13 Bookish Movies Now Streaming on Netflix

September 17 2015
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As book lovers, we tend to be skeptical about film adaptations, but we are fans of both the thirteen books on this list and their cinematic counterparts. Read the book, then stream the movie. Netflix is a marvelous thing.

The Cider House Rules
by John Irving

John Irving’s 973-page classic recounts the coming of age of Homer Wells, an un-adopted orphan and protégé of orphanage director and abortionist Dr. Wilbur Larch. The film won two Academy Awards—one for best supporting actor Michael Caine and one for best adapted screenplay by John Irving.

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The Cider House Rules
John Irving

John Irving’s 973-page classic recounts the coming of age of Homer Wells, an un-adopted orphan and protégé of orphanage director and abortionist Dr. Wilbur Larch. The film won two Academy Awards—one for best supporting actor Michael Caine and one for best adapted screenplay by John Irving.

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The Silver Linings Playbook
by Matthew Quick

A riotous and poignant story of how one man regains his memory and comes to terms with the magnitude of his wife’s betrayal. The film was an instant favorite among viewers, but if you’ve only seen the movie, treat yourself to the book.

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The Silver Linings Playbook
Matthew Quick

A riotous and poignant story of how one man regains his memory and comes to terms with the magnitude of his wife’s betrayal. The film was an instant favorite among viewers, but if you’ve only seen the movie, treat yourself to the book.

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One Day
by David Nicholls

Emma and Dexter meet by chance the day they graduate from college. We meet them on the anniversary of that day for the next twenty years. At its heart, this is a story about what we hope for and how our lives actually play out. David Nicholls wrote the novel and the script of the charming film.

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One Day
David Nicholls

“You can live your whole life not realizing that what you’re looking for is right in front of you.”
It’s 1988 and Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley have only just met. But after only one day together, they cannot stop thinking about one another. Over twenty years, snapshots of that relationship are revealed on the same day—July 15—of each year. Dex and Em face squabbles and fights, hopes and missed opportunities, laughter and tears. And as the true meaning of this one crucial day is revealed, they must come to grips with the nature of love and life itself.

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City of God
by Paulo Lins

This one is a film-lovers’ film known for its cinema-photographic prowess and smart dialogue. Paulo Lins’s searing novel is a gritty, gorgeous coming-of-age masterpiece that unfolds against the backdrop of one of Brazil’s most notorious slums: Cidade de Deus, the City of God.

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City of God
Paulo Lins

This one is a film-lovers’ film known for its cinema-photographic prowess and smart dialogue. Paulo Lins’s searing novel is a gritty, gorgeous coming-of-age masterpiece that unfolds against the backdrop of one of Brazil’s most notorious slums: Cidade de Deus, the City of God.

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Before I Go to Sleep
by S. J. Watson

If your favorite character is Joyce Byers

When Hopper told Joyce Byers that Will’s dead body was a fake you jumped for joy, threw confetti in the air, danced a jig, kissed the person you were watching it with, or kissed your cat or kissed yourself—finally someone believes Joyce! You’ll experience that same ecstasy at the end of the thriller BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP.

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Before I Go to Sleep
S. J. Watson

If your favorite character is Joyce Byers

When Hopper told Joyce Byers that Will’s dead body was a fake you jumped for joy, threw confetti in the air, danced a jig, kissed the person you were watching it with, or kissed your cat or kissed yourself—finally someone believes Joyce! You’ll experience that same ecstasy at the end of the thriller BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP.

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The Virgin Suicides
by Jeffrey Eugenides

The mysterious suicides of the elusive Lisbon sisters are the obsession of the neighborhood boys in Jeffrey Eugenides’s beguiling first novel. Starring a young Kirsten Dunst and Josh Hartnett, the haunting and deviously sexy film adaptation is just as intriguing.

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The Virgin Suicides
Jeffrey Eugenides

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The Best of Me
by Nicholas Sparks

It’s been almost two decades since former high school sweethearts Amanda and Dawson have seen each other when the death of a beloved mentor spurs their reunion. Nicholas Sparks tugs at heartstrings with this love story about paths chosen and not chosen.

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The Best of Me
Nicholas Sparks

It’s been almost two decades since former high school sweethearts Amanda and Dawson have seen each other when the death of a beloved mentor spurs their reunion. Nicholas Sparks tugs at heartstrings with this love story about paths chosen and not chosen.

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Election
by Tom Perrotta

Tom Perrotta’s novel is an exciting and hilarious read about a student election—meant to be an educational tool—gone awry due to smear campaigns, sex scandals, and other unpleasant matters. The 1999 adaptation starring Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick became a bona fide cult classic.

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Election
Tom Perrotta

Tom Perrotta’s novel is an exciting and hilarious read about a student election—meant to be an educational tool—gone awry due to smear campaigns, sex scandals, and other unpleasant matters. The 1999 adaptation starring Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick became a bona fide cult classic.

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Bridget Jones's Diary
by Helen Fielding

This beloved favorite starring Renée Zellweger is always good for a second or seventh viewing, and the book is equally fulfilling—smart, witty, and filled with enduring hilarity and truth no matter the stage of life you’re in.

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Bridget Jones's Diary
Helen Fielding

Loosely based on Pride and Prejudice, this laugh-out-loud chronicle charts a year in the life of Bridget Jones, a single girl on a permanent, doomed quest for self-improvement. Caught between her Singleton friends and the Smug Marrieds, Bridget struggles to keep her life on an even keel—or at least afloat.

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Labor Day
by Joyce Maynard

When teenager Henry and his lonely mother take in an escaped convict over Labor Day weekend, Henry gets a crash course in life’s most invaluable lessons. It's a life-changing weekend for all.

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Labor Day
Joyce Maynard

When teenager Henry and his lonely mother take in an escaped convict over Labor Day weekend, Henry gets a crash course in life’s most invaluable lessons. It's a life-changing weekend for all.

Amazon logo Barnes & Noble logo iBooks logo

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The Butler
by Wil Haygood

With an introduction from the film adaptation’s director, Lee Daniels, this biography explores Eugene Allen’s tenure in the White House as a butler to eight U.S. Presidents during some of the country’s most critical periods.

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The Butler
Wil Haygood

With an introduction from the film adaptation’s director, Lee Daniels, this biography explores Eugene Allen’s tenure in the White House as a butler to eight U.S. Presidents during some of the country’s most critical periods.

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Another Bullshit Night in Suck City
by Nick Flynn

The indie film Being Flynn was based on this memoir, which recounts the bizarre turn of events that reunited a young poet working in a homeless shelter with his estranged father who winds up there. Flynn’s poetic language provides a blueprint for the characters to come alive on the page and screen.

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Another Bullshit Night in Suck City
Nick Flynn

The indie film Being Flynn was based on this memoir, which recounts the bizarre turn of events that reunited a young poet working in a homeless shelter with his estranged father who winds up there. Flynn’s poetic language provides a blueprint for the characters to come alive on the page and screen.

Amazon logo Barnes & Noble logo iBooks logo

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The Hours
by Michael Cunningham

This Pulitzer Prize–winning novel turned Oscar-winning film is a profound story of how three generations of women were transformed by Virginia Woolf’s distinguished work Mrs. Dalloway.

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The Hours
Michael Cunningham

This Pulitzer Prize–winning novel turned Oscar-winning film is a profound story of how three generations of women were transformed by Virginia Woolf’s distinguished work Mrs. Dalloway.

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