7 and 8. 2 books related to the same topic, genre, or theme

[Nadine in NY]

For anyone who wants to read a fiction/non-fiction pairing, I just stumbled upon the perfect pair:
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann (non-fiction)
and
Mean Spirit by Linda Hogan (fiction)

[Alicia]

I recently read Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks and in the last half of the book she gives some reading suggestion.

Meet Cutes: Two Across and Attachments

Forebidden Lovers: Tulip Fever and At Swim, Two Boys

Yin and Yang: Love in Lowercase and Desperate Characters

Conjugal Visits: Fates and Furies and The Happy Marriage

Modern Love: The Argonauts and The Intimates

Libidoless Lovers: How Stella Got Her Groove Back and The Uncoupling

Just Friends: The Country Girls and Ghost World

Love in a Pop Song: Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist and Signal to Noise

Literary Lovers: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and The History of Love

Jealous? Endless Love and Was She Pretty?

Opposites Attract: Persuasion and The Fling

[Martha]

I have fiction/nonfiction so far.

WWI: Testament of Youth and The Absolutist or one of the two Pat Barker books left in the WWI trilogy.

Hurricane Katrina: Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital and Salvage the Bones

[Tracy]

Martha wrote: "I have fiction/nonfiction so far....Hurricane Katrina

Five Days at Memorial was so disturbing to read.

[Rachel]

I was never a fan of this prompt because I found it way too vague, but I'm probably going to use this prompt to tackle two books from two of the big series I want to work on. Right now, I tentatively have City of Heavenly Fire and Heir of Fire down for this one. They are both YA fantasy books from longer series, and have the added connection of both sharing the word "fire" in the title.

[Traci]

I just finished listening to New Boy while reading So You Want to Talk About Race, and I feel like I got a lot more nuance out of New Boy. There are tons of other books that could also be paired with So You Want to Talk About Race.

[Liz]

There are so many great ideas in this thread!! I have a few options I'm looking into for this one:

2 books from a SERIES (which I may then tie into prompt 9 - from the top 5 money making genres, so I can read a trilogy or make a dent in my pile of series continuations)
A Curious Beginning
The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag
The Fifth Season

ADOPTION/FOSTER CARE:
The Connected Child: Bring Hope and Healing to Your Adoptive Family
Etched in Sand: A True Story of Five Siblings Who Survived an Unspeakable Childhood on Long Island
Before We Were Yours

And I love Nadine's idea of an author biography paired with one of said author's books. AUTHOR:
Jane Austen at Home
Mansfield Park

Fiction & nonfiction by SAME AUTHOR:
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
The Outsider

READING + FATHER/CHILD RELATIONSHIP:
The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared
The Library at Mount Char

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

I came across a non-fiction book on Litsy that sparked my interest so I'm planning on doing race relations with:

Dear Martin by Nic Stone
White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson

[Rachel]

I'm thinking about nonfiction about Elizabeth 1 and Mary Queen of Scots. Plus theres a movie coming out by the end of the year I think, to go along with it! If anyone has any recommendations on biographies, it would be much appreciated!

[redatt]

Mythos by Stephen Fry. The cover for my copy is blue so I nearly chose this for the 'Something Blue' prompt but then I realized I could pair it with Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman. The connecting theme is obviously entertaining British writers mythology.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Rachel wrote: "I'm thinking about nonfiction about Elizabeth 1 and Mary Queen of Scots. Plus theres a movie coming out by the end of the year I think, to go along with it! If anyone has any recommendations on bio..."

Are you looking for fiction or nonfiction? For fiction, I'd recommend anything by Philippa Gregory. The books are from the point of view of someone who was "forgotten" by history, so you get an outsider's perspective of the queens, but I find that even more interesting.

The Virgin's Lover would be good for Elizabeth, and The Other Queen would work for Mary!

Also, if you like chick-flick-ey type TV series, I highly recommend Reign! It's all about Mary, and the costumes and music are perfect.

(I plan on reading the whole Plantagenet and Tudor series next year, so... I support you in choosing fiction haha!)

[Nicole]

Emily wrote: "I am looking for suggestions. I have several nonfiction books I'd like to read from my 40 Before 40 list, but I would like suggestions on fiction pairings for them.

