Flagship section
Book to Screen
Loved the show or the film? Here are the books behind them — in order, and worth your time.
Agatha Christie — 162 books in order → Christie has been adapted more than almost any author alive or dead, from David Suchet's definitive Poirot to Kenneth Branagh's lavish films and a steady stream of BBC specials.. All Creatures Great and Small — 11 books in order → The books have been on screen almost continuously since the 1970s, which tells you something about how much people want to spend time in Darrowby.. C.S. Lewis — 46 books in order → Narnia has been adapted for television and film for nearly sixty years, and the biggest version yet is about to arrive: Greta Gerwig's Netflix film of The Magician's Nephew, with Meryl Streep as the voice of Aslan.. Carl Hiaasen — 38 books in order → Hiaasen's books are so visual it's a wonder it took Hollywood so long to get one right. Cormac McCarthy — 17 books in order → Few literary novelists have translated to the screen as powerfully as McCarthy. Dirk Pitt — 28 books in order → Dirk Pitt has reached the screen twice — Raise the Titanic (1980) and Sahara (2005) with Matthew McConaughey. Dune — 27 books in order → Dune was famously 'unfilmable' for decades — David Lynch tried in 1984, a miniseries followed in 2000 — until Denis Villeneuve's two-part adaptation proved otherwise.. Elizabeth Strout — 13 books in order → Olive has been to the screen once, and it could not have gone better.. Enola Holmes — 9 books in order → Enola hit it big on screen: Netflix's Enola Holmes (2020) and Enola Holmes 2 (2022) star Millie Bobby Brown as Enola, with Henry Cavill as Sherlock. Fredrik Backman — 12 books in order → Backman's books keep getting adapted — twice, in Ove's case.. Grantchester Mysteries — 6 books in order → The books became Grantchester on ITV and PBS Masterpiece (from 2014) — a hit that has now run well past the novels, handing the collar to new clergyman-detectives. Hercule Poirot — 61 books in order → Poirot has been played by Albert Finney, Peter Ustinov, David Suchet and Kenneth Branagh, among others. Jack Carr — 11 books in order → Reece hit the screen big: The Terminal List on Prime Video (2022) with Chris Pratt, followed by the prequel series Dark Wolf (2025). James Bond — 50 books in order → No character has been adapted more relentlessly. James Herriot — 41 books in order → Herriot has been adapted twice, both beloved: the classic BBC series (1978–1990) with Christopher Timothy and Robert Hardy, and the warm, gorgeous revival on Channel 5 and PBS Masterpiece (from 2020) with Nicholas Ralph and Samuel West. James Reece — 8 books in order → Reece came to the screen in a big way: The Terminal List premiered on Prime Video in 2022 with Chris Pratt in the lead, followed by the prequel series Dark Wolf in 2025. Jesse Stone — 19 books in order → Tom Selleck played Jesse Stone in nine CBS television films between 2005 and 2015, and for many viewers his weathered, quiet performance is the character.. John Grisham — 56 books in order → Few novelists have fed Hollywood like Grisham — his books launched a whole era of glossy 1990s legal thrillers, and the adaptations keep coming. Jojo Moyes — 20 books in order → Two of her novels have become films, and the first was a phenomenon.. Kurt Vonnegut — 40 books in order → Vonnegut has resisted adaptation — his books are mostly voice — but a few filmmakers have tried, and one documentary got him exactly right.. Louise Penny — 24 books in order → Gamache came to the screen in Three Pines (Amazon Prime Video, 2022), with Alfred Molina as the inspector. Mark Twain — 53 books in order → Tom and Huck have been filmed more times than anyone has counted, and Twain himself has been played on stage and screen for decades — Hal Holbrook performed his one-man Mark Twain Tonight! for more than fifty years.. Mitch Rapp — 44 books in order → Rapp has made it to the screen once so far, in a film that adapted his origin story.. Percy Jackson — 22 books in order → After two films the author disowned, Percy finally got the adaptation he deserved — with Riordan himself in the writers' room.. Rick Riordan — 64 books in order → Riordan disliked the two Percy Jackson films so much he never watched them; the Disney+ series, which he co-created, is the version he stands behind.. Rizzoli & Isles — 15 books in order → Rizzoli & Isles ran for seven seasons on TNT (2010–2016) with Angie Harmon as Jane Rizzoli and Sasha Alexander as Maura Isles. Roald Dahl — 72 books in order → Few authors have been filmed as often or as well — from Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka to Wes Anderson's Henry Sugar — and since Netflix bought the Roald Dahl Story Company in 2021 the adaptations have only sped up.. Robert Ludlum — 29 books in order → Matt Damon's Bourne films took Ludlum's premise and built one of the great action franchises of the 2000s — very loosely based on the books, but faithful to their paranoid energy.. Spenser — 50 books in order → Spenser has been on screen since the 1980s, most memorably with Robert Urich.. Stieg Larsson — 7 books in order → Salander has been played by Noomi Rapace, Rooney Mara and Claire Foy — three very different takes on a character readers feel fiercely protective of.. The Chronicles Of Narnia — 20 books in order → Narnia has been on screen since 1967, and the most ambitious adaptation yet — Greta Gerwig's Netflix film — is due in early 2027.. The Dresden Files — 24 books in order → Harry has had one trip to the screen so far, and Butcher himself describes it as a parallel world rather than a retelling — same name on the door, different story inside.. Tom Clancy — 76 books in order → Clancy's Jack Ryan has been played by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, Chris Pine and John Krasinski — a run of actors that says a lot about how durable the character is.. Vampire Diaries — 19 books in order → The CW series ran eight seasons and became a phenomenon, but it treated the books as a launchpad rather than a script — the town's name, the cast and most of the plot are the show's own. Vince Flynn — 13 books in order → Rapp reached the screen in American Assassin (2017), with Dylan O’Brien as a young Rapp and Michael Keaton as his mentor. Wheel Of Time — 15 books in order → Amazon's adaptation, with Rosamund Pike as Moiraine, ran three seasons and reshuffled a great deal of the early books — readers tend to love or loathe the changes..