5 Books That Would Make Incredible TV Shows

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Sometimes you read a book and love the story so much that you simply want more. Characters that are so vivid and complex they might as well be real, epic scenes that you can see in your mind: some books are perfect for the screen! Today, I have collected five books that would make incredible TV shows the world needs to see.

The Sound of Stars – Alechia Dow

The Sound of Stars is a brilliant sci-fi story about the power of music and stories in a world where both are forbidden.

The Ilori, an alien race, have taken over the earth and all humans live in controlled housing, their emotions and any form of art being ground for execution. Janelle loves books and runs a secret library despite the dangers. M0Rr1s is one of the Ilori – and he discovers Janelle’s library. But, against his orders, he loves music and wants more and this connection sparks a friendship with Janelle. In an effort to save humanity and art, M0Rr1s and Ellie embark on a dangerous road trip across the country.

This book had it all: an innovative sci-fi setting, wonderfully complex main characters and an adventure. I love stories about friendship and even though Ellie and M0Rr1s end up falling in love, they start being reluctant friends. The way music was woven into the plot made my heart sing and I just know this TV show would have the best soundtrack ever! Additionally, road trips lend themselves wonderfully to episodic storytelling so The Sound of Stars is a strong contender for a TV adaptation!

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing – Hank Green

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is one of my favourite books of all time. It follows a young woman named April May who discovers a giant robot statue, names it Carl, makes a video about it and gains viral fame. But as it turns out, the Carls are aliens that have appeared all over the world and April made first contact. What follows is an epic adventure as April and her friends get sucked into the world of internet fame all while trying to figure out what the robots want from earth.

April is one of my favourite characters. She’s not always likeable, she makes terrible choices and treats her friends badly in search of some greater good, but she’s so relatable. Hank Green really manages to explore the ways that fame changes people and most importantly why. 

I adore TV shows with small, but awesome casts and April and her friends are just that. Each character has their own struggles and talents that help solve the mystery of the Carls and especially in the second book in the duology, everyone gets to shine. An interactive dream plays a huge part in the plot of An Absolutely Remarkable Thing and as soon as I read the book, I knew that it would make for incredibly cool visuals. I mean, giant robots, internet conspiracies and an exploration of social media fame? Sounds like a perfect TV show to me!

Related: My Review of A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green

The Gilded Wolves – Roshani Chokshi

Following the trend of epic adventures about a group of friends, I would absolutely love for The Gilded Wolves to be adapted for TV. It’s a historical fantasy story set in glittering 1890s Paris following a group of outcasts specialising in heists to acquire magical objects. Think Ocean’s 11 but better in every way, historical, magical and with 100% fewer white men. The Gilded Wolves explores what it means to be marginalized and not belong and who gets to have access to power. All the characters are carefully crafted and you can’t help but fall in love with all of them! 

I am a huge fan of heist films and TV shows, they’re just so exciting and watching people pull off elegant and smooth crimes (against the rich and powerful) brings a special kind of satisfaction. The Gilded Wolves adds a charismatic team and a fantastical setting. Just imagine the sets and costumes! I’m swooning just thinking about it. There’s friendship and romance, love and betrayal. If that’s not perfect for a screen adaptation, I don’t know what is!

Truly Devious – Maureen Johnson

Let’s talk mysteries! I watch a lot of detective and crime shows and love reading Ya mysteries, so why not combine the two? Truly Devious follows Stevie, who wants to be an FBI agent. She gets accepted into Ellingham Academy, a school for students with special skills. Years ago, the founder’s wife and daughter were kidnapped and a student killed. Stevie has made it her project to solve this cold case, but past and present intertwine when one of her fellow students gets killed.

This is one of my favourite book series and I need everyone to read it, like right now. Similar to The Gilded Wolves, Truly Devious has a colourful cast of characters. There’s a brilliant engineer, a struggling teenage writer a famous actor, an erratic artist, and a total jokester who make up Stevie’s roommates. That combination alone makes for lots of tension, but when the killer from the past seems to have returned, Stevie’s life gets even more complicated.

Just think about it: a boarding school mystery! With a cool group of friends! And dual timelines! I can already see what Truly Devious would look like on TV and my heart needs it.

In other news: I just found out that there’s a fourth book coming out in 2021, in which Stevie solves another cold case at a summer camp. So the possibilities for multiple seasons are there…just let me have Stevie Bell as the next cool TV detective, please.

Have you read any of these books? What are books you’d love to see on TV? Let me known if I should make a part 2, there are so many more books worthy of adaptations.

I hope you have a lovely day,