This morning on The Point with Mindy Todd we talked about books that have been turned into movies and television series. Joining us was the delightful Petra Mayer, editor for NPR books. Thanks to all of you who called in or emailed with your book suggestions! What a plethora of new books to read or to watch. The full list of titles mentioned is below.
Petra’s Picks
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, YA novel by Jenny Han, adapted by Netflix.
The Magicians, original books by Lev Grossman, adapted for SyFy
Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series, of course – the TV show was based on volume one, The Duke and I, and if you don’t want to wait for season 2, you can read The Viscount Who Loved Me, which is all about Anthony Bridgerton (and his fear of bees).
For a fun twist on Sherlock Holmes, there’s Sherry Thomas’s Lady Sherlock series – the first one is A Study in Scarlet Women (Sherry Thomas, by the way, is an INCREDIBLE romance author – try the Heart of Blade books, they’re amazing), and the other series I mentioned was Laurie R. King’s Holmes & Russell – the first one of those is The Beekeeper’s Apprentice.
I also talked about Preacher, the mid-90s Vertigo comic series that was adapted for AMC but honestly, I wouldn’t recommend either the books or the show unless people understand they’re gonna be in for a LOT of violence, gore, weird sex, blasphemy and general disgustingness.
And then in terms of series that are in development that I’m excited about, there’s N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy, Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse books (try the Six of Crows duology, it’s a hoot!), Nnedi Okorafor’s Who Fears Death, Ursula K. LeGuin’s Earthsea books (hopefully they won’t screw it up this time around – the last adaptation was Not So Good) and Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time.
Finally, the series I’d love to see come to TV (I’ve heard rumors of a development deal but nothing concrete) is Seanan McGuire’s October Daye series, about a half-fae-half-human private investigator and sometime knight errant in San Francisco. The first one is Rosemary and Rue. (Also, and I didn’t get around to mentioning this one because I ran out of time, Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next books, about an alternate Britain where the world of literature is real and people can cross back and forth into books. It’s SO fun. The first one is The Eyre Affair.)
Jill’s Picks
VideoHound’s Golden Movie Retriever edited by Michael J. Tyrkus
Masterpiece Theatre: A Celebration of 25 Years of Outstanding Television by Terrence O’Flaherty
The Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott is book one in The Raj Quartet. The Granada Television version was spectacular.
The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes edited by Leslie S. Klinger
From Holmes to Sherlock by Mattias Boström
The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis. New Yorker article by Sarah Miller: The Fatal Flaw of “The Queen’s Gambit”
Islandia by Austin Tappan Wright. New Yorker article by Charles Finch: The Forgotten Novel That Inspired Homesickness For An Imaginary Land
A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch is the 1st Charles Lenox Mystery. A series which should be made into a television series.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney. No time for his novel Time and Again, a novel I love, which has never been filmed, although it was made into a failed musical! There was a sequel as well, From Time to Time, but I never read it, because I thought the original novel did not need a sequel. (If you read the sequel and loved it, let me know!)
Listener Picks
Harry Potter series written by J. K. Rowling
Outlander series written by Diana Gabaldon
Walkabout by James Vance Marshall
News of the World by Paulette Jiles
Murdoch Mysteries , a television series, but based on the mysteries by Maureen Jennings
1984 by George Orwell
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The World According to Garp by John Irving
A Man called Ove by Fredrik Backman
