‘Breaking Bad’ withdrawal? Glendale library has a book list for you

For those going through “Breaking Bad” withdrawal, the Glendale Public Library has a possible antidote: a reading list inspired by the hit AMC show that ended on Sunday.

The list includes “Leaves of Grass,” the Walt Whitman book of poems that plays a key role in leading police to connect the main character, Walter White, to a massive meth operation, and “Winter’s Bone,” a novel about another family in a financial bind that cooks and deals meth.

PHOTOS: ‘Breaking Bad’ scenes: every season, every episode

Glendale Library Arts and Culture Director Cindy Cleary said the list was inspired by the New York Public Library, which created a similar reading list related to another popular AMC show, “Mad Men.”

“As always, we want to promote reading and literacy, so this is one of many ways that we do that,” Cleary said, noting that the library plans to do more pop-culture-inspired reading lists.

Here’s the list as published on the library’s Facebook page:

“Leaves of Grass”
Read the book that tipped Hank off to Walt. Besides the obvious connection to the show some of the poem titles have been used to title episodes.
“Killing Pablo”
Walt gives this book to his son Flynn after Hank is shot. See if you can find parallels between Pablo Escobar’s story and “Breaking Bad.”

“Difficult Men”
This book looks at the antihero protagonists of “Mad Men,” The Sopranos,” “The Wire,” and most important, “Breaking Bad.”

“Desert America: Boom and bust in the new Old West”
In “Desert America,” Rubén Martínez evokes a new world of extremes: outrageous wealth and devastating poverty, sublime beauty and ecological ruin.

“Winter’s Bone”
Read about another family that resorts to cooking and dealing meth when their chips are down.

“To Die in Mexico: Dispatches from Inside the Drug War”
Get the real story of the drug war in Mexico. This book covers the political, social and economic effects of the war on drugs.

ALSO:

L.A. Unified iPad rollout marred by chaos

Yosemite’s largest ice mass is melting fast

Berkeley explosion: Student recounts terrifying moments at impact

brittany.levine@latimes.com

Twitter: @brittanylevine

Brittany Levine is a staff writer for Times Community News.