Compare the difference between fiction and nonfiction with these book pairs, showcasing fiction and nonfiction examples on similar subjects.
What’s the difference between fiction and nonfiction?
Nonfiction is the stricter of the two genres. Nonfiction books are based on facts or opinions. Fiction, on the other hand, is not necessarily tied to facts. Instead, fiction is considered a creative work, where an author can use their imagination to change the plot and narrative style however they would like.
For the 2023 Reading Challenge, I’ve challenged my readers to read a fiction and nonfiction pairing. What does that even mean? I want you to pick a nonfiction book and a fiction book that share something in common. They could have the same topic, the same author, the same setting, or even the same title.
As long as you think there is a connection between the two books, however tenuous, then I’m happy.
If you aren’t sure the difference between fiction and nonfiction books, let’s look at some fiction and nonfiction examples for you to see the difference. First, I’ll walk you through an example, and then I’ll showcase 19 pairs of fiction and nonfiction books that pair well together.
Fiction vs. Nonfiction
Imagine you want to write a book about George Washington’s life. First, you do all your research, gathering as much as you can about George Washington. You might even discover that he was named after George Eskridge, one of my great-grandfathers (true story).
When you write your book, if you stick to the facts, then this is nonfiction. You are allowed to conjecture things based on your research and give opinions about what might have influenced Washington’s life.
You can add some narrative flair, using descriptive words or rearranging the order that you talk about Washington’s life. Then your novel becomes narrative nonfiction, written a bit more like a novel but still being based in fact.
However, once you start rearranging life events or inventing dialogue to make the scene more interesting, you’ve crossed over into fiction, specifically historical fiction. Now you are in the creative realm, and you have free range to do whatever you want. You can change names, change events, and add some drama to spice up the story.
Your fiction work can be inspired by a true story or based on a true story but doesn’t have to be entirely factual. In fact, it can be 100% make-believe.
To further illustrate the point, below are 19 pairs of fiction and nonfiction examples. These are books that share the same topic, the same author, or the same setting. However one is a fiction work and one is a nonfiction work. But both are worth your time.
Fiction and Nonfiction Examples
#MeToo in Hollywood
She Said
Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey
(Nonfiction) For months, New York Times journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey were in confidential talks with top actresses and employees digging into long-buried allegations of sexual harassment and abuse by Harvey Weinstein. However, neither woman was prepared for the sheer momentum of the #MeToo movement that followed the publication of their expose.
The Comeback
Ella Berman
(Fiction) Ella Berman’s debut novel shows the pain and confusion of a victim of sexual and emotional abuse. Former child actress Grace Turner is just trying to survive after being chewed up by Hollywood. When she is asked to present a lifetime achievement award to her former director Able Yorke, she wonders if she has the strength to finally reveal the truth about the manipulative director.
Fiction and Nonfiction Examples
Topic: Child Kidnapping
My Story
Elizabeth Smart
(Nonfiction) In 2002, 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart became a household name when she was kidnapped from her Utah home in the middle of the night. For 9 months she was held captive and abused by Brian David Mitchell and his wife Wanda Barzee. In her memoir, Smart recalls how her faith allowed her to maintain hope through her traumatic ordeal and how she was able to forge a new life afterward.
Room
Emma Donoghue
(Fiction) Five-year-old Jack has lived his whole life in Room. It’s his whole world where he lives with his Ma all day long. At night, Ma shuts him up in the wardrobe for protection when Old Nick visits. What Jack doesn’t realize is that his mother doesn’t view Room as home, but as a prison where she is being held captive. Narrated from Jack’s perspective, Room haunts you with unimaginable horrors witnessed through the innocence of a child.
Fiction and Nonfiction Examples
Author: Maggie Farrell
I Am, I Am, I Am
Maggie O’Farrell
(Nonfiction) I can’t begin to describe how incredible this book is. Instead of telling you her life story, Maggie O’Farrell gives you glimpses into her life through separate incidents where she brushed against death, which has occurred surprisingly often. From a childhood illness to near-fatal accidents to miscarriage, O’Farrell gives you such an intriguing look not just at how she has almost died, but more importantly how she has lived. If you are willing to listen to an audiobook, the narrator on this one is exceptional.
The Marriage Portrait
Maggie O’Farrell
(Fiction) Coming off her hit bestseller, Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell returns with another gorgeous historical fiction novel set in Renaissance Italy. When her sister dies, Lucrezia de Medici unexpectedly marries her late sister’s fiance, a man desperate for an heir. As Lucrezia ponders her new husband’s nature – whether he is a kind sophisticate or a ruthless politician – she begins to suspect he is planning to kill her. Highlighting the constrictions of life for medieval women, The Marriage Portrait‘s plot was slow to build, but the descriptive writing was captivating to read.
