I've been reading up on Depression-era outlaws.
First I purchased and read Public Enemies by Bryan Burrough, which is definitely far, far better than the movie. I made a point of not watching the movie after learning how many liberties the dumbass scriptwriters took with what was supposed to be 'based on a true story'. Seriously, don't watch the movie, read the book. 'Tis excellent. (Also it is non-fiction yet manages to be far more outrageous and exciting than a lot of completely false action stories. It's amazing just to think this stuff truly happened, and less than a century ago!)
Then I read (unrelated) Powder River by Ralph Cotton, the sequel to While Angels Dance. It was enjoyable, although more light-hearted than the first book, and consequently not quite as emotionally charged. I recommend reading While Angels Dance first, definitely.
Then I read Handsome Harry by James Carlos Blake, which was an enjoyable, fictionalized take on the life of Harry Pierpont, one of the aforementioned Depression-Era criminals. For the most part the dialogue and characters were very believable, although it was written... I'm not sure how to describe it; the whole thing is written from Harry's perspective via his confessions. Erm, what I mean is it's written like speech, rather than your standard novel format. Does that make sense?
I enjoyed it, however the hell it was written.
Now I'm reading Go Down Together by Jeff Guinn, which is an enjoyable, detailed non-fiction account of the lives of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. Sadly my copy is in large print, but oh well. Their story is fascinating, and the book features a whole slew of photographs I'd not seen before.
Oh, before I started reading up on my current topic, I think one of the last books I read was Crime and Punishment. Holy cow that was a great book. Always nice to read 'classic' literature that truly deserves its revered status. Even if a lot of the references to 1800s politics etcetera went over my head, and some of the archaic structure was a little hard to figure out, it was still a thrilling ride. I cried at the end. I shall not comment on how manly my tears were.