50 Books Set To Become Movies In 2018 (Read Them Now)

One of the most exciting experiences for book lovers is to see their favorite reads turned into major films, especially if the film is well-made and is faithful to the source.

We’re at the end of 2017, a year where the highest grossing film, Beauty and the Beast, is based on a classic fairy tale and an adaptation of a Steven King horror favorite exceeded expectations and broke records.

So what’s ahead for movie-goers and bibliophiles in 2018?

In this collection, I’ve listed 50 books that are set to become major film releases in 2018. If you love movies and books, you’ll find the list ahead of you very interesting and you may discover a couple of great reads along the way.

Here is a list of 50 books being adapted for the big screen in 2018.

1. Annihilation – James Vandermeer

Synopsis: Four women set out on an expedition to find an area known as Area X. All previous expeditions had ended in mysterious deaths to the groups who dared to go to Area X.

Book Info: Annihilation is the first book in the Southern Reach trilogy, first published in 2014. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Natalie Portman , Jennifer Jason Leigh and Gina Rodriguez star in this sci-fi thriller from Paramount Pictures and directed by Alex Garland. Watch the trailer.

Release Date: February 23, 2018

2. The Girl In the Spider’s Web – David Lagercrantz

Synopsis: The girl with the dragon tattoo, hacker Lisbeth Salander and Millenium journalist Mikael Blomkvist team up once again to take on tangled web of spies, cybercriminals and governments around the world, who will stop at nothing to protect a secret.

Book Info: This is the 4th book in the Millenium series with feature Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist and the first written by someone other than the original creator Stieg Larsson. Published by Deckle Edge in 2015. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Fede Alvarez is directing. Claire Foy may be playing Lisbeth Salander in this sequel to 2011’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo where the character was played by Rooney Mara.

Release Date: October 19, 2018

3. The Black Hand – Stephan Talty

Synopsis: This is the true story of the origins of the Italian Mafia in America and the brilliant detective, Joseph Petrosino who fearlessly stopped at nothing to root out the source of this deadly criminal underground’s power.

Book Info: The Black Hand was published in April 2017 but the movie rights were already purchased by Paramount in January. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Currently still in the pre-production phase but Leonardo DiCaprio will star and produce.

Release Date: 2018.

4. The Death Cure – James Dashner

Synopsis: Thomas has beat the Maze and survived the Scorch. Now he must save his only friends – the Gladers as WICKED continues their experiments. Thomas holds the key to a man-made disease to which he is immune.

Book Info: The young adult dystopian novel is the third in the Maze Runner series and was preceded by The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials both of which were made into the Maze Runner film series. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: The third movie and conclusion to the Maze Runner film trilogy. Directed by Wes Ball who directed the other Maze Runner movies.

Release Date: January 26, 2018

5. The Lost Wife – Alyson Richman

Synopsis: In pre-war Prague, the dreams of two young lovers are shattered when they are separated by the Nazi invasion. Then, decades later, thousands of miles away in New York, there’s an inescapable glance of recognition between two strangers…

Book Info: The Lost Wife is a historical fiction romance novel originally published in 2011. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) will star as Lenka in the pre-World War II romance with a screenplay from Marc Klein. Klein has written screenplays for Serendipity (2001) and Mirror Mirror (2012).

Release Date: 2018

6. Fifty Shades Freed – E.L. James

Synopsis: After accepting entrepreneur CEO Christian Grey’s proposal in Fifty Shades Darker, Anastasia Steele must adjust not only to married life but to her new husband’s wealthy lifestyle and controlling nature.

Book Info: 50 Shades Freed is the third installment in the Fifty Shades trilogy by E.L. James. It was originally published in April 2012 and follows Fifty Shades of Grey and Fifty Shades Darker, both of which were adapted into movies. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: James Foley who directed Fifty Shades Darker will direct the final installment in the Fifty Shades film trilogy starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan as Steele and Grey, respectively.

Release Date: February 9, 2018

7. The Three Christs of Ypsilanti – Milton Rokeach

Synopsis: A psychiatric case study by Milton Rokeach, concerning his experiment on a group of three patients with paranoid schizophrenia at Ypsilanti State Hospital in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Clyde Benson, Joseph Cassel, and Leon Gabor, who each believed himself to be Jesus Christ.

