Scavenging for fun ideas for your book club? Try immersing yourselves into the worlds themselves by reading books with a movie!
Of course, we can’t guarantee that the movies with be mind-blowingly amazing because, as we all know, THE BOOK WAS BETTER.
Alas, your book club can have some fun and break up reading schedules while also bonding over an activity by reading books with a movie.
We know your book club is the bomb.com already, but wait until you bring up one of these books with a movie; it’s a game changer!
In this article
Books with a movie For Your Book Club
There’s a jitter of excitement when a bookworm settles in with a bowl of popcorn and their trusty book by their side as they click play on the movie adaptation. And, inevitably, there are also gritted teeth and frustration when the books with a movie don’t exactly pan out how we thought they would.
You’d think that it’s a straightforward process; the book is the blueprint, right? Well, those questions and more can be brought into a riveting and awesome book club chit-chat after having a film night full of snacks and watching books with a movie. Having a group discussion with interesting questions is a fantastic way to truly embrace this fun book club idea.
Check out this handy free tool JustWatch to see if any of these movies are steaming on a service you’re already subscribed to!
Before choosing a novel from our books with a movie list, we highly encourage you to check the trigger warnings for the book. Being sensitive to everyone in your book club group is vital and courteous.
We’ve also included Amazon links to the books with a movie we’ve listed, but be sure to check out your local library as well.
Now that we’ve got all of that covered let’s see this awesome list of books with a movie!
https://amzn.to/3mBe46UBullet Train by Kotaro Isaka
Have you seen the preview for that wild train movie on Netflix starring Brad Pitt? Insane right?! Well, did you know that Bullet Train was actually a book first written by acclaimed Japanese author Kotaro Isaka? Your bookworm brain may be going, “Of course, of course, it’s based on a book; all the cool stories are!”
If you and your book club are thrill seekers looking to shake things up in your reading norms, or you just all want to watch a Brad Pitt movie when you’re finished, this is the books with a movie for you.
Bullet Train Synopsis:
“Satoshi—The Prince—looks like an innocent schoolboy but is really a stylish and devious assassin. Risk fuels him, as does a good philosophical debate, such as questioning: Is killing really wrong? Kimura’s young son is in a coma thanks to The Prince, and Kimura has tracked him onto a bullet train heading from Tokyo to Morioka to exact his revenge. But Kimura soon discovers that they are not the only dangerous passengers on board.
Nanao, also nicknamed Ladybug, the self-proclaimed “unluckiest assassin in the world,” is put on the bullet train by his boss, a mysterious young woman called Maria, to steal a suitcase full of money and get off at the first stop. The lethal duo of Tangerine and Lemon are also traveling to Morioka, and the suitcase leads others to show their hands. Why are they all on the same train, and who will make it off alive?
A bestseller in Japan, Bullet Train is an original and propulsive thriller that fizzes with incredible energy as its complex net of double-crosses and twists unwinds up to the last station.”
The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder by Charles Graeber
Are you and your bookworms true crime junkies? Then you’ll want to get a load of this intense and eerily fascinating novel, The Good Nurse. If you can stomach the true crime horror and set your empathy aside, this may be a read your book club won’t soon forget. Plus, the movie adaptation stars two incredible actors, Jessica Chastain, and Eddie Redmayne, so not a bad payoff!
The Good Nurse Synopsis:
“After his December 2003 arrest, registered nurse Charlie Cullen was quickly dubbed “The Angel of Death” by the media. But Cullen was no mercy killer, nor was he a simple monster. He was a favorite son, a husband and beloved father, a best friend and a celebrated caregiver. Implicated in the deaths of as perhaps as many as 400 patients, he was also perhaps the most prolific serial killer in American history.
When, in March of 2006, Charles Cullen was marched from his final sentencing in an Allentown, Pennsylvania, courthouse into a waiting police van, it seemed certain that the chilling secrets of his life, career, and capture would disappear with him. Now, in a riveting piece of investigative journalism nearly ten years in the making, Charles Graeber gives us the unbelievable true story.
Based on hundreds of pages of previously unseen police records, wire-tap recordings and videotapes and interviews with whistleblowers and confidential informants, and years of exclusive jailhouse conversations with Cullen himself, the homicide detectives who worked against the clock and administrators to try and finally crack the code on Cullen’s crimes, and Cullen’s fellow nurse Amy, an overworked single mom asked to choose between protecting her friend Charlie and stopping a potential serial killer, The Good Nurse weaves an urgent and terrifying tale of madness, humanity and heroism.
