Best Book-to-Film Adaptations

When I recommend books, I often categorize them in my head, and one of my favorite categories is ‘stories made for TV or film. These are the Best Book-to-Film Adaptations. By that I mean that these books have been adapted to TV show or Movie. Here are some of my favorite adaptations and what makes them stand out.

I get a special feeling when I see something I read and imagined in my head in an adaptation and how other people saw or connected to it.

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YA Science Fiction

First book in a series

Dystopian society
High Stakes
Young Adults

One of my all-time favorite book adaptations is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I read it in middle school and was instantly hooked. As an adult, I still go back and rewatch the movies, especially Catching Fire, because the adaptation stays so true to the books. As my sister in law gets into the middle grade of reading I’ve gotten her into the series. It’s perfect for her age group and makes for great movie-watching together. I personally love the way Catching Fire is portrayed on Screen and I feel when watching it or reading the book it’s all the same. My favorite scene where they are doing the show with Caesar Flickerman and Peeta mentioned his marriage to Katniss and lies about a pregnancy. The way I saw it in my head while reading is the exact way I feel it’s portrayed in the film. Which is part of what makes it one of my favorites. This series centers on power and survival which I feel resonates with so many and can feel so relatable because at the core of it all it’s a human struggle. Moving from science fiction to romance, here are some of my favorite YA romance adaptations.

YA Romances

High School Romance

First book in a series
Love Letters are released
Fake Dating

Reigniting my reading journey one of my favorite adaptations is To All The Boys I Loved Before By Jenny Han. Han also wrote The Summer I Turned Pretty Series which has also be adapted into a TV show. These two are some of my favorite adaptations. I feel both of these adaptations stick true to the story in the book and what is changed or taken out is necessary for the type of adaptation it is. Both of these books are YA romance. There was so much I took away from these series even as an adult. Looking at To All The Boys I Loved Before as a reader it is obvious that Lara Jean is a romantic and a dreamer. Lara Jean’s romantic and dreamy nature is perfectly captured on screen, making this series not only a favorite among teens but also a nostalgic favorite for adults. The opening scene reminds me of the ending scene in the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice but ends with Lara Jean falling. It perfectly sets up and it shows in how she romanticizes situations but is still a teenage girl. I think that’s why I feel it was a great adaptation. The Summer I Turned Pretty is a great adaptation from the book as well. Belly is our narrator and having her voiceovers throughout the show when it comes to highlighting flashbacks helps to viewer be in her mind like we are in the book. The show successfully keeps Belly’s perspective front and center, something that can easily be lost in adaptations.

Fiction Book to Film adaptations

Set in the 70’s

Rock band
Interview Format
Interconnected series

Last year I actually read Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I found Taylor Jenkins Reid through her book One True Loves. I felt it was so great and compelling. It led me down a rabbit hole and I feel in love with her writing. Every single one of her books I’ve been able to get through in one setting and can’t put down. When I saw Daisy Jones and The Six was being adapted I had to read it and was not disappointed. It is a 5 star read for me! It will always stay there it was so great. The show is so well done that I feel it is also so well compared to the book. The way Daisy Jones and The Six is written is interview style and you’re reading transcripts from interviews of the band members. The interview format of the novel lent itself perfectly to the show’s documentary-style format, keeping the same ‘unreliable narrator’ vibe that makes the book so engaging. I like that as a reader the same spot I realized that is portrayed the way I saw it play out in my mind same it was so true to how the books reads. Reid’s other book One True Loves has also been adapted into a movie it was a good movie and stuck true to the storyline in the book. Other books by Reid are The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo which has been picked up for a TV show, Malibu Rising, and Carrie Soto is Back which are all 4.5-5 stars for me so I highly recommend them.

Science Fiction

First in a Series

Powerful Families
Classic Sci Fi

This year I read Dune by Frank Herbert and I fell in love with the current film adaptation for this book. It was so great and stayed true to the story in the ways it needed to be. It changed and fit more of the standards of advocacy in our current climate which was perfect and I feel even adds to the story. I listened to this book in graphic audio so it wasn’t hard to understand the tone that the characters spoke in and I was able to understand so much better because I could paint a picture that way. When watching the Dune film, I was struck by how naturally its complex world unfolded, with special effects enhancing, not overwhelming, the story. Part one and two of Dune were so great and I’m so excited to dive deeper into this world with the new show centered around the Bene Gesserit on HBO and hopefully with Dune 3 based off the second book Dune Messiah.

Romance

A couple years ago I picked up Something From Tiffany’s. This book was such a nice Christmas read. This one was set around the holidays where our main characters’ boyfriend accidentally proposes because of an accident that caused a switching of bags from Tiffany’s around Christmas. This was a cute holiday read that got turned into a movie by Amazon. I feel it stayed true to the story from the book and made it more heartfelt than dramatic. This is a heartwarming holiday romance for when you want a cozy escape.

Classic

1920’s New York

Complex Characters
Wild Parties

This year I picked up The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Classics are classics for a reason and I always forget that. I throughly enjoyed the book it was my second time reading it. The first time was for school, so picking it up was something I wanted to do because I feel I didn’t enjoy it that much because it was for school. I very much enjoyed the book this time around. I think the 2013 adaptation brilliantly brings to life themes of ambition, love, and the American dream, keeping them timeless while modernizing certain elements, all while staying true to the 1920s setting. It brought some every good quotes into it and kept up with the style of the time with all the art deco and the dialog. It also changed some aspects that helped to give a better description of the time and environment the characters are in. Which the book already does pretty well on.

There are also so many films I love that I haven’t read the books of yet, but they’re high on my TBR list!

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Bridget Jones Diary by Helen Fielding, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott , Emma by Jane Austen , Dash and Lily by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn, and Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman.

These are just a few of my all-time favorite book-to-film adaptations. What are yours? Leave a comment below and let me know which adaptations you love and if you’re planning to read or watch any of these soon!