Book Info: First published in 1964, Rokeach later issued an apology in the afterword of a 1984 edition of the book stating that he had no right to interfere in the day to day lives of the men even in the name of science. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Three Christs is a dark comedy drama adaptation directed by Jon Avnet which will star Richard Gere, Peter Dinklage, Walton Goggins and Bradley Whitford. The completed movie was released on September 12, 2017 at the Toronto International Film Festival and will be up for a wide release in 2018.

Release Date: 2018

8. Break My Heart 1,000 Times – Daniel Waters

Synopsis: Seeing ghosts is now a part of life for Veronica in the aftermath of the Event. She wishes the ghosts would just disappear but they’re growing even more powerful.

When Veronica and her friend, Kirk, decide to investigate why, they stumble upon a more sinister plot than they ever could have imagined. One of Veronica’s high school teachers is crippled by the fact that his dead daughter has never returned as a ghost, and he’s haunted by the possibility that she’s waiting to reappear within a fresh body. Veronica seems like the perfect host. And even if he’s wrong, what’s the harm in creating one more ghost?

Book Info: First published in October 2012 by Hyperion books.  Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Scott Speer (Step Up Revolution) directs this post-apocalyptic thriller which stars Bella Thorne, Dermot Mulroney and Richard Harmon. Currently in post-production but no set release date has been announced.

Release Date: 2018

9. The Invisible Man – H. G. Wells

Synopsis: Griffin, a scientist who has devoted himself to research into optics and invents a way to change a body’s refractive index to that of air so that it neither absorbs nor reflects light and thus becomes invisible. He successfully carries out this procedure on himself, but fails in his attempt to reverse it.

Book Info: First published in 1897, The Invisible Man has been adapted into various movies and tv shows since 1933. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Johnny Depp is slated to appear as the Invisible Man as part of the Dark Universe series of films (which includes the Tom Cruise film The Mummy released in 2017).

Release Date: April 13, 2018

10. Hunting Christ – Ken Policard

Synopsis: The devil bets God that Christ would be unable to achieve divinity in modern times. God accepts the bet. “If I win,” Lucifer said, “You will uncreate man.” “If you lose,” God warned him, “then you will become a man.” “No matter how this ends,” Lucifer vowed, “I will always love You.” “And I will always love you, Lucifer.” And so it began…

Book Info: Originally published in April 2011, it’s the first in the Hunting series which also includes Hunting Lucifer. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Néstor F. Dennis is set to direct this thriller currently still in pre-production. Sequels, Hunting God and Hunting Lucifer are also in development with Dennis signed on to be director.

Release Date: 2018

11. Red Sparrow – Jason Matthews

Synopsis: In today’s Russia, dominated by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, state intelligence officer Dominika Egorova struggles to survive in the cast-iron bureaucracy of post-Soviet intelligence. Drafted against her will to become a “Sparrow,” a trained seductress in the service, Dominika is assigned to operate against Nathaniel Nash, a first-tour CIA officer who handles the CIA’s most sensitive penetration of Russian intelligence.

Book Info: The first book in the Red Sparrow trilogy series was first published in June 2013. As Jason Matthews first novel it received a couple awards for Best First Novel. Matthews sold the movie rights for seven figures before the book was even published. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Francis Lawrence directs this spy thriller starring Jennifer Lawrence and Joel Edgerton as the main characters. Possibly the first film in a trilogy.

Release Date: March 2, 2018

12. The Adventures of Robin Hood – Roger Lancelyn Green

Synopsis: Robin Hood is champion of the poor and oppressed against the cruel power of Prince John and the brutal Sheriff of Nottingham. He takes refuge with his Merrie Men in the vast Sherwood Forest, emerging time and again to outwit his enemies with daring and panache.

Book Info: It’s a popular story based on the legend of heroic outlaw Robin Hood which was popular in English folklore as early as the 1400s. The story has been adapted into various media including film, television, plays and various authors have written their version of the story. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Robin Hood is being produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, directed by Otto Bathurst and stars Taron Egerton as Robin Hood and Jamie Foxx as Little John. The movie tells the origin story of the legendary Robin Hood.

Release Date: September 21, 2018

13. Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror – Steve Alten

Synopsis: In a top-secret dive into the Pacific Ocean’s deepest canyon, Jonas Taylor found himself face-to-face with the largest and most ferocious predator in the history of the animal kingdom. The sole survivor of the mission, Taylor is haunted by what he’s sure he saw but still can’t prove exists — Carcharodon megalodon, the massive mother of the great white shark.

