By Mallory Nagler, Public Services Librarian
July 9, 2024
If you’re anything like me, you love a good book-to-screen adaptation. As far back as
1899 with Georges Méliès’ Cinderella, writers, directors, and producers have been adapting our
most loved stories across all genres. Whether you like to read the book first and form visuals in
your mind before being exposed to other’s interpretations (me), or you don’t even realize the
movie or TV show came from a book and you watch it first (sometimes also me), here are some
of the TV shows and films adapted from books and available here at the Library.
Biography – Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly (2016)
As the United States raced against Russia to put a man in space, NASA found untapped talent in a group of African-American female mathematicians that served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in U.S. history. Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Katherine Johnson crossed all gender, race, and professional lines while their brilliance and desire to dream big, beyond anything ever accomplished before by the human race, firmly cemented them in U.S. history as true American heroes.
PG | 2016 Movie | Drama/History | 2h 7m | Also available on Disney+
Psychological/Domestic Fiction – I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb (1998)
Follows the parallel lives of identical twin brothers in an epic story of betrayal, sacrifice and forgiveness set against the backdrop of 20th-century America.
2020 TV Mini Series | Drama | 1 season | Also available on Max
Western/Historical Fiction – Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (1985)
The tale of two former Texas Rangers who leave the South Texas town of Lonesome Dove on an epic 2500-mile cattle drive to the lush ranch country of Montana.
1989 TV Mini Series | Western | 1 season | Also available on Peacock
Fiction – The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger (2003)
Andy is a recent college graduate with big dreams. Upon landing a job at prestigious Runway magazine, she finds herself the assistant to diabolical editor Miranda Priestly and questions her ability to survive her grim tour without getting scorched.
PG-13 | 2006 Movie | Comedy/Drama | 1h 49m | Also available on Max
Suspense/Urban/Domestic Fiction – You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz (2014)
Grace and Jonathan Fraser have the life they’ve always wanted: she’s a successful therapist, he’s an acclaimed pediatric oncologist, and their son attends an elite private school in Manhattan. But for Grace, everything unravels overnight with a violent death and a missing husband.
The Undoing | 2020 TV Mini Series | Thriller | 1 season | Also available on Max
Political/Southern/Legal Fiction – A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe (1998)
A satire on America featuring a capitalist trying to avoid ruin.
2024 TV Mini Series | Drama | 1 season | Available on Netflix
Thriller/Domestic Fiction - Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty (2021)
A novel that looks at marriage, sibling rivalry, and the lies we tell others and ourselves.
2024 TV Mini Series | Drama | 1 season | Available on Peacock
Fantasy/Adventure/Science Fiction – Dune by Frank Herbert (1965)
Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Pail Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Muad’dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family – and would bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream.
Dune | PG-13 | 1984 Movie | Sci-fi/Action | 2h 17m | Available at the WPL (DVD Dun 1984) | Also available on Netflix
Dune: Part One | PG-13 | 2021 Movie | Sci-fi/Adventure | 2h 35m | Available at the WPL (DVD Dun 2021) | Also available on Apple TV+
Dune: Part Two | PG-13 | 2024 Movie | Sci-fi/Adventure | 2h 46m | Coming soon to the WPL | Also available on Max
Romance/Contemporary Fiction – It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover (2016)
Combining a captivating romance with a cast of all-too-human characters, It Ends With Us is an unforgettable tale of love that comes at the ultimate price.
2024 Movie | Romance/Drama | In theaters August 9, 2024
Historical/Biographical Fiction – We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter (2017)
The story of three generations of the Kurc family, trapped in Radom, Poland during World War II. Astonishingly, all of them survived.
2024 TV Mini Series | Drama | 1 season | Available on Hulu