Read the book before you see the film/TV series, or read the source material afterwards for all the added backstories and characters (that you can absorb at your own pace)?
It's a tricky one and the answer really depends on your own personal tastes and inclinations. Either way, here is the latest crop of works of literature that are getting a makeover for the screen.
Out now
If you're a "read the book first" sort, you'd better get cracking before you miss -
- Alias Grace - Canadian 6 part series directed by Sarah Polley, featuring Anna Paquin and a cameo from author Margaret Atwood. Based on the true story of a young housemaid, Grace Marks, who became embroiled in a double-murder, this series is only available on Netflix and is a rivetting watch.
- IT - I was terrified by this book in the nineties (and the subsequent mini-series adaptation). The current film splits the tale of a group of kids fighting a malevolent entity that often takes the form of an evil clown into two films - the sequel is due in 2019.
- Murder on the Orient Express - The Agatha Christie classic gets another film outing (the 1974 version earned Ingrid Bergman an Oscar) and with a fairly impressive cast including the likes of Dame Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, and Michelle Pfeiffer, with Kenneth Brannagh (who also directs) as the moustachioed Belgian sleuth, Hercule Poirot. The original novel was published in 1934, so avoiding spoilers might prove difficult.
- The Mountain Between Us - Kate Winslet and Idris Elba's charter plane crashes into a mountain and that's not the end of the drama. Based on the novel by Charles Martin.
- The Lost City of Z - Author David Grann's hunt for famed explorer Percy Fawcett's expedition in the Amazon has Charlie Hunnam as the missing Fawcett, with Sienna Miller as his wife and Robert Pattinson as another member of the expedition.
- Thank You for your Service - Biographical war drama based on the book by Washington Post journalist David Finkel. The film follows several soldiers after their return from deployment in Iraq and their struggles with PTSD and the psychological trauma of war.
Coming soon
- Red Sparrow - The movie of the adventure spy novel by Jason Matthews has Jennifer Lawrence in the leading role as elite Russian agent Dominika Egorova (think Marvel's Black Widow).
- A Wrinkle in Time - Partly filmed in New Zealand, starring Oprah and directed by Ava DuVernay (of Twelve years a slave), this sci-fi film is based on the much beloved first novel of a young adult series by Madeleine L'Engle.
- Chaos walking: The Knife of Never Letting Go - Another young adult sci-fi series adaptation, this time of Patrick Ness's widely acclaimed dystopian novel. Daisy Ridley and Tom Holland are set to star.
- Dune - Frank Herbert's epic sci-fi saga gets another go-around (after the 1984 film directed by David Lynch, and two miniseries' in the early 2000s) this time with Arrival director Denis Villeneuve at the helm.
- Break My Heart 1,000 Times - Bella Thorne will star in this "supernatural romantic thriller" based on Daniel Water's young adult novel set in world where people can see ghosts.
- Guernsey (The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society) - Mary Ann Shaffer's 2008 bestseller set on the island of Guernsey during WWII was filmed earlier this year, with Downton Abbey stars Lily James and Jessica Brown Findlay in the cast and Mike Newell directing.
- Ready Player One - Ernest Cline's dystopian future/Virtual Reality/geek nostalgia-fest novel follows Wade Watts as he attempts to find an 'easter egg' that will bestow on him a fortune. Directed by Steven Spielberg, expect to see this everywhere in March 2018.
- Peter Rabbit - A new animated version of Beatrix Potter's classic tale of an adventurous bunny is due in early 2018, with voices provided by the likes of Rose Byrne, James Corden and Sam Neill.
On the radar
With the end of the Game of Thrones TV series on the distant horizon, Patrick Rothfuss is being mentioned as the next George R. R. Martin. Probably because they both have beards and neither have actually finished writing all the books in their respective series'. Lin-Manuel Miranda of super-musical, Hamilton, is producing the series for Showtime based on the first 2 novels of the as yet unfinished Kingkiller Chronicles fantasy trilogy.
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