The average prehistoric Meg weighs in at twenty tons and could tear apart a Tyrannosaurus Rex in seconds. Written off as a crackpot, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, Taylor refuses to forget the depths that nearly cost him his life. With a Ph.D. in paleontology under his belt, Taylor spends years theorizing, lecturing, and writing about the possibility that Meg still feeds at the deepest levels of the sea. But it takes an old friend in need to get him to return to the water, and a hotshot female submarine pilot to dare him back into a high-tech miniature sub. Diving deeper than he ever has before, Taylor will face terror like he’s never imagined, and what he finds could turn the tides bloody red until the end of time.

Book Info: The first in a series of books featuring Jonas Taylor. First published in July 1997. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: The Meg is directed by Jon Turteltaub and stars Jason Statham as Jonas Taylor.

Release Date: August 10, 2018

14. The Anubis Tapestry: Between Twilights – Bruce Zick

Synopsis: Chance Henry’s archaeologist father accidentally awakens an evil mummy who steals his soul. Chance risks becoming a mummy himself to rescue his father from the Egyptian Underworld.

Book Info: The Anubis Tapestry: Between Twilights was first published in 2006. Blue Sky Studios acquired the film rights in 2008. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: An animated film based on the book titled Anubis is set to be released by 20th Century Fox in 2008. The film was scheduled for March 23, 2018 but was removed from Fox’s schedule in June 2017.

Release Date: 2018

15. The 15:17 To Paris – Jeffrey E. Stern et al.

Synopsis: On 21 August 2015, Ayoub al-Khazzani boarded a train in Brussels bound for Paris. We now know that he was an ISIS terrorist. Khazzani’s mission was clear: he had an AK-47, a pistol, a box cutter, and enough ammunition to obliterate the 554 passengers on the crowded train. But as he began to execute his plan, he encountered an unstoppable line of defence: three American friends.

Book Info: The 15:17 to Paris: The True Story of a Terrorist, a Train and Three American Heroes is the full name of the book written by Jeffrey E. Stern, Anthony Sadler, Alek Skarlatos & Spencer Stone. It was published in August 2016. Sadler, Skarlatos and Stone were the three American heroes who thwarted a deadly terrorist plot on the train. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Sadler, Skarlatos and Stone will star as themselves in this biographical drama directed by Clint Eastwood.

Release Date: February 9, 2018

16. The Tale of Peter Rabbit – Beatrix Potter

Synopsis: Mischievous and disobedient young Peter Rabbit is chased about the garden of Mr. McGregor. He escapes and returns home to his mother, who puts him to bed after dosing him with camomile tea.

Book Info: With over 45 million copies sold, this British children’s book is among the best selling books of all time. It was originally published in 1902 and translated into 36 languages since then. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: The live-action/CGI-animated film Peter Rabbit will be released in 2018 directed by Will Gluck and starring James Corden as the voice of Peter Rabbit.

Release Date: February 9, 2018

17. The Jungle Book – Rudyard Kipling

Synopsis: A collection of fables following Mowgli, a boy raised in the jungle by wolves and his adventures growing up among the animals including Baloo the bear and Shere Khan the tiger.

Book Info: Published in 1894, The Jungle Book has been adapted many times into movies and other media including the 2016 Disney movie The Jungle Book. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Jungle Book is a live action version of Kipling’s book by Warner Bros. directed by Andy Serkis and starring Rohan Chand as Mowgli. Serkis and others including Christian Bale and Benedict Cumberbatch will perform motion capture and voices for the animals.

Release Date: October 19, 2018

18. All The Bright Places – Jennifer Niven

Synopsis: Theodore Finch and Violet Markey are two teenagers that want to escape from their small Indiana town. Violet counts down the days until she can move away and escape the memories of her sister’s death, while Theodore struggles with severe mental illness. The suffering pair find their quirky friendship transformed into a poetic and beautiful romance. The two meet by chance on their school’s bell tower with suicidal intentions, and it is never clear who saves whom from falling to their death. If this isn’t enough to tie the two together, Finch asks Violet to be his partner for a class project to wander Indiana and find tourist attractions throughout their state. The pair explore Indiana and beyond in the months that follow. However, as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s world begins to shrink.

