Nonfiction November: Book Pairings (Week 3)

It's hard to believe that we are already at week 3 of Nonfiction November, but here we are. 

This week is hosted by Liz at Adventures in reading, running, and working from home. 

Week 3 (11/11-11/15) Book Pairings: Pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction title. 

I have been reading Jeff Shaara's Civil War novels along with the nonfiction Civil War books that have seemingly consumed me. Shaara is an excellent historical fiction author and has series on not only the American Civil War but also WWI, WWI, and the American Revolution.

So I read Gods and Generals and A Blaze of Glory while I was reading Battle Cry of Freedom. Gods and Generals covers the opening of the war in the East, and A Blaze of Glory covers the same time period in the West (i.e., the Mississippi campaigns culminating in the Battle of Shiloh).  I also read the second book in the Western theatre (A Chain of Thunder, about the Battle of Vicksburg), and I plan to read The Killer Angels by Jeff's late father, Michael Shaara, which is about the Battle of Gettysburg as I continue my year of Civil War reading. If you are interested in more titles on the Civil War that I have read over the years, I've collected them onto their own page. 

Looking at some of my other nonfiction titles from this year...

Bruno's Cookbook, of course, pairs perfectly with any of the novels in the wonderful Bruno mystery series by Martin Walker. Bruno is a policeman in a village in the Dordogne in France, and he spends most of each book cooking, gardening, riding his horse, coaching tennis, and occasionally dealing with criminals. A thoroughly wonderful mystery series with a most endearing protagonist.

Another no-brainer is to read one of Austen's six masterpieces before, during, or after reading any of the three bios I read on Austen this year. I just finished rereading Persuasion--the annotated version with an intro by Robert Morrison--and it is as wonderful as the first time I read it, roughly 50 years ago!

BTW, 2025 is the 250th anniversary of Austen's birth on December 16, 1775. There will be lots of reading challenges, book events, etc to mark this milestone. I have a whopping 42 posts on Austen, which I should really collect and organize onto their own page.

Another potential pairing is to read Prodigal Summer by one of my favorite contemporary authors, Barbara Kingsolver, along with Linda Vater's The Elegant and Edible Garden.  This reminds me--I need to reread Prodigal Summer as it has been way too long since I last read it.

As you can tell, I really do like to read related fiction along with nonfiction. I find that stories help me really remember and understand the history in particular that I am reading about. It'll be interesting to see what kinds of pairing others come up with for other genres.