Fiction and Research

I am reading Dan Brown's latest novel, Inferno, and am totally engrossed in the story. If you have never read one of his books - The Davinci Code, Angels and Demons, or The Lost Symbol - I highly recommend them. He takes real world places and writes mysteries around them. Yes... I know they are fiction, but do you know what I REALLY love about them? They make me curious.
I spend A LOT of time on Wikipedia, Google, etc. looking up the people, places and things he writes about. I become fascinated with the real people from history and do a lot of reaseach on them. I learn so much and enjoy it. I was never a history buff in high school, but as I've gotten older I find myself wanting to know more and more.
What I love about the research is I keep branching off into other topics. I started research Dante (the focus on Inferno) and had NO idea he loved a woman named Beatrice since the age of 9 and was denied the ability to marry her. SOOO, I researched Beatrice. Which had a painting of her... which led to the research of the artist... and on and on and on.
Now I am researching St. Marks Cathedral in Venice. Beautiful and so full of wonder.
Off to read some more and see what is next.