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You know those times when you are reading a book and you’re fascinated by either the central topic or some random bit of trivia, to the point where you have to do a deep dive when you’ve finished (or sometimes, right in the middle of reading)? This can happen at any moment, with any topic, but for the sake of this particular Read This Then That, I’m going for the more general interest version for each book pairing.
That’s right, this is a book pairing! Because there’s nothing quite like finding out all the realest shit after reading a fun story. Or honestly, you can do it the other way around—read the nonfiction story to get all the background, then lighten your mood with the romance (because you’re almost always going to need to lighten your mood when you read about world history. It sucks). While there are so many different avenues we could take with this kind of pairing, I’ve decided to match historical romances with nonfiction about key elements of those books. These aren’t always going to be the only books of interest—they’re just the ones I’ve read and think would be interesting to read before or after the fictional ones. These are all books set in the modern period—after 1750, according to the people who conferred my Humanities degree, though other sources list the modern era as starting with the 19th Century—but find me on the socials to let me know if you’re curious about a different era.
Alright, let’s talk book pairings!
 A Gentleman’s Gentleman by TJ AlexanderLord Christopher Eden is “a man of unusual make” who needs to find a wife. Having never had a valet because of the whole…thing…he doesn’t like the fact that he needs one now that he’s going on the marriage market. James Harding knows not only how to dress a man, but also how to usher him through the wilds of society. This Regency novel is somehow both rompy and quiet, and you love watching Kit figure out what he wants in life. |
