Anyone who follows this blog or me on various social media sites will know that I have a passion for non-fiction. I do read fiction, but not that much. So, when I looked at the subject of this weeks post, I knew that it was going to be a struggle to come up with a list of books that I have read that would fit.
The idea of this is to marry together a fiction book with a non-fiction book and read them in parallel or sequentially, the purpose of which is to gain a wider appreciation of the subject or place that you have chosen. It is something that I like the idea of as one of the philosophies that I have is that fiction deals with truths and non-fiction with facts and that by choosing the right books, you can gain more insight into a particular thing that you are interested in.
I couldn’t think of many times when I had read a fiction and non-fiction book that had some link to each other, but then when trawling through my lists of books there have been very few occasions when this happened. Strangely enough, the non-fiction genre was travel and when I was on holiday in Sicily back in 2019. I had taken three non-fiction books on the island and one fiction book:
In Sicily by Norman Lewis
The March of the Long Shadows by Norman Lewis
Sweet Honey, Bitter Lemons: Travels in Sicily on a Vespa by Matthew Fort
Sicily: Through the Writers’ Eyes by Horatio Clare
There is something about reading a book set in the location that you are currently in.
I often read three or four books about the same subject, for example, four books about the winter a couple of years ago. And I may do that more often in the coming year. I have at least four books on Japan that are on my TBR including
Abroad in Japan by Chris Broad
The Only Gaijin In The Village by Iain Maloney
Fifty Sounds by Polly Barton
The Roads to Sata by Alan Booth
I may add in a couple of Murakami books to that list and have a Japan month!
I have had a think possible subjects that you might be able to combine if you’d like to do this:
Historical fiction and history
Place and travel
Memoir
Biography
Science fiction and science
So what are your favourite book pairings? Let me know in the comments below
Thank you for taking part in “my” week in Nonfiction November and those are good ones. I do struggle with this week myself as I don’t read historical fiction and that lends itself well to this, however I did manage to get two pairs and some other ideas. Do pop over and add yourself to my Link thing so other people can find this post!
You struggle! Can you imagine how it is for me? 🙂
I support your philosophy, fiction can Braden our understanding of fact.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts
Hi Paul
Thank you for the interesting post- it sounds like a great idea and think I might try this! Funnily enough I recently have bought George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four and also a targeted biography which has just come out called Orwell’s Island: George, Jura and 1984 (Saraband) by Les Wilson which focuses on Orwell’s latter life living on the Hebridean Isle of Jura where he wrote Nineteen Eighty Four. I am hoping I will be able to follow that up with a holiday to Jura at some point in the near future.
James
Hi James, thanks for replying. Orwell’s Island: George, Jura and 1984 is on my TBR and that is an excellent pairing.
I read so little fiction that this would be difficult for me. However I love Murakami – his Wind up Bird Chronicles is one of my favourite books ever.
And I am currently reading the Chris Broad book (very good). So we’ve got the makings of a plan here.
Japan fascinates me although I have no desire whatsoever to visit.
Same here. The other thought was Greece with Victoria Hislop. My brother in law has been to Japan when doing his PhD and said it is fascinating