It by Stephen King Also by this author: Joyland, Revival
Published by New English Library on October 1, 1987
Pages: 1116
Welcome to Derry, Maine ...
It’s a small city, a place as hauntingly familiar as your own hometown. Only in Derry the haunting is real ...
They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But none of them can withstand the force that has drawn them back to Derry to face the nightmare without an end, and the evil without a name.
This book was just a fun read, and the movie was every bit as fun and exciting.
Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1) by Ernest Cline Also by this author: Armada
Published by Crown Publishers on August 16, 2011
Pages: 374
In the year 2045, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. When Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.
I’ve only read one of the books in this series, but really enjoyed it and want to read more. That said, I am really looking forward to this adaptation coming from Netflix. Hoping it holds up as well as the books! If nothing else, the promo looks awesome.
The Last Wish (The Witcher, #1) by Andrzej Sapkowski Also by this author: The Last Wish
Published by Gollancz on August 19, 2010
Pages: 292
Geralt is a witcher, a man whose magic powers, enhanced by long training and a mysterious elixir, have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin. Yet he is no ordinary murderer: his targets are the multifarious monsters and vile fiends that ravage the land and attack the innocent. He roams the country seeking assignments, but gradually comes to realise that while some of his quarry are unremittingly vile, vicious grotesques, others are the victims of sin, evil or simple naivety.
One reviewer said: 'This book is a sheer delight. It is beautifully written, full of vitality and endlessly inventive: its format, with half a dozen episodes and intervening rest periods for both the hero and the reader, allows for a huge range of characters, scenarios and action. It's thought-provoking without being in the least dogmatic, witty without descending to farce and packed with sword fights without being derivative. The dialogue sparkles; characters morph almost imperceptibly from semi-cliche to completely original; nothing is as it first seems. Sapkowski succeeds in seamlessly welding familiar ideas, unique settings and delicious twists of originality: his Beauty wants to rip the throat out of a sensitive Beast; his Snow White seeks vengeance on all and sundry, his elves are embittered and vindictive. It's easily one of the best things I've read in ages.'
Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse, #1) by Charlaine Harris Also by this author: An Easy Death
Published by Ace Books on May 1, 2001
Pages: 292
Sookie Stackhouse is just a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. Until the vampire of her dreams walks into her life-and one of her coworkers checks out....
Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend isn't such a bright idea.
A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) Published by Bantam on August 6, 2005 Pages: 848
Here is the first volume in George R. R. Martin’s magnificent cycle of novels that includes A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords. As a whole, this series comprises a genuine masterpiece of modern fantasy, bringing together the best the genre has to offer. Magic, mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventure fill these pages and transport us to a world unlike any we have ever experienced. Already hailed as a classic, George R. R. Martin’s stunning series is destined to stand as one of the great achievements of imaginative fiction.
A GAME OF THRONES
Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens.
Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; and a determined woman undertakes the most treacherous of journeys. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, the fate of the Starks, their allies, and their enemies hangs perilously in the balance, as each endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.
source: georgerrmartin.com
Darkly Dreaming Dexter (Dexter, #1) by Jeff Lindsay Published by Doubleday on July 20, 2004
Pages: 288
Meet Dexter Morgan, a polite wolf in sheep's clothing. He's handsome and charming, but something in his past has made him abide by a different set of rules. He's a serial killer whose one golden rule makes him immensely likeable: he only kills bad people. And his job as a blood splatter expert for the Miami police department puts him in the perfect position to identify his victims. But when a series of brutal murders bearing a striking similarity to his own style start turning up, Dexter is caught between being flattered and being frightened—of himself or some other fiend.
Outlander (Outlander, #1) by Diana Gabaldon Published by Dell Publishing Company on July 26, 2005
Pages: 850
The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of Our Lord...1743.
Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life, and shatter her heart. For here James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire—and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood Also by this author: The Heart Goes Last, Hag-Seed
Published by Anchor Books on March 16, 1998
Pages: 344
Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now...
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill Also by this author: Welcome to Lovecraft, Heart-Shaped Box
Published by William Morrow on April 30, 2013
Pages: 692
NOS4A2 is a spine-tingling novel of supernatural suspense from master of horror Joe Hill, the New York Times bestselling author of Heart-Shaped Box and Horns.