1. MENTAL ILLNESS: Brain ..."</i>

For Mental Illness I can recommend
[book:The Vegetarian or Veronika Decides to Die
Feminism: If you haven't read it yet, why not pair with Purple Hibiscus or another Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Books. They are exeptional.
I'm in general not into WW2 related books but I loved Sarah's Key

I myself are going to play this one by ear. If I read a book I really like I'll go look for a similar/related one.
But I'm not reading in order, so I'm a bit more flexible.

[Lauren]

In 2019, I want to continue series that I've forgotten that I started. So I'm going to read 2 books from 2 different series that have been stagnating on my TBR for a while.

Fear the Dark
The Memory Collector

[Kelly]

I love the "fiction + nonfiction on the same topic" idea, and wish I had thought of it. Alas, I am too committed to the books I already have slated for this challenge, Maurice and Olivia--both early LGBTQ+ works, one from a gay perspective and one lesbian. I have to keep in mind that I am reading Voyager in week 6 and may need some extra time to wrap that one up! Good thing my picks for week 7-8 are short!

[Rokkan]

I'm going for a YA underrepresented identity theme with Let's Talk About Love and Leah on the Offbeat. As asexual myself i would have loved to have had books like this as a teen, so now I do have them I figured I'd catch up.

[Emily]

Something I thought would be a cool way to do this challenge would be to pair an original book with a parody of it.

Some examples would be:
Pride and Prejudice / Pride and Prejudice and Zombies;
Twilight / Nightlight;
Sense and Sensibility / Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters;
Lord of the Rings / Bored of the Rings;
Hunger Games / Hunger Pains;
Harry Potter / Harry Trotter;
Divergent / Detergent

[Sophie]

Emily wrote: "I am looking for suggestions. I have several nonfiction books I'd like to read from my 40 Before 40 list, but I would like suggestions on fiction pairings for them.

2. FEMINISM: Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie"

I don't know if you have found an idea yet (I'm a bit late to the party on this thread), but I have a few feminist fictions on my list:
- The Feminine Future: Early Science Fiction by Women Writers & Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology: both are short stories collection, I haven't read them yet though
- Sultana's Dream: a novella written more than a hundred years ago about an ideal feminine society by a middle Eastern author, amazing!
- The One Hundred Nights of Hero: a really touching graphic novel retelling of the Arabian Nights, one my best reads of the year!
- and of course The Power if you haven't read it by now.


While sorting out my TBR for the challenge, I realised that I have a lot of books to read about time travel (I looove time travel), so I have a few choice depending on what I can find at the library:
- non-fiction: Time Traveler: A Scientist's Personal Mission to Make Time Travel a Reality, Time Travel: A History
- fiction: By His Bootstraps by Robert Heinlein, A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury (both short stories by classical sci-fi authors, I could read them both to compare), The Time Machine by HG Wells, Love and Gravity (for a little bit of romance), or a could tackle the beast 11/22/63!

[Tracy]

Sophie, 11/22/63 looks like a beast but it flies by.

I am obsessed with time travel books as well. I've been watching the Outlander series and I'm kind of dying to drop my challenges and start the whole thing from the beginning 😳

[Karishma]

Kathy wrote: "That's a great combo, Karen - Lincoln in the Bardo and The Graveyard Book."
Karen wrote: "So many choices! Here are a couple of pairings I'm thinking about:
This Little Art and Into English: Poems, Translations, Commentaries


I love that pairing!

I will do either that one or
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

Does the Wonderful Wizard of Oz work as a standalone?

[Karishma]

Emily wrote: "Something I thought would be a cool way to do this challenge would be to pair an original book with a parody of it.

Some examples would be:
Pride and Prejudice / Pride and Prejudice and Zombies; ..."

Good Idea, I might do a Austen retelling instead though!

[Sophie]

Tracy wrote: "Sophie, 11/22/63 looks like a beast but it flies by.

I am obsessed with time travel books as well. I've been watching the Outlander series and I'm kind of dying to drop my challeng..."

I just realised it wasn't even on my TBR! My boyfriend loved it, so I'm sure he's going to badger me to read it if I start talking about it 😅

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Karishma wrote: "Kathy wrote: "That's a great combo, Karen - Lincoln in the Bardo and The Graveyard Book."
Karen wrote: "So many choices! Here are a couple of pairings I'm thinking about:
[book:This Little Art|3625..."

