It’s been a big year for movies and TV shows, especially ones adapted from books. It’s been such a big year that we’ve already written about some of this year’s big page-to-screen adaptations once. Now we’re back to share even more books that have inspired movies or TV shows that have been released in 2026 (or will be coming out soon).

Whether you watch first, or read first, or just prefer to read, we’re pretty sure there’s something on the list below for you!

His & Hers by Alice Feeney

Alice Feeney’s His & Hers was adapted into a series on Netflix earlier this year, starring Tessa Thompson and Jon Bernthal. Set in a small British village after a young woman is murdered, the story follows reporter Anna Andrews, who is reluctant about covering the case. Detective Jack Harper is suspicious of her involvement, until he becomes a suspect in his own investigation. Someone is lying. And some secrets are worth killing for. This is a twisty thriller that will keep you guessing.

The Deal by Elle Kennedy

Off Campus was one of the buzziest shows of the summer, kickstarting the careers of stars including Belmont Cameli, Ella Bright, Mika Abdalla, and Stephen Kalyn, among others. The second season is filming now, and while we wait, the good news is that there’s a lot of toe-curling source material to catch up on.

Elle Kennedy’s The Deal follows college student Hannah Wells who is confident in many areas of her life, but carries her own baggage when it comes to sex. She has a crush, and she wants his attention, but she knows it means stepping out of her comfort zone. Meanwhile, all Garrett Graham wants is to play professional hockey after graduation. But his GPA needs help. They decide to make an unusual deal – they’ll pretend to date each other. It will help Hannah get her crush’s attention, and gain some confidence, and it will help Garrett get his grades up and secure his position on the team. But when one unexpected kiss leads to the wildest night of their lives, it doesn’t take long for Garrett to fall—hard. Now, he just has to convince Hannah that the man she’s looking for could be him. 

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune

Carley Fortune is the Canadian queen of summer romances, and Every Summer After is the book that started it all, including the recent TV adaptation on Prime, called Every Year After, starring Sadie Soverall, Matt Cornett, Michael Bradway, and Elisha Cuthbert. Persephone Fraser made the biggest mistake of her life a decade ago, and hasn’t been able to go home since…until she gets the call that sends her racing back to Barry’s Bay, and back into the orbit of Sam Florek, the man she never thought she’d have to live without. For six summers, they spent hazy afternoons together, swimming and curling up with books. They were inseparable. Eventually, that friendship turned into something more, until it fell apart completely. When Percy returns to the lake for Sam’s mother’s funeral, their connection is still undeniable. But until Percy can confront the decisions she’s made, and the time she’s spent punishing herself for them, they’ll never know if they have a future. Told over the course of six years, and one weekend, this is a heartfelt and sweeping love story about the people and choices that shape us.

Girls Like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko

Hayley Kiyoko’s coming-of-age romance is inspired by her hit song by the same name, and Girls Like Girls is also a movie now, starring Myra Molloy, Maya Da Costa, and Zach Braff. It’s summer, and 17-year-old Coley is alone, once again. Forced to move to rural Oregon shortly after losing her mother, she’s in no position to risk her already fragile heart, but once she meets Sonya, their attraction is immediate. Everyone she has ever loved has left her, and Sonya’s never been with a girl before, so Coley worries that opening up her heart to Sonya will be risky. Soon they realize that they must accept the love they fear (and deserve) the most. This is a powerful story about embracing your truth and recognizing that you’re worthy of love. 

The Odyssey by Homer (Translated by Emily Wilson)

The Odyssey is the movie we can’t stop talking about this year—with a star-studded cast including Anne Hathaway, Matt Damon, Zendaya, and Tom Holland. If you, like me, can’t stop thinking about it, perhaps it’s time to visit the source material. The Odyssey is an epic poem about violence, family, the aftermath of war, and what it means to yearn for home. Emily Wilson has translated it into an accessible, relatable, and compelling story that lets you sail along with Odysseus and his crew.  

