17 Books to Read Before They Become Movies and Shows

Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late ’60s, sneaking into clubs and sleeping with rock stars. By the time she’s 20, both her voice and her beauty are getting noticed. At the same time, a band called The Six is also gaining fame. A producer then realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together, and what happens next will become the stuff of legend.

Adaptation: Mini series, Amazon Prime
Release Date: Fall 2022
Starring: Riley Keough, Sam Claflin, Suki Waterhouse

As a teenager at a prestigious school, Ani endured a shocking public humiliation that left her desperate to reinvent herself. Now, with a glamorous job, expensive wardrobe, and handsome blue blood fiancé, she’s so close to living the perfect life she’s worked so hard to achieve. But there’s something else buried in her past that still haunts her and threatens to bubble to the surface and destroy everything.

Adaptation: Movie, Netflix
Release Date: Late 2022
Starring: Mila Kunis, Connie Britton

In 1939 France, Vianne says goodbye to her husband as he leaves to fight the Nazis, and then she is forced to live with the enemy to keep her family alive. Her young and rebellious sister, Isabelle, falls completely in love with a young partisan man, only to be betrayed—leaving her to join the Resistance and risk her life time and time again.

Adaptation: Movie, theatrical release
Release Date: Dec. 23, 2022
Starring: Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning

If you’re a fan of thrillers, you need to read this book. Its story arc is much like that of the famous Gone Girl-type books, with the perfect amount of YA teen romance and friendship drama mixed in. It’s about a secret society at an elite prep school and the mystery surrounding the murder of the school’s most popular girl—AKA everything you could ever want in a YA book.

Adaptation: TV series, HBO Max (renamed The Player’s Table)
Release Date: TBA (2022)
Starring: Halsey, Sydney Sweeney

In 1950s Brighton, Marion meets Tom when he teaches her to swim and quickly falls in love with him. A few years later, Patrick meets Tom. Patrick is besotted and opens Tom’s eyes to a glamorous, sophisticated new world of art, travel, and beauty. Tom is their policeman, and in this age, it’s safer for him to marry Marion and meet Patrick in secret. The two lovers must share him—until one of them breaks and three lives are destroyed.

Adaptation: Movie, theatrical release
Release Date: October 21, 2022
Starring: Harry Styles, Emma Corrin

An instant New York Times bestseller and a TIME Top 100 Fantasy Books of All Time (among many other things), Children of Blood and Bone is widely regarded as one of the best YA books in recent years. The story follows Zélie, a warrior on a mission to restore her home to the way it should be by fighting back against an unjust monarchy and restoring the magic they are trying to eradicate for good. Can’t get enough? Don’t worry, this book has a sequel.

Adaptation: Movie, Disney
Release Date: TBA

The Vignes twin sisters grew up in a small, southern Black community and ran away at age 16, only to grow up and live completely opposite lives. One sister lives with her Black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even when separated by so many miles and just as many lies, their fates remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation when their own daughters’ storylines intersect?

Adaptation: Limited series, HBO
Release Date: TBA

This story is about a group of four famous siblings who are the children of a legendary singer. They’re known for their annual end-of-summer party, but with each sibling dealing with their own personal struggles, this year’s party gets out of control. You’ll get secrets, drama, and everything else you love about Taylor Jenkins Reid novels.

Adaptation: TV series, Hulu
Release Date: TBA

From suspense writer Mary Kubica comes the gripping tale of The Other Mrs. When Sadie and Will Foust inherit a house on a small island off the coast of Maine from Will’s recently deceased sister, they think their dreams of a fresh start have come true—that is until one of their new neighbors turns up dead and all eyes are on them. In an attempt to prove their innocence, Sadie soon learns more than she ever bargained for about the murder victim, Morgan Baines.

