Nonfiction November Fiction and Nonfiction Pairings

Nonfiction November - Fiction and Nonfiction Pairings

I devour fiction books, but it takes me about four times as long to read a nonfiction.  They are typically just less compelling for me, and I read them slowly. 

But, I want to be better about reading more nonfiction books, and I have found a great motivation!  Over at Sarah’s Bookshelves there are a group of bloggers hosting November Nonfiction.  Each week book bloggers link up with nonfiction reads based on a certain prompt. 

Nonfiction / Fiction Book Pairing (Hosted by Sarah at Sarah’s Book Shelves)

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

When you read historical fiction do you keep your phone close by to google all the little details?  I want to know if this stuff really happened!

So, after reading and googling details about TheWomen in the Castle.  I have found the perfect nonfiction book to pair with it.  And even better than being nonfiction, it is a first-person account of a woman who lived through this time.

Fiction:

The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck (my review)

After Germany lost WWII it’s citizens were left scrambling to pick up the pieces.  They had to grapple with the atrocities of their country as well as find ways to reorganize their lives.  So much had been lost.

Three widows of men who had plotted to assassinate Hitler worked together to survive the uncertainty of the post-war years.  Each woman brought her own complexities, past, and character quirks to the mix.  As you read the book you realize that good and bad is not so cut and dry.  Right and wrong, winners and losers.  Were the ordinary German citizens complicit in the grievances and crimes of their country?  Should everyone in the Nazi party be exposed for who they were?  Should every German suffer the same fate as the Jewish people, the Polish, the French, and everyone else?

Nonfiction:

A Woman in Berlin by Anonymous

A German woman, who had worked as a reporter before the war, took careful notes as the Soviets moved through Berlin to occupy the fallen city.  Scribbling down the chaos happening around her on bits of paper in the basement hiding from an air raid and in journals with a tiny pencil by candlelight, this woman documented an important time in history that we tend to skip over. 

The Germans were responsible for unimaginable atrocities of war, we all know that, but what of the average citizen who didn’t know the scope of their country’s dealings?  It did not matter to the Russians as they took over Berlin.  The Russian army viewed all Germans as the enemy and looked at the women as spoils of war.  Thousands of women were raped in Berlin alone. 

I have not actually read this book yet, but after finding it on Amazon and reading the introduction, I ordered it immediately.  This anonymous woman had such a strength of moral character, the ability to comment on her surroundings, and the unparalleled opportunity to record a missing piece of history.  A part of history that is usually revised.

I’ll give you an update after I finish A Woman in Berlin. 

What are some nonfiction books you would like to read that go perfectly with a fiction novel?

Happy reading!

Hannah