It definitely does! I read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz for an children's lit class in college and really enjoyed it.

[SadieReadsAgain]

Oh my god, there are so many good ideas here (actual recommendations as well as ideas for pairing types). I'm bookmarking this for future reading choices.

But for this prompt I've already picked my books. Unofficially my theme is "books that have been on your bookshelf for years", but they are linked by motherhood. I'm going for a non-fic Motherland: Interviews with Mothers and Daughters and a fiction I Loved You All.

[Karishma]

Emily wrote: "Karishma wrote: "Kathy wrote: "That's a great combo, Karen - Lincoln in the Bardo and The Graveyard Book."
Karen wrote: "So many choices! Here are a couple of pairings I'm thinking about:
[book:Thi..."

Great! Thanks, I'm looking forward to both the books!

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

Shelley wrote: "To end the year I'm trying to get further in series, and it created an interesting pair that made me think of this. I read A Twist in Time whose main character is an FBI agent that ..."

I was thinking of reading two books in a series I'm trying to catch up with but some of the pairings being invented here are starting to inspire me to do otherwise. I like the fiction/ nonfiction combos

[Mom2triplets04]

If I decide to read these in order we are looking at February the week of my birthday which is also Valentine's day. I"m going to go with romance. I'm going to read a series that I was loving but never finished. I'm going to read book 5 and 6.

and

[Steph]

For this task, I will be going to be doing two retellings.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Ok I've decided to read Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness for my nonfiction read.

Anyone have any ideas of good fiction books to pair with this one? Preferably something with mental illness, especially if it is hard to cure or undiagnosed.

EDIT: I have The Bell Jar as an option, but I'm looking for more contemporary books... maybe YA? (Challenger Deep or Turtles All the Way Down were two of my thoughts, but I've read those both already so...)

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

The Hours actually sounds like a really good pair with Mrs. Dalloway! If I wasn't so tied to the nonfiction/fiction pairing...

[Erin]

I'm going to do Fangirl and Carry On for this one--been on my TBR list for a while, and one is about a girl who writes fanfiction and the other IS HER FANFICTION. So clever.

[Pam]

Emily - For a novel with a mental illness aspect, maybe try Impulse by Ellen Hopkins (I haven’t read her books but my daughter loves them) or One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (I’ve only seen the movie).

[Angie]

Liz mentioned upthread that it might be fun to do a fiction and a non-fiction book by the same author and brought up Stephen King as an example. I thought it was a great idea, but I've already read On Writing. Then I realized I had another non-fiction book by King--Danse Macabre, wherein he discusses the horror genre. I'm thinking I might do that book and one of King's novels. Thanks for the idea, Liz!

Another possibility: two novels by members of the same family... so two books by two different Bronte sisters or a novel by Stephen King and a novel by Joe Hill (father and son).

I love this category!

[Mom2triplets04]

I am excited to move on in this series. I am going to read book 5 and 6. I choose these because they are romance and I hope to read some romance in February. I loved the first books.

Burn (5) and Surrender (6) by Helen Hardt. I own both of those books.

and

[Emily]

I have a number of books on my TBR shelf around race relations/racial dynamics in America. I'm going to pair So You Want to Talk About Race with Waking Up White: And Finding Myself in the Story of Race.

[j o r y &#x1f47b;&#x1faa9;]

I have decided that I'm going to do a cult theme, with one fiction and one non-fiction. I've decided to go with The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple and The Girls.

[Taylor]

I wanted to use 2 books I’d already chosen for the Popsugar challenge, so I’ve got To All the Boys I've Loved Before and My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry, which are both centered around letters written to people from their past! Plus I’ve been wanting to read My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry for a while, so I’m glad I could fit it in so early in the challenge!

[Adam]

Dual-topic: Mythology

For my first book I'm listening to 10 Mythological Heroes & Stories: Greek Mythology.

I love hearing the various mythological tales in full. Much of what we hear today is very much the reduced version that lose much of the original content.

