2014 is set to be a big year for noteworthy books getting their big break on the screen. Here are a few books that I would recommend reading before seeing the film later this year. 
 

Cheryl Strayed has hit rock bottom, she's lost her mother and her marriage all in a short time frame. Four years later, with nothing to lose, Strayed made an impulsive decision and took a 1,000 mile solo hike along the Pacific Crest Trail in order to deal with her disastrous past. This memoir is filled with suspense and humor, it greatly captures a young woman learning to deal with life's obstacles and her journey to move forward and start over. 

Everything is perfect! Diseases have been eradicated, everyone is equal, and society is under control. Each person is assigned a position by the Community, and 12-year-old Jonas has been picked as the “Receiver of Memories.” Only “The Giver” knows the truth of the past, and he must now pass that information down to Jonas…

This film will unearth the secrets at the heart of a modern marriage. On the occasion of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne reports that his beautiful wife, Amy, has gone missing. Under pressure from the police and a growing media frenzy, Nick's portrait of a blissful union begins to crumble. Soon his lies, deceits and strange behavior have everyone asking the same dark question: Did Nick Dunne kill his wife?

A tumor-shrinking medical miracle bought Hazel a few extra years, but she’s a terminal time bomb, suffering from stage 5 cancer. At a support group for her illness, she meets fellow cancer survivor Augustus Waters, a boy who pretends to smoke cigarettes and has a prosthetic leg. With a shared obsession for the novel An Imperial Affliction and a similar sense of sarcasm, the two fall in love, despite their inevitable fate. A very emotional read that would most likely have you in tears at the theater.

Libby Day was 7 when her mother and sisters were brutally murdered in an event known as “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” She testified that the person responsible for the cruel acts was her 15-year-old brother, Ben. 25 years later Libby is approached by the Kill Club, a group of people obsessed with solving notorious crimes. They believe Ben was wrongly accused, and she is eventually sucked into the investigation to uncover the twisted truth. 

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he remembers is his name. His memory is blank, and he’s surrounded by a group of boys in a place called the Glade, a large space entrapped by tall, stone walls. Every 30 days another boy is delivered, but when a girl named Teresa appears in the lift the next morning, her presence is almost as unexpected as the message she delivers. The language is a little tough to get through in the beginning, but once you catch on to the lingo, you’ll be racing to find out what happens. It’ll be very interesting to see how the book is translated in film, especially with the monstrous creatures called Grievers.

All of these titles can be found at your local library or placed on reserve in our catalog.