Book Info: This young adult novel by Jennifer Niven was first published in January 2015. It won the 2015 Goodreads Choice Awards for Young Adult Fiction. Critics compares All the Bright Places favorably to The Fault in Our Stars so if you liked that book then you should read All the Bright Places. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Miguel Arteta (Youth in Revolt) will direct Elle Fanning in this romantic drama with screenplay by Jennifer Niven who will adapt her own novel.

Release Date: 2018

19. Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda – Becky Albertalli

Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

Book Info: Published April 2015 and nominated for 2015 Goodreads Choice Awards for Young Adult Fiction. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Nick Robinson stars in Love, Simon with Katherine Langford and Jennifer Garner and directed by Greg Berlanti (Life as We Know It).

Release Date: March 16, 2018

20. Bel Canto – Ann Patchett

Synopsis: Somewhere in South America, at the home of the country’s vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of Mr. Hosokawa, a powerful Japanese businessman. Roxanne Coss, opera’s most revered soprano, has mesmerized the international guests with her singing. It is a perfect evening — until a band of gun-wielding terrorists breaks in through the air-conditioning vents and takes the entire party hostage. But what begins as a panicked, life-threatening scenario slowly evolves into something quite different, as terrorists and hostages forge unexpected bonds and people from different countries and continents become compatriots.

Book Info: Published in 2001, the story is loosely inspired by the Japanese Embassy hostage crisis (also called the Lima Crisis) of 1996 – 1997 in Lima, Peru. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Paul Weitz directs Julianne Moore, Christopher Lambert and Ken Watanabe in this hostage drama currently in post-production.

Release Date: 2018

21. Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas – Dr. Seuss

Synopsis: The Grinch, a grouchy, solitary creature, attempts to put an end to Christmas by stealing Christmas-themed items from the homes of the nearby town Whoville on Christmas Eve. Despite his efforts, Whoville’s inhabitants still celebrate the holiday, so the Grinch returns everything that he stole and is the guest of honor at the Whos’ Christmas dinner.

Book Info: First published in 1957 in Redbook magazine and as a book by Random House. It has been adapted twice as a Christmas special and as a live action movie starring Jim Carrey. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: How The Grinch Stole Christmas! is a computer animated feature film adaptation starring Benedict Cumberbatch slated for release in fall of 2018.

Release Date: November 9, 2018

22. Mary Poppins – P.L. Travers

Synopsis: Magical English nanny Mary Poppins, who is blown by the East wind to Number 17 Cherry Tree Lane, London, and into the Banks’ household to care for their children. Encounters with pavement-painters and shopkeepers, and various adventures ensue, until Mary Poppins abruptly leaves—i.e., “pops-out”.

Book Info: Mary Poppins was first published in 1934 and the title character appears in a series of 8 books ending in 1988. Travers originally did not want her books adapted into film but Walt Disney, after years of trying to get the film rights finally succeeded in 1961 for the first adaptation of the critically acclaimed original Mary Poppins film released in 1964. The film was based on the first four books in the series. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Mary Poppins Returns is loosely based on the other seven Mary Poppins books after the original 1934 version. Rob Marshall will direct and Emily Blunt will star as Mary Poppins in this sequel to the 1964 film.

Release Date: December 25, 2018

23. A Wrinkle In Time – Madeleine L’Engle

Synopsis: Meg Murry, a high-school-aged girl, is transported on an adventure through time and space with her younger brother Charles Wallace and her friend Calvin O’Keefe to rescue her father, a gifted scientist, from the evil forces that hold him prisoner on another planet.

Book Info: Classic children’s science fiction fantasy book first published in 1962 and the winner of several awards including the 1963 Newbery Medal. It is the first in 5 books by L’Engle called the Time Quintet.  Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Disney movie directed by Ava DuVernay and starring Oprah Winfrey, Storm Reid and Reese Witherspoon.

Release Date: March 9, 2018

24. Horse Soldiers – Doug Stanton

Synopsis: A small band of Special Forces soldiers secretly entered Afghanistan following 9/11 and rode to war on horses against the Taliban. Outnumbered forty to one, they pursued the enemy army across the mountainous Afghanistan terrain and, after a series of intense battles, captured the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, which was strategically essential to defeat their opponent throughout the country.

Book Info: Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of US Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan is the full name of the book by Doug Stanton. It was first published in January 2009. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: 12 Strong, directed by Nicolai Fuglsig stars Chris Hemsworth and Michael Shannon.

