Reddit mentions of Criminal Law in a Nutshell (Nutshells)

I’ve always been a fan of the Nutshell series. The fifth edition is the current one: https://www.amazon.com/Criminal-Nutshell-Nutshells-Arnold-Loewy/dp/0314194967/ref=nodl_

Keep in mind that when you get material on criminal law, you are just getting the statutory construction/interpretation of the black letter law. To fully under the system, you also need to delve in evidence, criminal procedure, and Constitutional law (sometimes at advanced levels and multiple jurisdictions).

For entertainment, the best TV show ever was the original Law & Order. The writers would take two or three real cases that were similar and mash them together for each episode. It got a little scary when I could start naming the cases an episode was based on.

Do you want to read CASES or do you want to learn about the entirety of an area of LAW?

If you are more interested in the "whole" view of a certain area of law, I would recommend reading a treatise or something on an area you're interested in. Cases alone are interesting somewhat, but usually they are just a smaller piece of a much bigger topic. It would be like trying to learn about a forest by just studying one tree.

For example if you like Law and Order you probably are interested in criminal law. A book like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Loewys-Criminal-Nutshell-West-Publishing/dp/0314194967/

Would give you a very thorough understanding of criminal law as a whole. Case by case reading might help you understand certain particulars (like the procedure for holding someone in jail in order to pay off outstanding fines) but without being able to see the whole picture it's going to seem really meaningless and confusing.