Book adaptations are popular and eagerly present in theaters and on the big screens, including those in Hollywood. Last year 11 movies based on or inspired by books were nominated to the Academy Awards. This year 13 movies based on literature received Oscar nominations. We know the winners! Let's see which books to grab before watching, and if you missed last year winners, we'll remind those too.

12 Years a Slave - Solomon Northup 

The Fish Place: Northup’s brief narrative of his years of slavery, a result of being sold even though he was born free, is compelling not so much for his writing style, but because he doesn’t hold back, at least not in the ways that one would think... read more

AmySea: I read this book last year, and it is without a doubt one of the best, most moving books I have ever read, and absolutely the best book that I have ever read about slavery in the United States.  I remember crying on the bus as I read parts of this book... read more

 The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald 

Lisa (Harmony): I think the biggest surprise about The Great Gatsby was what a pleasure it was to read; not what you expect of the "great" classics you are happy to not be required to read with your school days finished. It's fast paced, not long for a novel, with completely natural dialogue. The prose is gorgeous and memorable and leaves you with an indelible impression of the Jazz Age... read more

silverneurotic: Like many others, I read (or actually, reread) this novel in anticipation for the movie version that was released a month or so ago. Sadly I did not get an opportunity to see the movie but I was extremely glad for the opportunity to rediscover this novel... read more

The Snow Queen - Hans Christian Andersen 

Degrees of Affection...: This is an epic journey to save a loved one. It is full of magic, Faith, myth, friend, foe, and trust. It is the story of two children growing up but not growing apart. The tale is simple, yet beautiful and interesting to read... read more

 Have a glimpse into all 13 Oscar nominees which were based on reads in 2014:

And if you missed last year gala, we remind you 2013 winners: 

 Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History - Antonio Mendez, Matt Baglio

rameau's ramblings: I decided to write a comparative review right after I had finished reading the book, but then I saw the film and promptly lost the will to live. Hollywood did something right thirty years ago and then it ruined it. The book, however, kept me up reading late into the night... read more

Thewanderingjew: Mendez, a mild mannered and rather ordinary looking man, was a courageous and dedicated secret agent, not in the manner of James Bond, but in the manner of an operative who had to fade into the crowd so as not to be noticed, an operative dedicated and loyal to his country... read more

 Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln - Doris Kearns Goodwin 

Denise: This was a great biography of not only Abraham Lincoln but also of the men that made up his cabinet. Goodwin shows readers not only of the great accomplishments of Abraham Lincoln but also the men and events that helped shape his decisions. I really enjoyed reading this book; it was very informative without being too dry... read more

Book Thoughts: This is another one of my favorite history books. This book takes a look at Abraham Lincoln and his working and personal relationships with Edward Bates, William Seward, Salmon Chase, and Edwin Stanton. It follows each of their stories from childhood through the conclusion of the Civil War and assassination of the President. This book is extremely well written and flows as if it is a novel... read more

  The Silver Linings Playbook - Matthew Quick 

There's more to life than reading, but it's a good place to start 

Gotta say I loved it. For me, not an easy, fun and light hearted read as some reviewers have stated .... but an emotional and blackly comic journey as Pat searches for himself and the truth. Very touching... read more

CarrieJ: I liked how Pat view his life as a movie and most of the book take place during his apart time. He's working on bettering himself so he could have his silver lining. I think that is what kept me reading I wanted to see if Pat got his silver lining... read more

 Life of Pi - Yann Martel 

Sharon E. Cathcart: This is a fascinating philosophical look at the meaning of family, for a wide variety of reasons that I cannot reveal without delivering spoilers. It's also a story of courage and endurance, and of self-awareness... read more

Ali's Reading Mission: This story was pretty good it was a bit slow but it had some great moments in it. It had a lot of informal things, some intense moments, some weird, some right out disgusting, and some sad moments too... read more  

Last week we presented you 20 book adaptations hitting the theaters in the first part of the year (2014 Book Adaptations Calendar, Part One). Now it's time for the second part. Let's see 15 more books to read before watching in 2014 autumn-winter season. That's a whole year reading plan :)

The Hundred-Foot Journey - Movie release date: August 8

A story centered around an Indian family who moves to France and opens a restaurant across the street from a Michelin-starred French restaurant.

