If you like to read the book before you see the movie, you’ve got your work cut out for you! We have a sampling of books that are coming out this year either to streaming or the big screen. We have classics, like Wuthering Heights and romance (check out People We Meet On Vacation and Every Summer After). There is sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, and thrillers all mixed in.
So settle in to your favorite reading chair and read up so you can compare, which is better the book or the movie?
His and Hers
Author:
Alice Feeney
Genre:
Mystery
Summary:
There are two sides to every story: yours and mine, ours, and theirs, His & Hers. Which means someone is always lying.
When a woman is murdered in Blackdown, a quintessential small town, reporter Anna Andrews is reluctant to cover the case. Detective Jack Harper is suspicious of her involvement, until he becomes a suspect in his own murder investigation.
Someone isn’t telling the truth, and some secrets are worth killing to keep.
When/where to watch it:
The limited series His & Hers, based on Alice Feeney’s novel, is exclusively on Netflix, where it premiered on January 8, 2026, featuring Tessa Thompson and Jon Bernthal as estranged spouses solving a murder.
People We Meet on Vacation
Author:
Emily Henry
Genre:
Contemporary Romance
Summary:
Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.
Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart–she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown–but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.
Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven’t spoken since.
Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together–lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees.
Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?
When/where to watch:
The movie adaptation of People We Meet on Vacation, based on Emily Henry’s novel, was released on January 9, 2026, streaming exclusively on Netflix. The film is directed by Brett Haley and starring Emily Bader and Tom Blyth.
Agatha Christie: The Seven Dials Mystery
Author:
Agatha Christie
Genre:
Crime/Mystery
Summary:
Gerry Wade had proved himself to be a champion sleeper, so the other houseguests decided to play a practical joke on him. Eight alarm clocks were set to go off, one after the other, starting at 6:30 a.m. But when morning arrived, one clock was missing and the prank then backfired, with tragic consequences.
When/where to watch it:
Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials Mystery is currently showing on Netflix (it premeired on Thursday, January 15, 2026) as a three episode mini-series starring Mia McKenna-Bruce, Edward Bluemel, and Martin Freeman.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
Author:
George R. R. Martin
Genre:
Fantasy/Adventure
Summary:
These collected adventures recount an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne, and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living consciousness. Before Tyrion Lannister and Podrick Payne, there was Dunk and Egg. A young, naïve but ultimately courageous hedge knight, Ser Duncan the Tall towers above his rivals–in stature if not experience. Tagging along is his diminutive squire, a boy called Egg–whose true name is hidden from all he and Dunk encounter. Though more improbable heroes may not be found in all of Westeros, great destinies lay ahead for these two . . . as do powerful foes, royal intrigue, and outrageous exploits.
Featuring more than 160 illustrations that artist Gary Gianni created specifically for this book, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a must-have collection that proves chivalry isn’t dead–yet.
When/where to watch:
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (also referred to as A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight) A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premiered on January 18, 2026, on HBO Max and the HBO cable channel. New episodes in the six-episode first season are released weekly on Sundays at 10 p.m.
Finding Her Edge
Author:
Jennifer Iacopelli
Genre:
Young Adult/Romance
Summary:
Adriana Russo is figure skating royalty, born to gold-medalist parents and an equally talented sister. Adriana’s dream? To conquer the Junior World Championships and uphold the family legacy. But when the family’s legendary skating rink faces financial ruin, everything she’s worked for is at risk.
Training with her new partner, Brayden, sparks an idea: let the world believe their on-ice chemistry isn’t only for show. The fake-dating gains traction, and Adriana realizes maybe she actually is falling for Brayden. But then her past crashes into her present and changes everything, when Freddie, her former partner — and first crush — reenters the scene.
As the biggest competition of her life draws closer and her family’s legacy hangs in the balance, Adriana is torn between the future she’s worked so hard for with Brayden, and the one she gave up long ago with Freddie. Will she find her edge and claim her place at the top, or will her heart lead her in a different direction?
When/where to watch it:
Netflix’s new ice skating drama, Finding Her Edge, dropped all its eight of its first season episodes on January 22, 2026.
