Some of the best and biggest movies ever made were adapted from a book, from The Shawshank Redemption to The Godfather, or The Hunger Games and Harry Potter series. Novels offer a wealth of source material, thanks to complex characters and well-crafted plots.
Hollywood’s most acclaimed screenwriters are constantly scanning The New York Times or Sunday Times bestseller lists for an Oscar-worthy script – be it an adaption of Edward Berger’s Conclave (last year’s winner) or Percival Everett’s American Fiction.
In the mainstream, Reece Witherspoon has adapted dozens of her book club picks for the screen – including Big Little Lies, Where the Crawdads Sing and Daisy Jones & The Six – through her Hello Sunshine production company. TikTok viral authors like Coleen Hoover (It Ends With Us), Sarah J Maas (A Court of Thorns and Roses) and E. Lockhart (We Were Liars) are also catnip for filmmakers looking for their next flick.
Whether you’re a ‘romantasy’ obsessive or a literary fiction fan, if you’re anything like me, you’ve already cast the characters, imagined the landscape and visualised the plot twists after turning the final page of a good novel. That’s why the upcoming book-to-screen adaptions for 2025 and 2026 have got me reaching for my popcorn.
From Louise Kennedy’s Trespasses, a forbidden romance set during the troubles, to Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet, a reimagining of Shakespeare’s life, the most anticipated movies and TV shows all draw on literary inspiration.
'Trespasses' by Louise Kennedy, published by Bloomsbury
A vivid portrait of love and loss during The Troubles in Northern Ireland, Louise Kennedy’s debut blends domestic noir with political thriller. A bestseller upon its release and a Women’s Prize for Fiction long listed title, it was soon snapped up by Channel Four. The four-part series will premier on Sunday 9 November and stars TV royalty Gillian Anderson, Tom Cullen and Lola Petticrew.
Set in 1970’s Belfast, the tome follows 24-year-old Cushla who works as a primary school teacher in the outskirts of Belfast, while working the occasional shift at her family’s pub. It is there that she meets the handsome and married older lawyer Michael Agnew, and embarks on an illicit affair that challenges society’s rigid boundaries, as he is a protestant and she is a catholic.
Kennedy effortlessly weaves historical details into each chapter, with the on-going political turmoil looming threateningly in the background of their affair. Passionate, gripping and tense, it’s a page turner with depth.
Buy now £8.99, Amazon.co.uk
'The Housemaid' by Frieda McFadden, published by Bookouture
Chances are you’ve seen Frieda McFadden’s thriller, The Housemaid, all over your social media feeds and on the commute. Released in 2023, it’s already been made into a starry Hollywood movie with Sydney Sweeny and Amanda Seyfried. I’ve not read it, but if the TikTok hype is anything to go by, the movie adaptation is set to be huge.
The psychological thriller follows Millie Calloway, a young women who takes a job as a live-in housemaid for a wealthy family. At first, the job appears perfect, particularly given the luxury dwellings. But, while hiding her own criminal past, she soon uncovers family secrets, dark truths and unsettling dynamics. Like all the best thrillers (think Gone Girl or The Girl On The Train), the novel is said to be packed with twists and tension. The movie’s out on 26 December 2025, so you’ve got plenty of time to read the book first.
Buy now £3, Amazon.co.uk
'Hamnet' by Maggie O'Farrell, published by Tinder Press
Maggie O’Farrell’s historical novel Hamnet was released in 2020, becoming a bestseller during lockdown when many of us found comfort in books. The bestseller has now been adapted for the big screen with Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal. The beautifully told story reimagines the life of Shakespeare’s son Hamnet, who died at 11 years old. Little is known about his short life, besides from the fact he inspired the play Hamlet.
The story jumps between two timeless: Hamnet’s sudden illness and death in 1596, and the years preceding his death when his parents, Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway, met and married. A powerful meditation on family, loss, grief and love, it took home the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2020. The movie will premier on 9 January 2026.
Buy now £5.49, Amazon.co.uk
'Klara and The Sun' by Kazuo Ishiguro, published by Faber & Faber
The eighth novel by Nobel Prize-winning British writer Kazuo Ishiguro is an engrossing journey through the mind of Klara, an artificial friend who has been built to keep lonely children company. The sci-fi novel has been given the movie treatment by director Taika Waititi, set for release in summer 2026. Starring Jenna Ortega as Klara, the cast also includes Amy Adams and Steve Buscemi.
The 2021 novel’s dystopian themes gripped me just like Never Let Me Go, but the exploration of AI and human relationships seems more relevant than ever in 2025. In the book, Klara is chosen by Josie, a young girl suffering from a chronic illness. Using Klara’s voice, Ishiguro writes about power, status and fear among humans in our ever-changing technological landscape.
Buy now £8.99, Amazon.co.uk
‘I’m Glad My Mom Died’ by Jennette McCurdy, published by Simon & Schuster
Part exposé on the perils of child fame and part reckoning with the relationship with her mother, I’m Glad My Mom Died secured a spot in my review of the best memoirs and autobiographies. The provocative opening of the book sees McCurdy at her mother Debra’s hospital bedside. She’s got cancer and is in a coma - in a bid to wake her, McCurdy whispers, “Mommy, I am... so skinny right now.” What follows is the Nickelodeon star recounting her dysfunctional childhood with her cruel and narcissistic mother, who failed at her own acting career.
This could be a depressingly sad memoir in anyone else’s hands, but McCurdy’s skill for storytelling and dark humour balances the bleakness of her story. Ultimately, it’s about abuse masquerading as love. It’s been announced that Jennifer Aniston is set to star in the 10-episode series inspired by the memoir, while Jennette McCurdy will write, executive produce, and showrun the series.
Buy now £8.99, Amazon.co.uk
'The Husbands' by Holly Gramazio, published by Vintage
Romantic comedy The Husbands follows Lauren, a single, thirtysomething woman who returns to her two-bed flat in South London one evening to find she has a husband. In an even more surrealist twist, she then discovers if she sends her husband into the attic he’ll be replaced by a new one. With every new husband who descends from the magic attic, Lauren finds she also has a new life, habits and sometimes even career.
Over the course of more than 200 husbands at a near-daily rate, the book becomes a satirical and smart dissection of swipe-right dating, as Lauren sends the husbands she finds minor faults with back into the attic to start afresh with a new one (if only life was that easy). Lighthearted, unique and hilarious, it’s a riot to read. Unsurprisingly, Apple TV+ has announced an eight-episode adaptation starring Juno Temple – I can’t wait.
Buy now £8.49, Amazon.co.uk
These are my 6 favourite books that can be read in less than a day