Hamnet
Maggie O’Farrell
(Fiction) In an award-winning piece of literary fiction, Maggie O’Farrell imagines the life of William Shakespeare’s wife. Since almost everything about her is forgotten to history, O’Farrell has free reign in imagining Agnes as a fierce and misunderstood woman, who marries a poor Latin tutor, the son of a disgraced businessman. While flashing back to Agnes and William’s past, the crux of the story focuses on the death of their son Hamnet, showing the endless depths of grief of a mother who loses a child and imagining how Hamnet’s death influenced Shakespeare’s famous play, Hamlet, written just four years later.
Fiction and Nonfiction Examples
Author: Lisa Genova
Remember
Lisa Genova
(Nonfiction) Neuroscientist Lisa Genova explains why we remember some things and why we forget others. Genova presents a basic primer on how memories work, what you can reasonably expect from your memory as you age, and how to help protect your memory. While extremely informative and easy to understand, Remember isn’t a particularly captivating book on intelligence. Genova does a great job explaining how memory works but I suggest that discussing the real-life implications of these topics with others will make this book stand out.
Still Alice
Lisa Genova
(Fiction) Sometimes authors knock it out of the park with their debut novel, and neuroscientist Lisa Genova certainly fits that description. Harvard professor Alice Howland is at the top of her career when she begins to have trouble with her memory. The story of her decline due to early-onset Alzheimer’s will leave you wracked with emotions. Just be sure to have a box of tissues handy because you will need them.
Fiction and Nonfiction Examples
Topic: Instagram
No Filter
Sarah Frier
(Nonfiction) Technology reporter Sarah Frier gives an in-depth look at the social media giant Instagram. When creating Instagram, founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger wanted to blend art and technology. From its founding days to its explosive growth and purchase by Facebook, Frier shows how Instagram became an unlikely success story that has changed how we perceive social media. Frier raises some thought-provoking philosophical questions about how social media shapes our world but leaves it to the reader to consider what, if anything, can be done about them.
People Like Her
Ellery Lloyd
(Fiction) Instamom Emmy Jackson is known for telling it as it is to her millions of Instagram followers. She knows exactly how to monetize her life as a “good-enough” mom. When Emmy’s online narrative pulls further from the truth it begins to strain her marriage. Meanwhile, an obsessed follower begins stalking the family, with a major grudge against Emmy. With an accurate portrayal of influencer life and a compelling stalker story, People Like Her is an all-around fun thriller book to read that makes you think about how putting our lives online affects us.
Fiction and Nonfiction Examples
Topic: Women Working in Tech Industry
Lean In
Sheryl Sandberg
(Nonfiction) A must-read for any woman embarking on her career, Sheryl Sandberg’s book will inspire you to fully lean in to your profession. Lean In is one of the books that will make you think of the realities of the workplace for women versus what it should be like. Sandberg gives great advice on how to combat bias against women in the workplace and manage a career, a marriage, and a family.
Imposter Syndrome
Kathy Wang
(Fiction) As COO of the hottest tech company in America, Julia Lerner has it all and hides a lethal secret: she’s also a Russian spy. One afternoon while performing a server check, Alice notices something off about the company’s privacy settings. When Alice begins to suspect Julia, a cat-and-mouse game ensues in this satirical look at Silicon Valley.
Fiction and Nonfiction Examples
Topic: Racism in Justice System
Just Mercy
Bryan Stevenson
(Nonfiction) As a young idealistic lawyer, Bryan Stevenson founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice defending the most desperate of clients. Over the years, he helped the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women with nowhere else to turn. One case, in particular, stands out: Walter McMillian, a young man on death row who insists he is innocent, and very well may be. Stevenson inspires his readers to consider how compassion is needed for true justice to be served.
An American Marriage
Tayari Jones
(Fiction) At first glance, newlyweds Celestial and Roy seem like the perfect American couple. He’s a young executive, and she’s an emerging artist. However, as life comes into play and Roy is unjustly imprisoned, their marriage begins to fall apart. Discussing love, marriage, and race, this thought-provoking piece of adult literature is among my favorite of Oprah Winfrey’s book club recommendations.
Fiction and Nonfiction Examples
Topic: Escaping Slavery
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Harriet Jacobs
(Nonfiction) Largely forgotten and believed to be a work of fiction, historians in the 1980s finally proved that Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl was Harriett Jacobs’s memoir of her life as a slave. Told in a brilliantly clear and compelling narrative, Jacob shines the light on the hypocrisy and sexual abuse inherent in master-slave relationships. Eventually, Jacobs escapes, living in hiding in an attic for seven years before moving to the North.
