Pairing a novel with a nonfiction counterpart adds insight and contrast to the reading experience. Read the novel and then discover a nonfiction book that offers facts to complement the story. Find these and more suggested pairings at the Lititz Public Library.
A House Without Windows by Nadia Hashimi
Unable to account for her whereabouts at the time her husband was murdered, a woman is arrested and jailed, her life in the hands of an Afghan-born, American-raised lawyer.
An American Bride in Kabul by Phyllis Chesler
In 1961, a Jewish-American girl from Brooklyn fell in love and followed her Afghan bridegroom to Kabul where her husband, a westernized foreign college student, reverted to the traditions of his tribal heritage, leaving the author trapped in a posh polygamous family.
The Commodore by P.T. Deutermann
Fighting a losing battle against Japan for control of the Solomon Islands in 1942, Vice Admiral “Bull” Halsey appoints a new destroyer commander with aggressive tactics and a gambling nature that brings immediate results.
The Admirals: Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy and King – the Five-Star Admirals Who Won the War at Sea by Walter R. Borneman
The only four men in American history to be promoted to the five-star rank of Admiral of the Fleet led the U.S. Navy to victory in WWII.
I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon
In 1920, a young woman pulled shivering and senseless from a canal in Berlin bears an uncanny resemblance to Anastasia Romanov, the youngest daughter of the Russian Tsar and believed executed by firing squad in 1918.
The Race to Save the Romanovs: The Truth Behind the Secret Plans to Rescue the Russian Imperial Family by Helen Rappaport
The question of asylum for the Tsar and his family was an extremely complicated issue that presented enormous political, logistical and geographical challenges at a time when Europe was at war.
Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
The lives of a French consulate relief worker, a courier in the Polish resistance and a German camp doctor converge at Ravensbruck concentration camp during and after WWII.
Ravensbruck: Life and Death in Hitler’s Concentration Camp for Women by Sarah Helm
A history of WWII’s largest female concentration camp reveals the torturous experiences and ultimate deaths of thousands of women prisoners from more than twenty nations.
The Frozen Hours by Jeff Shaara
In 1950, the American and United Nations troops mobilized to fight the Soviet-backed North Korean army are overmatched and fighting for their lives against the most brutal conditions imaginable.
The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War by David Halberstam
A narrative of political decisions and miscalculations on both sides charts the disastrous path that led to the massive entry of Chinese forces into the Korean conflict, catching Douglas MacArthur and his soldiers by surprise.
The Last Tudor by Philippa Gregory
After her sister Jane met death on the royal executioner’s block and sister Katherine was banished to the Tower of London, Mary Grey became the last Tudor.
The Sisters Who Would Be Queen: Mary, Katherine and Lady Jane Grey by Leanda de Lisle
Great-granddaughters of Henry VII, the Grey sisters were legitimate successors to the English throne and rivals to Henry VIII’s daughters, thrust center stage by greedy men and uncompromising religious politics.
The Templars’ Last Secret by Martin Walker
A police detective suspects the death of an archaeologist searching for a religious artifact of incredible importance is connected to the ruins of a long-ago Knights Templar stronghold.
The Templars: The Rise and Spectacular Fall of God’s Holy Warriors by Dan Jones
The Knights Templar, a band of elite warriors seeking purpose in the violent aftermath of the First Crusade, grew into the most powerful religious order of the medieval world.
A Friend of Mr. Lincoln by Stephen Harrigan
Great things are expected of young Lincoln, a charmingly awkward storyteller and circuit-riding lawyer who takes murder cases and clients from both sides of the slavery issue.
Lincoln’s Last Trial: The Murder Case that Propelled Him to the Presidency by Dan Abrams
In 1859, after more than three thousand cases and at least twenty-five murder trials, Lincoln is hired to defend twenty-two-year-old Peachy Quinn Harrison, accused in the stabbing death of a Springfield, Illinois man.
August 3, 2018