The Giver - Movie release date: August 15

Lanaia @ The Temporary Escape: I highly recommend this book to everyone who loves the concept of dystopian fiction. Lowry made this world very believable, the society frightening and dehumanized. There’s no romance, so it’s not like other YA dystopias coming out lately. It deserves being tagged as a dystopian classic.

Read more: The Giver.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For - Movie release date: August 22

Gypsy Librarian on Books: One thing I found interesting is how characters like Marv from the previous volume reappear, showing how the tales in the series intertwine. Overall, I am liking this series and will keep on reading it.

Read more: Sin City Volume 2: A Dame to Kill For.

If I Stay - Movie release date: August 22

Reading Junkie: It's so good! The characters really draw you in and the plot is really good.  Mia is a realistic teenage girl, vulnerable without being annoying or a complete doormat.  Her friends and family are great, funny, but not perfect, people.

Read more: Wow - so good!

Dark Places - Movie release date: September 5

Hadeer's Rantting: The plot/mystery is solid, I got a lot of "aha moment". I like the flashback style the author adapt in the book, However the best part of the book for me was Libby Day. she isn't your typical heroine, she is the opposite. Read more Dark Places.

This Is Where I Leave You - Movie release date: September 12

Sad Books Say So Much: Ah, yes...families. They DO drive us crazy. Entrancing. Funny. Insanely authentic.

Read more: Read in 2011.

The Maze Runner  - Movie release date: September 19

The Fake Librarian:  I enjoyed the novel as a whole.  I learned some Glader slang, felt disappointed when characters seemed to lose hope, and clung to hope that the mystery of the maze could be solved.

Read more: Like a rat in a maze..

Gone Girl - Movie release date: October 3

Lazy Reading Nook: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is a thrilling story.  This would be a great comparison to The Neighbors by Ania Ahlborn.  They both have great themes, and not predictable.

Read more: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day - Movie release date: October 10

Alexander wakes up with gum in his hair, and things just get worse as his day progresses.

Dracula Untold - Movie release date: October 17

Vampire mythology combined with the true history of Prince Vlad tell the origin of Dracula.

Grumpy Guy's Musings: Sparkling lovesick tormented emo type, monster killing machines type, and everything in between - this is the book which is solely responsible for most of them. It is loosely based on the characters of Vlad the Impaler, who is now much better known as Dracula the Vampire.

Read more: Vampires... Love them, or hate them, this is the book which made them popular.

Mockingjay - Movie release date: November 21

ashwednesday: 4.5 stars which I'm rounding up to 5 because once this book got its claws in me, it dug really deep.Mockingjay is one of the most polarizing books in my TBR shelf, friends who usually agree on book preferences take opposite sides of the poles on this one.

Read more: Mockingjay.

big>The Hobbit: There and Back Again - Movie release date: December 17

Based on The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

As the Curmudgeon Grumbles: Sure it was a delightful book, written in fairytale style with a more adult audience in mind, and I love it every time I read it for that, but, I love the Hobbit more because of the memories that come with it.

Read more: The Hobbit - A Warm Blanket of Memories.

Unbroken - Movie release date: December 25

Portable Magic: It gave me a new connection with that history and the WWII vets that I’ve known as I’ve read and studied very little about the war in the Pacific or the experiences of our servicemen there.

Read more: Unbroken ★★★★☆.

Far From the Madding Crowd -   Movie release date not set: 2014, in post-production

Unabridged Chick: I was pretty head-over-heels for this book after the first page but by the time our heroine Bathsheba Everdene appeared, my love was sealed.

