4 Bestselling Books Getting the Hollywood Treatment in 2019
Yes, we know: Everyone says you have to read “Where’d You Go, Bernadette” before its adaptation arrives in theaters this August. But in case you’re looking for others, here are a few more to get through before they hit big (and small) screens near you.
“Shrill” by Lindy West
West’s hilarious and intelligent essay-collection-slash-memoir is being turned into a Hulu series starring SNL’s Aidy Bryant, coming out on March 15. West’s job as a columnist forces her to take on the internet and all of the fat-shaming, misogynistic trolls that come with it—yet she proves that she is a feminist force whose voice can’t be muffled by those hiding behind their computer screens.
“Underground Railroad” by Colson Whitehead
Last summer, Variety announced that director Barry Jenkins had signed on with Amazon to adapt Whitehead’s Pulitzer-winning novel into a limited series, which is slated to release sometime in 2019. Whitehead’s novel follows Cora, who escapes a plantation in Georgia on The Underground Railroad, a literal train that runs north, and is the vehicle for Cara’s surreal and often terrifying journey.
“The Goldfinch” by Donna Tartt
Starring Nicole Kidman, Sarah Paulson, and Ansel Elgort, this film has generated a lot of buzz—and its lengthy source material was also a Pulitzer Prize winner when published in 2014. Theo, is essentially orphaned after surviving a terrorist attack at an art museum that kills his mother. In his escape from the attack, he steals a mysterious painting known as The Goldfinch, which anchors him even as he heads down a criminal path. And look, I never say this, but when the book is 771 pages, it’s actually welcome news to hear there’s a movie being made.
“All the Bright Places” by Jennifer Nivens
Looking for a heartwarming YA read to add to your pile? “All the Bright Places” is coming to Netflix this year with Elle Fanning starring as ex-cheerleader Violet, who is grieving her sister’s death when she befriends enigmatic Theodore Finch. Niven’s novel will probably make you cry, but it will also give you the warm, fuzzy feelings that come with reading about friends who try and heal each others’ grief.
Bonus: We’re not sure when this comes out, but for those that loved “Little Fires Everywhere,” Celeste Ng has some great news about her first novel, “Everything I Never Told You.” The story also takes place in a small town in Ohio, where a suburban mother tries to understand her daughter’s untimely death, and it’s being adapted into a movie starring the one and only Julia Roberts: