#TopTenTuesday: Top 10 Books That Should Be Movies!
Recently there's been a slew of books being adapted for the big screen: Ready Player One, Simon and the Homo Sapiens Agenda, A Wrinkle in Time...the list goes on and on! Here's a list of the Top 10 books I think would make amazing movies!
1. Six of Crows
by Leigh Bardugo
Goodreads Synopsis:
Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price–and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone… A convict with a thirst for revenge. A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager. A runaway with a privileged past. A spy known as the Wraith. A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes. Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.
Why It Would Make a Great Movie: Everyone loves a good heist film! The characters in the Six of Crows duology are so talented, complex and morally ambiguous - the best kind of characters. The books are so fast-paced and detailed I can just imagine how great the heist could be played out on the big screen!
2. Mistborn trilogy
by Brandon Sanderson
Goodreads Synopsis:
Mistborn is an epic fantasy trilogy and a heist story of political intrigue, surprises and magical martial-arts action. The saga dares to turn a genre on its head by asking a simple question: What if the hero of prophecy fails? What kind of world results when the Dark Lord is in charge?
Why It Would Make a Great Movie: The world of Mistborn is detailed and has the most unique and complex magic system, Allomancy. There's tons of plot twists and political manipulations, and a crew of outcasts, and it would make such a great fantasy film!
3. I’ll Give You the Sun
by Jandy Nelson
Goodreads Synopsis:
At first, Jude and her twin brother Noah, are inseparable. Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude wears red-red lipstick, cliff-dives, and does all the talking for both of them. Years later, they are barely speaking. Something has happened to change the twins in different yet equally devastating ways . . . but then Jude meets an intriguing, irresistible boy and a mysterious new mentor. The early years are Noah’s to tell; the later years are Jude’s. But they each have only half the story, and if they can only find their way back to one another, they’ll have a chance to remake their world.
Why It Would Make a Great Movie: This book is such a great contemporary read, and I think would translate beautifully to the screen. There's so many descriptions of art and how these two young artists see the world, which would be perfectly portrayed in cinematography.
4. Lockwood & Co series
by Jonathan Stroud
Goodreads Synopsis:
For more than fifty years, the country has been affected by a horrifying epidemic of ghosts. A number of Psychic Investigations Agencies have sprung up to destroy the dangerous apparitions. Lucy Carlyle, a talented young agent, arrives in London hoping for a notable career. Instead she finds herself joining the smallest, most ramshackle agency in the city, run by the charismatic Anthony Lockwood. When one of their cases goes horribly wrong, Lockwood & Co. have one last chance of redemption. Unfortunately this involves spending the night in one of the most haunted houses in England, and trying to escape alive.
The series follows three young operatives of a Psychic Detection Agency as they battle an epidemic of ghosts in London.
Why It Would Make a Great Movie: This series is such a fun, wild ride full of ghosts and psychic investigations! One of the main characters is like a young ghost-slaying Sherlock Holmes, which I think would be a hit!
UPDATE! Although it isn't coming to a movie theater, it is being adapted as a TV show! Read about it here
5. The Winter People
by Jennifer McMahon
Goodreads Synopsis:
West Hall, Vermont, has always been a town of strange disappearances and old legends. The most mysterious is that of Sara Harrison Shea, who, in 1908, was found dead in the field behind her house just months after the tragic death of her daughter. Now, in present day, nineteen-year-old Ruthie lives in Sara's farmhouse with her mother, Alice, and her younger sister. Alice has always insisted that they live off the grid, a decision that has weighty consequences when Ruthie wakes up one morning to find that Alice has vanished. In her search for clues, she is startled to find a copy of Sara Harrison Shea's diary hidden beneath the floorboards of her mother's bedroom. As Ruthie gets sucked into the historical mystery, she discovers that she's not the only person looking for someone that they've lost. But she may be the only one who can stop history from repeating itself.
Why It Would Make a Great Movie: This book would be make such a great thriller-horror movie. There's so many twists that kept me on the edge of my seat, and I think the creepy, rural town could be portrayed really spookily on screen.
6. The Raven Cycle trilogy
by Maggie Steifvater
Goodreads Synopsis:
Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her. His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble. But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little. For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.
Why It Would Make a Great Movie: Luckily, the Raven Cycle series HAS been picked up for a TV show! You can read about it here. Personally I think it would be better as a movie series, with one movie for each book. The characters are probably my favorite part of this series, and it would be amazing to see them portrayed on screen.
7. The Winner’s Curse trilogy
by Marie Rutkowski
Goodreads Synopsis:
As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions. One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin. But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.
Why It Would Make a Great Movie: This series would make such a great set of fantasy movies! There's lots of opportunities to expand upon the battles, political scheming, and romance.
8. Dark Matter
by Blake Crouch
Goodreads Synopsis:
“Are you happy with your life?” Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious. Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits. Before a man Jason’s never met smiles down at him and says, “Welcome back, my friend.” In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.Is it this world or the other that’s the dream? And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could’ve imagined—one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.
Why It Would Make a Great Movie: This book could be adapted into a great, high-stakes sci-fi thriller. It is completely action packed while also presenting really complex questions about life and reality.
9. Uprooted
by Naomi Novik
Goodreads Synopsis:
Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life. Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood. The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows—everyone knows—that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn’t, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her. But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.
Why It Would Make a Great Movie: This book has amazing descriptions of magic and one of the most unique villains ever, so it would be amazing to see the intricate magic and setting translated to a movie!
10. The Undomestic Goddess
by Sophie Kinsella
Goodreads Synopsis:
Workaholic attorney Samantha Sweeting has just done the unthinkable. She’s made a mistake so huge, it’ll wreck any chance of a partnership. Going into utter meltdown, she walks out of her London office, gets on a train, and ends up in the middle of nowhere. Asking for directions at a big, beautiful house, she’s mistaken for an interviewee and finds herself being offered a job as housekeeper. Her employers have no idea they’ve hired a lawyer–and Samantha has no idea how to work the oven. She can’t sew on a button, bake a potato, or get the #@%# ironing board to open. How she takes a deep breath and begins to cope–and finds love–is a story as delicious as the bread she learns to bake. But will her old life ever catch up with her? And if it does…will she want it back?
Why It Would Make a Great Movie: While Sophie Kinsella's Confessions of a Shopaholic was made into a movie, I think this book would be even better! The story is heartwarming and absolutely hilarious with a relate-able protagonist, and I think it would make the perfect rom-com.
What movie would you love to see adapted to film? Let me know in the comments!