Here are four books you’ll want to pick up before their movie adaptations hit the screen!

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was merely 18 years old when she wrote Frankenstein, the gothic novel first published in 1818. However, the edition most widely read today is the 1832 version, which she revised in her 30s, much later in life. Her novel, a cornerstone of science fiction, follows Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist whose attempt to create life sets off tragic consequences that endanger everything he holds dear. A profound philosophical tale that explores ambition, isolation, and a deep and relatable yearning for belonging. Arguably one of the English Romanticism’s greatest works of prose fiction, inspiring numerous movie adaptations, the latest released in theatres on October 30th this year.

If any director was going to take on this project, Mexican filmmaker and author Guillermo del Toro is the right man for the job. He is well known for his works in horror and fiction. Some of his notable displays of creativity include “The Shape of Water”, “Pan’s Labyrinth”, and “Crimson Peak”, to name a few. The casting of this movie has the pop-culture world in an excited frenzy due to the talented actors and actresses who will bring life to our Netflix screens with this upcoming release. Jacob Elordi, a rising actor in the industry, best known for his intense portrayals of morally complex characters such as Nate Jacobs in Euphoria and Elvis Presley in Priscilla. Mia Goth notably known for her roles as Maxine Minx and Pearl, and Oscar Issac, playing Victor Frankenstein, coming off the Dune Series, are all starring in this movie, and the range of raw talent and skill of this cast should be enough to move this book up on anyone’s TBR (to be read) list.

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

Maggie O’Farrell’s award-winning novel Hamnet reimagines the life of William Shakespeare’s family in 16th-century Stratford, as they grapple with the loss of their son, brother, and friend. Shifting perspectives reveal how grief, identity, and mourning shape each family member in profoundly different ways, creating a layered portrait of loss. O’Farrell’s lyrical prose and purposeful use of repetition suspend time for the reader, making the story feel both intimate and timeless—a quality that makes it an ideal candidate for the big screen.

The historical drama adaptation is directed by Chloé Zhao, the Chinese filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer best known for Nomadland. That film, which follows Fern (Frances McDormand) as she embarks on a road-bound life after an economic collapse in rural Nevada, earned Zhao critical acclaim and made her one of only three women ever to win Best Director at the Golden Globes. For this project, Zhao is joined by author Maggie O’Farrell, who co-wrote the screenplay, blending her lyrical storytelling with Zhao’s cinematic vision. The film stars Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare and Jessie Buckley as his wife, Agnes—two talents well-suited to carry the emotional weight of this intimate story. Inspired by the real-life death of Shakespeare’s young son, Hamnet is set to release on November 27, with a runtime of 2 hours and 5 minutes.

The Odyssey by Homer

The Odyssey is one of the oldest surviving works of Western literature and remains a cornerstone of higher education curricula. The epic follows Odysseus on his 10-year journey home after the Trojan War, while also weaving in the struggles of his son, Telemachus, and his wife, Penelope. Penelope, a grieving wife, faces relentless pressure from suitors to remarry and accept that her husband is gone. Meanwhile, Telemachus is forced to step into his father’s role too soon, confronting both literal and metaphorical monsters in his quest to protect his mother and search for Odysseus. At its heart, the story is about grief: Odysseus loses his men, Penelope loses her husband, and Telemachus loses his father. With such an ancient text, much of today’s discourse centers on which translation best captures its essence, with a few modern contenders leading the debate: Robert Fitzgerald, Robert Fagles, Simon Armitage, and the first female translator of the Greek works, Emily Wilson.

British filmmaker Christopher Nolan seems to be the only director that avid movie-watchers trust with this massive project. A story this old and beloved by the masses needs precision, and a cinematic effect that takes its sweet time with this classic and perfects each character. Nolan is known for performing well with massive films like Interstellar, Oppenheimer, Insomnia, and Tenet. The movie adaptation‘s stacked cast is full of fan favourites like Tom Holland, Matt Damon, Zendaya, and Robert Pattinson, to name a few. It is not crazy to believe this move might break the movie theatres, but hopefully, readers are breaking the spine of their copy of Homer’s epic before the July 17th, 2026, release date. 

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Wuthering Heights is a famous twisted revenge tale written by English author Emily Brontë in 1847 under the pen name “Ellis Bell”. Brontë is argued to be the strongest writer out of her two similarly well-regarded sisters, Charlotte and Anne, and Wuthering Heights is her best work. The story follows Catherine and Heathcliffe, who examine a toxic, destructive kind of love between these two characters from different social classes, through the perspective of a housemaid, Nelly Dean.

