From the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, and SAG Awards to the upcoming Grammys and Oscars, this season has been jam-packed with award worthy entertainment—but did you know that some of these masterpieces are book adaptations or have literary companions? So whether you cheered for The Irishman or fell in love with A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, check out the books and audiobooks that continue to pave the way for these unforgettable stories.
Film:
The Irishman: Frank Sheeran and Closing the Case on Jimmy Hoffa by Charles Brandt
Originally published as I Heard You Paint Houses, The Irishman is an epic saga of organized crime in post-war America told through the eyes of World War II veteran Frank Sheeran, a hustler and hitman who worked for legendary crime boss Russell Bufalino alongside some of the most notorious figures of the 20th Century.
Spanning decades, Sheeran’s story chronicles one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in American history, the disappearance of legendary union boss Jimmy Hoffa, and it offers a monumental journey through the hidden corridors of organized crime: its inner workings, rivalries and connections to mainstream politics. Sheeran would rise to a position of such prominence that in a RICO suit against The Commission of La Cosa Nostra, the US Government would name him as one of only two non-Italians in conspiracy with the Commission. Sheeran is listed alongside the likes of Anthony “Tony Pro” Provenzano and Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno.
In the course of nearly five years of recorded interviews, Sheeran confessed to Charles Brandt that he handled more than twenty-five hits for the mob, and Brandt turned Sheeran’s story into a page-turning true crime classic.
Click to Read an Excerpt.
Click to Watch the Trailer.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Little Women is recognized as one of the best-loved classic children’s stories, transcending the boundaries of time and age, making it as popular with adults as it is with young readers.
The beloved story of the March girls is a classic American feminist novel, reflecting the tension between cultural obligation and artistic and personal freedom. But which of the four March sisters to love best? For every reader must have their favorite. Independent, tomboyish Jo; delicate, loving Beth; pretty, kind Meg; or precocious and artistic Amy, the baby of the family? The charming story of these four “little women” and their wise and patient mother Marmee enduring hardships and enjoying adventures in Civil War New England was an instant success when first published in 1868 and has been adored for generations.
Click to Read an Excerpt.
Click to Watch the Trailer.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: Neighborly Words of Wisdom from Mister Rogers by Fred Rogers
The inspiring profile brought to life in the major motion picture starring Tom Hanks, plus a collection of warm advice and encouragement from America’s favorite neighbor.
Tom Junod’s Esquire profile of Fred Rogers, “Can You Say… Hero?,” has been hailed as a classic of magazine writing. Now, his moving story of meeting and observing the beloved host of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood is the inspiration for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, directed by Marielle Heller and written by Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster.
Here, Junod’s unforgettable piece appears for the first time in book form alongside an inspiring collection of advice and encouragement from Mister Rogers himself. Covering topics like relationships, childhood, communication, parenthood, and more, Rogers’s signature sayings and wise thoughts are included here. Pairing the definitive portrait of a national icon with his own instructions for living your best, kindest life, this book is a timeless treasure for Mister Rogers fans.
Click to Read an Excerpt.
Listen to a Clip from the Audiobook.
Click to Watch the Trailer.
Television:
Fleabag: The Scriptures by Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Go deeper into the groundbreaking, Golden Globe and Emmy-winning series with this must-have collection.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s critically acclaimed, utterly unique series Fleabag took the world by storm with its piercing dialogue, ruthlessly dry wit, and deeply human drama. In Fleabag: The Scriptures, Waller-Bridge brings together for the first time the filming scripts of the first and second seasons, complete with the original stage directions as well as exclusive commentary on her creative process and the making of the series. Now recognized as one of today’s most essential voices, she delivers powerful insights into her now-iconic protagonist: the hilarious, emotionally damaged, sexually unapologetic woman who can make viewers laugh, cry, and cringe in a single scene.
Click to Read an Excerpt.
Click to Watch the Season 2 Trailer.
The Crown: The Official Companion, Volume 2 by Robert Lacey
In this eye-opening companion to seasons 2 and 3 of Netflix’s acclaimed series The Crown, renowned biographer and historical consultant Robert Lacey takes us through the real history that inspired the drama.