Cullen’s murderous career in the world’s most trusted profession spanned sixteen years and nine hospitals. Time and again he was fired or allowed to resign. But Cullen continued to work and kill, shielded by a hospital system that, by accident or design, successfully protected the institution while failing to protect patients. THE GOOD NURSE is a searing indictment of a crushing and dehumanizing for-profit medical system, and an inspiring human story of the previously unknown individuals who chose to risk their jobs and lives to do the right thing. Mesmerizing and irresistibly paced, this book will make you look at hospitals and the people who work in them in an entirely different way.”
Native Son by Richard Wright
A novel that has created a major influence in speaking out loud on social injustice and standing up for the perspective, hardships, and societal unfairness on African American men and women in America. The Native Son received a standing ovation of praise for its truth and power; here are the words of the New Yorker: “The most powerful American novel to appear since The Grapes of Wrath.”
Native Son Synopsis:
“Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Native Son is the story of Bigger Thomas, a young Black man caught in a downward spiral after killing a young white woman in a brief moment of panic. Written with the distinctive rhythm of a modern crime story, this formidable work is both a condemnation of social injustice and an unsparing portrait of the Black experience in America, revealing the tragic effect of poverty, racism, and hopelessness on the human spirit. “I wrote Native Son to show what manner of men and women our ‘society of the majority’ breeds, and my aim was to depict a character in terms of the living tissue and texture of daily consciousness,” Wright explained.”
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
We’ve all heard of this classic title, Little Women, just as we hear of many old-school literature novels. This books with a movie, however, is one that can still be enjoyable and loved in our present-day bookish lives. (You know, some books may be deemed classics, but they haven’t aged aaallll that well). And the academy nominated and all-star casted 2019 film is an instant classic you and your book club will surely enjoy.
Little Women Synopsis:
“Little Women is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott. Alcott The story follows the lives of the four March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and details their passage from childhood to womanhood. It is loosely based on the lives of the author and her three sisters.
It is no secret that Alcott based Little Women on her own early life. While her father, the freethinking reformer and abolitionist Bronson Alcott, hobnobbed with such eminent male authors as Emerson, Thoreau, and Hawthorne, Louisa supported herself and her sisters with “woman’s work,” including sewing, doing laundry, and acting as a domestic servant. But she soon discovered she could make more money writing. Little Women brought her lasting fame and fortune, and far from being the “girl’s book” her publisher requested, it explores such timeless themes as love and death, war and peace, the conflict between personal ambition and family responsibilities, and the clash of cultures between Europe and America.”
The Kitchen by Ollie Masters and Ming Doyle
Are you and your book club baddies looking for a feminine bad*ss adventure full of crime, payback, and more? This paperback-illustrated series, The Kitchen, is the perfect fit for you!
The Kitchen Synopsis:
“In Hell’s Kitchen in the 1970s, married women have their place—and it isn’t out on the streets collecting loan shark payments for the Irish mob. But when their gangster husbands get sent up the river, prison widows Kath, Raven and Angie can’t see any other way to make a living—and, as it turns out, they’re pretty damned good at the job.”
Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman
A story full of passion, secrets, love, LGBTQ representation, and courage can all be found within the pages of Call Me By Your Name. Claimed to be the best love story of our time, this pageturner is an emotional investment that’s totally worth it.
Call Me By Your Name Synopsis:
“Andre Aciman’s Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents’ cliffside mansion on the Italian Riviera. Each is unprepared for the consequences of their attraction, when, during the restless summer weeks, unrelenting currents of obsession, fascination, and desire intensify their passion and test the charged ground between them. Recklessly, the two verge toward the one thing both fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy. It is an instant classic and one of the great love stories of our time.”
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
A powerful and culturally packed story that’s brilliantly written and will keep you on the edge of your seat in empathy for the main character, Crazy Rich Asians, a series written by Kevin Kwan is a grand choice for a books with a movie club read and view.
Crazy Rich Asians Synopsis:
“When New Yorker Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, she envisions a humble family home and quality time with the man she hopes to marry. But Nick has failed to give his girlfriend a few key details. One, that his childhood home looks like a palace; two, that he grew up riding in more private planes than cars; and three, that he just happens to be the country’s most eligible bachelor.On Nick’s arm, Rachel may as well have a target on her back the second she steps off the plane, and soon, her relaxed vacation turns into an obstacle course of old money, new money, nosy relatives, and scheming social climbers.”