Release Date: January 19, 2018

25. The War With Grandpa – Robert Kimmel Smith

Synopsis: Peter is thrilled that Grandpa is coming to live with his family. That is, until Grandpa moves right into Peter’s room, forcing him upstairs. Peter loves his grandpa but wants his room back. He has no choice but to declare war! With the help of his friends, Peter devises outrageous plans to make Grandpa surrender the room. But Grandpa is tougher than he looks. Rather than give in, Grandpa plans to get even.

Book Info: This children’s book was first published in January 1984 and has won a number of awards. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Robert De Niro will star in a film adaptation of the book directed by Tim Hill. The film also stars Christopher Walken and Oakes Fegley.

Release Date: February 23, 2018

26. Death Wish – Brian Garfield

Synopsis: After his wife and daughter are brutally attacked in their home leaving his wife dead and his daughter in a coma, Paul Benjamin exacts revenge not only for himself but for every decent family broken by the dark forces of society.

Book Info: Brian Garfield’s vigilante crime novel Death Wish was published in 1972 and adapted into film just two years later. Garfield was not pleased with the film adaptation and created a sequel book, Death Sentence, in response. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: This is a remake of the 1974 film Death Wish, the first of a series of films with Charles Bronson. The remake, directed by Eli Roth with a screenplay from Joe Carnahan, will star Bruce Willis as vigilante Paul Kersey.

Release Date: March 2, 2018

27. Crazy Rich Asians – Kevin Kwan

Synopsis: When New Yorker Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, she envisions a humble family home and quality time with the man she hopes to marry. But Nick has failed to give his girlfriend a few key details. One, that his childhood home looks like a palace; two, that he grew up riding in more private planes than cars; and three, that he just happens to be the country’s most eligible bachelor.

On Nick’s arm, Rachel may as well have a target on her back the second she steps off the plane, and soon, her relaxed vacation turns into an obstacle course of old money, new money, nosy relatives, and scheming social climbers.

Book Info: Published in 2013, this novel became a bestseller and spawned a sequel – China Rich Girlfriend in 2015 and a follow-up Rich People Problems in 2017. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Jon M. Chu directs this adaptation starring Constance Wu, Henry Golding and Gemma Chan.

Release Date: August 17, 2018

28. Battle Angel Alita – Yukito Kishiro

Synopsis: Alita, a cyborg who has lost all memories, is found in a garbage heap by a cybernetics doctor who rebuilds and takes care of her. She discovers that there is one thing she remembers, the legendary cyborg martial art Panzer Kunst, which leads to her becoming a Hunter Warrior or bounty hunter. The story traces Alita’s attempts to rediscover her past and the characters whose lives she impacts on her journey.

Book Info: The manga series was first published in Business Jump magazine in 1990 before being serialized lasting until 1995. There are two continuation series to the story. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Alita: Battle Angel is a Robert Rodriguez film based on the manga and starring Rosa Salazar.

Release Date: July 20, 2018

29. The Darkest Minds – Alexandra Bracken

Synopsis: When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that got her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that killed most of America’s children, but she and the others emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control. Now sixteen, she is one of the dangerous ones.

Book Info: First published in December 2012, the young adult fantasy book The Darkest Minds is the first in the Darkest Minds series. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Amandla Stenberg will star in the film adaptation of the book directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson.

Release Date: September 14, 2018

30. Let It Snow – John Green, Maureen Johnson & Lauren Myracle

Synopsis: Three stories about three different teenagers as they experience a huge snow storm in the town of Gracetown during the Christmas season.

Book Info: The book contains three stories – The Jubilee Express by Maureen Johnson, A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle by John Greene and The Patron Saint of Pigs by Lauren Myracle. Published in October 2008, the full name is Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances.  Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: The upcoming comedy-romance is currently still in development with a tentative winter 2018 release.

Release Date: December 2018

31. The Little Stranger – Sarah Waters

Synopsis: In a dusty post-war summer in rural Warwickshire, a doctor is called to a patient at Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the Georgian house, once grand and handsome, is now in decline, its masonry crumbling, its gardens choked with weeds, the clock in its stable yard permanently fixed at twenty to nine. Its owners – mother, son and daughter – are struggling to keep pace with a changing society, as well as with conflicts of their own.

But are the Ayreses haunted by something more sinister than a dying way of life? Little does Dr Faraday know how closely, and how terrifyingly, their story is about to become entwined with his.

