Yay!! This is always my favorite week of Nonfiction November! I think because, like most readers, I read a fiction book that gets me thinking about a certain topic that sends me off on a quest for more knowledge. It can be a setting, a lifestyle, a theory, anything catches my attention. Last year I went off on a real journey that was really coastal/water themed. Fishing villages in particular. Yeah, don’t ask. Not sure why. But, it happened. My pairings this week are centered around this particular theme.
So.. these two are pretty different, obviously. One is a whimsical, lovely romantic type story and the other tells the straight truth, the realness of these people who work the trawlers and fishing boats off the coast of Cornwall, the loneliness and hard work, but also the good times as well. However both have that closeness of connection and community, knowing your neighbors, your people. I greatly enjoyed both of these books.
Jenny Colgan is actually one of my favorite go-to comfort read authors. Her books never fail to capture my attention and make me smile. This book may in fact be one of the reasons I spun down the path of wanting to read about small fishing villages. And Cornwall. Dark, Salt, Clear was just a fantastically written book about the lives of the people in Lamorna, which may not be as whimsical but was a book I greatly enjoyed.
And while these are not books or even documentaries, two movies that I loved last year were both set in small fishing towns.
These are both fictional, but Fisherman’s Friends is based on a true story. And filmed in the same village that Doc Martin is, if you are a fan. Blow the Man Down does not take place in Cornwall although it is set in a small fishing village. It is also a dark comedy, while Fisherman’s Friends is more of a feel good film.
And as I am writing this, I think I want to revisit this little interest of mine! I still have a bunch of books on my list to read that fit this topic/theme.
Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.. 
This is my favorite week, too! Great pairing – I’ve never read Jenny Colgan, but I see her books everywhere!
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I got my mom started on them! They are just such light fun reading. 🙂
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Great pairing!
I have enjoyed Jenny Colgan’s books, especially the County Cork cozy series.
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She is such a fun cozy author!
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I think I would love Dark, Salt, Clear. Cornwall intrigues me. (The Poldark series on PBS is set in Cornwall, if you haven’t already viewed it. It’s based on an old series of books, and I thought all of these were very good.)
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I have not watched that! I see it all the time in the listing. Looks like we have another to add to the list!
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What a lovely set of books and films! I really like light novels set in small coastal towns, Jenny Colgan is good and I’ve just enjoyed all the Little Wedding Shop by the Sea novels, too. I haven’t read Dark, Salt, Clear yet – I need to check with my Cornwall friends how accurate it is, as the other nonfic I read set in Newlyn really wasn’t, apparently!
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Jenny Colgan is such a favorite of mine!
And I would love to hear their opinion!!!
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Little Beach Street Bakery is one of my favorites so I really need to read Dark Salt Clear though I suspect it has far less puffin side kick charm.
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LOL! I absolutely loved that puffin!! I want a puffin friend. I love that book too. And you are right, no fun little puffin side kicks. 😦
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What a great pairing! I always like recognizing places that I’m familiar with in a book. I think seeing a setting I’d learned about from nonfiction in a fictional account and being able to compare the two would be a similar pleasure.
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I agree! I love to read books based on settings – I went through a New Orleans setting phase in high school, and even ended up visiting there. It was neat to do that. 🙂
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I like that you’ve gone with a theme. I enjoyed watching Fisherman’s Friend. Thanks for sharing your pairings
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Fisherman’s Friend was such a fun movie!
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I think I might like some of these!!! I don’t know if this book fits your theme or not….I think it does??? It’s one of my favorite books Of. All. Time. Wives of the Fishermen by Angela Huth. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/89871.Wives_of_the_Fishermen
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Ooo that sounds really good!!
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Good pairing, shows that you can find a nonfiction for almost any kind of book.
Thanks for your visit to my page. My book pairing is about Afghanistan
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Nice original pairing!
Here are my pairings: https://wordsandpeace.com/2021/11/08/nonfiction-november-2021-book-pairings/
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As I read, I wondered if you’d watched Doc Martin, but I see that you’re at least aware of it! I love it. Another movie set in a fishing village is The Grand Seduction. It’s not what it sounds like, I promise! 😀 The fishing village in Newfoundland is trying to convince a young doctor to move there. It was funny and really good.
I’ve read one book by Jenny Colgan and liked it. I need to pick up more of her work.
Dark, Salt, Clear sound interesting too.
Fun pairing!
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I love everything about this post. Jenny Colgan definitely writes some of my favorite comfort reads as well, so I’m definitely adding Dark, Salt, Clear to my TBR pile. I really enjoy stories—fiction and nonfiction—that focus on communities.
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One of my favorite parts of being a librarian was putting together books on a subject. Finding fiction, nonfiction and biographies on a theme. Glad your book pairing was successful and had you wanting to continue delving into your subject.
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