Reading Through The Oscars
Published on 16th March 2026
Join us in celebrating the books behind this year’s 2026 Oscar nominees (and winners!). Many of the films making headlines began their lives on the page as novels, biographies, and classic stories reimagined for a new audience. For readers who love seeing stories leap from page to screen, these titles offer a perfect reading list before (or after!) the ceremony.
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell, which was adapted for screen by director Chloé Zhao, received no less than eight nominations this year, with our very own Jessie Buckley taking home the Oscar for Best Actress for her role as Agnes Shakespeare, wife of playwright William. Hamnet is a luminous reimagining of Shakespeare’s family life and the grief that shaped one of his greatest plays.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, one of the most frequently reimagined classics, returned to the spotlight this year following its screen adaptation, directed by Guillermo del Toro. The film earned a whopping nine nominations at this year's ceremony and ultimately took home three awards. Frankenstein is the story of a brilliant but reckless scientist who creates life and then recoils from the responsibility of it.
Find a copy of Frankenstein in the library
Vineland by Thomas Pynchon was brought to the screen by director Paul Thomas Anderson and received a staggering thirteen nominations and dominated this year's Oscars scoring six wins including best picture. Vineland is a darkly comic novel about a fractured American family caught up in government surveillance, counterculture nostalgia, and the lingering shadows of the 1960s.
Train Dreams by Denis Johnson directed by Clint Bentley, earned four nominations at this year's award show but ultimately left without a win. Train Dreams is a haunting novella that follows Robert Grainier, a logger and railroad worker, as he navigates love, loss and the vast changing wilderness around him in the 20th century American West.