The cardinal sign of a really good book is that you don’t want it to end. Luckily, your favorite reads are getting a second life thanks to networks and streaming services that adapt compelling stories from the page to the small screen. As book-based, runaway hit series like Big Little Lies have proven, there’s a captive audience for literary narratives on television. These are all the book adaptation TV shows we’re looking forward to this year. Bookmark ‘em and make sure to read before you watch!
Cover Photo: HBO
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Book to TV Adaptations 2020
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'The Outsider'
Stephen King’s bestselling novels comes frightfully alive on the small screen in this HBO series. A small town is shook when a young boy is brutally murdered and the primary suspect is a local Little League coach. The case isn’t as open-and-shut as it seems, however, and a detective intent on getting to the truth uncovers more than he bargained for in this smart, edge-of-your-seat mystery.
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'The Good Lord Bird'
Showtime has adapted James McBride’s National Book Award-winning novel into a series starring Ethan Hawke as John Brown, an abolitionist from the mid-1800s who believed God appointed him to free slaves. Daveed Diggs costars as Frederick Douglass.
Photo: Showtime
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'The Plot Against America'
The Philip Roth novel that reimagines history with Charles Lindbergh as president and a surge in anti-Semitism comes to TV in this limited HBO series. The all-star cast includes Winona Ryder, Zoe Kazan, and John Turturro.
Photo: HBO
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'High Fidelity'
Nick Hornby’s iconic novel first got the big-screen treatment in the cult favorite film starring John Cusack. Now, Hulu is turning the story of a heartbroken record store owner on its head by casting Zoë Kravitz as the protagonist.
Photo: Hulu
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'Normal People'
Revisit your teen years and be transported to Dublin through the adaptation of Sally Rooney’s novel about male-female friendship, which is coming to Hulu as a series broken down into a dozen 30-minute episodes.
Photo: Hulu
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'Nine Perfect Strangers'
Liane Moriarty hooked readers (and viewers) with Big Little Lies. Now her novel, Nine Perfect Strangers, is being adapted into a limited series for Hulu. Set at a wellness resort, the story follows Masha’s (Nicole Kidman) efforts to help nine guests (including one played by Melissa McCarthy) reclaim their zest for life.
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'Pieces of Her'
Based on the thriller novel by Karin Slaughter, this eight-episode Netflix series takes viewers to small-town Georgia, where Laura’s (Toni Collette) carefully constructed façade explodes, exposing her true identity to her adult daughter, Andy.
Photo: Netflix
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'Little Fires Everywhere'
Hulu snatched up Celeste Ng’s novel about two families at odds in Shaker Heights, Ohio. Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon play double duty as stars and producers of this series, which explores class and cultural conflicts.
Photo: Hulu