Book Info: This gothic novel was first published in 2009. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: This British supernatural thriller stars Domhnall Gleeson, Ruth Wilson, Charlotte Rampling and Will Poulter and is directed by Lenny Abrahamson (Frank; Room).

Release Date: August 31, 2018

32. The House With a Clock in Its Walls – John Bellairs

Synopsis: Orphaned Lewis Barnavelt comes to live with his Uncle Jonathan and quickly learns that both his uncle and his next-door neighbor are witches on a quest to discover the terrifying clock ticking within the walls of Jonathan’s house. Can the three of them save the world from certain destruction?

Book Info: This gothic horror novel for kids first published in 1973 is the first in an ongoing series of books by John Bellairs. Brad Strickland continued writing the series after Bellairs’ death in 1991. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Director Eli Roth is currently filming the movie with stars Cate Blanchett, Jack Black and Kyle MacLachlan.

Release Date: September 21, 2018

33. Disobedience – Naomi Alderman

Synopsis: Ronit Krushka, a 32-year-old non-practicing Orthodox Jew, is working in New York as a financial analyst and having an affair with her married male boss. The death of her estranged father, a powerful rabbi, brings Ronit back to her childhood home in Hendon, London, where her provocative ways outrages the local Orthodox Jewish community. Discovering that her cousin Dovid, who is also her father’s chosen successor, is married to her former lover, Esti, forces Ronit to rethink what she left behind.

Book Info: Alderman’s debut novel was first published in March 2006 and won several awards.  Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Disobedience premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2017 and is scheduled for wide release in April 2018. The film is directed by Sebastián Lelio and stars Rachel Weisz.

Release Date: April 27, 2018

34. My Heart Is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots – John Guy

Synopsis: She was crowned Queen of Scotland at nine months of age, and Queen of France at sixteen years; at eighteen she ascended the throne that was her birthright and began ruling one of the most fractious courts in Europe, riven by religious conflict and personal lust for power. She rode out at the head of an army in both victory and defeat; saw her second husband assassinated, and married his murderer. At twenty-five she entered captivity at the hands of her rival queen, from which only death would release her.

Book Info: This biography of Mary Stuart, the Queen of Scots, was first published in January 2004. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: The historical-drama film titled Mary Queen of Scots is directed by Josie Rourke and starring Saoirse Ronan, Margot Robbie and David Tennant.

Release Date: November 2, 2018

35. Mortal Engines – Philip Reeve

Synopsis: London is hunting again. Emerging from its hiding place in the hills, the great Traction City is chasing a terrified little town across the wastelands. Soon, London will feed. In the attack, Tom Natsworthy is flung from the speeding city with a murderous scar-faced girl. They must run for their lives through the wreckage — and face a terrifying new weapon that threatens the future of the world.

Book Info: Mortal Engines is the first book in the Mortal Engines Quartet series by Philip Reeve. It was published in 2001. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Christian Rivers will direct this science fiction film starring Robert Sheehan, Hera Hilmar and Hugo Weaving.

Release Date: December 14, 2018

36. The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas

Synopsis: Starr Carter is a 16-year-old black high school student who witnesses a white police officer shooting her unarmed best friend Khalil. Starr Carter moves between her two worlds: the poor black neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school that she and her brothers attend. The balance of these two worlds collapse when she sees her childhood friend die at the hands of a cop. Everyone wants to know what took place that night and the only person who can answer that is Starr. But the problem is that what Starr says might endanger her life and her home. She must fight for what she believes in despite the given consequences.

Book Info: The Hate U Give is Angie Thomas’ debut novel, inspired by the shootings of Oscar Grant, Trayvorn Martin and Mike Brown and others who died at the hands of police shootings. It was published in February 2017. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: George Tillman Jr. directs this film adaptation which stars Amandla Stenberg as Starr Carter as well as Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, Anthony Mackie, Issa Rae, Lamar Johnson and Common.

Release Date: 2018

37. Every Day – David Levithan

Synopsis: It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

Book Info: This young adult fiction romance fantasy novel was first published in August 2012 and is recommended for teens 14 – 18 years old. There is a prequel called Six Days Earlier and a companion novel, Another Day in this series. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: The romantic drama film by director Michael Sucsy (The Vow) stars Angourie Rice as 16-year-old Rhiannon.