Set against the cold, desolate backdrop of northern England, the novel unfolds with a stark portrayal of human nature, its haunting prose steeped in dark desires and tortured emotions. The characters’ unlikability, coupled with the gothic melancholy that permeates every page, has cemented the book as a favourite winter read for many. Long debated as either a romance or a tragedy, this latest film adaptation—directed by Emerald Fennell—chooses its stance on the question by premiering on Valentine’s Day.   

The film adaptation of Wuthering Heights has yet to have a true-text movie adaptation. Emerald Fenell is a writer, director, and producer who has worked on period dramas: Anna Karenina (2012), The Danish Girl (2015), and Vita and Virginia (2018). So, taking on the dull colours of Yorkshire Moor and the antiquated language of the 1800’s won’t be out of the ordinary for this established director.

The casting choice of this film sparked online discourse given that Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi) is canonically described as a person of colour, a detail that deeply shapes his perspective and social position within the novel. Starring opposite the Australian native of Basque descent is Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw. These two high profile leads in addition to BRAT summer artist, Charli XCX haunting the trailer with her vocals has created an atmospheric edge that has generated widespread buzz, sparking conversations not only about the film’s interpretation but also inspiring many to finally dust off the classic from their shelves or borrow it from local libraries in anticipation.

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Can you describe The Court of the Dead in five words?

Riordan: Percy Jackson’s world turned upside-down.

Oshiro: This is really, really unhinged.

Quick lightning round! Tell us:

• What books made you want to become authors?
  Riordan: The Lord of the Rings, and, probably, A Wizard of Earthsea. Those were probably my two major touchstones.
  Oshiro: My answer is Stephen King’s It, which I was way too young for, but was so magical in terms of being able to make me feel a wide range of emotions.
• Can you tell us what book you are currently reading?
  Oshiro: I’m reading The River Has Roots by Amal El-Motar. It’s a new novella from one of my close friends, whom I adore, and it’s very good. Very fairytale-like and strange.
  Riordan:  I’m in the middle of reading a thriller in Italian, actually, by Donata Carisi. It’s called Io Sono L’abisso, I Am The Abyss, and it is really, really dark.

What kind of reader do you encourage to pick up this new release?

Oshiro: I would say an adventurous one.

Riordan: I mean, anyone who is familiar with the Percy Jackson world and wants to get back into that world, but also anybody who needs a fun adventure. I think we could all use a break these days, and a chance to get away from reality. I think this book is a good way to do that.

What was the co-writing experience like, and was there any conflict or compromise?

Oshiro: Rick and I both feel very lucky that our writing processes are similar. We wrote a detailed outline of what we wanted in the book, and then wrote the manuscript. Because this was our second outing, the process felt even more in sync. I come from journalism. I don’t have a huge ego around my writing. I’m used to it being edited and being changed, so I don’t  know that we’ve ever had a disagreement. It becomes so convoluted in terms of who wrote what that we often can’t determine who wrote a specific sentence. We both approached this with humility, curiosity, and wanting to write a fun adventure, which meant we were always kind of one-upping each other.

Riordan: I was thinking the closest thing I can compare it to is, like, improvisational jazz. When you just sort of have the general key, and you have the chord patterns, but everything else is kind of up for grabs, you know? It’s like, yeah, that’s awesome, do that again. Okay, all right. I can riff off of that.

What inspired the decision to write this series together?

Riordan: Well, I mean, Nico di Angelo is probably one of the most popular characters among the readership for Percy Jackson. He’s a real touchstone for a lot of readers, and he’s very near and dear to my heart, and of course yes, I’ve written about him before, and I’ve even written from his point of view, but I think the idea of writing an entire novel from his point of view, and based on his relationship with his boyfriend Will Solas, felt like something that I needed help with. I don’t have the context for his life experience; I needed someone with the toolset of emotionality, life experience, and the authenticity that would make readers say, I understand this, I empathize with this, I get this; this feels real to me. I loved Mark’s previous work, and so I was very fortunate that they were open to doing this.

How did you approach interweaving mental health into the story?