Wuthering Heights
Author:
Emily Bronte
Genre:
Gothic/Fiction
Summary:
Wuthering Heights is the tale of the troubled orphan Heathcliff and his doomed love for Catherine Earnshaw. Published in 1847, the year before Emily Bronte’s death at the age of thirty, Wuthering Heights has proved to be one of the nineteenth century’s most popular yet disturbing masterpieces. The windswept moors are the unforgettable setting of this tale of the love between the foundling Heathcliff and his wealthy benefactor’s daughter, Catherine. Through Catherine’s betrayal of Heathcliff and his bitter vengeance, their mythic passion haunts the next generation even after their deaths.
When/where to watch it:
Emerald Fennell’s adaption of Wuthering Heights is releasing to theaters and IMAX on February 13, 2026. The big screen adaption will star Margot Robbie opposite Jacob Elordi.
Broken
Author:
Don Winslow
Genre:
Thriller/Mystery
Summary:
Broken is a collection of short stories which includes “Crime 101” which is being turned into a movie.
Crime 101: A string of high-level jewel heists up and down the Pacific Coast Highway has gone unsolved for years, mostly because the perpetrator has lived by a strict code he calls “Crime 101.” Police attribute the thefts to the Columbian cartels. But Detective Lou Lubesnick’s gut says it’s the work of just one man. Now the lone-wolf jewel thief is looking for that fabled final last score. And Lou breaks all the rules of Crime 101…
Broken: In the volume’s title story, police dispatcher Eva McNabb takes the call on a police officer’s brutal murder by a vicious drug gang. It’s her own kid, Danny. Then Eva makes her own call. Summoning her elder son, Jimmy, also a cop, Evan commands: Avenge your brother. I want you to kill them all.
The Last Ride: To former solider and cowboy-turned-Board Patrol agent Cal Strickland, the illegals who try to jump his stretch of the Texas-Mexico border are a nameless, faceless group who need to be sent back to their side of the line. That is until he sees the little girl in the cage. And Cal knows that the time has come to make a stand and help her escape.
With his trademark blend of insight, humanity, humor, action, and the highest level of literary craftsmanship, Winslow delivers a collection of tales that will become classics of crime fiction.
When/where to watch:
The movie Crime 101, starring Chris Hemsworth and Halle Berry, has a scheduled release date to theaters on Friday, February 13, 2026.
56 Days
Author:
Catherine Ryan Howard
Genre:
Mystery
Summary:
56 DAYS AGO Ciara and Oliver meet in a supermarket queue in Dublin and start dating the same week COVID-19 reaches Irish shores.
35 DAYS AGO When lockdown threatens to keep them apart, Oliver suggests they move in together. Ciara sees a unique opportunity for a relationship to flourish without the scrutiny of family and friends. Oliver sees a chance to hide who-and what-he really is.
TODAY Detectives arrive at Oliver’s apartment to discover a decomposing body inside. Can they determine what really happened, or has lockdown created an opportunity for someone to commit the perfect crime?
When/where to watch:
The thriller series 56 Days, starring Dove Cameron and Avan Jogia, premieres on Prime Video on February 18, 2026. All eight episodes of the adaptation, based on Catherine Ryan Howard’s novel, will be released at once.
Reminders of Him
Author:
Colleen Hoover
Genre:
Contemporary Romance
Summary:
After serving five years in prison for a tragic mistake, Kenna Rowan returns to the town where it all went wrong, hoping to reunite with her four-year-old daughter. But the bridges Kenna burned are proving impossible to rebuild. Everyone in her daughter’s life is determined to shut Kenna out, no matter how hard she works to prove herself. The only person who hasn’t closed the door on her completely is Ledger Ward, a local bar owner and one of the few remaining links to Kenna’s daughter. But if anyone were to discover how Ledger is slowly becoming an important part of Kenna’s life, both would risk losing the trust of everyone important to them. The two form a connection despite the pressure surrounding them, but as their romance grows, so does the risk. Kenna must find a way to absolve the mistakes of her past in order to build a future out of hope and healing
When/where to watch:
The film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s Reminders of Him is scheduled for release on March 13, 2026.
Project Hail Mary
Author:
Andy Weir
Genre:
Science Fiction
Summary:
Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission–and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.
Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.
All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery–and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.
And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.
Or does he?
When/where to watch:
The Project Hail Mary movie, starring Ryan Gosling and directed by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, is scheduled for a wide theatrical release on March 20, 2026.
Margo’s Got Money Troubles
Author:
Rufi Thorpe
Genre:
Humor/Fiction
Summary:
As the child of a Hooters waitress and an ex-pro wrestler, Margo Millet’s always known she’d have to make it on her own. So she enrolls at her local junior college, even though she can’t imagine how she’ll ever make a living. She’s still figuring things out and never planned to have an affair with her English professor–and while the affair is brief, it isn’t brief enough to keep her from getting pregnant. Despite everyone’s advice, she decides to keep the baby, mostly out of naiveté and a yearning for something bigger.
Now, at twenty, Margo is alone with an infant, unemployed, and on the verge of eviction. She needs a cash infusion–fast. When her estranged father, Jinx, shows up on her doorstep and asks to move in with her, she agrees in exchange for help with childcare. Then Margo begins to form a plan: she’ll start an OnlyFans as an experiment, and soon finds herself adapting some of Jinx’s advice from the world of wrestling. Like how to craft a compelling character and make your audience fall in love with you. Before she knows it, she’s turned it into a runaway success. Could this be the answer to all of Margo’s problems, or does internet fame come with too high a price?
Blisteringly funny and filled with sharp insight, Margo’s Got Money Troubles is a tender tale starring an endearing young heroine who’s struggling to wrest money and power from a world that has little interest in giving it to her. It’s a playful and honest examination of the art of storytelling and controlling your own narrative, and an empowering portrait of coming into your own, both online and off.
When/where to watch it:
Margo’s Got Money Troubles, starring Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Nicole Kidman, premieres globally on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, exclusively on Apple TV, with the first three episodes dropping that day, followed by weekly episodes.
Remarkably Bright Creatures
Author:
Shelby Van Pelt
Genre:
Mystery/Fiction
Summary:
A charming, witty and compulsively readable exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope that traces a widow’s unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus
After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.
Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors–until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.
Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late.
Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.
When/where to watch:
The movie adaptation of Remarkably Bright Creatures, based on Shelby Van Pelt’s bestselling novel, is coming to Netflix on May 8, 2026. The movie stars Sally Field as Tova and Lewis Pullman as the young man, with Olivia Newman directing.
Every Summer After
Author:
Carley Fortune
Genre:
Contemporary Romance
Summary:
They say you can never go home again, and for Persephone Fraser, ever since she made the biggest mistake of her life a decade ago, that has felt too true. Instead of glittering summers on the lakeshore of her childhood, she spends them in a stylish apartment in the city, going out with friends, and keeping everyone a safe distance from her heart.
Until she receives the call that sends her racing back to Barry’s Bay and into the orbit of Sam Florek—the man she never thought she’d have to live without.
For six summers, through hazy afternoons on the water and warm summer nights working in his family’s restaurant and curling up together with books—medical textbooks for him and work-in-progress horror short stories for her—Percy and Sam had been inseparable. Eventually that friendship turned into something breathtakingly more, before it fell spectacularly apart.
When Percy returns to the lake for Sam’s mother’s funeral, their connection is as undeniable as it had always been. But until Percy can confront the decisions she made and the years she’s spent punishing herself for them, they’ll never know whether their love might be bigger than the biggest mistakes of their past.
Told over the course of six years and one weekend, Every Summer After is a big, sweeping nostalgic story of love and the people and choices that mark us forever.
When/where to watch:
Carley Fortune’s novel Every Summer After is being adapted into a Prime Video series titled Every Year After, with production underway and a highly anticipated release expected in 2026, starring Sadie Soverall and Matt Cornett. While no specific date is set, expect a summer-themed release to align with the book’s popular seasonal romance setting.
The Book of Magic
Author:
Alice Hoffman
Genre:
Historic Fiction/Magical Realism
Summary:
For over three-hundred years a curse has kept the Owens family from love–but all of that is about to change. The novel begins in a library, the best place for a story to be conjured, when beloved aunt Jet Owens hears the deathwatch beetle and knows she has only seven days to live. Jet is not the only one in danger–the curse is already at work.
A frantic attempt to save a young man’s life spurs three generations of the Owens women, and one long-lost brother, to use their unusual gifts to break the curse as they travel from Paris to London to the English countryside where their ancestor Maria Owens first practiced the Unnamed Art. The younger generation discovers secrets that have been hidden from them in matters of both magic and love by Sally, their fiercely protective mother. As Kylie Owens uncovers the truth about who she is and what her own dark powers are, her aunt Franny comes to understand that she is ready to sacrifice everything for her family, and Sally Owens realizes that she is willing to give up everything for love.
A heartfelt and satisfying conclusion to a beloved series, The Book of Magic celebrates mothers and daughters, sisters and brothers, and anyone who has ever been in love.
When/where to watch it:
A movie sequel to Practical Magic, titled Practical Magic 2, is set to release on September 18, 2026, adapting Alice Hoffman’s novel The Book of Magic, with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman returning as the Owens sisters, along with new cast members like Joey King and Xolo Maridueña.
Incidents Around the House
Author:
Josh Malerman
Genre:
Horror/Thriller
Summary:
To eight-year-old Bela, her family is her world. There’s Mommy, Daddo, and Grandma Ruth. But there is also Other Mommy, a malevolent entity who asks her every day: “Can I go inside your heart?”
When horrifying incidents around the house signal that Other Mommy is growing tired of asking Bela the question over and over, Bela understands that unless she says yes, her family will soon pay.
Other Mommy is getting restless, stronger, bolder. Only the bonds of family can keep Bela safe, but other incidents show cracks in her parents’ marriage. The safety Bela relies on is about to unravel.
But Other Mommy needs an answer.
Incidents Around the House is a chilling, wholly unique tale of true horror about a family as haunted as their home.
When/where to watch:
The horror film adaptation of Josh Malerman’s Incidents Around the House, titled Other Mommy, is scheduled for release in the U.S. on October 9, 2026. Directed by Rob Savage, it stars Jessica Chastain.
Remain: A Supernatural Love Story
Author:
Nicholas Sparks with M. Night Shymalan
Genre:
Paranormal Romance/Suspense Thriller
Summary:
When New York architect Tate Donovan arrives in Cape Cod to design his best friend’s summer home, he is hoping to make a fresh start. Recently discharged from an upscale psychiatric facility where he was treated for acute depression, he is still wrestling with the pain of losing his beloved sister. Sylvia’s deathbed revelation–that she can see spirits who are still tethered to the living world, a gift that runs in their family–sits uneasily with Tate, who struggles to believe in more than what reason can explain. But when he takes up residence at a historic bed-and-breakfast on the Cape, he encounters a beautiful young woman named Wren who will challenge every assumption he has about his logical and controlled world.
Tate and Wren find themselves forging an immediate connection, one that neither has ever experienced before. But Tate gradually discovers that below the surface of Wren’s idyllic small-town life, hatred, jealousy, and greed are festering, threatening their fragile relationship just as it begins to blossom. Tate realizes that in order to free Wren from an increasingly desperate fate, he will need to unearth the truth about her past before time runs out . . . a quest that will make him doubt whether we can ever believe the stories we tell about ourselves, and the laws that govern our existence. Love–while transformative–can sometimes be frightening.
A story about the power of transcendent emotion, Remain asks us all: Can love set us free not only from our greatest sorrows, but even from the boundaries of life and death?
When/where to watch:
The film adaptation of “Remain,” a supernatural romantic thriller based on a collaboration between author Nicholas Sparks and director M. Night Shyamalan, is scheduled for theatrical release on October 23, 2026. The movie stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Phoebe Dynevor.
Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping
Author:
Suzanne Collins
Genre:
Young Adult/Dystopian
Summary:
When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?
As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.
Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.
When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.
When/where to watch:
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is scheduled for release in theaters and IMAX on November 20, 2026. Casting includes Joseph Zada as Haymitch and McKenna Grace as Maysilee Donner, with potential appearances from Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson in flash-forwards.
