Thursday, November 11, 2021

Nonfiction November Week #2: Book Pairings


Nonfiction November is now in its second week. Our host this week is Katie at Doing Dewey (be sure to visit her for links to participant's posts) and the topic is book pairings.

Nonfiction November Week 2: (November 8-12) – Book Pairing: This week, pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction title. 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. 




CODE GIRLS and  THE ROSE CODE
 
 



 

Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers Who Helped Win World War II by Liza Mundy sent me down a rabbit hole of WWII reading, code breaking, and finally Bletchley Park.  As I said in my review:
This is my kind of narrative nonfiction! It strikes just the right balance between hard history and human interest. Mundy's research is thorough, her writing is great and I learned about something completely new. I wasn't at all familiar with this fascinating story of women recruited from colleges (primarily the Seven Sisters) and trained by the government to break codes during WWII.
A short time later I read The Rose Code by Kate Quinn. I don't read much historical fiction these days, but really enjoyed this story. It's about three very different women who form an unlikely friendship while working at Bletchley Park during WWII. I approached this as a read/listen combination and was always eager to return to the story... and it never felt like 600+ pages! 

There are still several more books, fiction and nonfiction, on this topic I'd like to read before too long.




BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY: A MEMOIR and INFINITE COUNTRY




The titles and subject matter (life as an illegal immigrant) are similar, but  Beautiful Country: A Memoir by Qian Julie Wang and Infinite Country by Patricia Engel are very distinct works. 

I read Infinite Country  last spring. It is a short, impactful novel about one family's immigration experience... their struggles and hardships in both the U.S. and Colombia, and the separations that result. The book really packs a punch and it's difficult to read at times. [Trigger warning for sexual abuse]  

Infinite Country  does much more than simply tell a good story. It caused me to think more deeply about the issue of immigration and to look at it from a different perspective. To me, that's the difference between a good book and great book. This will end up being one of my favorite novels of the year.

Beautiful Country: A Memoir  was a read/listen combination for me, with the audio version read by author. Qian Julie Wang, along with her mother, left China for NYC in the early 1990s when she was seven years old. They came to join her father, who had arrived a few years earlier. 

It's a sad story about an undocumented child coming of age in a big city, while facing hunger, poverty, and racism. However, compared to Infinite Country, this book on the gentler side. Books, reading, and libraries played an important role in Wang's life. Her love of the written word added an uplifting aspect to an otherwise bleak existence and certainly increased my enjoyment of this memoir. Wang, now in her 30s, went on to attend Swarthmore College and Yale Law School. She had considered writing a memoir for years and finally tackled the project during the pandemic.


Do you ever pair you nonfiction reading with  a novel on the same subject?

34 comments:

  1. I'm halfway through The Splendid and the Vile and if I hadn't already picked a bunch of books to read for this challenge, I'd move on and start Code Girls and The Rose Code. They both sound like my kind of books! Maybe I can get my book group to read them back-to-back.

    The other two books are on my TBR list, as well. Maybe next spring...

    Nice pairings, JoAnn!

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    1. Les - The Splendid and the Vile is the book I picked up after Code Girls and The Rose Code. The three fit so well together and, even if it months before you get to them, you will still appreciate them just as much.

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  2. Beautiful Country sounds like it would also pair fairly well with Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok. It's marketed as YA but it's a fantastic book that should appeal to adult readers as well.

    I may have to look for Infinite Country. My husband was born in the States but spent a few years in Colombia as a child while his dad worked in Bogota. His youngest brother actually has dual citizenship since he was born there. My father-in-law is Cuban so I've read several books set in Cuba but I haven't ever read much (if anything) about Colombia.

    Great choices!

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    1. Jen - I remember hearing Girl in Translation mentioned on a podcast I listen to... thanks for reminding me. Didn't realize it was marketed as YA.

      Infinite Country is an excellent read... so impactful for me. I'd be curious to hear what you think of it.