Release Date: April 27, 2018

38. Ready Player One – Ernest Cline

Synopsis: In 2044, Wade Watts searches for an Easter egg in a virtual reality game, the discovery of which will lead him to inherit a fortune in a world wrecked by an energy crisis.

Book Info: This science-fiction novel set in a dystopian 2044 was first published in August 2011. The book received an Alex Award in 2012 and won the 2012 Prometheus Award. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Steven Spielberg directs this movie adaptation which stars Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke and Ben Mendelsohn.

Release Date: March 30, 2018

39. I Heard You Paint Houses – Charles Brandt

Synopsis: ‘I heard you paint houses’ are the first words Jimmy Hoffa ever spoke to Frank ‘the Irishman’ Sheeran. To paint a house is to kill a man. The paint is the blood that splatters on the wall and floors. In the course of nearly five years of recorded interviews Frank Sheeran confessed to Charles Brandt that he handled more than twenty-five hits for the Mob, and for his friend Hoffa.

Book Info: The true crime bestseller, titled I Heard You Paint Houses: Frank “the Irishman” Sheeran & Closing the Case on Jimmy Hoffa was first published in June 2004. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: The Irishman gets the classic mob film treatment with direction from Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel, Bobby Cannavale and Ray Romano. Netflix will distribute the film.

Release Date: 2018

40. Boy Erased: A Memoir – Garrard Conley

Synopsis: Garrard Conley recounts his childhood in a fundamentalist Arkansas family who enrolled him in gay conversion therapy.

Book Info: First published in May 2016.  Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Boy Erased will star Joel Edgerton who will also write the script as well as direct the film. Other appearances will be from Lucas Hedges as Garrard Conley with Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe as his conservative parents.

Netflix, Focus Features and Amazon Studios were engaged in a bidding war for the film distribution rights with Focus Features ultimately winning.

Release Date: September 28, 2018

41. On Chesil Beach – Ian McEwan

Synopsis: A blissful honeymoon is ruined by a misunderstanding between nervous virgin newlyweds. Edward Mayhew and Florence Ponting are bashful newlyweds who have just arrived at an inn on Chesil Beach. Fresh from their wedding hours earlier, they are anxious to embark on their honeymoon and spend the rest of their lives together. However the two are both virgins and the social code of the early 1960s has not prepared them for the task of consummating their vows. In alternating points of view and through flashback the story of how they met and fell in love is revealed.

Book Info: On Chesil Beach was first published in 2007 and generated some controversy about it’s length when it was nominated for a Booker Prize. There was some argument about whether it was a novel or a novella which would have affected the legitimacy of it’s nomination. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Dominic Cooke directs his first feature film with screenplay by Ian McEwan based on his own book. The film stars Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle. It was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September, 2017 but will get a wide release early next year.

Release Date: January 19, 2018

42. Where’d You Go, Bernadette – Maria Semple

Synopsis: An agoraphobic architect and mother named Bernadette Fox, goes missing prior to a family trip to Antarctica. It is narrated by her 15-year-old daughter Bee Branch and told in a series of documents (emails, memos, transcripts, etc.) with the occasional interlude by Bee.

Book Info: This comedy novel was published in August 2012 and spent a year on New York Times Bestsellers List. The movie rights was acquired in January 2013. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Richard Linklater directs Cate Blanchett and Billy Crudup in this comedy drama film schedule for a 2018 release.

Release Date: May 11, 2018

43. First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong – James R. Hansen

Synopsis: The official biography of astronaut Neil A. Armstrong and his involvement in the United States space program, culminating with the fateful Apollo 11 mission, while also detailing his personal life and upbringing.

Book Info: First published June 2005, this is the only officially authorize biography of the first man to step on the moon. Clint Eastwood, who had previously starred in Space Cowboys, and Warner Bros. bought the rights to adapt the book into film as early as 2003. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: First Man has been in development since 2003 after Warner Bros. bought the film rights to the book. Universal later bought the rights and Damien Chazelle (Whiplash) was hired to direct the film which stars Ryan Gosling as Armstrong.

Release Date: October 12, 2018

44. The Leisure Seeker – Michael Zadoorian

Synopsis: John and Ella Robina have shared a wonderful life for more than fifty years. Now in their eighties, Ella suffers from cancer and has chosen to stop treatment. John has Alzheimer’s. Yearning for one last adventure, the self-proclaimed “down-on-their-luck geezers” kidnap themselves from the adult children and doctors who seem to run their lives to steal away from their home in suburban Detroit on a forbidden vacation of rediscovery.