The Underground Railroad
Colson Whitehead
(Fiction) An outcast among her fellow Africans, Cora finds life as a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia particularly hard. When Caesar, a new arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, the two hatch a plan to escape. Yet in their efforts, Cora kills a young white boy and the two are furiously hunted as they journey to freedom in the North.
Fiction and Nonfiction Examples
Setting: The Great Migration
The Warmth of Other Suns
Isabel Wilkerson
(Nonfiction) From the First World War to the 1970s, a mass exodus ensued of Blacks leaving the South and settling in northern and western cities. Wilkerson’s book highlights three stories from The Great Migration: Ida Mae Gladney who left sharecropping in 1937 for a blue-collar life in Chicago; George Starling, who left Florida in 1945 for Harlem where he fought for civil rights; and Robert Foster, who moved from Louisiana in 1953 to become a personal physician. Isabel Wilkerson’s more recent book, Caste, which was one of Oprah’s book club picks, would also be an excellent choice if your book club wants to discuss race relations in the United States.
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie
Ayana Mathis
(Fiction) In 1923, Hattie Shepherd leaves Georgia in search of a better life in Philadelphia. Instead, she ends up in a disappointing marriage. Hattie goes on to have 11 children, whom she raises with strength, but not much tenderness. Through the narratives of her children, you see the legacy inherited by the children of the Great Migration.
Fiction and Nonfiction Examples
Topic: Immigrant Children
Beautiful Country
Qian Julie Wang
(Nonfiction) When Qian was seven years old, her family immigrated to the United States. As her parents struggled to cope with the transition from respected professors to “illegal” sweatshop laborers, Qian tries to find her place in a new world. Highlighting the dichotomy of coming to America for free speech but being afraid to speak, this moving coming-of-age memoir brings home the reality of the immigrant experience in the US.
The Book of Unknown Americans
Cristina Henriquez
(Fiction) In a Delaware apartment complex live Spanish-speaking immigrants from all over Central and South America. They may not all be from the same land, but they all share the same dream of starting a new life in America. Among them are Arturo and Alma Rivera who have come seeking medical help for their daughter Maribel. A heartfelt story of the various struggles and desires of immigrants, The Book of Unknown Americans is a must-read for any American Reading Challenge in today’s political climate.
Fiction and Nonfiction Examples
Topic: Poverty in Appalachia
The Glass Castle
Jeannette Walls
(Nonfiction) One of the best memoirs of recent years, The Glass Castle recounts Jeannette Walls’ tumultuous childhood. She opens the book with the account of how, at 3 years old, she ended up hospitalized with severe burns after pouring scalding water on herself when cooking hot dogs for lunch. You meet her charming father Rex, equal measures brilliant and paranoid; her mother Rose, selfish and depressed; and her three siblings, trying their best just to survive. To quote my husband, “Sometimes someone’s train wreck of a life is fascinating.”
Demon Copperhead
Barbara Kingsolver
(Fiction) In a modern-day version of David Copperfield set in the Appalachian Mountains, Demon Copperhead speaks of how institutional poverty damages young boys today. A child of a single mother living in a single-wide trailer, young Demon must survive foster care, child labor, poor schools, addiction, success, and failure in this epic tale perfect for book clubs who love thought-provoking topics.
Fiction and Nonfiction Examples
Topic: Horse Racing
Seabiscuit
Laura Hillenbrand
(Nonfiction) In 1938, the single biggest newsmaker was not Hitler or Mussolini, but the crooked-legged racehorse Seabiscuit. Laura Hillenbrand details how such an unlikely hero became an American icon. When Charles Howard wanted to own racehorses, he allied himself with Tom Smith, a mysterious mustang breaker from Colorado, and Red Pollard, a half-blind former boxer turned jockey, in a partnership that would transform bad luck and injury into an inspirational success story.
Horse
Geraldine Brooks
(Fiction) In 1850, an enslaved groom leads a thoroughbred horse to a series of stunning victories. When the Civil War breaks out, a young artist fighting for the Union encounters the groom and his horse under dangerous circumstances. In 1954, a gallery owner becomes obsessed with a mysterious 19th century equestrian painting and, in 2019, a scientist and an art historian are brought together to uncover the secrets of the horse and its groom.
