Ever wonder how your favorite movies were dreamed up?
A ton of awesome films began as even more awesome books! Listening to the audiobook before (or after) seeing the movie can be a total game-changer. You catch new details, and it’s a cool way to compare the story and the visuals. And ahead of the Oscars, now is the perfect time to catch up on the stories behind nominated pictures.
So grab your headphones and dive into these audiobooks, everything from true stories to popular novels. It’s like a behind-the-scenes pass for your ears.
Audiobooks adapted into Oscar-winning or nominated movies
12 Years a Slave
Twelve Years a Slave is a powerful autobiography detailing Solomon Northup’s 1841 kidnapping from New York and subsequent enslavement in Louisiana. Published in 1853, it significantly impacted the slavery “debate” preceding the Civil War. Northup, a free Black man, was tricked, drugged, and sold into slavery, enduring brutal conditions for 12 years before being rescued. A major motion picture starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Brad Pitt, Paul Giamatti, and Michael Fassbender was released in 2013, and won an Oscar for Best Picture.
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Room
Room tells the story of a woman (“Ma”) and her young son Jack who are being held captive in an 11-by-11-foot shed—told from the perspective of 5-year-old Jack, who has spent every minute of his life there. To Jack, Room is his entire world, while for Ma, it’s a prison. Through love and resilience, they create a life within their confinement. As Jack’s curiosity grows and Ma’s desperation intensifies, they plan a daring escape, facing the challenges of the outside world and the unbreakable bond between mother and child. The 2015 movie Room, based on Donoghue’s novel, received four Academy Award nominations. Brie Larson won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the film.
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Wild Robots
“Super heart warming tale of a robot, named Roz, shipwrecked on an island. She is faced with adapting and learning to survive in her new home. Roz teaches perseverance and how kindness in the face of adversity CAN create meaningful relationships. As the listener we learn that families come in all shapes and sizes, and how it can be hard to be the newcomer in a community. A pleasure to listen to!”
— Emma • Content
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Hamnet
Hamnet is a story and world built around two facts: William Shakespeare had a son name Hamnet, and that son died when he was around eleven years old. Shakespeare is in the background (never even named!) while O’Farrell focuses on his wife, Anne Hathaway, jumping back and forth between a chronology of her marriage, and the day Hamnet dies. Noelle at Oblong Books calls it “a complex and wonderful love story and family saga” and praises Ell Potter’s narration for “bringing these characters to life, adding a layered intimacy to the experience of this subtle and beautifully written story.” It’s up for eight Oscars this year, including Best Adapted Screenplay.
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Erasure
Writer and director Cord Jefferson adapted Erasure into the 2023 movie American Fiction, which won him Best Adapted Screenplay. Bookseller Nora at Bookstore1Sarasota praises “Percival Everett’s caustic, funny and thought-provoking novel about race, stereotypes, and the publishing industry.”
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The Nickel Boys
“A brilliant Black boy, in the wrong car, meets the wrong cop. A for-profit penal system puts him in a reform school run by abusers, with a suspicious graveyard out back. What happens next is… a powerful arc bending toward justice? Colson Whitehead delivers a book about suffering that does not revel in suffering, a book about keeping the soul in a broken world, a book that leaves the reader wanting the hero to embrace the person he has become.”
— Nialle • The Haunted Bookshop
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Women Talking
“A carefully woven, rhythmically told tale steadfast in its persistent, hopeful philosophy. This novel is a testament to what community means, and the integral and unrecognized part women play in societies that continue to fail and abuse them.”
— Ellie • Page 1 Books
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Men Without Women
Men Without Women is a collection of seven stories, including the story behind the Oscar-winning movie Drive My Car, exploring the lives of solitary men. From lovesick doctors to Kafka’s Gregor Samsa, these tales delve into themes of loneliness, loss, and the absence of significant women. With his trademark wit and poignancy, Murakami crafts a contemporary classic that resonates with readers, offering insights into the human condition while sometimes raising more questions than answers.
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If Beale Street Could Talk
If Beale Street Could Talk is a romantic drama set in 1970s Harlem. It follows 19-year-old Tish and her sculptor fiancé Fonny, who is falsely accused of rape and imprisoned. As Tish discovers she’s pregnant, their families unite to prove Fonny’s innocence. Baldwin’s poignant narrative explores love, injustice, and resilience in the face of systemic racism.
