You Can Read A Good Book – Or Watch One

With so many demands on our time these days, it’s hard to know which book to open next. The “to read” pile keeps growing as the wealth of great novels grows, and it’s hard for even the fastest reader to keep up. So here’s a great life hack: check out the film, TV or even game adaptation. That will give you a good guide how much you’ll enjoy reading the source material – though admittedly the figures on the page may not be quite as movie-star handsome as most of the people who appeared onscreen.

Probably the single most popular literary genre is crime, so let’s start there. You can go with a classic adaptation of a classic book: the BBC’s TV adaptation of Sherlock, say, or Kenneth Branagh’s star-studded take on Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile. If you like Christie’s work, you could even become one of her star detectives in games like Agatha Christie – Hercule Poirot: The First Cases and Hercule Poirot: The London Case. For some less familiar Christie characters, you could try Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? with a cast including Hugh Laurie (Arthur Christmas), Jim Broadbent (The Duke) and Emma Thompson (Cruella).

Then hop through time periods. Try a Tudor mystery with the recent hit Shardlake, see Hugh Grant (Paddington 2) and Ben Whishaw (Casino Royale) in the 1960s version of A Very English Scandal, or visit 1922 Russia in A Gentleman in Moscow starring Ewan McGregor (Our Kind of Traitor). Or try something contemporary with the blistering TV court drama You Don’t Know Me, based on Imran Mahmood’s novel and starring Samuel Adewunmi (Doctor Who) and Bukky Bakray (Rocks).

For some more diverse bestseller-based dramas, consider the TV medical comedy/drama This Is Going to Hurt, based on Adam McKay’s memoir about life as a junior doctor, or more life-and-death stakes in ocean survival drama Adrift, starring Shailene Woodley (Ferrari) and Sam Claflin (Peaky Blinders). You could try a story of two women struggling with motherhood in The Lost Daughter, which saw both Olivia Colman (The Favourite) and Jessie Buckley (Wicked Little Letters) pick up Oscar nominations. Sacha Dhawan (Doctor Who) stars in the romantic and moving adaptation of The Boy With The Top Knot, Sathnam Sanghera's memoir about growing up Sikh in the UK in the 1960s. If you like that idea but would prefer something more sweeping, try A Suitable Boy, Mira Nair’s (Vanity Fair) adaptation of Vikram Seth’s epic novel chronicling four families during the turmoil of Indian independence. Another family saga is Ridley Road, about a Jewish girl infiltrating a neo-Nazi group in the 1960s, adapted from Jo Bloom’s book.

How about some spy fiction? We have several agencies’ worth of super spies to choose from, and the John Le Carre adaptations alone could keep you going for a week. There’s an all-star cast for the twists and double crosses of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, including Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour) and Colin Firth (Mamma Mia). Ralph Fiennes (Coriolanus) and Rachel Weisz (The Lobster) star in The Constant Gardener, the latter winning an Oscar for her work. 2016’s hit series The Night Manager stars Tom Hiddleston (High Rise) and Elizabeth Debicki (Widows), and is very much worth a watch before its sequel emerges in the next year or so. And Florence Pugh (Lady Macbeth) made her TV lead debut in the gripping Little Drummer Girl, as an actress recruited to become a Mossad spy.

Le Carre is not, however, the only option. The TV adaptation of Len Deighton’s The Ipcress File was adapted for the screen by Trainspotting’s John Hodge and stars Peaky Blinders’ Joe Cole alongside Bohemian Rhapsody’s Tom Hollander and Lucy Boynton. Another big TV hit of the past several years is Slow Horses, the Apple TV adaptation of Mick Herron’s spy series. It’s won major plaudits for stars including Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden (Fighting with My Family) and Kristen Scott Thomas (Four Weddings and a Funeral). Or, if you prefer to keep things James Bond-like, there are quite a few Bond films! You can even imagine what a young Bond would be like in the Alex Rider TV series, adapted from Anthony Horowitz’ books, or turn Bond yourself with the classic game GoldenEye 007.

Fans of fantasy are equally spoilt for choice. The recent TV adaptation of Philip Pullman’s majestic His Dark Materials, starring James McAvoy (Filth) and Ruth Wilson (Dark River), was a definitive take on the books. Similarly Good Omens, with David Tennant (Doctor Who) and Michael Sheen (Quiz) starring in an adaptation of the book by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, has been met with wild enthusiasm by its fan base. Tennant also leads Around the World In 80 Days, a fun take on the Victorian adventure story by Jules Verne. A Discovery of Witches, based on Deborah Harkness’ books, is an immensely entertaining tale of witches and vampires starring Matthew Goode (Downton Abbey) and Teresa Palmer. You could also try some romantic, mystical time travel drama in The Time Traveller’s Wife, with Theo James (The Gentlemen) and Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones) starring in the adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger’s worldwide bestseller about a man who can’t help himself hopping through time and the woman who loves him.

For younger audiences, there’s the very loosely book-based Sherlock Gnomes – yes, Arthur Conan Doyle’s super-detective is a garden gnome – or more traditional child-focused drama in The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic book most recently adapted with Colin Firth (Empire of Light) and Julie Walters (Billy Elliot). For something more irreverent, try the medieval coming-of-age comedy Catherine, Called Birdy, with Bella Ramsay (Game of Thrones), Andrew Scott (All of Us Strangers) and Billie Piper (I Hate Suzie), or meet adolescent criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl in Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Eoin Colfer’s hit books. Or turn to The BFG, Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the Roald Dahl classic, with Mark Rylance as the titular Big Friendly Giant who brings children good dreams.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg for great book-to-screen adaptations. There’s the heartbreak of Ian McEwan’s Atonement, adapted by Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice) with Keira Knightley (Colette), and you can keep the tears flowing with Never Let Me Go, based on Kazuo Ishiguro’s intensely moving novel and starring Knightley again, with Andrew Garfield (Breathe) and Carey Mulligan (Saltburn). Recent bestsellers by Sally Rooney were turned into must-watch TV in Normal People, which launched the career of Paul Mescal (Aftersun), and Conversations With Friends with Sasha Lane (American Honey) and Joe Alwyn (The Favourite). There’s the acclaimed Wolf Hall, with Mark Rylance again in an adaptation of Hillary Mantel’s critically adored novel, and a creepy ghost story in The Little Stranger, taken from Sarah Waters’ hit with Domhnall Gleeson (About Time) starring. Get up-to-the-minute relationship dramas in Everything I Know About Love or Queenie, or travel back in time with The Essex Serpent or The Last Kingdom.

In other words, your summer reading list is packed with great TV and films to watch. Not only are they full of drama, emotion and adventure in their own right, but they might even help you to manage your “to read” pile as well. That’s a win-win for everyone!