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Shelby Van Pelt’s Remarkably Bright Creatures is a beautiful story about love, grief, and friendship, as it follows a widow’s unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus. Netflix’s film adaptation stars Sally Field, Lewis Pullman, and more.  After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son Erik mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago. Tova becomes acquainted with Marcellus, a curmudgeonly giant Pacific octopus who lives at the aquarium. He knows more than anyone could imagine, but he wouldn’t dream of even lifting one of his arms for his human captors, until he forms a friendship with Tova. Fancying himself a detective, Marvellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared, and now he must use all of his tricks to try to unearth the truth for Tova before it’s too late. This book is a gentle reminder that taking a hard look at our past can help uncover a new future.

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

Now a movie on Prime, Ali Hazelwood’s The Love Hypothesis is a swoony romance about a fake relationship between scientists. Ph.D. candidate Olive Smith doesn’t believe in lasting romantic relationships, but her best friend does, and that’s why she’s in this situation. She has to convince Anh that Olive is dating, and well on her way to happily ever after, and since Anh is a scientist too, she’s going to need a little proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees. That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, the young hotshot professor and well-known ass. So Olive is stunned when Stanford’s biggest tyrant agrees to be her fake boyfriend. But it’s not just their research that contains chemistry! Prime just adapted the book into a movie, starring Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman.

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun is a compelling story about life, mortality, and love, and the film adaptation, starring Jenna Ortega, Amy Adams, and Natasha Lyonne, comes out this fall. From her place in the store, Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, carefully watches the behaviour of the people who come in to browse. She remains hopeful that a customer will choose her soon, but when it’s possible that her circumstances might change, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans. This story looks at our rapidly changing modern world through the eyes of a compelling narrator, asking the question — what does it mean to love?

YAGA by Kat Sandler

Award-winning playwright Kat Sandler’s YAGA is a compelling story that has been adapted into an original TV series on Crave, starring Hudson Williams, Noah Reid, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Clark Backo. It was tense and unputdownable, with twists that kept me guessing. YAGA explores the legend of Baba Yaga, usually known as an elderly woman who lives alone in the woods, grinding the bones of the wicked. This play asks: what if she was actually a smart and sexy modern woman with morally ambiguous motives? A detective finds himself in a small, isolated town, asking after the disappearance of the young heir to a yogurt empire. He finds himself crossing paths with an apprehensive local sheriff, a university professor with a penchant for young men, and a cast of really compelling characters. This is a genre-bending fairy tale that’s sexy, thrilling, and at times funny, and will keep you guessing.

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

We mentioned Sunrise on the Reaping in our previous page-to-screen list, but with the release of the film adaptation quickly approaching, we had to remind you about this must-read story. Suzanne Collins’ latest book, Sunrise on the Reaping, is a prequel to the original Hunger Games trilogy, following fan-favourite character Haymitch Abernathy during the second quarter quell, the fiftieth annual Hunger Games. This year, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes. As he’s torn from his family and the girl he loves, he’s shuttled to the Capitol with three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. When the games begin, Haymitch knows he’s been set up to fail, but there’s something in him that wants to fight…and have that fight ripple far beyond the deadly arena. The film will release on November 20 stars Joseph Zada, McKenna Grace, Elle Fanning, Jesse Plemons, Ralph Fiennes, Kieran Culkin, Glenn Close, Maya Hawke, Whitney Peak,  Billy Porter, and many more.

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth features eight brilliant stories, which will be adapted into a Netflix series starring Freida Pinto, coming this December. These stories explore the secrets at the heart of family life. In the titular story, Ruma, a young mother in a new city, is visited by her father. He carefully tends her garden, but she eventually unearths evidence of a love affair her father is keeping to himself. In “A Choice of Accommodations”, a couple’s romantic getaway takes a dark turn at a party that lasts late into the night. These stories feature the author’s exquisite prose, emotional wisdom, and her explorations of the intricate workings of the heart and mind. 

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Ameema Saeed (@ameemabackwards) is a storyteller, an avid bookworm, and a curator of very specific playlists and customized book recommendations. She’s a book reviewer, a Sensitivity Reader, a book buyer at Indigo Books & Music, and the Books Editor for She Does the City, where she writes and curates bookish content, and book recommendations. She enjoys bad puns, good food, dancing, and talking about feelings. She writes about books, big feelings, unruly bodies, and her lived experiences, and hopes to write your next favourite book one day. When she’s not reading books, she likes to talk about books (especially diverse books, and books by diverse authors) on her bookstagram: @ReadWithMeemz