Week 2, Nonfiction November,
Book Pairing: Match a fiction book with a nonfiction book that you would recommend.
I love this question. I hope my readers will indulge me if I a suggest more than one pairing.
Pair #1
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain,
a fictional account of Hemingway and his first wife and the years they lived in Paris,
with
The Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
essays and accounts written by Hemingway during the same time period about his marriage to his first wide and their life in Paris and his interactions with other famous authors and people of the day.
Pair #2
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
a mystery novel set on an Indian Reservation which also addresses issues for native people around the loss of their culture and the inequality of rights and laws.
with
The Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher by Timothy Egan
About Edward Curtis who, around the turn of the 20th Century, was so concerned about what he saw was happening to native culture that he set out to photograph the tribes before they were completely assimilated into the culture in general. It became the focus of his life's work.
Pair #3
City of Thieves by David Benioff
A novel set in Leningrad during WWII with unexpected humor.
with
Symphony for the City of the Dead by M.T. Anderson
About Dmitri Shostakovich a famous composer who lived in Leningrad during the first year of the siege on the city by the Nazi army. He wrote a symphony for his beloved city to give them hope and strength.
Pair #4
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Soldiers in Vietnam carried things from home in their pockets and witnessed atrocities while they fought the war in Vietnam. Though O'Brien was a soldier in Vietnam this is a fictional account of his experiences. Not to be missed.
with
Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War by Steve Sheinkin
Published this year, this nonfiction book is about Daniel Ellsberg and how he broke out the damning papers known as the Pentagon Papers, or the Secret history of the Vietnam War. I'm about half way done with this YA book and I'm super angry.
Pair #5
Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman
A fictional account of a boy's descent into madness and his recovery back to sanity.
with
The Day the Voices Stopped by Ken Steele
A memoir about Ken's experiences with schizophrenia and how he finally found a treatment to stop the voices which had been chatting away in his head for years. This book helped me understand the serious effects of schizophrenia and gave me compassion for its victims.
The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patient's Lives by Theresa Brown, RN. Check out my review here.Want to participate in Nonfiction November? Sign up over at Sophisticated Dorkiness.
Love this idea! As a school librarian, I often try to do this to help my students find more of the real information about things that they really enjoyed reading about the fictional versions. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI really had fun with this I should try it more often or just continue on finding more matches and creating a longer list here! Ha!
DeleteThese are wonderful choices, Anne! As you know, I'm a huge fan of The Roundhouse and of City of Thieves. I don't read as much non-fiction as I should.
ReplyDeleteI love the two books you mentioned, too. I am really getting into nonfiction lately. If it is well-written i think I actually like it better than fiction, but if not... well, nothing like a good ol' made-up story!
DeleteOh I love that our first pairing is the same! I really need to get on reading A Moveable Feast! I love the look of your second pairing too -Louise Erdrich has been on my tbr for a while.
ReplyDeleteGreat choices! I am especially interested in the last pairing. The subject has particular interest with me. I'll be sure to add those to my wishlist.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed both books in your first pairing a few years ago. The Round House has been on my list for a while and The Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher sounds interesting, too.
ReplyDeleteWonderful pairings! The Paris Wife actually inspired me to read A Moveable Feast, and even though I am not a huge Hemingway fan, the two books went well together. And now I've added your second and third pairs to my ever-growing list. I like Louise Erdrich, and The Symphony caught my eye a few weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteHa, this was my exact same comment - loved Paris Wife and was inspired to read A Moveable Feast even though not a Hemingway fan. Those books have almost inspired me to read a novel by Hem, but I think I let too much time pass, and I'm not feeling as brave.
DeleteI love your second pairing! I need to add both of those to my wishlist!
ReplyDeleteOh this is an excellent list! The Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher sound totally fascinating as does Most Dangerous. I forgot how much I had wanted to try A Moveable Feast after reading the Paris Wife. My library list just grew quite a bit!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any of these, but The Paris Wife and The Round House are both on my list. I'll have to look at your pairings when I get time to read them!
ReplyDeleteThe more I read, the more I like the sound of the Symphony for the City of the Dead. It could also be paired to a classic by Tolstoy or Pasternak or Dostoyevski?
ReplyDeleteDid any of those classic Russian authors write about the experience of the Siege on Leningrad? Pasternak was mentioned in the book. He was alive at the same time as Shostakovich, so I'd say that would be a good author to pair, also.
DeleteThese all sound like really interesting pairings! I think I'd learn a lot from any of them.
ReplyDeleteLots of great pairings here! I'd be interested in checking out The Paris Wife, since I love A Moveable Feast (and, really, anything set in Paris). I've been thinking a lot about these kind of historical novels, too, and how authors recreate real events in a fictional way, vs. the way that nonfiction authors approach the same task, striving for as much realism as possible. That would be an interesting take on things, for sure!
ReplyDeleteExcellent books! I'm listening to The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan right now, so I'm definitely intrigued by The Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher.
ReplyDeleteThe Paris Wife & Moveable Feast - a perfect pairing! I loved Paris Wife and need to read Moveable Feast. I also remember reading City of Thieves a long time ago...need to check out your nonfiction recommendation.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great list! 3 & 5 both interest me, both the fiction and the nonfiction.
ReplyDeleteI've read both The Paris Wife and Challenger Deep, and I really enjoyed both of them! Now I can't wait to check out the nonfiction recs you paired with them! Thanks!
ReplyDelete