The 80th Annual Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, February 24, 2008. Last week, the Oscar nominees were announced and many of the nominated films for best picture are based on best selling novels. Among the titles we suggest you read before the winners are announced next month are:

Atonement by Ian McEwan - a profound and moving exploration of shame, forgiveness and the difficulty of absolution.

Oil by Upton Sinclair (There will be Blood) - follows the relationship of a man from a wealthy California family and his son as they pursue oil and deal with the manipulations of magnates and speculators, socialists, Hollywood tycoons, politicians, etc.

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy - a bleak chronicle of murder, revenge and implacable fate set in 1980 in southern Texas.

Keep your fingers crossed that the writer's strike is settled so we can watch the ceremonies on TV!!