Fiction and Nonfiction Examples
Topic: The London Blitz
The Splendid and the Vile
Erik Larson
(Nonfiction) Bestselling author Erik Larson turns his attention to Winston Churchill’s first year as Prime Minister as he unites a nation in the face of the horrors of the London Blitz. With thorough in-depth research, Larson brings Churchill to life – sharing details of his political and personal life. At over 600 pages, you need to love history books to appreciate this thick tome. As long as you are expecting an informative read instead of a thrilling read, you’ll find this one of the best books of Spring 2020.
The Secret Keeper
Kate Morton
(Fiction) It all starts when sixteen-year-old Laurel Nicolson witnesses her mother Dorothy stab a man to death on a calm summer day. If that doesn’t get your interest piqued, I don’t know what will. Kate Morton masterfully unfolds the backstory of Dorothy’s life during World War II. The more you learn about Dorothy, the more you’ll keep wanting more.
Fiction and Nonfiction Examples
Topic: WWII Female Spies
A Woman of No Importance
Sonia Purnell
(Nonfiction) Sonia Purnell provides a powerful look at one of the greatest spies of World War II. Rejected from foreign service because she was a woman with a prosthetic leg, Virginia Hall went over to England and became the first woman deployed to occupied France. Known as the “Madonna of the Resistance,” Hall coordinated major resistance activities in France and became the most-wanted spy in Europe.
Code Name Hélène
Ariel Lawhon
(Fiction) Nancy Wake, a New Zealander living in Paris, becomes a spy for the British and rises to one of the top leaders of the French Resistance and one of the most decorated women of the war. This true story is split into two narratives – the first starting with Nancy parachuting into France in 1944 and the second telling of her courtship with her husband, Henri Fiocca, before the war. You’ll fall in love with Henri and cheer on Nancy as she transforms into a fierce fighter and respected commander. As the earlier timeline catches up with the later one, you’ll feel all the emotions of a woman caught up in a terrible war.
Fiction and Nonfiction Examples
Topic: Ship Sinking
Dead Wake
Erik Larson
(Nonfiction) In 1915, Germany declared that they considered the ocean around Britain a war zone and their dreaded U-Boats wreaked havoc on shipping traffic. Yet when the luxury ocean liner Lusitania set sail for New York, the crew felt it inconceivable that the Germans would target a civilian target. With his powerful narrative nonfiction ability, Erik Larson describes the horrific sinking of the Lusitania, a tragedy that urged the United States closer to joining World War I.
Salt to the Sea
Ruta Sepetys
(Fiction) Ruta Sepetys delivers a new perspective on World War II novels with this young adult book inspired by a true event. Salt to the Sea story follows a group of Prussian refugees fleeing from the advance of Stalin’s Red Army. Sepetys wins you over with her natural storytelling ability, teaching you quite a bit about Prussia and the Wilhelm Gustloff disaster in this fun, informative read.
Fiction and Nonfiction Examples
Topic: Beryl Markham
West With the Night
Beryl Markham
(Nonfiction) In her stunning memoir, Beryl Markham tells the story of her unconventional life. A British expat raised in the wilds of Kenya, Markham had no qualms about shattering expectations at every turn, conquering male-dominated professions and throwing herself into torrid love affairs. Markham was the first female horse trainer in Kenya, one of the first pilots in Africa, and the first woman to fly the transAtlantic crossing solo from East to West, just years after Amelia Earnhardt did it in the opposite direction.
Circling the Sun
Paula McLain
(Fiction) Growing up a tomboy on her father’s Kenyan estate, Beryl Markham has always shunned the traditional limitations placed on women. Blazing a trail as both a renowned horse trainer and a female pilot, she was the first person to fly nonstop from Europe to America. In a historical novelization of her life, Circling the Sun details the tempestuous life of a fierce woman, from her wild childhood to her series of failed relationships as she struggles against society’s conventions.
Fiction and Nonfiction Examples
Topic: Vanderbilt Family
Vanderbilt
Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe
(Nonfiction) CNN host Anderson Cooper teams up with historian Katherine Howe to recount the rise and fall of a great American dynasty, his mother’s family, the Vanderbilts. Told in vignettes of the various family members, Cooper shows how Cornelius Vanderbilt built his shipping and railroad empires in the 1800s, and how his descendants fought over his staggering fortune, forever fracturing the family.
A Well-Behaved Woman
Therese Anne Fowler
(Fiction) Fowler transports you to New York City during the Gilded Age, giving you a novelized look at the life of Alva Vanderbilt. Recently married into the nouveau-riche Vanderbilt clan, Alva was determined to win over society snobs with her lavish costume balls. Yet as the Vanderbilts grew rich beyond their wildest dreams, Alva was determined to push boundaries, knowing that playing by the rules would only get you so far.