Oshiro: I mean, a part of this came from The Sun and the Star, and a lot of Rick’s ideas came from how he wanted to explore Nico’s trauma in that book. So when we were having conversations about The Court of the Dead, a lot of it was, how is this going to look? Especially if you’re now a person whose emotions are hanging around and can affect other people. What does that mean for this character, who has historically hidden their emotions, and now doesn’t have a choice in the matter? So, I think it was twofold, which is, if we’re gonna do this, we need to have it be a big part of the story. Then also, Mr. D, the camp counselor, has been around for a while and has seen a lot of demigods come through, and he has this very unique relationship with Nico and Will. What if we expand that just a little bit more and show this side of the counselor as well? How might things be changing in Camp Half-Blood for other campers? So, yeah, these are all intentional conversations that we had.

Some readers have mentioned that Nico’s voice in The Sun and the Star feels a little bit different compared to when he’s written in The Trials of Apollo, for example. So, I think they’re curious to know, did you revisit that series when you were writing, or did you intentionally approach this perspective differently?

Oshiro: So yes, I did. I read the series twice before I got the call from Rick and from Disney. Then, in the few days before we started the process of auditioning to write for the series, I re-read them all again and took extensive notes, with post-it notes. It’s different when you read the books and you’re reading them as a fan, and then reading them as now making an entry into this canon. We talked about how I would write the first draft, rather than us writing a chapter at a time and sending it back and forth. But, being given the creative freedom to just write the book, I didn’t worry about trying to imitate, necessarily, what a person sounds like in the past. We were like, this is going to be Nico’s own book, which means we’re going to spend more time in his head. Also, time has passed since the trials of Apollo. How has he changed because of that experience? How can the way he talks when we’re in his head also change? Even if I tried to imitate Rick, I think it was always gonna be different. There was no way to make it exactly the same, because I’m a whole different human. I’m curious, Rick, how you felt about that? That’s gotta feel strange, someone’s writing your character?

Riordan:  Oh, no, I love it. I think it’s great. I think there’s a huge range for latitude on what a character sounds like. Have you ever listened to your own voice recorded? I mean, you sound different to yourself, you know, so think about all the range that we have to sound different at different times in our lives, under different circumstances. And a lot of what a person sounds like also has to do with who’s receiving that voice, who’s listening, and when, and how they’re listening. So, I think Nico is very true to Nico. But I agree, I think that the tenor and the tone have sort of evolved, and I think that’s all good.

Did you use AI tools in any part of the writing process for this book? Or have you ever worked with ghostwriters?

Riordan: I’m so old, I wouldn’t even know how to start it. The only thing I know about AI is how to turn it off immediately. Anytime I update a device, that’s the first thing I do. Is there a way to turn this feature off? I mean, I’m sure it will have a place in the world.  But I think creativity is exactly the wrong place to be trying to use that.  If you can’t be bothered to write the book, why would anybody be bothered to read it?

Oshiro: Yeah. I also don’t know how to use it, and I don’t understand it. Part of what made my writing grow over the years is writing badly. You have to do things that don’t work, and you have to write sentences that don’t make sense, or don’t communicate what you’re trying to, so that your brain can figure out what works. If you want to develop your own voice and this distinct voice we were just talking about, you have to be willing to write the stuff that doesn’t work.  I’ve seen people with Percy Jackson tattoos that are quotes from the book, and I’m like, that is magical that a sentence and this stringing of words that you put together has affected someone so deeply.​

What do you hope readers take away from the book?

Oshiro: I hope that the book’s questions about the nature of right and wrong, good and evil, hero and monster, have a lasting impact. I think there are a lot of sometimes uncomfortable scenes where Rick and I were also uncomfortable writing them, thinking about how this even challenges the world of Percy Jackson itself. I love a book that keeps you thinking after you finish it, and so I hope it inspires a lot of thought in our readers.

Riordan: Yeah, I would echo that. I think that’s a beautiful sentiment.

What is next for the two of you? Any plans to continue Nico’s Adventures?

Oshiro: Yeah, we’re both not planners. I get why some creatives are, but we are not generally ones who plan 10 years in advance. A couple of weeks ago, I turned in my next young adult book, which is a horror novel, and I’m very excited, but that’s a year and a half out. Right now, I’m excited about The Court of the Dead finally coming out.

Riordan: There’s no grand plan. We’re making this up as we go along. We wrote the first book because it was just something we were very excited about. The second book came from talking about ideas we thought were so fun that we couldn’t wait to put them down. So, if something like that comes along again. I’m sure we’ll jump on the phone and have that conversation, but it’ll be organic, and it’ll be natural, I hope.

