Thursday, November 12, 2015

Nonfiction November: Book Parings

As a part of Nonfiction November, we are pairing novels and nonfiction books that are perfect to read together. Here are my picks: 

            Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War  The Crescent Spy

I reviewed Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy in September of last year. When I read The Crescent Spy just last week, it immediately reminded me of Karen Abbott's nonfiction book. Michael Wallace's novel focuses on one woman who works as a newspaper reporter in New Orleans while sending information back to the Union. In Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy, readers encounter four women. Two of them worked for the Confederacy and two worked were on the side of the Union during the Civil War. Abbott's book reads as easily as a novel, so it will feel like no work at all to go from one book to the other!


             The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York   The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Flavia de Luce, #1)  

Flavia de Luce is one of my favorite literary characters. In the first book of her series, she is a precocious eleven year old living in an English village with her father and sisters. She just happens to also solve murders and be rather skilled with a chemistry set. One of her favorite pastimes is concocting mixtures to take revenge on her big sisters. She hasn't poisoned them yet, but her escapades make me think it would be a great idea to pair Flavia with The Poisoner's Handbook.


             Virginia Woolf: A Biography   The Hours  Vanessa and Her Sister

 The Hours may be one of my all-time favorite novels. I read it just two years after graduating from college with an English degree and I was stunned by the way Cunningham wrapped up literary prowess in phrasing I wanted to read on repeat. The book goes back and forth between writer Virginia Woolf and two women who will later be impacted by her work in big and small ways.  Then this year, I read Vanessa and Her Sister, which explored the relationship between Virgina Woolf, her sister Vanessa, and the people who comprised the Bloomsbury Group. Of course, no Virginia Woolf party would be complete without a good biography. The one written by her nephew is supposed to be quite good!


What fiction/nonfiction pairings do you suggest?

12 comments:

  1. I have Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy on my TBR. My SF knitting group was reading it as a book club choice. And I love Flavia! This year I finished the series and loved her. She cracked me up.

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  2. THANK YOU for reminding me of the The Poisoner's Handbook! Especially since I adore Flavia.

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  3. I, too, loved The Hours; I've not read Vanessa and Her Sister, so this is a great recommendation for me. Love your pairings!

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  4. I loved Liar, Temptress...and have seen that pop up in a lot of pairings this week, but never with The Cresent Spy (I don't think) - nice work!

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  5. The Hours is one of my favorites, too, and I have Vanessa and her Sister on my list. I'll get to a Virginia Woolf biography one day...

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  6. I need to get back into the Flavia de Luce series as I loved the one I read.

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  7. These all sound like fascinating reads! The only one I've read is Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy, but I'd like to read all of them :)

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  8. The Poisoner's Handbook definitely looks intriguing. It looks to be in a similar vein to one of my choices, The Devil in the White City. I finally read Mrs. Dalloway this year and loved it, so I'm also interested in The Hours. I've seen lots of love for that book. Thanks for the recommendations!

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  9. I think The Poisoner's Handbook in the hands of Flavia could be rather dangerous! Good pairing! :)

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  10. Awesome pairings! Wish I had something to add, but my mind is a blank. :)

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  11. The Poisoner's Handbook looks so interesting that I had to immediately put it on hold at the library! Thanks for the suggestion. If you liked it, you might also enjoy The Disappearing Spoon, which goes through different elements in the periodic table and tells interesting historical stories about their discovery or use. History of Science is one of my favorite genres, so I'm excited to check this out!

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