Victoria McQueen has a secret gift for finding things: a misplaced bracelet, a missing photograph, answers to unanswerable questions. On her Raleigh Tuff Burner bike, she makes her way to a rickety covered bridge that, within moments, takes her wherever she needs to go, whether it’s across Massachusetts or across the country.
Charles Talent Manx has a way with children. He likes to take them for rides in his 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith with the NOS4A2 vanity plate. With his old car, he can slip right out of the everyday world, and onto the hidden roads that transport them to an astonishing – and terrifying – playground of amusements he calls “Christmasland.”
Then, one day, Vic goes looking for trouble—and finds Manx. That was a lifetime ago. Now Vic, the only kid to ever escape Manx’s unmitigated evil, is all grown up and desperate to forget. But Charlie Manx never stopped thinking about Victoria McQueen. He’s on the road again and he’s picked up a new passenger: Vic’s own son.
The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1) by Patrick Rothfuss Also by this author: The Slow Regard of Silent Things
Published by Penguin Group DAW on April 27, 2007
Pages: 662
Told in Kvothe's own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen.
The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature.
A high-action story written with a poet's hand, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that will transport readers into the body and mind of a wizard.
Ready Player One! I forgot about that one. I’ve read the book but haven’t watched the movie. Game of thrones- such a good pick, although yeah this season is kinda iffy??
The Witcher is a franchise I see around a lot, but haven’t read ’em. Cool that Netflix is adapting!
I haven’t seen S2 of Handmaid’s Tale yet.
Greg recently posted…Song Lyrics – Feelin Stronger Every Day
I’ve only read one of the Witcher books, but am looking forward to the adaptation. S2 of Handmaid’s Tale is so good!
Lisa (@TenaciousReader) recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday – Page to Screen
I need to look for Ready Player One. I haven’t read the book or seen the movie!
They are both fantastic and fun 🙂
Lisa (@TenaciousReader) recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday – Page to Screen
True Blood is still one of my favorite series, and I read the books first and couldn’t believe how much better the TV show was!
Tammy @ Books, Bones & Buffy recently posted…Interview with W. Michael Gear, Author of PARIAH
I know!! It’s so rare that it happens, but HBO did a fantastic job with it!
Lisa (@TenaciousReader) recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday – Page to Screen
I totally agree with you on True Blood.
Lydia recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Became Great TV Shows
Ha, glad I’m not the only one
Lisa (@TenaciousReader) recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday – Page to Screen
I’ve watched and loved both Game of Thrones and Outlander, but never read their source material.
Jo recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday #211
I love the Game of Thrones books, but I also haven’t read Outlander. I really want to though
Lisa (@TenaciousReader) recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday – Page to Screen
Yay some I need to read and some I really enjoyed!
I still need to read some of them as well 🙂 I have at least watched all of them
Lisa (@TenaciousReader) recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday – Page to Screen
I can’t wait for NOS4A2! The book was so utterly creepy and scary, and the trailers for the show look terrifying. You’ve got some great shows on your list, and I agree, True Blood was better than the Sookie books overall. I definitely encourage you to read the Outlander books! The show is wonderful and beautiful, and the books are fabulous. Great list!
Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: Ten favorite book-to-TV adaptations
I know I would love the outlander books from everything I’ve heard plus how much I love the show, it’s just so hard to make time for ballsy books, especially ones as long as those are
Lisa (@TenaciousReader) recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday – Page to Screen
IT is the only King book that managed to give me nightmares: I can usually enjoy the fear-by-proxy that comes with horror novels, but in this case it felt as if I was running for my life… And the first movie followed that path in a delightfully terrifying way 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…Wyrd and Wonder 2019: SHORT STORY REVIEW
Oh no! I can’t decide if that is a good thing or not
Lisa (@TenaciousReader) recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday – Page to Screen
There were some things in the books of Sookie that I liked better and some things I liked about the show better but both went downhill after a bit imo. Lol
Outlander is one of my favorite shows – it’s definitely one of those shows I prefer to the book! 😀
Lauren @ Always Me
The Outlander series is very good to read – although I say that and I’m not fully uptodate – think I read 6 maybe. But, I remember finishing the first, realising there were at least another 2 or 3 already published and rushing out immediately to buy them – that’s how much I enjoyed the first one.
Lynn 😀