 'The Angel' about ten minutes ago; it was pretty good. I read 'Debriefing the President' last month. Great book as I don't remember ever hearing that much about what ever came of the Saddam interviews. I'm currently 50 pages into 'A Divided Spy'.

I'd look into Girl with the Dragon Tattoo if you haven't already. It definitely strikes the mood you seem to be looking for, and it does a great job balancing the case itself with the development of the characters involved. I actually haven't continued the trilogy yet myself, but I've been told many times that the later books are even better than the first. I enjoyed the first one quite a bit, though, and it's not usually by genre.

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.co.uk

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amazon.es

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amazon.nl

amazon.co.jp

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Amazing, link to the UK store for the Brits among us!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crash-Black-Espionage-Astonishing-Motorsports-ebook/dp/B078X85LH4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1521581058&sr=8-2&keywords=the+crash+to+black

EDIT: I've downloaded and looking forward to reading it, great work on actually writing a book! Not sure if i'd ever be able to.

Excellent. Mining this thread for holiday reading recommendations :D

It's hard to narrow down my choices to three but I think I'm going to go for relatively new releases in different genres, just for fun.

Dystopian - The Power by Naomi Alderman

Crime/Scandi-noir - I'm Travelling Alone by Samuel Bjork

Fantasy - The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

The old man is snoring

I wouldn't mind at all if you sent the rain my way. Rainy days are some of my absolute favorites. I like curling up where it's nice and cozy and watching it fall with a warm drink and my dog. Unfortunately right now I'm anticipating fifteen inches of snow instead, and there's just nothing cozy about that.


If I'm hanging out indoors due to weather, I always want to have a good book on hand to read while I watch mother nature do its thing. Right now, I'm dying for this one, which is the first in a crime series I'm trying to start. Sadly it's absolutely nowhere to be found at my local library, and I'm getting frustrated!


Thanks so much for the contest, and I hope you have a cozy rainy evening.

I suppose the obvious choice would be The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and its sequels. I'd also recommend The Carla Trilogy by John LeCarre (though these novels take place in the 1970s, they are some of the best thriller/spy novels ever written and don't think your wife will mind.

A quick note of a book - although I'm giving away a ton of plot here - is Fatherland by Robert Harris. Even knowing doesn't stop the chilling effect of this book.

http://www.amazon.com/Fatherland-Novel-Robert-Harris/dp/0812977211/ref=la_B000APBPA4_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1425472562&sr=1-2

EDIT: Downvotes about a book regarding the holocaust?

This is an interesting read.

The one I've heard recommended the most is "Fatherland" by Richard Harris.

I'd recommend Halting State and Rule 34 by Charles Stross. In form they are near-future poilce procedurals, in a world where virtual reality increasing impinges on the real world. "Halting State" involves a robbery in an MMORG that has real-world consequences. "Rule 34" involves a series of murders in Edinburgh, Scotland, that lead to a deep conspiracy rooted in a former Russian republic. The stories use the implications of virtual reaiity and online communications jumped up well beyond what we have now, and their representation of how virtual reality will affect everyday lives and police work will have you thinking.

If you want to a book by Stross that's just pure, balls-to-the-wall ideas, try "Accelerando" available for free, here. It's not representative of his later work, but if you want something to get you mind working ... it'll do.

Fatherland by Robert Harris.

The Baroque Cycle trilogy by Neal Stephenson, starting with Quicksilver. Science fiction history set during the Age of Enlightenment.

What about it?

There's another book based on the same premise called Fatherland

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Its true crime. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo can be considered a crime novel though it is more suspense. I can't really think of anything else to add.

https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Dragon-Tattoo-Millennium/dp/0307949486/ref=nodl_

http://amzn.com/0812977211 That's a link to the book, in case anyone else was intrigued.