From Books to Screen

Book adaptations to TV or Movie Screen is not a new feat. It’s been happening since forever. From the obscure to the popular. Everyone is familiar with the Harry Potter adaptations, Hunger Games trilogy, Gone Girl (I am not sure if it was popular knowledge that it was a book).

Most recently, award shows have been dominated by the cast of Big Little Lies. The HBO mini series adapted from the book written by Lianne Moriarty (who I think is a pretty average, one note writer and this might be the best of her books but now everyone thinks she is great due to the series being great but I digress). The rights were optioned by Reese Witherspoon and it looks like this is going to be the norm moving forward as Reese Witherspoon and a number of other stars (e.g Lupita Nyong’o with Americanah or Kerry Washington with The Mothers) are going down this path and leaving us with a number of adaptations in our future.

Barring few exceptions, if I have read a book I usually end up not watching the movie and vice versa. Here are some books coming down the pike that I have read:

Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple: A book about Bernadette Fox, a quirky architect who doesn’t fit in with the other moms at her daughter’s school and who is married to a serious man. Right before a planned family trip, she disappears but because she is so eccentric and put off by people (she has a virtual assistant in India who does most things for her) is she really missing or is this one of her schemes to avoid the trip. The story shows the search by her daughter.

The book got a lot of accolades but for me it was just okay. I remember feeling annoyed a lot of the times and didn’t quite care for the ending. The movie will be coming out on Mother’s Day starring Cate Blanchett who I think is perfect casting.

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn: Camille is a journalist fresh out of a psych hospital and assigned a story about a string of murders in her hometown. Going back means facing her mother who is a hypochondriac and her much younger half-sister who she really doesn’t know. This leads to a journey back to her own childhood memories that unravel a number of family secrets long buried.

If you have read any of Gillian’s books you should know by now that she is one disturbed individual. Her stories get so dark and gory but I think she is a good writer so you are able to digest it and still be intrigued at the same time. This will be an HBO miniseries some time in June starring Amy Adams.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan: This book takes us to a world full of unabashed, over the top wealth in Singapore. We meet Nick who is a professor in America but is practically a prince in his home country. We get to meet the very many members of his extended family who are so animated and full of personality – some good and some bad.

The first of a trilogy, I loved this book when I read it and found it very entertaining and hilarious in some parts. The wealth portrayed in this book was so lavish that it will be fun to see how it is portrayed in a movie. It comes out in August and will be starring Constance Wu.

The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas: A YA novel that mirrors current events in the world today, 16 year old Starr is a witness to her friend being shot by a cop and has to deal with the aftermath.

What I liked about this book was that it had no airs and was written exactly how I’d imagined the characters would. The conflict Starr feels being in her neighborhood vs. being with her white friends in her private school was very well conveyed and at some point, I forgot I was reading a YA novel. The movie has a slew of stars attached to it like Regina Hall, Amandla Stenberg, Common, Issa Rae to name a few. Looking forward to this one and hope it is done right.

Hello Sunshine by Laura Dave: Culinary star, Sunshine Mackenzie gets hacked and it is revealed that she is a fraud and her recipes are not hers. Some other secrets are revealed and she falls from grace and has to retreat from the public eye to find herself.

The premise sounds like it has promise but I found this book to be quite silly and the reveal unrealistic. Rights have been optioned but nothing else so no idea if it will be a tv movie or big screen movie.

Did any of this catch your fancy? Let me know which of these you would like to read.

Taynement