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I don’t know about everyone else, but my nonfiction TBR list has exploded after just one week of Nonfiction November. I can only imagine what it will be like by the end of the month. This week’s challenge is my absolute favorite, pairing fiction and nonfiction books that share a common topic or theme. With so many possible combinations to share, it was a real struggle to limit it to the five I selected!
Nonfiction November is a fabulous month dedicated to all things nonfiction. We’re all lucky to have a different blogger hosting each week’s topic: Katie at Doing Dewey, Rennie at What’s Nonfiction?, Julie at Julz Reads, Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness, and this week, Sarah at Sarah’s Bookshelves. Head on over to her blog to link up your own book pairings!
Adoption
I recently finished All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung. It’s a wonderful memoir about Chung’s experiences growing up Korean in a community decidedly lacking in much diversity. Chung shares her awakening desire to know more about her birth family and her journey toward finding them. As I read All You Can Ever Know, my mind kept drifting back to last year’s Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. (my review). Little Fires Everywhere was the story of a family in increasing turmoil and one of the things that held them at odds were their differing opinions on the highly-publicized adoption of a Chinese baby girl going on in their community. Both fiction and nonfiction explored cross-cultural adoption from enlightening vantage points.
Hollywood
Two fantastic audiobook recommendations here! According to a Source by Abby Stern was pure listening pleasure (my review). It’s the gossipy story of a Hollywood celebrity reporter and her dishing of dirt on thinly veiled stars, but it’s much more than that. It’s also the story of one woman’s journey to make something different, something better of her life while still staying true to the woman she is. The same can be said of Busy Philipps’ memoir, This Will Only Hurt a Little. Busy dished her share of Hollywood gossip, but the real focus was on her life long quest to be noticed, to be an actor, and to find happiness. Like According to a Source, listening to This Will Only Hurt a Little was pure fun!
Mental Illness
During last year’s Nonfiction November I listened to My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward by Mark Lukach (my review). I found it honest, tragic, and hopeful all at the same time. My family has been lucky in that we’ve not been touched by any serious mental illness, but I still appreciated getting an insider’s view of living with psychosis. In January, I gained even more perspective from Mira T. Lee’s debut Everything Here is Beautiful. (my review). This fragile story of two sisters both united and divided by the younger sister’s schizophrenia/bipolar disorder reminded me very much of My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward.
Life Can Be Hard
Two more terrific books I listened to on audio! Tell Me More by Kelly Corrigan is a beautiful collection of lessons that Corrigan has spent her entire life learning (my review). Some were heartbreaking, bringing tears to my eyes. Others were riotous, causing me to laugh out loud over and over. Though fiction, How Hard Can It Be? by Allison Pearson was also a book about lessons (my review). Pearson’s focused on a much narrower window in time: women approaching 5o. Her humorous take on the subject made the realities a little easier to bear. Both Corrigan and Pearson have much to teach any woman willing to learn.
The Obama Years
I suspect we will see these two books paired on multiple blogs, but I’m going for it anyway. If you’ve read The Hopefuls by Jennifer Close (my review), you can’t help but think of it as you read From the Corner of the Oval by Beck Dorey-Stein (my review). Both fiction and nonfiction feature those heady years of the Obama Administration when young people flocked to Washington D.C. to be a part of something bigger than themselves.
What are your favorite fiction/nonfiction pairings?
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Haha – not surprised to see the The Hopefuls / Oval pairing on here!
And I want to listen to the Hollywood gossip book! Even though it’s fiction…I love thinly veiled and trying to guess who everyone is!
Just be warned on According to a Source, that it’s one of those lighter, feel good stories that I tend to like on audio.
I would never have thought of linking the cross-cultural adoption issue from Little Fires Everywhere. Clever!
Thank you!
So many of these even LOOK like they’d be great matches – the colours complementary or contrasting. Very nicely done! (I’ve not read any of them, but a few of them are on my radar as good reads, so it’s good to know that’s true.)
I really wasn’t considering the colors when pairing, but several did work out pretty nicely. Thanks for stopping by.
Your pairings are fabulous! I would never have thought of Pearson and Corrigan but you’re exactly right. And even though non-fiction is not my groove, you’ve given me new books for my TBR.
Thanks, Catherine. That means a lot coming from you.
I always think it’s a huge win if I’m able to convince Catherine that nonfiction isn’t all bad 😉
I loved Little Fires Everywhere so I’m definitely adding Nicole Chung’s memoir to my list! Joining the Busy recommendation you already gave me.
I’m glad that I’m not the only one that duplicated one of Sarah’s pairings – guess we’re all just on the same page which is no bad thing!
I shudder just thinking about the state of my TBR by the end of this month. Maybe I should get off the computer and actually read while the reading’s good (baby napping)!
I’m glad I could add to your TBR pile, Eva. We all complain, but we like it, too! I’ve had a lot going on in my life and my reading this month has been incredible slow, so I feel like I’m falling behind. I can’t even imagine with a baby!
Great pairings! I love the idea of pairing According to a Source with a celebrity memoir.
Wonderful pairings! I’ve been planning on checking out All You Can Ever Know before the month ends, and I might have to couple it with Little Fires Everywhere when I do.
Let me know what you think, Michael.
These are great pairings. I love how can sometimes lead you to look for more about a certain subject, etc. I haven’t read any of these but lots are sounding really good!
Thank you, Iliana.
These are great pairings! I need to read more nonfiction; I used to all the time and haven’t lately, but I want to start. I’m about to read Everything Here is Beautiful, so I’m going to add My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward! Wonderful Post!
I’m sort of hot and cold on nonfiction, too and am just about ready to take a break from it for a little bit. My Lovely Wife was so good and if you like audio, I listened to it and thought the narration was terrific.
I know what you mean about my TBR list exploding. I’ve discovered so many amazing nonfiction titles, I’ll never get to them all – but it’s fun to try!
So many great pairings with many topical themes. Thanks for sharing!
great themes. On adoption, really enjoyed this novel: https://wordsandpeace.com/2011/10/07/73-review-the-language-of-flowers/
My post is here: https://wordsandpeace.com/2018/11/07/nonfiction-november-2018-book-pairings/
Thanks so much for the book link, Emma. Great book suggestions are always appreciated.
Great pairings, Susie! So many of these sound good. I think I need to check out the Busy Philipps memoir and From the Corner of the Oval–and the fiction you’ve paired them with sound perfect as well. I’ll be aiming for rereads and lighter reads in December, so some of these might be just right.
For nonfiction both From the Corner of the Oval and This Will Only Hurt a Little are both on the lighter side. Super easy reads.
Wow you did a great job with these pairings! I read a few of these novels. It would take me a while to think up a couple of pairings as well as you did. But I’ll throw out an Addiction pairing of The Tennis Partner (nonfiction memoir) and some novel like Bright Lights, Big City … or perhaps there’s one more recent? hmm. I don’t read enough nonfiction but I should!
Thanks so much, Susan. I liked this Nonfiction November challenge and had fun with it. I read Bright Lights, Big City many years ago, but haven’t read The Tennis Partner. I’ll have to investigate.
I used to watch Busy Phillips during her Dawson’s Creek days and see her recommended posts from time to time on Instagram. I’d love to read that pairing, as I find her hilarious.