Book Info: The second book by author Zadoorian, this comedy romance novel was first published in January 2009. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: The film starring Donald Sutherland and Helen Mirren was screened at the 74th Venice International Film Festival in September 2017. The film directed by Italian director Paolo Virzì, will get a wide release in the US in January 2018.

Release Date: January 19, 2018

45. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Synopsis: January 1946: writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name.

Book Info:  This historical-fiction novel was first published in July 2008. On August 2, 2009, it reach number one on the New York Times Best Sellers List.  Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Guernsey is a British film directed by Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral) and starring Lily James and Michiel Huisman. The film which is currently in production has no plans to film on the island of Guernsey.

Release Date: 2018

46. The Nutcracker and the Mouse King – E.T.A. Hoffmann

Synopsis: Young Marie Stahlbaum’s favorite Christmas toy, the Nutcracker, comes alive and, after defeating the evil Mouse King in battle, whisks her away to a magical kingdom populated by dolls.

Book Info: The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, first published in 1816 is the basis of the ballet, The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The book has been adapted into various media many times since it’s publication. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is a live action fastasy film adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s book from Disney which will star Mackenzie Foy, Keira Knightley and Morgan Freeman. The film will be directed by Lasse Hallström (Chocolat) with a script from Ashleigh Powell.

Release Date: November 2, 2018

47. Ophelia – Lisa Klein

Synopsis: She is young, beautiful, and desperately in love with a man who cannot return her affections without arousing suspicion. And so they meet in secret, embracing in stairwells and castle turrets, murmuring each other’s names in hushed voices, reaching passionately for each other under the cover of darkness.

Book Info: Historical fiction book first published in October 2006 which serves as a reimagining of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: The film is based on the character of Ophelia (played by Daisy Ridley) from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and tells the story of Hamlet from Ophelia’s perspective. Claire McCarthy directs based on a script from Semi Chellas.

Release Date: 2018

48. The Selection – Kiera Cass

Synopsis: Thirty-five beautiful girls. Thirty-five beautiful rivals… It’s the chance of a lifetime and 17-year-old America Singer should feel lucky. She has been chosen for The Selection, a reality TV lottery in which the special few compete for gorgeous Prince Maxon’s love. Swept up in a world of elaborate gowns, glittering jewels and decadent feasts, America is living a new and glamorous life. And the prince takes a special interest in her, much to the outrage of the others. Rivalry within The Selection is fierce and not all of the girls are prepared to play by the rules. But what they don’t know is that America has a secret – one which could throw the whole competition… and change her life forever.

Book Info: The Selection, first published in April 2012 is the first of five books in The Selection series of young adult books. It was followed by The Elite. The series also contains 19 novellas.  Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Thea Sharrock (Me Before You) is signed on to direct the big screen adaptation of The Selection, still currently in development.

Release Date: 2018

49. Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet – Joanne Proulx

Synopsis: After freakishly foretelling the death of a friend, Luke Hunter becomes big news in Stokum, his rank little pinprick of a hometown. Terrified, but pretending not to be, Luke holds everyone—the local media, his buddy Fang, the Polish widow next door—at arm’s length as he lurches through a personal minefield studded with previously unconsidered existential ponderings, Christian fundamentalists, a missing teen’s frantic mother, and a dream girl who isn’t his.

Book Info: Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet was first published in April 2007.  Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: Currently in post-production, Anthem is the feature film directorial debut of Robin Hays and will star Cameron Monaghan, Grayson Gabriel and Peyton List.

Release Date: 2018

50. Bluebeard – Kurt Vonnegut

Synopsis: The fictional autobiography of Rabo Karabekian, who, at age seventy-one, wants to be left alone on his Long Island estate with the secret he has locked inside his potato barn. But then a voluptuous young widow badgers Rabo into telling his life story—and Vonnegut in turn tells us the plain, heart-hammering truth about man’s careless fancy to create or destroy what he loves.

Book Info: Published in 1987, Bluebeard is one of Vonnegut’s last novels. Get it on Amazon.

Movie Info: The movie is currently still in pre-production as of this writing but is slated for a 2018 release.

Release Date: 2018

How many have you read and which ones will you be reading before they open at the box office in 2018?