Your 2024 Oscars Reading List

The 2024 Oscar nominations have been announced and, as usual, several of the nominated films have their roots in literature. Here's your chance to read the books behind some of this year's top films before the March 10 ceremony. 

Oppenheimer 

Nominated for a whopping thirteen awards, this film is based on American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. This acclaimed biography documents the life of the brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb for his country in a time of war, and who later found himself confronting the moral consequences of its use. The film's nominations include Best Picture, Best Director (Christopher Nolan), Best Actor (Cillian Murphy) and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Poor Things 

With eleven nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director (Yorgos Lanthimos), Best Actress (Emma Stone) and Best Adapted Screenplay, this dazzlingly whimsical film was adapted from Alasdair Gray's award-winning novel of the same name. Set in 1880s Scotland, the story, which echoes Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, traces the fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter, an enchanting young woman brought back from the dead by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter.

Killers of the Flower Moon 

David Grann's celebrated true-life murder mystery served as the basis for Martin Scorsese's film, which notched ten nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress (Lily Gladstone). The riveting account unearths the twisting tale of the Osage Reign of Terror, a string of murders of wealthy Osage members and law-enforcement officials trying to investigate. The book also details the contributions and missteps of the  fledgeling FBI, which eventually uncovered the chilling conspiracy behind the crimes.

Barbie

With eight nominations, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay this box office smash drew inspiration from several texts, including Barbie and Ruth: The Story of the World's Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her by Robin Gerber. Gerwig has also said she was inspired by Mary Pipher's Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls, which examines the societal difficulties girls face as they enter adolescence. And here are a few more related recs.

• Barbie: The Screenplay by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach
• Barbie: The World Tour by Margot Robbie
• Barbie Dress-Up Ultimate Sticker Collection

BTW, who else agrees that Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie were robbed?

Maestro

In creating his biopic about Leonard Bernstein, director Bradley Cooper drew from Famous Father Girl, the memoir by Jamie Bernstein, the celebrated composer's daughter. Her narrative mines the emotional depths of her childhood and invites readers into her family's private world, populated with esteemed characters such as Mike Nichols, John Lennon, and Stephen Sondheim. The film is nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Cooper), Best Actress (Carey Mulligan), and Best Screenplay.

The Zone of Interest

This German-language film, based on the novel of the same name by Martin Amis, is nominated for five Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director (Jonathan Glazer), Best Actress (Sandra Huller), and Best Adapted Screenplay. Written with searing moral force and startling dark humor, the tale portrays the privileged lives of the Nazi bureaucrats and their families presiding at Auschwitz during World War II.

American Fiction

Adapted from Erasure by Percival Everett, this film received five nominations including Best Picture, Best Actor (Jeffrey Wright), and Best Adapted Screenplay. It is the story of Thelonious "Monk" Ellison, a struggling writer, fuming as he watches the meteoric success of a debut author (Issa Rae) who has written the type of clichéd novel that everyone seems to want from him and other Black authors. In a fit of rage, he dashes off an absurd caricature of this boilerplate, only to have it lauded as the next big thing.

Nyad

This inspiring film is based on Find a Way by Diana Nyad, a spirited account of the author's record-breaking swim through the shark-infested waters between Cuba and Florida. Having first attempted this swim at age twenty-eight, the indomitable athlete finally achieved it at age sixty-four. Annette Bening is a favorite to win the Oscar for Best Actress for her role as Nyad. Jodie Foster also received a nomination for her performance as Bonnie Stoll, Nyad's friend and trainer.

The Color Purple 

Published in 1982, Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name has inspired several adaptations. It is the story of Celie, a Black woman who, despite a lifetime of poverty and abuse, finds happiness, love, and the strength to defy her oppressors. Steven Spielberg's Oscar-nominated 1985 film was the first adaptation of the book, followed by a stage musical, which serves as the basis for the new film, which, surprisingly, received only one nomination for Best Supporting Actress (Danielle Brooks).

Nimona

Nominated for Best Animated Feature, this film about an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy is based on the brilliantly subversive graphic novel of the same name by ND Stevenson. The story follows Nimona as she joins supervillain Lord Ballister Blackheart on a quest to wreak serious havoc by taking down the supposed heroes at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics.

More of the books behind the nominations

• Napoleon: A Life by Andrew Roberts—Drawing from this biography, the film Napoleon is nominated for three Oscars including Costume Design, Production Design, and Visual Effects.
• How Do You Live? by Genzaburo Yoshino—The basis for The Boy and the Heron is nominated for Best Animated Feature.
• Flamin' Hot: The Incredible True Story of One Man's Rise from Janitor to Top Executive by Richard Montanez—Flamin' Hot, the film based on this memoir, received a nomination for Best Original Song.
• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: The Art of the Movie—These two books accompany the nominated animated film of the same name.
• The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar by Roald Dahl—The film of the same name is nominated for Best Live-Action Short.
• Robot Dreams by Sara Varon—This book is the inspiration for another contender for the Animated Feature award.
• Elemental by Erin Falligant and the Elemental Little Golden Book—both of these kids' books share ties to the Animated Feature nominee of the same name.

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Read more by Ashly Moore Sheldon