Covering two tumultuous decades in the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, Lacey looks at the key social, political, and personal moments and their effects—not only on the royal family but also on the world around them. From the Suez Crisis and the U.S.–Soviet space race to the legacy of the Duke of Windsor’s collaboration with Hitler, along with the rumored issues with the royal marriage, the book provides a thought-provoking insight into the historic decades that the show explores, revealing the truth behind the on-screen drama.
Click to Read an Excerpt.
Listen to a Clip from the Audiobook.
Click for The Crown: The Official Companion, Volume 1.
Click to Watch the Season 3 Trailer.
The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant Roger Ailes Built Fox News—and Divided a Country by Gabriel Sherman
Now a Showtime Limited Series—The Loudest Voice—a revelatory journey inside the world of Fox News and Roger Ailes—the brash, sometimes combative network head who helped fuel the rise of Donald Trump.
When Rupert Murdoch enlisted Roger Ailes to launch a cable news network in 1996, American politics and media changed forever. With a remarkable level of detail and insight, Vanity Fair magazine reporter Gabriel Sherman puts Ailes’s unique genius on display, along with the outsize personalities—Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Megyn Kelly, Sarah Palin, Karl Rove, Glenn Beck, Mike Huckabee, Gretchen Carlson, Bill Shine, and others—who have helped Fox News play a defining role in the great social and political controversies of the past two decades.
Drawing on hundreds of interviews with Fox News insiders past and present, Sherman documents Ailes’s tactical acuity as he battled the press, business rivals, and countless real and perceived enemies inside and outside Fox. Sherman takes us inside the morning meetings in which Ailes and other high-level executives strategized Fox’s presentation of the news to advance Ailes’s political agenda; provides behind-the-scenes details of Ailes’s crucial role as finder and shaper of talent, including his sometimes rocky relationships with Fox News stars such as O’Reilly, Hannity, and Carlson; and probes Ailes’s fraught partnership with his equally brash and mercurial boss, Rupert Murdoch.
Click to Read an Excerpt.
Click to Watch the Series Trailer.
Unbelievable: The Story of Two Detective’s Relentless Search for the Truth by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong
Now a Netflix Limited Series and previously published as A False Report—two Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists tell the riveting true crime story of a teenager charged with lying about having been raped—and the detectives who followed a winding path to arrive at the truth.
On August 11, 2008, eighteen-year-old Marie reported that a masked man broke into her apartment near Seattle, Washington, and raped her. Within days police and even those closest to Marie became suspicious of her story. The police swiftly pivoted and began investigating Marie. Confronted with inconsistencies in her story and the doubts of others, Marie broke down and said her story was a lie—a bid for attention. Police charged Marie with false reporting, and she was branded a liar.
More than two years later, Colorado detective Stacy Galbraith was assigned to investigate a case of sexual assault. Describing the crime to her husband that night, Galbraith learned that the case bore an eerie resemblance to a rape that had taken place months earlier in a nearby town. She joined forces with the detective on that case, Edna Hendershot, and the two soon discovered they were dealing with a serial rapist: a man who photographed his victims, threatening to release the images online, and whose calculated steps to erase all physical evidence suggested he might be a soldier or a cop. Through meticulous police work the detectives would eventually connect the rapist to other attacks in Colorado—and beyond.
Listen to a Clip from the Audiobook.
Click to Watch the Series Trailer.
Modern Love, Revised and Updated: True Stories of Love, Loss, and Redemption Edited by Daniel Jones
The most popular, provocative, and unforgettable essays from the past fifteen years of the New York Times “Modern Love” column—including stories from the upcoming anthology series starring Tina Fey, Andy Garcia, Anne Hathaway, Catherine Keener, Dev Patel, and John Slattery.
A young woman goes through the five stages of ghosting grief. A man’s promising fourth date ends in the emergency room. A female lawyer with bipolar disorder experiences the highs and lows of dating. A widower hesitates about introducing his children to his new girlfriend. A divorcée in her seventies looks back at the beauty and rubble of past relationships.
These are just a few of the people who tell their stories in Modern Love, Revised and Updated, featuring dozens of the most memorable essays to run in The New York Times “Modern Love” column since its debut in 2004.
Some of the stories are unconventional, while others hit close to home. Some reveal the way technology has changed dating forever; others explore the timeless struggles experienced by anyone who has ever searched for love. But all of the stories are, above everything else, honest. Together, they tell the larger story of how relationships begin, often fail, and—when we’re lucky—endure.
Click to Read an Excerpt.