Adaptation: Movie, Netflix
Release Date: TBA

We could not be more excited for a new adaptation of the King of Horror’s classic vampire tale, Salem’s Lot. If this is one that you read way back in the day, it’s the perfect time for a recap. When writer, Ben Mears, returns to his hometown of Jerusalem’s Lot, he is alarmed to find that the residents are turning into vampires. Ben and a few companions take it upon themselves to save their beloved New England town from the worst evil they can imagine.

Adaptation: Movie, theatrical release
Release Date: April 21, 2023
Starring: Alfre Woodard, Lewis Pullman, Pilou Asbæk

For all of our Hunger Games lovers, this one’s for you. Suzanne Collins brings us the franchise prequel, and it is set to come to the big screen in 2023. The story will dive into Coriolanus Snow’s teenage past and the events that lead him to become president of Panem. See Coriolanus mentor District 12’s female tribute during the 10th annual Hunger Games in an attempt to remedy the hard times house of Snow has fallen under.

Adaptation: Movie, theatrical release
Release Date: November 17, 2023
Starring: Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler

For those of us who are obsessed with the Bridgerton series, we have good news. Soon enough, you can expect a whole new season focused around Colin and Penelope’s long awaited love story. This season will be the adaptation of Julia Quinn’s fourth book in the series: Romancing Mister Bridgerton. It’s the couple we’ve all been rooting for, and you can read all about it while we wait for the new season to premier.

Adaptation: TV series, Netflix
Release Date: TBA
Starring: Julie Andrews, Jonathan Bailey, Luke Thompson, Phoebe Dynevor

If we’ve learned anything from Bridgerton, it’s that we love a royal aesthetic. That’s why we’re thrilled that Red, White & Royal Blue the movie is officially in the works. The story follows the secret romance between the Prince of England and the son of the President of the United States (yes, please!). When the duo is forced to work together on damage control after a public altercation based on a several years long feud, their faux friendship turns into something much more serious: a love story for the ages.

Adaptation: Movie, Prime Video
Release Date: TBA
Starring: Taylor Zakhar Perez, Nicholas Galitzine, Uma Thurman

We love a Reese’s Book Club pick, and we love even more when they’re turned into TV adaptations. Thus is the case for Laura Dave’s best seller, The Last Thing He Told Me. When her husband disappears after being investigated for a crime, Hannah Michaels and her stepdaughter, Bailey, create an unexpected bond while trying to bring him home, uncovering long lost family secrets along the way.

Adaptation: Miniseries, Apple TV+
Release Date: TBA
Starring: Jennifer Garner, Angourie Rice, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

From the story in our childhood that tugged on our heartstrings in the most necessary way comes the musical adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize winning work, The Color Purple. Highlighting the struggles of an African American woman living in Georgia in the early 1900s, comes the coming of age story of Celie. We’re so excited to see a new adaptation of this unforgettable tale.

Adaptation: Movie, theatrical release
Release Date: December 20, 2023
Starring: Fantasia Barrino, Colman Domingo, Taraji P. Henson, Corey Hawkins

Jenny Han does it again with the sequel to The Summer I Turned Pretty. It’s Not Summer Without You will be the second season of the hit Prime Video series. Find out how Belly handles all of the changes this year has brought on, especially a growing distance between her and Conrad. Come along as she aims to find out who she is without summers at Cousins Beach.

Adaptation: TV series, theatrical release
Release Date: Summer 2023
Starring: Lola Tung, Christopher Briney, Gavin Casalegno, David Ianco

From acclaimed director Martin Scorsese comes the film adaptation of journalist David Grann’s non-fiction book, Killers of the Flower Moon. The story details the murders of several members of the Osage Indian Nation in Oklahoma after they struck gold by finding oil beneath their land and quickly became the richest people in the world per capita. From there, even the law enforcement officers investigating the killings became targets themselves. As the death count rose, the FBI became involved, making this one of their first high-profile cases and transforming them into the powerhouse investigative team they are today. Working together, the Osage Nation and the FBI uncovered one of the most prolific conspiracies in American history.

Adaptation: Movie, theater release
Release Date: May 2023
Starring: Jesse Plemons, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro