Oof, it’s going to be an amazing year for film, we can already tell, especially since some of our favourite novels are being adapted for the big screen! Yes the book is almost always better blah blah blah, but sometimes isn’t it so delightfully satisfying to watch your imagination realised on screen? Especially when they do it right (Game of Thrones), though there’s always satisfaction in criticising if they do it wrong (The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones).
So without further ado, let’s take a look at the books we are most excited to finally talk to our non-reading (and duller) friends about.
- Selena
Author: Ron Rash
If you’re sick of Jennifer Lawrence being shoved down your throat at the moment (let’s face it, the girl is utterly delightful in every way but she’s doing a lot of press tours at the moment) then you probably want to skip this one!
Playing the title character, JLaw once again teams up with Silver Linings Playbook co-star Bradley Cooper as a murderous wife who sets out to get rid of her husband’s illegitimate son. The book received rave reviews, and we think we can trust the good ship Lawrence to act her little heart out, as per usual!
- Before I Go To Sleep
Author: S.J. Watson
Think 50 First Dates, but completely serious and dramatic. The story is based on a woman whose mind is wiped every night as she sleeps, and she reads a diary every morning to remind herself of her past. But the more she writes in her diary, the more she discovers there may be a lot more going on in her life than meets the eye…
Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth are due to star, but pick up the book first. Trust us, it will have you gripped!
- Gone Girl
Author: Gillian Flynn
The big read of 2013, the brilliant Gone Girl, will be out this year with Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike as the untrustworthy leads. After Nick’s wife Amy goes missing, he fudges his image to the press, lies about his alibi and feels guilt-ridden about her disappearance, and all the while Amy words from the past speak of a great fear of her husband, and a desire to do anything for him. So what is truly going on here?
Since the book reads pretty much as a movie as it is, we can’t WAIT for this one to hit the big screen. It’s going to be huge.
- Dark Places
Author: Gillian Flynn
Good old Gillian is having a great 2014, isn’t she? Her other, less popular but no less macabre novel to Gone Girl is based on a girl who accused her brother of committing when she was seven, leaving him to be incarcerated at the age of 15. But was she right?
- Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Sort of the next Hunger Games but not quite as good, this is the first of a trilogy where we are kind of hoping that the films will be better than the books. Because if not, they will be really terrible. Not that the books are terrible but they’re not great either. Basically in the future this universe is split into 5 factions, and you decide which faction you want to live in depending on your personality (sort of like the Hogwarts houses). If you don’t really belong to any, then you’re a squib divergent, which is incredibly dangerous because you can’t be controlled by ‘the man’.
Of course our leading lady Tris (played by Shailene Woodley) is a Divergent, and choas ensues!
- The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
We are truly excited about this one, based on a little girl named Liesel who, along with her adoptive parents, hides a Jew in their cellar during WWII Germany, she finds solace in any book she can find (or steal, hence the title).
The book is also narrated by death so that’ll be interesting to see translated, and Liesel’s beloved Papa – who is probably the best character ever created – will be played by Geoffrey Rush. Yes to this.
- The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green
We’re already crying. This book is honestly the most uplifting yet tragic yet beautiful yet devastating most hard-to-pin-down thing we’ve ever read.
It will break your heart, and it looks like the movie will stick closely to the book, as John Green (one of YouTube’s Vlog brothers, if you’re interested) has consistently posted videos of him hanging out behind the scenes and expressing his support for the film. It’s going to be amazing, we just know it.
- The Giver
Author: Lois Lowry
Okay, yes Taylor Swift will be in it, but is that necessarily a bad thing?!
On second thoughts, don’t answer that.
In a future where diseases have been cured, everyone is equal and there is a lovely world peace, a 12-year-old boy is assigned the position of Receiver of Memories by the Community, and The Giver has to give (geddit) Jonas the information he needs. Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep are due to star, and anything with Meryl has a yes from us (yep, even Mamma Mia).
- Horns
Author: Joe Hill
Stephen King’s son is just as creepy and substantially weirder than his old man as Horns follows the story of a man (to be played by Daniel Radcliffe) who is wrongly accused of brutally raping and murdering his girlfriend before he starts slowly turning into the actual devil and everyone can’t help but tell them every terrible secret they’ve ever had. It’s a fantastic read, and we’re looking forward to seeing if the boy wizard can do it justice on screen!
- A Long Way Down
Author: Nick Hornby
Four people accidentally meet on a roof as they all prepare to end their lives, and instead they share their stories. Despite it being based around suicide, we think it’s going to be quite funny, poignant, and will probably celebrate life and all that. Fingers crossed!
Which are you most looking forward to?