Listen to a Clip from the Audiobook.
Click to Watch the Series Trailer.
Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book One by George R. R. Martin
Now the acclaimed HBO series Game of Thrones—the masterpiece that became a cultural phenomenon.
Winter is coming. Such is the stern motto of House Stark, the northernmost of the fiefdoms that owe allegiance to King Robert Baratheon in far-off King’s Landing. There Eddard Stark of Winterfell rules in Robert’s name. There his family dwells in peace and comfort: his proud wife, Catelyn; his sons Robb, Brandon, and Rickon; his daughters Sansa and Arya; and his bastard son, Jon Snow. Far to the north, behind the towering Wall, lie savage Wildings and worse—unnatural things relegated to myth during the centuries-long summer, but proving all too real and all too deadly in the turning of the season.
Yet a more immediate threat lurks to the south, where Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, has died under mysterious circumstances. Now Robert is riding north to Winterfell, bringing his queen, the lovely but cold Cersei, his son, the cruel, vainglorious Prince Joffrey, and the queen’s brothers Jaime and Tyrion of the powerful and wealthy House Lannister—the first a swordsman without equal, the second a dwarf whose stunted stature belies a brilliant mind. All are heading for Winterfell and a fateful encounter that will change the course of kingdoms.
Meanwhile, across the Narrow Sea, Prince Viserys, heir of the fallen House Targaryen, which once ruled all of Westeros, schemes to reclaim the throne with an army of barbarian Dothraki—whose loyalty he will purchase in the only coin left to him: his beautiful yet innocent sister, Daenerys.
Click to Read an Excerpt.
Listen to a Clip from the Audiobook.
Click to Watch the Season 8 Trailer.
Audio:
Beastie Boys Book by Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz
Read by Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz, and Various
A panoramic experience that tells the story of Beastie Boys, a book—and audiobook—as unique as the band itself—by band members ADROCK and Mike D, with contributions from Amy Poehler, Colson Whitehead, Spike Jonze, Wes Anderson, Luc Sante, and more.
Formed as a New York City hardcore band in 1981, Beastie Boys struck an unlikely path to global hip hop superstardom. Here is their story, told for the first time in the words of the band. Adam “ADROCK” Horovitz and Michael “Mike D” Diamond offer revealing and very funny accounts of their transition from teenage punks to budding rappers; their early collaboration with Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin; the debut album that became the first hip hop record ever to hit #1, Licensed to Ill—and the album’s messy fallout as the band broke with Def Jam; their move to Los Angeles and rebirth with the genre-defying masterpiece Paul’s Boutique; their evolution as musicians and social activists over the course of the classic albums Check Your Head, Ill Communication, and Hello Nasty and the Tibetan Freedom Concert benefits conceived by the late Adam “MCA” Yauch; and more. For more than thirty years, this band has had an inescapable and indelible influence on popular culture.
With a style as distinctive and eclectic as a Beastie Boys album, Beastie Boys Book upends the typical music memoir. Alongside the band narrative you will find rare photos, original illustrations, a cookbook by chef Roy Choi, a graphic novel, a map of Beastie Boys’ New York, mixtape playlists, pieces by guest contributors, and many more surprises.
Audiobook Cast Includes:
Steve Buscemi / Ada Calhoun / Bobby Cannavale / Exene Cervenka
Roy Choi / Jarvis Cocker / Elvis Costello / Chuck D / Nadia Dajani
Michael Diamond / Snoop Dogg / Will Ferrell / Crosby Fitzgerald
Randy Gardner / Kim Gordon / Josh Hamilton / Adam Horovitz
LL Cool J / Spike Jonze / Pat Kiernan / Talib Kweli / Dave Macklovitch
Rachel Maddow / Tim Meadows / Bette Midler/ Mix Master Mike
Nas / Yoshimi O / Rosie Perez / Amy Poehler / Kelly Reichardt
John C. Reilly / Ian Rogers / Maya Rudolph / Rev Run
Luc Sante / Kate Schellenbach / MC Serch / Chloe Sevigny
Jon Stewart / Ben Stiller / Wanda Sykes / Jeff Tweedy / Philippe Zdar
Click to Read an Excerpt.
Listen to a Clip from the Audiobook.
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Read by Michelle Obama
An intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States.
In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare.
In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.
Click for a Discussion Guide.
Listen to a Clip from the Audiobook.