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
A novel with so much heart, light on racial injustice, and characters that will pull your bookish heartstrings, The Help is a books with a movie that will warm the souls of your book club members while also filling them with a healthy helping of seeking out justice and calling out unacceptable behavior in society.
The Help Synopsis:
“Aibileen is a black maid in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, who’s always taken orders quietly, but lately she’s unable to hold her bitterness back. Her friend Minny has never held her tongue but now must somehow keep secrets about her employer that leave her speechless. White socialite Skeeter just graduated college. She’s full of ambition, but without a husband, she’s considered a failure.
Together, these seemingly different women join together to write a tell-all book about work as a black maid in the South, that could forever alter their destinies and the life of a small town…”
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Did you know the first two Jurassic Park movies are based on this super thriller, can’t stop reading, novel? We won’t lie; we had no idea, either! How cool would it be to go through these books as a book club and then have a movie marathon? Dino nuggets as a movie night snack, anyone?
Jurassic Park Synopsis:
“An astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Now humankind’s most thrilling fantasies have come true. Creatures extinct for eons roam Jurassic Park with their awesome presence and profound mystery, and all the world can visit them—for a price.
Until something goes wrong. . . .
In Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton taps all his mesmerizing talent and scientific brilliance to create his most electrifying technothriller.”
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
Do you and your book club want to fall in love with a fabulous love story and its characters? This love story from bestselling author Nicola Yoon, The Sun is Also a Star, will capture your book-loving hearts.
Praise from Entertainment Weekly: “A book that is very much about the many factors that affect falling in love, as much as it is about the very act itself. . . . Fans of Yoon’s first novel, Everything Everything, will find much to love—if not, more—in what is easily an even stronger follow-up.”
The Sun is Also a Star Synopsis:
“Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.
Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.
The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?”
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
The magical oddity with a cult following and, arguably, some of the most iconic literary characters. We all love Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, but have we taken the time to read where it all began in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland? This 101-page story is a nice refresher if you and your book club are looking for a short read, and the reward of watching the books with a movie is a guaranteed fun night!
Alice in Wonderland Synopsis:
“Alice in Wonderland is an 1865 novel by English author Lewis Carroll. It tells of a young girl named Alice, who falls through a rabbit hole into a subterranean fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures. It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre. The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as with children.”
The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
A fabulous example of books with a movie, this iconic and fashionable story, The Devil Wears Prada, will leave you and your book club members having fun and gossip-like discussions that will leave you over the moon excited to watch this classic movie.
The Devil Wears Prada Synopsis:
“Andrea Sachs, a small-town girl fresh out of college, lands the job “a million girls would die for.” Hired as the assistant to Miranda Priestly, the high-profile, fabulously successful editor of Runway magazine, Andrea finds herself in an office that shouts Prada! Armani! Versace! at every turn, a world populated by impossibly thin, heart-wrenchingly stylish women and beautiful men clad in fine-ribbed turtlenecks and tight leather pants that show off their lifelong dedication to the gym. With breathtaking ease, Miranda can turn each and every one of these hip sophisticates into a scared, whimpering child.
Andrea is sorely tested each and every day—and often late into the night—with orders barked over the phone. She puts up with it all by keeping her eyes on the prize: a recommendation from Miranda that will get her a top job at any magazine of her choosing. As things escalate from the merely unacceptable to the downright outrageous, Andrea begins to realize that the job a million girls would die for may just kill her. And even if she survives, she has to decide whether or not it’s worth the price of her soul.”
Death on the Nile: A Hercule Poirot Mystery by Agatha Christie
Are you ready to immerse yourselves in a mystery created by the genius of mystery herself, Agatha Christie? This popping, thrilling, and enticing mysterious book, Death on the Nile, has so many opportunities for activities for you and your book club. Keep track of who thinks who did the crime, provide snacks from the book, and, of course, watch the movie when you’ve finished!
Death on the Nile Synopsis:
“The tranquility of a luxury cruise along the Nile was shattered by the discovery that Linnet Ridgeway had been shot through the head. She was young, stylish, and beautiful. A girl who had everything . . . until she lost her life.
Hercule Poirot recalled an earlier outburst by a fellow passenger: “I’d like to put my dear little pistol against her head and just press the trigger.” Yet under the searing heat of the Egyptian sun, nothing is ever quite what it seems.
A sweeping mystery of love, jealousy, and betrayal, Death on the Nile is one of Christie’s most legendary and timeless works.”
The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
Gripping, fascinating, intriguing, and thrilling, this dystopian series has book club written all over it. If you and your bookworms don’t mind committing to a series, The Hunger Games trilogy is a perfect addition to your book club. Read a book, watch a movie, read a book, watch a movie, sounds like a good recipe to us!
