When curating my list for last month’s post about my favorite book to movie adaptations, I was surprised that there are so many books that I would like to see on the screen.  Going through my bookshelves made me so thankful that I was able to read so many amazing stories.  I would like to see each of them adapted for various reasons. Here are my reasons here! 

Infernal Devices Series by Casandra Clare 

The steampunk sub genre is my top guilty pleasure even before bodice ripping romance novels.  The images of clock gears with Victorian petticoats brings out the romantic in me, I guess. However, I have found very few steampunk books are even good much less wonderful.  The Infernal Devices series is my one exception so far in my reading journey.  The first book, Clockwork Angel, begins as a prequel to Cassandra Clare’s wildly popular Shadowhunters series.  There are so many things that make these books amazing like a love triangle, hot dudes, machine army, and an interesting mystery throughout the series.  

Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

The Lunar Chronicles is a four part series that uses a post-apocalyptic world to retell the fairy tales of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White respectively.  In this world, there is a plague, and earth has colonized the moon creating a group of people with powers to manipulate minds. The main character is not only a strong female character, but also a cyborg.  Certainly, the amazing book cover of the red shoe in the robot foot would make an amazing teaser poster.  

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson 

I read this book while spending time traveling around Spain.  It was my first read by the author Maureen Johnson, and it has really stuck with me.  (Although, so many of her other books should be adapted too!) After the death of her beloved, but eccentric aunt, Ginny is surprised by the delivery of a large backpack, debit card, and package of handwritten letters.  In those letters, her aunt sends her on a quest across Europe retracing her steps and teaching her about life along the way. It is the best combination of travel writing and Y.A. Contemporary I have found.  

The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy E. Reichert 

This book was such a pleasant surprise for me.  Amy Reichert did so well describing love and food in vivid detail.  The two points of view are from a chef and a food critic. They happen upon each other and make an agreement to get to know each other without any preconceived notions so they do not share what they do for a living.  Little does the chef know that the food writer slammed her restaurant with a scathing review. The story unfolds and I would love to see this as a romantic comedy.  

The Remnant Chronicles by Mary E. Pearson

The first book The Kiss of Deception had me hooked by just the description!  Princess Lia escapes on her wedding day to a small fishing village deciding a life of being a royal wife is not her thing.  Two men go after her, one her jilted fiancé and other an assassin sent to kill her. The story is told from all 3 points of view, but you don’t know who the assassin is until the end!  It is fast-paced and exciting. It would be a great epic series for Amazon or other big streaming service that could keep us binging for seasons.  

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

This book jumps between modern day Hollywood to a small island of the coast of Italy in the early 1960s.  The story twists from there with a love story. I love the descriptions of the Italian coastline and little villages.  The story could echo back to the colorful movies with Sophia Loren. I was able to get lost in this plot and it was the perfect compliment to my road trip in the Florida Keys.  I could imagine this book making a great movie for a girl’s night. (When we can all go out again and stop social distancing.) 

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

The expatriates writers that lived in Europe after World War I lived as exciting lives as those found in the stories they wrote.  This book takes the perspective of Ernest Hemingway’s first wife Hadley and creates a story of their early years in Paris. It is the perfect compliment to read with a Moveable Feast as well that was published after Hemingway’s death about this time as well.  All timelines and facts are true, but it is nice having her perspective. I watched a movie a few years ago with Clive Owen as Hemingway long after this time called Hemingway & Gelhorn.  However, I think it would be a great view to have a young Hemingway on screen as well.  

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova 

This book is a modern day Dracula hunt like none others written.  It is also an epic journey through places in Europe. (See a theme here with me?)  It is an easy story to get lost in. A young girl living in Amsterdam goes searching for her missing father that is linked with his hunt for Dracula.  It turns up many surprises about her family, the past, and how we perceive the family vampire.  

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein 

This is my only World War II themed novel on the list because 2 that I really love are being adapted this year!  (They are All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr and The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah.) Code Name Verity focuses on a strong female friendship between a young pilot and spy.  They both end up in German occupied France and all choices they make are life or death.  

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern 

This book is so magical, literally.  It is about a pair of dueling magicians chosen as children to compete in a magical competition to the death.  (They are pawns to settle the argument of nature versus nurture when it comes to magic.). The circus is the platform for their challenge.  Each night something new and mysterious is added to the attractions. When they fall in love things get really complicated. The nightly elements would make this book a great television series where each episode portrays a new feature of the circus.

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray 

This final book could replace my love of Pitch Perfect as my favorite quirky movie.  A group of reality show stars cast for a show about a beauty contest crash on a deserted island.  Think Lord of the Flies, but with glitter. It is hilarious, but also takes a real look at our values in society.  

That’s a Cut

This list was a fun way to revisit my Goodreads ‘read’ pile and look at my physical bookshelves as well.  I chose all of these books based on how amazing they were in my head when I read them. I think they would translate well to film, but it would be up to Hollywood to do them justice!  

What book do you wish will be adapted to movies or television?

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