Read more: Far from the Madding Crowd.

Fallen - Movie release date not set: 2014, in pre-production

Books With Bite: The book was darkenly dangerous from the beginning. It was well written and the plot... OMG! The plots that lead to the ending were, well...lets just say I didn't see that one coming! I was hook on Daniel and Luce with their love story. Forget vampires! If you want to read a different kind of paranormal read this.

Read more: Fallen (Lauren Kate's Fallen Series #1).

Remember: Read before watching :)

What are book adaptations that you love or can't wait to see? 

If you love books and movies, we've got something for you. This year will bring over 30 book adaptations! But remember: Don't judge a book by its movie. Read first. We've prepared book to movie calendar for those who love reading and watching. Enjoy!

Lone Survivor - Movie release date: January 10

Sherri Loves to Read: I feel 

honored having read this book. And I feel even more honored to know there are men out there in this world who will fight for our country with this level of guts, determination and love of country.

Read more: Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10

A Most Wanted Man - Movie release date: January 19

Anton Corbijn's adaptation of John Le Carre's psychological novel.

Chechen Muslim illegally immigrates to Hamburg, where he gets caught up in the international war on terror.

Movie release date: January 17

Based on character created by Tom Clancy. Movie title: Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Patricia Reding, Author: I do enjoy a book that will take me away for a good while! In this case, the 800+ pages kept me occupied for a couple of days and each time I put it down, I looked forward to going back for more. What fun! Read more about Clancy's book: A Spy Thriller and Horror Story Wrapped up in One

White Bird in a Blizzard - Movie release date: January 20

White Bird in a Blizzard is an upcoming French thriller co-produced, written and directed by Gregg Araki.

A young woman's life is thrown into chaos when her mother disappears.

White Bird in a Blizzard evokes works of Kathryn Harrison and Joyce Carol Oates - and confirms Kasischke's arrival as a major literary talent.

I, Frankenstein Genesis - Movie release date: January 24

Do you know Frankenstein story?

Her Fine Eyes: The modern horror genre has evolved a bit more in paying attention to world building, and in telling the story via a narrative that imparts some of the excitement of the tale. But Shelley's foray is original and thought-provoking, even two hundred years later.

Read more on Frankenstein.

Labor Day - Movie release date: January 31

Kinga's Books: There are a few reasons why I listened to this book. 

1) It’s called ‘Labor Day’ and I listened to it on the Labor Day. This one is actually more of a coincidence than an actual reason but let’s put it there anyway.
2) It takes place in New Hampshire in early September, which is when I arrived in New Hampshire twelve years ago to spend a year there. This is the nostalgia reason.
3) I suppose I’ll come clean and say it: the audiobook is read by Wilson Bethel who looks like this...

Read more: Joyce Maynard - Labor Day

The Monuments Men - Movie release date: February 7

The Fish Place: What is it about art? Everyone has different tastes, but some art is just, well mind blowing isn't the word. We all share that gut reaction, evn if the pieces of art that evoke them are different from person to person.War has been fought for art.

Read more: The Monuments Men.

Vampire Academy - Movie release date: February 14

Ronyell (a.k.a Rabbitearsblog):

Wow and double wow, this book was a brilliant introduction to the “Vampire Academy” series and after I had read this book, I really wanted to read more about these awesome characters! Full of drama, mystery, action and hot romance, “Vampire Academy” is definitely one novel that will take the paranormal world by storm!

Read more: Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy, #1) by Richelle Mead

Winter's Tale - Movie release date: February 14

LAUREN B. DAVIS: One of those rare books I read over and over. Helprin is a master of magical realism. Haunting, transporting, a magical machine. Splendid prose, a flying horse, the Short Tails roaming the rafters of Grand Central Station, a tubercular heiress on a rooftop, and Peter Lake -- master mechanic and second-story man of New York's Belle Epoque.

