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Reading the Oscars

Books on Screen

Reading the Oscars

Which was better: the movie or the book?

Film fans and book lovers have just about three weeks to make the ultimate assessment, before the Oscar ceremony takes place on Sunday, February 26th.

The question is even more relevant this year as six out of nine Best Picture Academy Award nominees are based on books --- Hugo (which leads with 11 nominations), War Horse (6 nominations), Moneyball (6 nominations), The Descendants (5 nominations), The Help (4 nominations), and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2 nominations).

Further, a total of 20 nominated feature films (out of 46) have book tie-ins, ranging from novels to children’s books, to coffee-table books to screenplay books. This abundance of titles provides the opportunity to revisit beloved characters, delve into parts of the stories that didn’t make it to the screen, or find out more about the Hollywood magic that brought these remarkable tales to life.

Here is a (pretty exhaustive) roundup of books tied to the Oscar-nominated films, in case you feel like brushing up in advance of the awards by picking up a book (or two, or three) at your favorite bookseller or local library:


Hugo (11 nominations, including Best Picture)

  • THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET by Brian Selznick (Scholastic, 9780439813785, $24.99 hardcover)
     
  • THE HUGO MOVIE COMPANION by Brian Selznick (Scholastic, 9780545331555, $19.99 hardcover)
     
  • HUGO: THE SHOOTING SCRIPT, Screenplay and Introduction by John Logan, Foreword by Brian Selznick (Newmarket Press / It Books, 9780062202772, $19.99 paperback)

War Horse (6 nominations, including Best Picture)

  • WAR HORSE by Michael Morpurgo (Scholastic, 9780545403351, $8.99 paperback)
     
  • WAR HORSE: THE MAKING OF THE MOTION PICTURE (Newmarket Press / It Books, 9780062192615, $34.99 hardcover)

Moneyball (6 nominations, including Best Picture)

  • MONEYBALL by Michael Lewis (W.W. Norton, 9780393338393, $15.95 paperback)

The Descendants (5 nominations, including Best Picture)

  • THE DESCENDANTS by Kaui Hart Hemmings (Random House, 9780812982954, $15.00 paperback)

The Help (4 nominations, including Best Picture)

  • THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett (Berkley, 9780425245132, $16.00 paperback)

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2 nominations, including Best Picture)

  • EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE by Jonathan Safran Foer (Mariner, 9780547735023, $14.95 paperback)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (5 nominations)

  • THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by Stieg Larsson (Vintage, 9780307949486, $9.99 paperback)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (3 nominations)

  • TINKER TAILOR SOLIDER SPY by John le Carre (Penguin, 9780143120933, $16.00 paperback)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (3 nominations)

  • HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic, 9780545139700, $14.99 paperback)
     
  • HARRY POTTER PAGE TO SCREEN: The Complete Filmmaking Journey, by Bob McCabe (Harper Design, 9780062101891, $75.00 hardcover)

Albert Nobbs (3 nominations)

  • ALBERT NOBBS: A Novella, by George Moore (Penguin, 9780143122524, $10.00 paperback)

My Week with Marilyn (2 nominations)

  • MY WEEK WITH MARILYN by Colin Clark (Weinstein Books, 9781602861497, $16.00 paperback)

The Adventures of Tintin (1 nomination)

  • THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: The Secret of the Unicorn, by Herge (Little, Brown, 9780316358323, $10.99 paperback)
  • THE ART OF THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN by Weta Workshop (Harper Design, 9780062087492, $39.99 hardcover)

Anonymous (1 nomination)

  • ANONYMOUS: William Shakespeare Revealed, Introduction by Roland Emmerich (Newmarket Press / It Books, 9781557049926, $22.95 paperback)

Drive (1 nomination)

  • DRIVE by James Sallis (Mariner, 9780547791098, $12.95 paperback)

Jane Eyre (1 nomination)

  • JANE EYRE by Charlotte Bronte (Vintage, 978030744227, $9.95 paperback)

Kung Fu Panda 2 (nominated for Best Animated Feature Film)

  • THE ART OF KUNG FU PANDA 2 by Tracey Miller-Zarneke (Insight Editions, 9781608870189, $39.95 hardcover)

Puss in Boots (nominated for Best Animated Feature Film)

  • THE ART OF PUSS IN BOOTS by Ramin Zahed (Insight Editions, 9781608870349, $39.95 hardcover)

Rango (nominated for Best Animated Feature Film)

  • The Ballad of Rango, by David S. Cohen (Insight Editions, 9781608870172, $39.95 hardcover)

Real Steel (1 nomination)

  • STEEL: AND OTHER STORIES by Richard Matheson (Tor, 9780765367617, $7.99 paperback)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (1 nomination)

  • PLANET OF THE APES by Pierre Boulle (Del Rey, 9780345447982, $7.99 paperback)

Happy Reading!

   ---  Harry Burton, special to Bookreporter.com