Every category of the Oscars feels like the race of his or her life, to the person who’s nominated in that category. But there’s no denying that the Best Picture is the horse race of the annual contest. It’s the big film that makes producers and studios race to copycat (just the way publishers try to recreate a bestseller in the mold of any previous bestseller). We’re sure you’ll enjoy watching this year’s awards show on Sunday night, but we really hope that some of these successful Best Picture–winning films have you reading more books.

1. If you like The Silence of the Lambs (1991), read People Who Eat Darkness.
2. If you like Annie Hall (1978), pick up Do the Windows Open?.
3. If you like Dances with Wolves (1990), check out The Searchers.
4. If you like Gandhi (1982), try Great Soul.
5. If you like The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), read The Ordinary Acrobat.
6. If you like The Godfather (1972), pick up Mafia Summit.
7. If you like Amadeus (1984), you might like Reinventing Bach.
8. If you like Gladiator (2000), read Pompeii.
9. If you like Slumdog Millionaire (2008), pick up Behind the Beautiful Forevers.
10. If you like Platoon (1986), try A Bright Shining Lie.

DO THE WINDOWS OPEN?: STORIES

by Julie Hecht

Hecht debuts with stories woven from seemingly uneventful threads of life that are made as funny, compelling, and rewarding as a reader ever could wish. The nine pieces' narrator is in her early 40s, married, childless, a sometime resident of New York City now living in East Hampton and summering in Nantucket. Read full book review >

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