Today’s Nonfiction November (hosted by Katie at Doing Dewey, Rennie at What’s Nonfiction?, Julie at Julz Reads, and Leann at Shelf Aware and me) topic is fiction/nonfiction book pairings:
It can be a “If you loved this book, read this!” or just two titles that you think would go well together. Maybe it’s a historical novel and you’d like to get the real history by reading a nonfiction version of the story.
Fiction / Nonfiction Book Pairings is my favorite topic of Nonfiction November and I keep a running list throughout the year of all my ideas for pairings. I hope y’all have just as much fun with it!
Link up your posts below and check out the plans for the rest of the month at here!
Oppressed Women
Nonfiction
The Underground Girls of Kabul (my review) is an extremely readable, yet heart-breaking and eye-opening immersion in a culture that is brutal to women. Investigative journalist Jenny Nordberg exposes the “unofficial” custom of girls pretending to be boys (called bacha posh) in present day Afghanistan.
Manal al-Sharif started the campaign for women to drive in Saudi Arabia and Daring to Drive
Fiction
A Woman is No Man (my review) is fiction, but it’s inspired by Etaf Rum’s real life growing up in a traditional Palestinian family in the United States. Her female characters show immense bravery as they attempt to change their futures. It’s heart-breaking, but important reading.
Truman Capote
Nonfiction
Capote by Gerald Clarke is the definitive biography of Truman Capote. I rarely read biographies, but this one had me captivated when I read it years ago. I’ve always had a fascination with Capote and this book is by far the most comprehensive about his life.
Fiction
The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin (my review) is a novel based on the friendship between Capote and his New York City socialite “swans” (i.e. Babe Paley, Slim Keith, Marella Agnelli, Gloria Guinness, etc) and his eventual betrayal of them via the short story, “La Cote Basque, 1965”. It’s also one of my all-time favorite brain candy books.
Oral History Format
Nonfiction
Live from New York: An Oral History of Saturday Night Live
Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN
Fiction
Daisy Jones & the Six (my review), a hot 1970’s rock n’ roll band, mysteriously broke up after a Chicago concert. This is the story of their rise and fall, told in an oral history format. This is the only oral history I’ve ever read that was fiction, but you will forget you’re reading fiction. I kept thinking I wanted to Google that band, then remembering they weren’t real. It’s in the running for my top book of 2019!
Female Cold War Spies
Nonfiction
Charlie Wilson’s War
Forty Autumns
Fiction
The Secrets We Kept
Sports at Military Colleges
Nonfiction
In My Losing Season, Conroy tells the story of his senior season (1966-67) on the Citadel basketball team and coming together with his teammates. This is one of my favorite sports memoirs and, as you all know, Conroy is my all-time favorite author!
Fiction
Beyond the Point by Claire Gibson (my review) is the story of the friendship between three female cadets and basketball teammates (Dani, Hannah, and Avery) at West Point…during college and into adulthood as they go in different directions. It’s a unique, character-driven novel that you’ll fly through (even though it’s 500+ pages)!
Frank Lloyd Wright
Nonfiction
Plagued by Fire by Paul Hendrickson is a new biography of the colorful architect Frank Lloyd Wright. I haven’t personally read this book yet, but a podcast guest recommended it on an episode that will air soon!
Fiction
Loving Frank
What are some of your favorite Nonfiction / Fiction pairings?
This is my favorite week of the even, too! I love your Capote and Frank Lloyd Wright pairings – it’s so neat to read a biography of someone and then see how an author fictionalizes them, what they choose to include or embellish.
I’m so excited to see everyone’s pairings. I just finished Daisy Jones on audio and loved it. I read Loving Frank several years ago. I’ll have to check out your nonfiction recommendations. Thanks for hosting this linkup!
I like your pairings a lot. You have some I never would have thought of, but that work perfectly…oppressed women, cold war spies. When I share mine this week, you’ll see we have nothing in common!
The Frank Lloyd Wright options sounds like they’d go well together! I was trying to find something similar for Eva Peron, but couldn’t come up with a reliable nonfiction option. I’d love to know more about her!
I have a not-so-secret weakness for books in oral history format — and Daisy Jones and the Six was one of my favorites this year. Thanks for hosting this week’s topic!
I love this topic too! Swans of Fifth Avenue is a favorite.
Great pairings! And how did I not know that’s what Swans of Fifth Avenue was about? That sounds fascinating. I haven’t read any Capote, but I’ve been meaning to, and your pairing seems like a great way to dive in.
I didn’t have to think too much about mine since I just read both for a readathon last month: The Sun Also Rises and Everybody Behaves Badly about the true story behind the making of the book.
The fiction/nonfiction pairings are always a fun prompt!
So many good ones! I loved Underground Girls of Kabul, Daring to Drive, and Forty Autumns.
Wow that is a lot of combo recommendations! This year I really loved reading the biography Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley, alongside a comforting re-read of Persuasion by Jane Austen. Thank you for hosting this week. 🙂
I love these choices.
Your coupling for female cold war spies is calling to me the most. It’s a period I know little about other than from John Le Carre novels so it will be good to get a new take on the topic.
The female cold war spies pairings look really interesting to me. And the sports ones. Love this theme! It’s not one that I think a lot about, but once I do, I find instant pairs.
Here’s mine, and two of them are trios, not pairs:)
https://anzlitlovers.com/2019/11/05/nonfiction-november-2019-fiction-nonfiction-book-pairings/
Thanks for hosting:)
Snap! I paired Daisy Jones as well…
Love your FLW picks *adds to the list*
OMG, so many good pairings here, very dangerous for our TBRs, lol. I offer 3: https://wordsandpeace.com/2019/11/05/nonfiction-november-2019-book-pairings/
This is my favorite week of NonFiction November! I’m in awe of your pairings.
Great pairings there, I only managed one but I think that’s OK, and I’ve added myself to the Link-up and found five new blogs to read – hooray!
I’ve been long meaning to read The Underground Girls of Kabul and Daring to Drive, must add A Woman Is No Man to my list now. It’s so hard to resist these pairings!
I decided to focus on authors who have written both nonfiction and fiction selections on similar themes. I really appreciate your extensive list of pairings. I’d be honored if you jumped over to my blog to take a peek. My week two parings
Some great pairings. I also thought the Underground Girls of Kabul was excellent, so I think I’ll look for No Woman is a Man, thanks!
Please stop by to see my NonFicNov Book Pairings
You’ve covered some interesting topics here.
Mental Illness Pairing: The Great Pretender by Susannah Cahalan and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
Better late than never! Here is my post about pairing nonfiction and fiction. I love doing that. Often, especially when I read historical fiction, I like to read a nonfiction account, to see what really happened. Here is my post.
https://thecontentreader.blogspot.com/2019/11/nonfiction-november-week-2.html
Wow, you have a lot of interesting pairing. I find the Truman Capote and Frank Lloyd Wright pairing especially interesting.
My gosh, you’ve got some great pairings here! I wish my brain was working fast enough to come up with something else for your list, but I’m drawing a complete blank.
Count me in as another reader who paired up Daisy Jones and The Six with a nonfiction book! I’m a bit behind on Nonfiction November posts but trying to catch up. https://melissafirman.com/nonfiction-november-book-pairings-2/