The big entertainment awards season is upon us and as usual most of the major award nominations are based on books. The path some books take to become films can be quick and easy, while other books can languish in the bowels of the movie studio that purchased their movie rights for years. Every year there is a debate on whether the book or the movie is better; the shelves of TBPL are full of the titles used to create this year’s winners and nominees. Beside the Best Picture nominees listed below, some great books such as Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, Trumbo by Bruce Cook and The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff are featured in the Acting awards.
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis
Lewis chronicles the near crash of the world economy through the eyes of four outsiders to the echelons of Wall Street. A full year before the crash of 2008, the group discovered a small silent crash that foretold of what was going to happen and tried to tell the world and especially the FCC what exactly was happening in the background of the mortgage markets. They were largely ignored and ridiculed. The book is told with honesty and humour but doesn’t hesitate to lay the blame for the loss of countless jobs and homes at the appropriate doorsteps.
Bridge of Spies: a True Story of the Cold War by Giles Whittell
Set at the height of the Cold War in 1962, the true account details the machinations between the US and the USSR over the return of an American U-2 pilot named Gary Powers who was shot down and captured during a reconnaissance mission in central Russia in exchange for British born KGB agent named William Fisher. Whittell weaves the strands between the intense political tensions at the top and lives of those caught in the web of intrigue that nearly took the world to nuclear war.
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
Following the end of the Second World War, young Eilis Lacey is sponsored to go live and work in New York, leaving her mother and sister at home. Sad, lonely and homesick, Eilis forges a life for herself and eventually falls in love. Finally having accepted America, a tragedy in Ireland forces Eilis home to her small Irish village and her heart is torn between her family and her past, and Brooklyn and the future that she now dreams of.
The Martian by Andy Weir
A dust storm during the first manned voyage to Mars forces the crew to abandon their mission leaving behind a crewman they believe to be dead. Mark Watney is still very much alive and he must find a way to stay that way until he can signal Earth. Through sheer inventiveness and strength of spirit, Mark strives to help in his own rescue against all odds.
The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge by Michael Punke
Hugh Glass is a trapper and experienced frontiersman in the wildness of North America in 1823, when a grizzly bear attack leaves him near death. The two men assigned to care for him chose to abandon him, spurring Glass to survive with one desire only, revenge.
Room by Emma Donoghue
For five year old Jack, the entire world exists of Room. This is where he was born and grew up, along with his Ma. At night, Ma shuts him up in the wardrobe to sleep when Old Nick visits. To Ma, room is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Rather than concentrating on the darker details of the story, it focuses on the strength of love between a mother and her child.
Lori Kauzlarick
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