Fiction and Nonfiction Examples
Topic: Mountaineering
Into Thin Air
Jon Krakauer
(Nonfiction) While writing a story about the overcrowding on Mt. Everest, investigative journalist Jon Krakauer got much more than he expected. Climbing to the summit on May 10, 1996, Krakauer’s group was engulfed by a storm that ended up claiming five lives. With his firsthand account of the glories and dangers of climbing Mt. Everest, Krakauer will have you gripped to the page as you follow along with his expedition. This heartstopping modern classic that anyone with an outdoor mindset will love has certainly earned a place among the best memoirs of all time.
Breathless
Amy McCulloch
(Fiction) Journalist Cecily Wong has given up everything to join famous mountaineer Charles McVeigh on his record-breaking climb of Mt. Manaslu, the eighth-highest peak in the world. When a climber dies in a freak accident, Cecily worries the expedition might have to turn back. Then a second climber dies, and Cecily realizes she’s trapped high in the mountains with a killer.
Fiction and Nonfiction Examples
Topic: Military Sniper
American Sniper
Chris Kyle
(Nonfiction) Serving as a Navy SEAL in the Iraq war for over a decade, Chris Kyle was the deadliest sniper in American military history. Kyle’s autobiography is a frank account of his life – from his roots as a Texas cowboy to his four tours in Iraq with the SEALs. The ghostwriters did an excellent job leaving the story in Kyle’s voice while giving it needed structure. Kyle’s story is unapologetically his own, an unvarnished account of his experiences, with lots of f-bombs to go with it.
Time to Hunt
Stephen Hunter
(Fiction) In the last days of the Vietnam war, master sniper Bob Lee Swagger set out on patrol with an idealist young marine, Donny Fenn, only to have a sniper kill Donny and injured Bob. Years later, Bob, now married to Donny’s widow, is living in peace in the Idaho mountains until his greatest enemy, the world’s greatest sniper, tracks him down. Considered one of the best books about snipers, Time to Hunt is the third novel in the Bob Lee Swagger series but is one of those page-turner books that can easily be read as a standalone.
What are Your Favorite Fiction and Nonfiction Pairs?
What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with my fiction and nonfiction examples? What fiction and nonfiction pairings have I forgotten? As always, let me know in the comments!
Anonymous says
Love this list and The Secret Keeper is one of my all time favorite books! Some Native American/Indigenous stories would be great here as well!
Anonymous says
My fiction choice was Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese and my nonfiction choice was They Called Me Number One by Bev Sellars. These books deal with a topic is was not aware of: Indian Residential Schools.
Jenna says
The fiction/non-fiction pairings are amazing!!! So many good ideas. I have two pairings on my TBR pile now. What a great challenge!
Vanessa says
I’m planning to read Library of Legends, by Janie Chang (fiction), and The Rape of Nanking, by Iris Chang (nonfiction–history). I don’t know whether the authors are related, but I hope to find out. I know someone who was born as his Chinese parents fled the Japanese–he never knew his birthplace or birth date because the family was on the run.
Patricia Anne Bryan says
Where can we find similar lists?
Patricia Anne Bryan says
Sorry..my pairing will be 1000 Books To Die For and The Book-Seller’s Tale.
Randi K Robinson says
I took a direct route on this prompt. I listened to The Mad Girls OF New York by Maya Rodale, a fictional account of Nellie Bly’s 10 days in a madhouse. Then I listened to Nellie Bly’s own words in Ten Days In A Madhouse. The fiction book was quite true to the real story.
Micheline says
What a great list. I read the Beryl Markham’s stories. Both are excellent.
I will probably choose the pairing of Maggie O’Farrell. I read « Hamlet » and loved it. I have already read « The Splendid and the Vile », now « The Secret Keeper » intrigues me. What a nice way to discover new books.
Anonymous says
I’ve got Deaf Utopia (non-fiction) and True Biz (fiction) – both about deaf culture
Kathy Campbell says
I read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab (fiction) about a girl who was desperate to leave her family and have a free life. Then I read The Invisible Wall by Harry Bernstein ( non fiction) about a girl who wanted to marry for love and the Jewish family who stayed on their side of the street.
Bethany Nummela-Hanel says
Re: Native American Indigenous pairings. I think Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer and The Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley would be great together. I read them about a month apart. Both are centered on the Ojibwe tribe in and around the Great Lakes. Kimmerer talks about what we can learn from how Native Americans interact with the land. Boulley–well I thought I was going to read a heart-breaking coming-of-age story and it is that, but there’s also a high-stakes mystery to solve which kept me on the edge of my seat. Highly recommend at least one in audio so you can get an ear for the Ojibwe language.