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  3. I've not consciously done it as yet.

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  4. I thought Infinite Country was an excellent novel. Beautiful Country sounds like an interesting book to read along with Infinite Country.

    I often read paired books.

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    1. Deb - I just loved Infinite Country! Beautiful Country was a really good memoir and I think you would very much appreciate the role of books and librarians in shaping her path.

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  5. All the books in this post sound fascinating! I'm always interested in immigrant stories, so I'll have to check out your recommendations.

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    1. Aj - I really like immigrant stories, too, and am always on the lookout for good ones.

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  6. Code Girls and The Rose Code is an excellent pairing idea! I have Beautiful Country on my TBR shelf, but haven't read it yet.

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    1. Helen - I think The Splendid and the Vile fit in well with The Rose Code and Code Girls, too. Hope you enjoy Beautiful Country.

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  7. I liked Infinite Country and have Beautiful Country in my TBR pile.

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    1. Diane - Both were really good reads for me. I like your new avatar!

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  8. I really like the idea of pairing fiction and nonfiction titles this way. I've often done that as just a natural progression when something leaves me wanting to know more about a subject or time, in fact, usually with a nonfiction book followed by a novel on the same subject. Sometimes I think I end up learning more from the novel than the nonfiction title, but that's probably only because I retained more from the fictional approach.

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    1. Sam - The same is definitely true for me, too. I'm continuously amazed by how much I learn from fiction!

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  9. Some interesting pairings there, JoAnn. I haven't read either of the books but they all sound fascinating. I will put them on my wishlist.

    Thanks for visiting my page.
    My book pairing is about Afghanistan

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  10. Ah this is the second pairing I have seen on the topic of code girls! I really need to check these then!
    Here is my post: https://wordsandpeace.com/2021/11/08/nonfiction-november-2021-book-pairings/

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    1. Emma - Since I wrote this post, I've discovered a couple more titles about the female code breakers... it seems to be a popular topic lately!

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  11. Yes, Code Girls and Rose Code go together beautifully, and I agree that Code Girls did strike the right balance of details and human interest.

    Both Beautiful Country and Infinite sound like tough but valuable reads. I need to branch more into those regions and topics myself.

    I love to pair up books--I do tend to read around a topic that strikes me, and balancing fiction with nonfiction rounds the given topic out for me.

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    1. JaneGS - I've been reading around topics more over the last couple of years and have found that I love this approach! Reading both fiction and nonfiction seems to cement things in my mind.

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  12. Of course, I love your pairing of Code Girls and The Rose Code. I finally got around to reviewing The Rose Code, last week. Tomorrow, I'll post my review of The Woman Who Smashed Codes -- another great book on the topic.

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    1. Joy - I'm interested in that book and will look forward to your review!

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  13. Infinite Country is literally the first title that comes to mind when I think of Beautiful Country (mainly due to similarities in title). Glad to hear that you would even pair them. I haven't read either but I am hoping to read Infinite Country before the end of the year. Great pairing!

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    1. Athira - Those titles are so similar! I hope you get a chance to read Infinite Country... such a thought-provoking story.

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  14. I love your pairings. I like reading books about immigrants so I'd really be interested in that second pairing.

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    1. Lisa notes - I enjoy immigrant stories, too. Both of these are great reads... hope you like them!

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  15. I've seen The Rose Code in a couple of different pairings, all with nonfiction books I enjoyed! It seems like I really need to read that one.

    I'd not heard of Beautiful Country, but it sounds like a really good and important read.

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    1. Katie - I don't read a lot of historical fiction, but really enjoyed The Rose Code... maybe because it fit in so well with much of the nonfiction I've read this year.

      Beautiful Country is well worth a read, too!

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  16. These were great pairings! I think Infinite Country will also make it on my favorites of the year. I need to check out some of these others you've mentioned because I think I'd enjoy them too!

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    1. Iliana - I just voted for Infinite Country in the opening round of Goodreads Choice Awards for best fiction.

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