Book Titles at the Oscars

[Sarah Wild]

It's hard not to get a bit excited about the Oscar Award ceremony, and we noticed with interest just how many book titles were part of the nominations list this year.

Here are just some of the books:

"Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. 

This is the start of this unusual mystery novel, which revolves around Nick and Amy's marriage and the sinister nature of it is revealed through Amy's diary entries as well as Nick's revelations to the police and his twin sister. 

Rosamund Pike was nominated for Best Actress. 

"Alan Turing : The Enigma" by Andrew Hodges

Alan Turing (1912-54) was a British mathematician who made history. His breaking of the German U-boat Enigma cipher in World War II ensured Allied-American control of the Atlantic. But Turing's vision went far beyond the desperate wartime struggle. Already in the 1930s he had defined the concept of the universal machine, which underpins the computer revolution.

Drawn in to the cockpit of world events and the forefront of technological innovation, Alan Turing was also an innocent and unpretentious gay man trying to live in a society that criminalized him.

Benedict Cumberbatch was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

"American Sniper" by Chris Kyle

From 1999 to 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history. The Pentagon has officially confirmed more than 150 of Kyle's kills (the previous American record was 109), but it has declined to verify the astonishing total number for this book. Iraqi insurgents feared Kyle so much they named him al-Shaitan (“the devil”) and placed a bounty on his head. Kyle earned legendary status among his fellow SEALs, Marines, and U.S. Army soldiers, whom he protected with deadly accuracy from rooftops and stealth positions. Gripping and unforgettable, Kyle’s masterful account of his extraordinary battlefield experiences ranks as one of the great war memoirs of all time.

Bradley Cooper was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

Whiplash by Damien Chazelle

Andrew Neiman is a first-year jazz student at the prestigious Shaffer Conservatory in New York. He has been playing drums from a young age and aspires to become one of the greats like Buddy Rich. Conductor Terence Fletcher accepts Andrew into his studio band as the alternate for Carl, the core drummer. Fletcher is abusive toward his students, mocking and insulting them; when the band rehearses the Hank Levy piece "Whiplash", Fletcher hurls a chair at Andrew for not keeping his tempo, and humiliates him in front of the class.

The screen play for the original short film that this was based on is available online and you can read it here. 

Whiplash was nominated for Best Picture.

"Inherent Vice" by Thomas Pynchon

It's been awhile since Doc Sportello has seen his ex-girlfriend. Suddenly out of nowhere she shows up with a story about a plot to kidnap a billionaire land developer whom she just happens to be in love with. Easy for her to say. It's the tail end of the psychedelic sixties in L.A., and Doc knows that "love" is another of those words going around at the moment, like "trip" or "groovy," except that this one usually leads to trouble.

Paul Thomas Anderson was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay. 

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Alice Howland is proud of the life she worked so hard to build. At fifty years Julianne Moore has been nominated for Best Actress in a Julianne Moore is nominated for Best Actress in a Leading RoleLeading Role.  old, she’s a cognitive psychology professor at Harvard and a world-renowned expert in linguistics with a successful husband and three grown children. When she becomes increasingly disoriented and forgetful, a tragic diagnosis changes her life--and her relationship with her family and the world--forever.

Julianne Moore was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role. 

"Travelling to Infinity" by Jane Hawking

Professor Stephen Hawking is one of the most famous and remarkable scientists of our age and the author of the scientific bestseller A Brief History of Time, which has sold more than 25 million copies. In this compelling memoir, his first wife, Jane Hawking, relates the inside story of their extraordinary marriage. As Stephen's academic renown soared, his body was collapsing under the assaults of a motor neuron disease. Jane's candid account of trying to balance his 24-hour care with the needs of their growing family reveals the inner strength of the author, while the self-evident character and achievements of her husband make for an incredible tale presented with unflinching honesty.

Anthony McCarten was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay.

"Wild : A Journey From Lost to Found" by Cheryl Strayed

At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State — and she would do it alone.

Reese Witherspoon was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role.