What to Read Next: Oscar Winners Edition

The inspiration for the new movie Oppenheimer, Kai Bird’s incredible biography, American Prometheus follows the complicated and consequential life of one of the most influential scientists in human history.

Meet Kai Bird on our Poured Over podcast.

If Issa Rae’s line reading of “The Godfather” in Barbie didn’t convince you to read the book, allow us! Mario Puzo penned the original tale of the Corleone family in a novel that was such a hit, it was on everyone’s shelf, everywhere. Driven by Al Pacino’s career-making turn and Marlon Brando’s iconic performance, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, this landmark film won the Best Picture Oscar in 1973 — and we’ll rewatch it anytime, anywhere.

Before having Anthony Hopkins’ line delivery of “I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti” seared into our minds forever, there first came Thomas Harris’ classic novel. The Silence of the Lambs won Best Picture at the 1992 Oscar ceremony, marking it as the very first horror movie to ever earn the accolade.

Chiwetel Ejiofor stunned us in 12 Years a Slave. Lupita Nyong’o’s performance kept us glued to the screen. Benedict Cumberbatch crept into our nightmares. Before sweeping at the 2014 Academy Awards, 12 Years a Slave was written over 160 years prior by Solomon Northup, born a free man but kidnapped and turned into a slave.

Before we knew him as Stilgar in Dune, Javier Bardem won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in No Country For Old Men. In typical Cormac McCarthy fashion, he sizes up crime novels, rips up the borders of the genre and expands what crime fiction can be. The movie is no exception to this — winning Best Picture (along with a whopping 7 other awards) at the 2008 Oscars ceremony.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy series was beloved long before it was adapted for the screen. With 11 Oscars under its belt from the 2004 ceremony, The Return of the King won every single Oscar it was nominated for. A fantasy adaptation that paved the way for so many of the movies we love (sans a cursed popcorn bucket), go back to the beginning of the series and start your binge read before this weekend’s ceremony.

We feel in love with Michael Ondaatje’s luminous, heartbreaking novel, five years before Anthony Minghella’s epic film starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Ralph Fiennes won 9 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. This is the kind of novel you’ll want to read out loud to the person you love best.

The premise of this Oscar winner based on a true story is what you might call high-concept. The CIA is attempting to rescue Americans who escaped the siege of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 — using the filming of a fake sci-fi movie as cover for their plans. Ben Affleck stars in and directs this Best Picture/Best Adapted Screenplay winner that will have you on the edge of your seat.

Packed with star power (Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, and Paul Bettany), A Beautiful Mind tells the story of John Nash, and the triumphs — and hardships — of the mind that discovered game theory. You’ll want to crack open those old algebra textbooks after this one.