Right now, I'm still tossing up between Norse Mythology and Metamorphoses for my second book. Really looking forward to getting into Neil Gaiman's Norse book, but working through this Greek myth book has made me want to take on the Met as soon as I can.

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

The group bookshelf is now updated for this prompt!

Note:
- If you click 'about' under the book's title, it will tell you the connected books
- There was quite a bit of overlap between people's prompts so I did the best I could in including all possible connections.
- Feel free to click 'edit' on the right and add your own connected books

I update the bookshelves on most weekends throughout the year so new books will be added as people comment.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Wow Laura, that's a lot of work! Thank you for this!

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

Not a problem, the bookshelves are my easy morning activity while I drink my coffee :)

[Milena]

That's awesome, Laura!

[Sam]

I'm planning on doing Flamecaster (whose author will be at an event in my area the weekend after) and Fahrenheit 451 (for school). The theme, obviously, is fire. If I need to have Fahrenheit done earlier than planned (gotta love English class), I'll switch to A Torch Against the Night. (whose author was also at the same event last year).

[Ira]

Emily wrote: "I am looking for suggestions. I have several nonfiction books I'd like to read from my 40 Before 40 list, but I would like suggestions on fiction pairings for them.

1. MENTAL ILLNESS: Brain ..."</i>

I read [book:Who Stole Feminism? How Women Have Betrayed Women byChristina Hoff Sommers which is criticizing modern feminism. I found it an interesting read. Another book I am interested in for the feminism theme that I have not read isWe Were Feminists Once: From Riot Grrrl to CoverGirl®, the Buying and Selling of a Political Movement by Andi Zeisler.

[Ira]

I really don't know which way to go with this. I could just read the next to books in a series since I have too many unfinished series that I struggle to fit into challenges and for that reason i don't give them priority. Some of the series I consider if go that way are
The Dresden files (That would mean me reading Ghost Story and Cold Days)
The next 2 book in the Silo trilogy by Hugh Howey
Books 2&3 of the Black Magician Trilogy by Trudi Canavan
I liked some of the other ideas posted here so that gave me a dilemma about what to choose

[Courtney]

What are you reading for this category? (Both books)
Bay of Sighs by Nora Roberts
Island of Glass by Nora Roberts

- How are they connected?
They are the last 2 in a series, that I started last year.

[Andrea]

Approximately 7 months ago, I lost my GSD to kidney failure. I am expecting a new fur baby soon and wish to prepare for his homecoming. It has been some time since I have heard the yips of a young'un around here, so I feel that a basic care and training review is in order :D

I finished the first book, The German Shepherd Dog: Everything about Purchase, Care, Nutrition, Disease, and Training by Helmut Antesberger, today and plan to complete the second book, German Shepherd Dog With DVD by Liz Palika, shortly.

[MN]

Emily wrote: "Y'all apparently know me so well! I loved Lilac Girls and Challenger Deep, and I have The Power on my list to read next month!

Here's the pairings I..."

Emily wrote: "I am looking for suggestions. I have several nonfiction books I'd like to read from my 40 Before 40 list, but I would like suggestions on fiction pairings for them.

1. MENTAL ILLNESS: [book:Brain ..."

I'm also using WWII as topic/theme for this prompt, and think I might pair fiction and non-fiction. I read Dear Mrs Bird by A.J. Pearce as the fiction title. I'm still thinking about which book choose as non-fiction.

[Anastasia]

MN wrote: "Emily wrote: "Y'all apparently know me so well! I loved Lilac Girls and Challenger Deep, and I have The Power on my list to read next month!

Here's ..."

While searching for a similar topic I came across this one.

Letter To An Unknown Soldier: A New Kind of War Memorial

or maybe

Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military

not WWII but

Songs of a War Boy: The bestselling biography of Deng Adut - a child soldier, refugee and man of hope

[MN]

Thank you very much, Anastasia. These all look very promising. I have two possibles in my TBR pile:
The Real Dad's Army: The War Diaries of Col. Rodney Foster, the diaries of a member of the Home Guard in Kent during WWII; and
The Secret Life of Bletchley Park
about the WWII codebreaking centre
So I have lots to think about now! :)

[Anne]

I will be reading Looking Back by Josephine Cox and The Cockney Angel by Dilly Court. Both based on the theme 'keeping family together , father not taking responsibility'. .