Oscar book list:

When it comes to 2016’s films, the book really was better than the movie. For the first time since 2013, none of the nominated screenplays were adapted from novels. Buzz-book adaptations such as The Girl on the Train and American Pastoral could not convey

Read the short stories, true stories and plays that inspired this year’s contenders,

ARRIVAL Nominated for: Best Picture, Directing (Denis Villeneuve), Film Editing, Production Design, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Cinematography, Writing (Adapted Screenplay) Inspired by: Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang (Random House, 306 pages, $22.00) The story: A short story about the impact of language on perception inspired the year’s best-received science-fiction film, but its basis, “The Story of Your Life,” is not the only pleasure in this collection. “Tower of Babylon” takes the Tower of Babel story as gospel truth while the Hugo-award-winning “Hell is the Absence of God” makes a believable case for angels to walk the Earth. LION Nominated for: Best Picture, Actress in a Supporting Role (Nicole Kidman), Actor in a Supporting Role (Dev Patel), Cinematography, Music (Original Score), Writing (Adapted Screenplay) Inspired by: A Long Way Home: A Memoir by Saroo Brierley (Penguin Canada, 288 pages, $21.00) The story: As a 5-year-old, Saroo Brierley got on a train and woke up on the other side of India. He reunited with his mother 26 years later by Google Earth-ing and Facebook-ing his way home. Now, with the adaptation of his memoir earning Oscar buzz, Brierley is working on a followup about the three women who raised him: his biological mother, his adoptive mother and the child welfare agent who arranged young Brierley’s adoption. HIDDEN FIGURES

Nominated for: Best Picture, Actress In A Supporting Role (Octavia Spencer), Writing (Adapted Screenplay) Inspired by: Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win

the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly (HarperCollins, 373 pages, $19.99) The story: Shetterly, a first-time author, grew up among the African-American scientists who would mastermind NASA’s first moon landing. Beginning her research in 2010, she sold the film rights before the book was even finished. The projects were released within months of each other. They were each blockbusters, with the film even holding the distinction of being this year’s highest-grossing Best Picture nominee. FENCES Nominated for: Best Picture, Actor In A Leading Role (Denzel Washington), Actress In A Supporting Role (Viola Davis), Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) Inspired by: Fences by August Wilson (Plume, 128 pages, $16.00) The story: After watching Washington and Davis spar as a frustrated married couple, soak in the nuances of the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning play with the late playwright August Wilson’s original script. Wilson also wrote the film’s screenplay, vocally calling for the project to be helmed by a black director. He wouldn’t live to see the acclaimed results from director Denzel Washington, passing away from cancer in 2005 at the age of 60. FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

Nominated for: Costume Design, Production Design Inspired by: Fantastic Beasts and Where

To Find Them by J.K. Rowling (Bloomsbury Press, 128 pages, $9.99) The story: The lavish $180-million (U.S.) fantasy (the first of a planned five films) has a chance at being the first Harry Potter film to win an Oscar. It’s loosely based on J.K. Rowling’s mythology-expanding “textbook” that describes the creatures of the Potter-verse, telling an American-set prequel with the collection’s supposed author Newt Scamander, played by Eddie Redmayne, as the hero. NOCTURNAL ANIMALS Nominated for: Actor In A Supporting Role (Michael Shannon) Inspired by: Tony & Susan by Austin Wright (HarperCollins, 432 pages, $17.99) The story: Director and screenwriter Tom Ford optioned this cult-hit thriller when an enthusiastic Tim Blanks, the former co-host of CBC’s Fashion File, pushed the book into his hands. Ford’s film is said to be a different beast from this book. For instance, Susan on the page is a part-time English teacher in Chicago, whereas the Susan played by Amy Adams is a fabulous, moody Los Angeles gallery owner whose artistic tastes include — but aren’t limited to — obese female nudes. SILENCE Nominated for: Cinematography Inspired by: Silence by Shusaku Endo (Pan Macmillan, 320 pages, $19.99) The story: Martin Scorsese’s reaction to this 1966 historical novel about a persecuted Jesuit missionary in 17thcentury Japan was so strong that he spent more than 26 years developing the film version. The epic made less than $7 million at the box office, suggesting that some books really are unfilmable. A MAN CALLED OVE Nominated for: Foreign Language Film Inspired by: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (Sceptre, 304 pages, $16.16) The story: The Swedes get the crabby old neighbour with a heart of gold yarn right, first with the 2012 novel and again with the nominated film. The story may sound well-worn, but Backman, 35, breathes fresh life into the conventions (Ove’s tough-as-a-tin-can street cat, for example).