Read more: Winter's Tale.

Endless Love - Movie release date: February 14

Kaethe: I did go on to read the book which is a very compelling story of an obsessed guy, seriously, disturbingly obsessed. It is way cooler than the Brooke Shields film might suggest.Lessons learned: good books are often made into mediocre films, and one should never laugh at someone else's "good book", especially if one hasn't read it yet.

Read more: Endless Love.

 Therese Raquin - Movie release date February 21

Based on Thérèse Raquin - Émile Zola/ Movie title: In Secret

Books for Young Humans: Way back in the late 20th century when I was a teenager and the genre fiction 'industry,' with its absurdly blood-soaked TV tie ins hadn't been invented, I (and many others my age) slumped on the sofa with the novels of  DH Lawrence - yes, really- with EM Forster, Emile Zola and of course, a bit of Shakespeare. This is what was available and if you had parents who were not great readers, this was rebellion.

Read more: Returning to classics would be the greatest teen rebellion.

A Long Way Down - Movie release date: March 7 (U.K.)

TCWriter: Long Way Down is an odd book, but as is typical of Hornby's work, it's engrossing and brilliantly written. It begins on the roof of a building, where four people - intent on committing suicide by throwing themselves off - have run into each other.

Read more: A Long Way Down

Divergent - Movie release date: March 21

me reading books: This book was awesome and great fun to read. I love a writer that can be ruthless with their own creation. In the YA section I have only come across two so far – Rowling, J.K. and Suzanne Collins. Veronica Roth is now number three on that list. She created an interesting environment and put a story filled with action mystery and – yes – love into it

Read more: Veronica Roth - Divergent

Heaven in for Rental - Movie release date: April 16

Trish: I needed this book at this time in my life. Extremely uplifting to me. This is a story of a young boy who experienced a trip to heaven during an emergency surgery. It describes the struggle his family went through and how they made it through many hardships.

Read more: Heaven is for Real.

 The Fault on Our Stars - Movie release date: June 6

Pavlina readmore-sleepless: Words cannot express how fantastic this book is!! 

It's one of these books which have to be experienced to be properly understood... This book left me thinking and thinking... I cried like it was personal experience...

Read more: The Fault in Our Stars 

Movie release date: June 6

Based on All You Need Is Kill - Hiroshi Sakurazaka / Movie title Edge of Tomorrow 

Gypsy Librarian on Books: This was interesting and different. The protagonist is a soldier who fights alien invaders with a suit of armor known as a "jacket." His problem is that he keeps dying and then coming back to battle again. And then he meets the supersoldier known as the Full Metal Bitch.

Read more: All You Need Is Kill

Movie release date: June 13

Sequel of Hiccup: How to Train Your Dragon - Cressida Cowell / Movie title: How to trail your dragon 2

A Lazy Bookluver: I have to admit that after seeing the movie, I wanted to read this book. Cressida Crowell writes a cute and fun story about Hiccup and his dragon Toothless. The language is written in a way that kids at a young age will enjoy it even if it isn’t at their reading level.

Read more: How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell

Wild - Movie release date not set: 2014, in post-production
 

meganbaxter: Cheryl Strayed loses her mother at 22, is divorced by 26, and lost. She decides, with little prep and more will than planning, to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. And she does. I admired this book for refusing to make neat little narrative bows out of her life and experience.

Read more: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Serena - Movie release date not set: 2014

Mel's Reviews: I want to start out by saying this is an excellent story, and worth reading. I loved it. I really don’t want to say too much about it, because if I do, I may ruin the book for people.

Read more: Serena

Before I Go To Sleep - Release Date not set: 2014

Rayne Hall, Fantasy and Horror Author: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Although the pace is slow and not much happens, the suspense is high, and I always had to read on to find out more.

Read more: Before I Go to Sleep

Which movies based on books can't you wait to see?

Part two to be released soon :)