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Hidden Figures
“Every so often I find myself blindsided by history, in this case by a wealth of information lurking unseen below the surface about the African-American female mathematicians working at NASA from its very inception being just the tip of the iceberg. What I found when I delved into Shetterly’s well researched and lovingly written homage to the women who inspired her was not only the history of integration in this country as seen through the lens of one organization and the many lives it touched. I was also reminded that not all heroes have plaques, and sometimes it’s about getting up and showing up, tirelessly and ceaselessly demanding one more inch of dignity. I was humbled by the stories of these women, and there were more of them than you would believe, who fought so that their children and indeed all of America could go yet farther.”
— Jax • Bookshop Santa Cruz
View the audiobookOther page-to-screen adaptations on audio
People We Meet on Vacation
“I can almost guarantee when I press play on an Emily Henry title, l’m going to love it and I’m going to be doing a lot of introspection. Listening to People We Meet on Vacation was not an exception. I love the dual timelines that both unravel the past and build the pieces back together in the present—I will eat it up every time. I found Poppy to be deeply flawed but I enjoyed seeing her journey of unpacking the things that sewed the seeds of her insecurities and I loved Alex’s cool, calm steadfastness. This might be one of my favorite Emily Henry titles.”
— Jonlyn • A Novel Romance
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Passing
This 1929 novel explores racial identity and the complexities of “passing” in 1920s Harlem. It centers on Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry, childhood friends who reconnect and whose lives become intertwined. Clare, who is passing as white, fascinates Irene, who although light-skinned chooses to live within the Black community. A film adaptation starring Tessa Thompson and Clare Kendry was released in 2021.
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Wuthering Heights
“The story of a small world inhabited by enormous characters. Just a few chapters and you will see why this book has made such an impact on our imaginations. Few other fictitious lovers have come close to the model of heightened passion set by Catherine and Heathcliff. And yet, haunting the novel at every turn is the question of how Heathcliff can turn this passionate love into such dastardly cruelty against other characters, particularly his own relations. In Brontë’s world of the 1770s Yorkshire moors, unfiltered and extravagant behavior that’s fueled by high emotions pits brothers and sisters against each other constantly. Amongst the scenes of social drama, Brontë sprinkles vivid, beautiful descriptions of the ecology of the moors and its seasons.”
— Claudia • Scorpio Books
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Red, White & Royal Blue
“Fresh, irreverent, and funny, Red, White & Royal Blue is a delight and a treasure. With subtle jabs, Casey McQuiston pokes fun at both the public face of the British monarchy as well as the back-door politicking that dominates the U.S. political scene. The story follows the self-centered Alex Claremont-Diaz (America’s First Son) and his interactions with British Prince Henry of Wales. As hostility increases between two political scions forced into a sham friendship, we see the framework of political destiny and duty begin to fray. Little by little, hostility turns to something else entirely. This is a story about happiness—and, more importantly, honesty—for those who live their lives in the public eye.”
— Todd Ketcham • The Book Cellar
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The House of Spirits
The debut novel of Isabel Allende became such a cultural touchstone that it has not only been adapted into the 1993 film starring Meryl Streep and Antonio Banderas, transformed into multiple theatrical versions, and included in countless school curricula, but it’s also being adapted again—this time into a television series that will be released later this year. The groundbreaking book follows the Trueba family—including a matriarch who can commune with spirits—through four generations of social and political upheavals in an unnamed Latin American country that’s widely read as Chile.
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Joy Luck Club
The Joy Luck Club explores the intricate relationships between four Chinese immigrant mothers and their American-born daughters in San Francisco. Through mahjong gatherings, the women share stories of their past and present, revealing cultural clashes and deep family bonds. The story delves into the complex relationships among these women, and how they grapple with issues of generational and cultural identity. It was adapted into a critically acclaimed movie in 1993, directed by Wayne Wang.
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Like Water for Chocolate
“I love impossible love and heartbreaking romance, so that would be enough to get me reading, but this novel has so much more. Published in 1990, it was a huge success in Mexico. It was an international best-seller, and with good reason. Food has magical powers in this book, as do tears and sexual attraction. This story is a delight. It will surprise you at every turn. And the ending is unpredictable and perfect. I loved it when I was 20 and I love it still.”
