In 2016, Hollywood is adapting a wide variety of literary fiction, graphic novels and non-fiction books onto the big screen. That is why we’ve compiled a list of books that you need to stack on your bedside table, so that you can read them before they come to a theatre near you.
8 Books To Read Before They Hit Theatres This Year
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Alice Through The Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll
What Is It About: In the sequel to Alice in Wonderland, Alice after spending the last few years following in her father’s footsteps of being a sailor, returns to the whimsical world of Underland, and travels back in time to save the Mad Hatter.
Release Date: May 27
Who It Stars: Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Mia Wasikowska, Rhys Ifans, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen, Alan Rickman {our hearts are still broken}, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall
Other Books By The Author: A Tangled Tale, What the Tortoise Said to Achilles, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
The BFG, Roald Dahl
What Is It About: One of Dahl’s most-beloved YA novels, the book focuses on the life of Sophie, who is stolen from her bed by the Big Friendly Giant {the BFG}. Sophie then helps him deal with other giants, who consider him an outcast due to his refusal to eat children.
Release Date: July 1
Who It Stars: Ruby Barnhill, Mark Rylance, Penelope Wilton, Rebecca Hall, Bill Hader
Other Books By The Author: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, The Witches, Matilda, Danny the Champion of the World, The Twits
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, JK Rowling
What Is It About: The first film in JK Rowling’s spin-off trilogy is based on the adventures of Newt Scamander. The film resides in the same universe as Harry Potter, though the movie takes place in a different time and setting. That being said, of course the laws and customs of the magical society will be familiar to all Potterheads, who have either read or seen the HP movies.
Release Date: Nov 18
Who It Stars: Eddie Redmayne, Ron Perlman, Colin Farrell, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Jon Voight
Other Books By The Author: The Harry Potter series, Quidditch Through the Ages, The Tales of Beedle the Bard
Me Before You, Jojo Moyes
What Is It About: A story of two individuals who are complete opposites. Will Traynor is a globetrotter who loves extreme sports. After an accident, he’s rendered paralysed, which makes him extremely bossy and cynical. Then there’s Louisa, a young and quirky girl who is moving jobs in order to help her family make ends meet.
Their lives intersect when she is employed as a caregiver for Will, and though they dislike each other in the beginning, their friendship blooms and soon their lives and hearts are changed in ways that they never imagined. Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke and Hunger Games actor Sam Claflin come together in this heartbreaking adaption of the book.
Release Date: Jun 3
Who It Stars: Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin, Matthew Lewis
Other Books By The Author: After You, The One Plus One, The Girl You Left Behind, The Last Letter From Your Lover
The Girl On The Train, Paula Hawkins
What Is It About: A mystery thriller, this movie revolves around Rachel, a recently divorced woman. She takes the train to work, and every day the train passes her old house, where her husband resides with his new wife and infant child. In order to distract herself from the pain of seeing this, she starts to watch a couple, who live a few blocks away. In her mind, she creates the perfect life for them in her head, but one day, witnesses something shocking. When she reports the same to the authorities, she becomes entangled in the mystery that follows.
With many comparisons to Gone Girl, mystery lovers can expect another story that will keep them on the edge of their seats, till the end.
Release Date: Oct 7
Who It Stars: Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, Haley Bennett, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, Édgar Ramírez
Inferno, Dan Brown
What Is It About: A Harvard professor of symbolism, Robert Langdon wakes up in an Italian hospital with no memory of the past 36 hours, including the origin of the macabre object hidden in his belongings. He suddenly finds himself chased by an assassin and with the help of Sienna Brooks, Langdon embarks on an journey to regain his freedom and lost memories while at the same time unlock codes that are tied to the Inferno. Tom Hanks returns to The DaVinci Code world for another thrilling ride.
Release Date: Oct 28
Who It Stars: Tom Hanks, Felicity Jones, Ben Foster
Other Books By The Author: Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol, Digital Fortress, Deception Point
Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs
What Is It About: 16-year-old Jacob Portman journeys to a remote island after a family tragedy. Here he finds a group of peculiar, orphaned children, all with strange powers and traits, living in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As he explores the house, he creates a bond with the children and saves them from horrible creatures called Wights and Hologuasta, who want to destroy them.
Release Date: Sept 30
Who It Stars: Eva Green, Asa Butterfield, Ella Purnell, Chris O’Dowd, Allison Janney, Terence Stamp, Kim Dickens, Rupert Everett, Judi Dench, Samuel L Jackson
Other Books By The Author: Hollow City: The Second Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Children, Library of Souls {Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children #3}, The Sherlock Holmes Handbook: The Methods and Mysteries of the World’s Greatest Detective
A Monster Calls, Patrick Ness
What Is It About: 13-year-old Connor finds a monster outside his bedroom, a little after midnight. However, it is not the monster that he expected—he expected the monster from the nightmare he’s been having every night since his mother was diagnosed with cancer. The monster that appears to Connor is ancient, wild and is in search of something dangerous— the truth.
Release Date: Oct 14
Who It Stars: Liam Neeson, Felicity Jones, Sigourney Weaver, Lewis MacDougall
Other Books By The Author: The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and the Answer, Monsters of Men, More Than This