The Hunger Games (1st Book) Synopsis:
“Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. The Hunger Games have begun. . . . In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.”
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
A story that takes place during WWI through the eyes of a young man who is about to see the world in a whole new and terrifying shocking light,
All Quiet on the Western Front is highly considered to be on the list of best war novels and on our list of books with a movie! If you can handle an emotionally and mentally taxing story about the true front-line horrors of war, this novel is up your alley.
All Quiet on the Western Front Synopsis:
“I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. . . .
This is the testament of Paul Bäumer, who enlists with his classmates in the German army during World War I. They become soldiers with youthful enthusiasm. But the world of duty, culture, and progress they had been taught breaks in pieces under the first bombardment in the trenches.
Through years of vivid horror, Paul holds fast to a single vow: to fight against the principle of hate that meaninglessly pits young men of the same generation but different uniforms against one another . . . if only he can come out of the war alive.”
The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith
A novel ahead of its time and for its time was incredibly progressive and “scandalous,” The Price of Salt is a story of two women and their journey of love, secrets, and choices. The Academy-nominated film adaptation, Carol, stars the brilliant actresses Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara.
The Price of Salt Synopsis:
“A chance encounter between two lonely women leads to a passionate romance in this lesbian cult classic. Therese, a struggling young sales clerk, and Carol, a homemaker in the midst of a bitter divorce, abandon their oppressive daily routines for the freedom of the open road, where their love can blossom. But their newly discovered bliss is shattered when Carol is forced to choose between her child and her lover.”
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
A YA novel, that isn’t strictly for young adults, that explores dark yet hopeful themes and follows the story of two characters and their hardships, obstacles, and potential love. All the Bright Places will pull you into its orbit and have you turning its pages while whispering, just one more chapter…
All the Bright Places Synopsis:
“Theodore Finch is fascinated by death. Every day he thinks of ways he might kill himself, but every day he also searches for—and manages to find—something to keep him here, and alive, and awake.
Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her small Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death.
When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school—six stories above the ground— it’s unclear who saves whom. Soon it’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink. . . .”
Dune by Frank Herbert
Get your nerd on while striking out on a sci-fi-filled adventure with the acclaimed books with a movie novel, Dune. You’ve probably heard about this book and movie when it came out; who didn’t hear the buzz? But now, are you and your book club ready to take it all on?
Dune Synopsis:
“Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, heir to a noble family tasked with ruling an inhospitable world where the only thing of value is the “spice” melange, a drug capable of extending life and enhancing consciousness. Coveted across the known universe, melange is a prize worth killing for….
When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul’s family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined. And as he evolves into the mysterious man known as Muad’Dib, he will bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream.
A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what is undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction.”
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
If you’re a fan of long contemporary stories with dense, aesthetically pleasing words and descriptions and an enticing story, it’s time to check out The Goldfinch. Although this book and its movie have mixed reviews, it’s up to you and your book club to make the final judgment. Yay, discussion material!
The Goldfinch Synopsis:
“Theo Decker, a 13-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don’t know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by a longing for his mother, he clings to the one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into a wealthy and insular art community.
As an adult, Theo moves silkily between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty labyrinth of an antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love — and at the center of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle.”
Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
What happens when a once award-winning and applauded architect genius loses her way? Her family must step up to the plate and find her … literally! Discover the twists and turns of this well-crafted books with a movie, Where’d You Go, Bernadette, to unravel the inner workings of the creative genius and her worried family.
Where’d You Go, Bernadette Synopsis:
“Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she’s a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she’s a disgrace; to design mavens, she’s a revolutionary architect; and to 15-year-old Bee, she is her best friend and, simply, Mom.
Then Bernadette vanishes. It all began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But Bernadette’s intensifying allergy to Seattle — and people in general — has made her so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India now runs her most basic errands. A trip to the end of the earth is problematic.
To find her mother, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, and secret correspondence — creating a compulsively readable and surprisingly touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter’s role in an absurd world.”
Did you keep track of all the books with a movie that Timothée Chalamet stars in? Hey, he’s a fantastic actor, what can we say!
We hope you’ve found excitement and plans already in the works to try out one of the books with a movie on our list, or you’ve taken the liberty of discovering more books with a movie for yourself.
Are you wondering how you can start your own book club or how to come up with a clever book club name? Click the links and be whisked away into a land of answers to your bookish questions!
