Often as I am reading a novel, I want to learn about the “real bits” I find embedded in the fiction. When I read Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier, I immediately wanted to look at the art work of Johannes Vermeer.  It is like the connection you make to a particular city you wish to visit after reading a novel – like New Orleans and Anne Rice’s the Vampire Chronicles.

If you would like to pair your novels with non-fiction reads, try some of these offerings from our digital library:

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

This classic novel “reflects heavily on a fictional Route 66 – the historic East-West route:  First published in 1939, Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of the Great Depression chronicles the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s and tells the story of one Oklahoma farm family, the Joads—driven from their homestead and forced to travel west to the promised land of California. Out of their trials and their repeated collisions against the hard realities of an America divided into Haves and Have-Nots evolves a drama that is intensely human yet majestic in its scale and moral vision, elemental yet plainspoken, tragic but ultimately stirring in its human dignity.” - Penguin Publishing

..pairs well with Route 66 by David Knudson

“Begun in 1926 to connect Chicago to Los Angeles, Route 66 was the country's first major east-west thoroughfare. By 1930 it was an important route for both truckers and travellers alike, and in 1939 it became known as 'The Mother Road' thanks to John Steinbeck's classic "The Grapes of Wrath". Over the years, hundreds of thousands of Americans travelled this great road - from those heading west during the Great Depression to postwar families taking road trips across the country - but by the 1970s four-lane highways, expressways, and tollways had largely supplanted it, and Route 66 fell into disrepair. In this book, authority David Knudson traces the fascinating story of The Mother Road from origins to decline, including the roadside attractions and cottage industries it spawned and the efforts to save and restore it.” - Bloomsbury

Georgia by Dawn Tripp, a fictional introduction to the artist Georgia O’Keefe

“Dawn Tripp brings to life Georgia O'Keeffe, her love affair with photographer Alfred Stieglitz, and her quest to become an independent artist.  This is not a love story. If it were, we would have the same story. But he has his, and I have mine. In 1916, Georgia O'Keeffe is a young, unknown art teacher when she travels to New York to meet Stieglitz, the famed photographer and art dealer, who has discovered O'Keeffe's work and exhibits it in his gallery. Their connection is instantaneous. O'Keeffe is quickly drawn into Stieglitz's sophisticated world, becoming his mistress, protégé, and muse, as their attraction deepens into an intense and tempestuous relationship and his photographs of her, both clothed and nude, create a sensation. Yet as her own creative force develops, Georgia begins to push back against what critics and others are saying about her and her art. And soon she must make difficult choices to live a life she believes in.” – Random House

...pairs well with Camera Work by Alfred Stieglitz

 “Many of the early twentieth century's finest examples of photography and modernist art reached their widest audience in the fifty issues of Camera Work, edited and published by the legendary photographer Alfred Stieglitz from 1903 to 1917. The lavishly illustrated periodical established photography as a fine art, and brought a new sensibility to the American art world.”  - Hoopla

I was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon, which takes a look at the tragedy of the Romanov Dynasty

“An enthralling feat of historical suspense that unravels the extraordinary twists and turns in Anna Anderson's fifty-year battle to be recognized as Anastasia Romanov. Is she the Russian Grand Duchess or the thief of another woman's legacy? Countless others have rendered their verdict. Now it is your turn. Russia, July 17, 1918: Under direct orders from Vladimir Lenin, Bolshevik secret police force Anastasia Romanov, along with the entire imperial family, into a damp basement in Siberia where they face a merciless firing squad. None survive. At least that is what the executioners have always claimed. Germany, February 17, 1920: A young woman bearing an uncanny resemblance to Anastasia Romanov is pulled shivering and senseless from a canal in Berlin. Refusing to explain her presence in the freezing water, she is taken to the hospital where an examination reveals that her body is riddled with countless, horrific scars. When she finally does speak, this frightened, mysterious woman claims to be the Russian Grand Duchess Anastasia. “ Knopf Doubleday

...pairs well with The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport

“Over the years, the story of the four Romanov sisters and their tragic end in a basement at Ekaterinburg in 1918 has clouded our view of them, leading to a mass of sentimental and idealized hagiography. With this treasure trove of diaries and letters from the grand duchesses to their friends and family, we learn that they were intelligent, sensitive and perceptive witnesses to the dark turmoil within their immediate family and the ominous approach of the Russian Revolution, the nightmare that would sweep their world away, and them along with it. The Romanov Sisters sets out to capture the joy as well as the insecurities and poignancy of those young lives against the backdrop of the dying days of late Imperial Russia, World War I and the Russian Revolution. Helen Rappaport aims to present a new and challenging take on the story, drawing extensively on previously unseen or unpublished letters, diaries and archival sources, as well as private collections. It is a book that will surprise people, even aficionados.” – Hoopla

If you want to try your own pairing – take the novel you are reading and tab down from ALL FIELDS to SUBJECT and enter the city or subject matter that pairs with your novel. For example: for Red Velvet Cupcake Murder by Joanna Fluke you can search for these subjects: Cupcakes, Minnesota, or Bakery

Why not try a literary pairing, with your tea and scones or wine and cheese. Enjoy!