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Week 19: a book based on a true story
May 7 - May 13, 2015

It can be a little difficult to sort the differences between non fiction and true story, depending on the books. An easy way is to select a book with "true story" in the title or a book about true events happening to real people. For many of you, this week will be out of your comfort zone, so try to find an appealing book :)


How to Create a Topic:
1. Create a topic in the appropriate folder using your book's author and title (Title by Author). Link your book with the "This topic is about" feature.

2. In the body of your post, comment about why you chose this book. Have you read it before? What are your expectations?

3. Feel free to use the thread as a way to update the group on your progress. Also, when you are finished reading, add a small review and your thoughts about the week's challenge.

4. Comment on everyone else's posts as well! Participation and group involvement will make this challenge so much fun!

**If you chose the same book as another group member for the same week, do not create a duplicate thread.**

Books ideas:
/genres/true...

What about a fictional account of a story you know to be true? For example: Seabiscuit: An American Legend ?

Jessica wrote: "What about a fictional account of a story you know to be true? For example: Seabiscuit: An American Legend ?"

Seabiscuit: An American Legend is actually considered to be a non-fiction book, not a fictional book based on a true story. So if you're looking for non-fiction, this one is perfect.

huh, weird. Cause flipping through it, it looks like a fictional account (with the exception of the index in the back). I may have another book that might work for this week then :)

may be a stupid question but can anyone please explain to me what the difference between a nonfiction and a true story is??

Christina wrote: "may be a stupid question but can anyone please explain to me what the difference between a nonfiction and a true story is??"

Not a stupid question, Christina. In fact, this has been debated pretty heavily on other threads. :)

In the original category, the wording is "Based on a True Story". Which means a fictional account of someone or something that really happened. So something like The Other Boleyn Girl or Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald would work, as a work of fiction based on real people.

However, some people are interpreting this as being a non-fiction account of a true story. In which case, there really is no difference between nonfiction and true story. I guess it's up to you. :)

Hope that makes sense!

Definitely not a stupid question...non fiction can be true accounts of actual events and some are written in story form or read as a story. Yet non-fiction also includes informational books, poetry, drama, graphic novels, as well as true stories or true accounts...Kate answered beautifully (and correctly) as to "based on a true story"...hope this helps...

I had to read it like 10 times until I understood but I think I do get it now! so The Blind Side and The Lost Child of Philomena Lee both belong in the non-fiction category, right?

I don't think a non fiction book should have fiction parts in it, so "stories about people" can be problematic if it's not an history book or a memoir.

For The Lost Child, it's more a book based on a true story for me, as according the reviews, the writer made up discussions between characters. For The Blind Side, if it's a work with the main character, it's a memoir, so it's ok as non fiction, if the author worked all by himself and added things not found in documents or interviews, it's more something based on a true story.

If you want a book about people for non fiction, it's better to choose a memoir/biography written by the main character or with him. Otherwise, for me, it's based on true story, not non fiction.

holy S this is sort of confusing to me, I'm sorry :D
but I think I'll follow this now. good. thank y'all!

I disagree with Zaz about The Lost Child of Philomena Lee: A Mother, Her Son and a 50 Year Search. I think that non-fiction books can have "made up discussions between characters" and still be considered non-fiction. Even memoirs are going to have discussions that are not word-for-word accurate, simply because you usually aren't going to have documentation of actual conversations.

I think the more important part is what the book's author intended. The Lost Child is intended to be told as a true account, not a story with made up, hypothetical parts thrown in. Something like The Other Boleyn Girl is intended to be fiction - the author takes rumors of what might have happened and characters that were real but that we don't know the day-to-day lives of, and tells their story.

I do agree with Kaye to a degree as well, though, that non-fiction can also include other genres aside from just biographies - poetry, how-to books, science - although, most drama and graphic novels I believe fall into fiction, except in specific incidences. For example, in graphic novels, The Complete Persepolis is nonfiction, but Watchmen is fiction. And in drama, Julius Caesar could be considered non-fiction (although honestly could go either way in my opinion), but something like A Midsummer Night's Dream is definitely fiction.

I probably just added to the confusion, but I hope that helps more than hinders. :)

Christina > Select the book you want to read, nobody will bother you if it's not a perfect non fiction, true story or whatever! Books are wild things, they don't live in a category :D

Kate > I agree about the other genres (I'll read a photography book) and I think they fit better in the non fiction week because they are not as confusing.

I took this topic to mean a fiction story based around or inspired by true events, like Jaws or The Exorcist. I haven't decided what book I'm going to read for this topic yet.

That's how I interpreted it as well, Lacey.