Top Ten Books to Read if You Like…

This week’s Top Ten is the top ten books to read if you like certain TV shows/movies/plays etc. Not sure if I can get ten out of this one, but we’ll give it a go!

1. If you like Big Bang Theory then try The Rosie Project: In my review of The Rosie Project I think the first thing I mention was how much the protagonist reminded me of Sheldon Cooper Dr. Sheldon Cooper. This was both a good thing and a drawback – I love me some Sheldon but I struggled to think of Don Tillman as a character in his own right and basically saw Sheldon in my head the whole time. Very entertaining read though.

2. If you like Come Dine With Me then try The Saturday Supper Club: A quick explanation of Come Dine With Me for anyone who isn’t familiar with it – four/five strangers host a dinner party, one held each night of the week, and they score each other in secret with the winner taking home £1,000. Of course it isn’t usually as smooth sailing as that; often too much alcohol is consumed, personalities clash, and in the UK a chap called Dave Lamb narrates the show with superb sarcasm. The Saturday Supper Club is a similar premise but throws in a good dose of drama and a sprinkling of romance for good measure.

3. If you like Without A Trace then try Gone Girl: I used to LOVE Without A Trace, it’s an American TV show that follows the FBI’s Missing Persons Unit (which also happens to exist in the same universe as CSI with Grissom – uh, yes?!). The connection here is pretty obvious, right? Gone Girl is practically an episode of Without A Trace, but with more twists, turns, and shock revelations.

4. If you like Teen Wolf/the Wolf-ish element of Twilight then try Shiver (trilogy): If you prefer your paranormal romantic interests to be warm-blooded (and not sparkly) I’d recommend The Wolves of Mercy Falls series (Shiver, Linger and Forever). I was very pleasantly surprised by this series and even had a little book-crush on Sam.

5. If you like The Tudors then try The White Queen (series): I originally watched the BBC TV series The White Queen and completely fell in love with it, and discovered that it was an adaptation of Phillipa Gregory’s The Cousins’ War book series. This led to me binge-watching all of The Tudors on Netflix and becoming a tad obsessed with Tudor England. I’d recommend Phillipa Gregory’s books to anyone who likes historical fiction, she is a fantastic historian and a great storyteller.

6. If you like Groundhog Day/About Time then try The Time Traveler’s Wife: The Time Traveler’s Wife is a fantastic story, and I think the movie adaptation was pretty impressive too. If you like the idea of time travel, romance that isn’t too cheesy and even the idea of fate/destiny, then you should really enjoy Audrey Niffenegger’s fabulous debut.

7. If you like Memento then try Before I Go To Sleep: It’s been a while since I’ve seen Memento, but I remember loving it, and I remember reading Before I Go To Sleep and seeing the comparable elements, so I’m running with this. How important are your memories? The protagonist in Before I Go To Sleep, Christine, loses all of her memories every night and can only trust one person – her husband. Or at least, the man who claims to be her husband, seeing as she can’t remember. Great suspenseful thriller. 

8. If you like Sweet Home Alabama then try Boys Like You: OK, so this is a bit of a loose connection, I think it was mostly the Southern element that made me think of Sweet Home Alabama while I was reading this but work with me here – girl who moves to New York/girl who is from New York, awesome swoon-worthy dude in both, take the bush-parties and Southern charm of Sweet Home Alabama and throw in some heart-breaking life scenarios and beautiful writing and you’ve got Boys Like You. It’s also the first review book I have given 5/5 to so far this year! You can read my review here.

9. If you like star-crossed lovers stories like Romeo and Juliet/Titanic then try Noughts and Crosses (series): The Noughts and Crosses series is so much more than a star-crossed lovers story, but that is a very obvious and predominant theme – forbidden love, divided societies and the impact of discrimination on relationships. Noughts and Crosses also has multiple heart-warming relationships and takes a very real look at prejudice in society. A fantastic read that I thoroughly enjoyed, you can read my entire series overview here.

10. If you like Charmed/Buffy/Angel/Supernatural/Twilight then try The Mortal Instruments (series): Because really, no other book series has IT ALL going on quite like TMI. The sixth book is released at the end of this month and I can’t wait to find out what happens! I’d love to do a series reread if I can find the time. I’m also really hoping they continue to make the movies as I know there was a lot of talk that the first one flopped (personally, I blame bad marketing!), but I really enjoyed it and really want the rest of the movies to be made.

Obviously, as well as the recommendations above I always highly recommend actually reading the original books of any movie or TV show adaptations you love, because the book will always be better!