Every year, we patiently await the arrival of film adaptations derived from some of our favorite novels and every year Hollywood does not disappoint! This year, our favorites include a piece of little known history, scary clowns, steamy romance, and a murder mystery classic. If they aren’t on your must-read list already, mark them down for 2018!
January 2017: Hidden Figures, Margot Lee Shetterly
Of course we have to jumpstart this list with our pick for January, the New York Times Bestseller, Hidden Figures, which tells the true story of the black female mathematicians that changed the way we see NASA today. Without their achievements in the calculations they made every day, we wouldn’t see some of the greatest breakthroughs we’ve ever made in space today. This true tale is the exact type of ‘girl power’ we know and love today – and movie, which hit theaters in January to start off the fresh year, surely lived up to the novel. We love seeing the girls Katherine, Dorothy, and Mary come together on the big screen to serve as the brains behind sending John Glenn into orbit, forever changing our history in the U.S. We featured a piece this year about the actress that plays Katherine Johnson in the movie, Taraji P. Henson, and we can’t get enough!
February 2017: Fifty Shades Darker, E.L. James
Are you a fan of the steamiest, darkest series we’ve come to know and love? The Fifty Shades series continues with E.L. James’ Fifty Shades Darker, which picks up where Anastasia Steele’s and Christian Grey’s relationship broke off. Anastasia is still head over heels for Christian, and although they make a new deal that has our hearts in our throats, demons of the past come to haunt Christian and changes the course for our favorite characters. Of course, the movie that hit theaters in February, a perfect mix of passion and thrills, has us looking forward to what the series has in store for the future. In February, we featured an article jam packed with suggestions for those who loved the novel and film, which still hold true.
March 2017: The Shack, William P. Young
We couldn’t stop reaching for the tissues when we read Young’s The Shack, and then went to see the movie in March. This story, which takes many unexpected turns, follows the family of Missy, their daughter who was abducted when they were vacationing. Missy’s father receives a note to return to the shack where she may have been murdered four years later, supposedly written by God. Though this one is a tear-jerker that changes the way we see everything, we can’t resist due to the great reviews following the movie as well as the appearance of our favorite, Tim McGraw! Once again, we featured some suggestions for novels you may love if you also loved the suspense and emotions that The Shack brought you.
April 2017: The Circle, Dave Eggers
In this novel based on technology gone awry, a lovable and intelligent character named Mae Holland becomes a driving force for the Circle, the world’s most powerful internet company. But with people in her life that she isn’t so sure she can trust, and a family who she feels estranged from as her job gives her more power, Mae’s world is turned upside-down. The suspense seen in this novel can also be watched in the movie that came out in April, featuring the beautiful and talented Emma Watson. Though the movie didn’t do as well as we would have liked, it’s still worth watching if you loved the suspenseful novel – and we all did!
May 2017: Everything Everything, Nicola Yoon
This beautiful and compelling novel, told through the eyes of Maddy, follows a girl who hasn’t left her home in seventeen years because she is allergic to the world. When she falls in love with a new neighbor named Olly, she realizes that there is so much more out there in the world for her – and we can’t stop rooting for her in this heartwarming story! Maddy is played by the gorgeous and strong-willed Amandla Stenberg in the film that was released in May this year, where the love story we’ve come to know and love is brought to life in a way we could have never imagined. We paid tribute to YA novels this year thanks to Everything Everything, and the way it touched our hearts.
June 2017: The Adventures of Captain Underpants, Dav Pilkey
In this children’s novel that we’ve surely all heard of, George and Harold create Captain Underpants himself – the greatest superhero known to man! This novel has been a hit amongst young people over the years since its release in 1997 (can you believe it??) Packed full of action and humor, the movie of the same name takes an animated form that reminds some of us of our childhoods all over again. Funny enough, Captain Underpants showed up on our list of Top 10 Challenged Books for Banned Books Week. Luckily, today many of us have freely enjoyed this novel and our children will probably continue to in generations to come!
July 2017: The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger, Stephen King
One of Stephen King’s greatest literary achievements, The Gunslinger, kicked off the thrilling Dark Tower series for all King lovers! Roland of Gilead is a haunting figure who takes a journey into good and evil, finding friendships and captivating us along the way. If you’re a fan, you may have waited patiently for two decades just to see the Dark Tower film’s release! Stephen King commented that “The major challenge was to do a film based on a series of books that’s really long, about 3,000 pages.” But, if it’s Stephen King, we still love it and want in on it. We shared news on the movie before its arrival to the big screen for lovers of Stephen King or those looking for a new thrill!
August 2017: Tulip Fever, Deborah Moggach
The alarming tale of Tulip Fever beautifully captures an affair between a wealthy merchant, his wife, and a talented young painter. The story revolves around 1630s Amsterdam, where Tulipomania has seized the population and seduced men of the surrounding world. In the movie, featuring names like Alicia Vikander and Dane DeHaan, we see the novel’s affair play out the way we imagined as we were reading it. In March of this year, we talked about some of our favorite historical novels that we’d love to see on the big screen.
September 2017: It, Stephen King
Are you afraid of clowns? Even if you weren’t, Stephen King’s It probably scared your socks off, either when you read it for the first time or saw the original 1990s miniseries. This bestseller follows the kids of Derry, Maine, who have been haunted by a nightmare into their adulthood as they all meet up thanks to a promise they made as teenagers. The monster lurking in Derry’s sewers sends us into a panic every time we revisit anything that has to do with the terrifying, signature clown! This year, Stephen King’s It was released as an unforgettable film with the monster played by Bill Skarsgard, that we believe lives up to the classic. A favorite in horror for this year, we’ve had nightmares ever since. Take a look at some of our favorite Stephen King novels in this excerpt from this year, which touches base on It.
October 2017: The Mountain Between Us, Charles Martin
If you love survivalist stories, then The Mountain Between Us definitely hits the spot. After a pilot has a heart attack and loses control of a plane carrying Ashley Knox and Dr. Ben Payne, must fight for their lives when they crash into the High Uintas Wilderness, one of the largest stretches of remote land in the U.S. Emotions kick in as the two share stories of their lives before the crash, and an unexpected love story begins. We love that the movie of the same name features Kate Winslet and Idris Elba, who act so well together that we’re almost convinced of the love they share!
November 2017: Murder on the Orient Express, Agatha Christie
Many of us love the mysteries of Agatha Christie, who brings us an unforgettable novel in her Hercule Poirot mystery series. The novel follows a brilliant detective who is hunting for a killer abroad one of the world’s most luxurious passenger trains, and is a true classic in our hearts. The movie is brilliantly filmed to feature the sights and times in Europe, and is literally ‘to die for’! We featured a post from Early Bird Books on our site that suggests 9 new books for readers who love this mystery and can’t get enough.
December 2017: The Disaster Artist, Greg Sestero
Greg Sestero was only nineteen when he met Tommy Wiseau at acting school and from there, everything took off. They costarred in the greatest “bad movie” of all time, The Room, a movie that was described by one reviewer as being as bad as “getting stabbed in the head.” Greg Sestero takes us through his hilarious account of the making of the movie and so much more in this novel that splits our sides. The movie launches early December and you don’t want to miss it!
So far, these are some of the wonderful books and movies we’re read and seen in 2017, and we’re sure there’s more to come – so ring in December and the new year, and bring forward new book-to-films that we can’t miss! These novels hold a special place in our hearts and the movies are ones we won’t soon forget.