Will you be picking up The Court of the Dead? Tell us in the comments below!

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This isn’t a list built around a theme. These books are the theme. They’re weird, wild, and smart enough to leave a mark. Some are here to redeem your Stack of Shame; others, you’ll want to conquer before the adaptation drops and ruins it. All are meant to be read with a highlighter in one hand and an exorcist on speed dial. Welcome to your seasonal syllabus. Read bravely.

Summerween Starter Pack

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Yes, it’s Gothic. But to reduce Rebecca to its genre is to miss the point entirely. It’s less a haunted house story than a meditation on class insecurity, feminine rivalry, and the theater of marriage. Every sentence drips with suppressed hysteria. There are no real ghosts—only the echo of a woman too vivid to die quietly.

The Vet’s Daughter by Barbara Comyns

A slippery, sinister little novel that reads like a nursery rhyme penned by someone who’s seen too much. Comyns writes with eerie plainness about telekinesis, grief, and girlhood under patriarchal surveillance. You finish it breathless, unsure if what you read was beautiful or grotesque.

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind

If synaesthesia had a dark side, it would be this novel. Set in the rank sensuality of 18th-century France, it follows an unloved man with a nose so finely attuned it becomes a weapon. The prose is lush and nauseating. You’ll feel as though you’re suffocating in flower rot and infant sweat—and still turn the page.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Read it again. Not for the monster, but for the way Shelley wrote it: in a fit of genius, by candlelight, surrounded by men who couldn’t match her. The creature is tragic. The real horror is how men play god and then recoil from the mirror.

Stack of Shame Redemption

Everyone has one. The books you claim to have read—or at least intended to. Now is the time to redeem yourself.

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

Grief, but without the maudlin self-pity that lesser writers lean on. Didion dissects mourning with surgical detachment. She doesn’t cry on the page; she observes herself crying and writes it down, coolly, precisely.

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

The Neapolitan novels are not “about female friendship.” That’s a lazy tagline. They’re about power, intellect, class, and the long shadow that one brilliant woman can cast over another’s life. Read it for the rage that simmers beneath the prose.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

You were probably assigned it once. You probably skimmed it. Now read it properly, as an adult. Jane is not meek, not bland, not simply a governess in love. She’s a moral force. A woman who knows what she’s worth even when the world doesn’t.

Read It Before the Adaptation

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Not Charlotte. Emily. For too long this novel has been misread by pop culture as a mere romance. It is not romantic, it’s elemental. Heathcliff is not a brooding hero; he is a curse incarnate. The moors don’t haunt your dreams, they unravel your mind.

Emerald Fennell’s adaptation, slated for a February 13, 2026 release, promises to be provocatively abrasive—bold, visually stylised, and unafraid to court controversy . Yet none of that translates the landscape as Brontë intended: relentless, unforgiving, and vividly alive.

Read Wuthering Heights like you would a storm. Let the narrative’s brutality and its uncanny rhythms overwhelm you. The novel demands immersion—not as entertainment, but as reckoning.

Carolyn Bessette (fashion book, fragments)

With the American Love Story series landing in February 2026, the inevitable rush to render her image onscreen looms large . Before the cameras reduce her to costume and set design, pick up CBK: Carolyn Bessette Kennedy: A Life in Fashion by Sunita Kumar Nair. It’s more than a picture book, it’s a quiet reclamation.

This volume unfolds like a private museum of restraint and poise. The long blonde hair, signature red lip—they are not just aesthetic details. They are a language of control, of crafting an identity in defiance of public spectacle . Carolyn spoke not through words, but through texture, muted color palettes, and clothes whose labels had been quietly removed. She redefined luxury as the absence of excess.

The book gathers not superficial exaltations, but reflections from insiders, Calvin Klein, Michael Kors, Manolo Blahnik, who respected that she made fashion feel like silence made audible.  It is a statement of enduring elegiac grace, more personal than any screen portrayal can hope to be.

So read it first. Let the real Carolyn resonate in your mind before the adaptation invites reductive dramatisation.

These books don’t belong in a beach tote. They belong on the nightstand of a woman with blackout curtains drawn in daylight, her iced coffee sweating beside a half-burned Diptyque candle. She is not reading to escape. She is reading to be consumed.

If you recognise yourself in her, then yes—you’re reading correctly.

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