— Claire • East City Bookshop
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Mickey7
“Holding the worst job in the universe, Mickey, or ‘Mickey7’ as he’s currently known, is tasked with the most dangerous missions his colony can throw at him – from being on the frontline of an attack, to being the guinea pig of an experimental drug. Each time Mickey dies, he wakes up in his bed disorientated and covered in goo. It’s only when a mistake is made and his replacement, ‘Mickey8,’ is made while Mickey7 still lives that this expendable man questions his entire existence. Edward Ashton’s Mickey7 boasts the imagination of Richard K. Morgan’s Altered Carbon with the snark and humor of Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary. A fun speculative peak into the distant future where humanity abandons a war-torn Earth to perpetually spread across the cosmos, Mickey7 is a fun and intelligent listen.”
— Nicholas • Mysterious Galaxy Books
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Killers of the Flower Moon
“Did you know that the richest people per capita in the world in the 1920s were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma? Me neither. Soon after oil was discovered under their land, a series of murders plagued the Osage Nation and one by one members were killed off, along with those who attempted to get to the bottom of this mystery. This is a shocking and sad tale, a page-turner destined to appeal to true-crime fans and history buffs alike. “
— Jeanie • Ruby’s Books
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The Hate U Give
“This bestselling, powerful young adult novel about social justice and one teenage girl’s effort to fight for what is right, will leave you breathless. The narration by Bahni Turpin is hands down the best l’ve ever heard. This is such an important book it should be required reading for life in general. Or listening. Definitely listening.”
— Kristen • Tattered Cover
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Crazy Rich Asians
Crazy Rich Asians follows Rachel Chu, a Chinese-American professor, as she accompanies her boyfriend Nick Young to Singapore. Unaware of Nick’s wealthy background, Rachel is thrust into a world of opulence and social intrigue. The story humorously explores themes of cultural identity, family expectations, and class differences. This bestselling rom-com was adapted into a movie in 2018.
View the audiobookUpcoming adaptations
Remarkably Bright Creatures
“I did not want this book to end! It’s the latest book l’ve fallen ‘deep’ for – and moved right into my instant recommendation booklist. A very particular septuagenarian keeps busy at her aquarium job, tidying up while keeping to herself – like her equally senior and solitary octopod acquaintance (who provides us with his own narration). I just loved this story that’s full of heart, multiple even. Narrator Marin Ireland, who is always masterful in her vocal performance, is matched by Michael Urie who voices the octopus with perfect aplomb and a touch of cephalopodic sass. A delight to the ears.”
— Ernio • River Bend Bookshop
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Klara and the Sun
“Klara and the Sun from Nobel-winner Kazuo Ishiguro is a radiant new novel about the bond between Klara, an Artificial Friend, and Josie, her human companion. The setting, a dystopian realm of genetic editing and stark class divisions, is not surprising given the author’s previous work, yet Ishiguro’s immense, unwavering portrayal of kindness is astonishing and revitalizing. Classic Ishiguro themes of loyalty, friendship, and sacrifice weave through the novel, but the thread of love runs deep, giving the book warmth and hope so that the earned twist feels more like a dawn than a sunset. Whether you’re returning to Ishiguro or discovering his voice for the first time, l’m excited for you. This is a chance to bask in the brilliance of one the greatest writers of our time.”
— Caroline McGregor • Books & Books
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The Book of Magic
“Such a perfect ending to this story I have loved so much. Jennifer Ehle captures the Owens women perfectly.
Hoffman’s ambling prose feels like a spell being woven, and by the end, you feel like you are the culmination of something wonderful; that you are magical too.”
— Charity • Schuler Books
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The Running Man
Ben Richard is a desperate man with no job and no money. He enters a deadly reality show to save his sick daughter. As a contestant on The Running Man, he must evade hunters for 30 days to win a fortune, but no one has survived past eight days. But desperation can push a person to do things they never thought possible—and Ben Richards is willing to go the distance in this ultimate game of life and death.
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The Magician’s Nephew
The beloved fantasy classic is narrated by Kenneth Branagh. There honestly isn’t much more we need to say, but we will anyway: Do yourself a favor and listen to the audiobook even if you’ve read it in print.
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What are your favorite movies based on books?
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