What To Watch
18 Book-to-Screen Adaptations for Every Kind of Reader
Watch your favorite books.
By Ashley Lee
June 2, 2026
18 Best Book Adaptations for Every Kind of Reader - Netflix Tudum
Every book lover knows the feeling: You learn that your favorite novel is being developed into a film or a TV show, and no matter how long it’s been since you last read it, you look forward to the adaptation. Who’s playing the characters you already know so well? What will the costumes and sets look like? Will the creators of the project stay faithful to the author’s beloved masterpiece?
For everyone who appreciates a good book, movie, and TV show, as well as that singular feeling of experiencing a familiar story in a new way, Netflix just launched Watch Your Favorite Books, a curated collection of book-to-screen adaptations that match your mood (available globally starting June 2).
Fulfill your summer reading requirement by checking out an adaptation — of a title you’ve already read or one you’ve never heard of before. Whether you love to immerse yourself in a world-building epic, fall head over heels with a swoonworthy romance, jump into a nuanced period piece, or follow a plot twist you never saw coming, there’s something here for you.
If You Crave Amazing Characters
The Queen's Gambit
Anya Taylor-Joy plays Beth Harmon, a uniquely gifted orphan in 1950s Kentucky who rises to the top of the international chess world while also grappling with addiction. Moses Ingram, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Marielle Heller, and Bill Camp co-star in the seven-episode thriller, based on the 1983 novel by Walter Tevis. It won 11 Emmys, including awards for outstanding limited or anthology series and outstanding period costumes. Taylor-Joy’s Beth has got as much style as she has strategy.
Remarkably Bright Creatures
This whimsical and quietly profound adaptation of Shelby Van Pelt’s novel stars Sally Field as Tova, a grieving widow who works at a local aquarium. She forms unlikely bonds with a giant Pacific octopus named Marcellus (voiced by Alfred Molina) and a wayward young man named Cameron (Lewis Pullman), who is new in town. Together, they uncover a mystery that leads them to a life-changing discovery and restores their sense of wonder.
If You’re into Immersive World-Building
Frankenstein
Guillermo del Toro takes on fiction’s most famous man-made monster. This adaptation of Mary Shelley’s gothic 19th-century novel stars Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein, the tortured scientist who harvests body parts from fallen soldiers, stitches them together, and harnesses the power of lightning to reanimate the result: the Creature (Jacob Elordi). Rejecting his unnatural creation, Victor attempts to destroy him, but the Creature lives and makes his way out into a world that fears him.
The Witcher
Readers, cinephiles, and gamers will unite around this action-packed fantasy series. Adapted from Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels, the show stars Henry Cavill (Seasons 1–3) and Liam Hemsworth (Season 4) as Geralt of Rivia, the white-haired, supernaturally capable monster-hunter, as he fulfills his destiny (though he’s personally skeptical of the concept). The Witcher universe includes two animated movies, Nightmare of the Wolf and Sirens of the Deep, as well as a live-action prequel series, Blood Origin.
If You Love a Great Plot Twist
Fool Me Once
Maya Stern (Michelle Keegan) is grieving both her sister and her husband — until she sees new nanny-cam footage of her late spouse, Joe (Richard Armitage), talking to their baby. As she investigates whether her husband might still be alive, she’s drawn into a web of secrets, lies, and shocking betrayals that hit closer to home than she could’ve imagined. And if you’re a fan of this gripping thriller, these other Harlan Coben adaptations will have you hooked.
The Sinner
In each season of this series — initially based on Petra Hammesfahr's 1999 novel — detective Harry Ambrose (Bill Pullman) investigates the unlikely culprits of various crimes. His own deep-seated trauma helps him deduce his culprits’ true motives, making for a mystery that’s less of a whodunit and more of a whydunit. Season 1, for example, centers on Cora Tannetti (Jessica Biel), a mild-mannered mother who stabbed a man to death in an apparently random act of violence.
If You Savor Swoonworthy Romances
Bridgerton
Based on Julia Quinn’s period romance novels, the Regency-era series introduces audiences to the titular family and its eight siblings. Its inaugural season kicks off the matchmaking with the eldest Bridgerton daughter, Duchess Daphne Basset (Phoebe Dynevor), as she navigates the dos and don’ts of the social season — courtship protocol, dating etiquette, and the scandal sheets penned by Lady Whistledown. Each subsequent season follows another Bridgerton sibling, including Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), Colin (Luke Newton), and Benedict (Luke Thompson).
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
In this adaptation of Jenny Han’s young adult book, Lara Jean (Lana Condor) writes letters about her crushes that she never mails — until, one day, her youngest sister (Anna Cathcart) sends them out, and one recipient (Noah Centineo) offers to play her fake boyfriend to divert attention during this mortifying embarrassment. Make it a marathon with the sequels To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You and To All the Boys: Always and Forever, and the Korean-set spin-off series about Lara Jean’s sister XO, Kitty.
If You’re a Nonfiction Fanatic
Lucca's World
Meet Bárbara Anderson, an Argentine journalist and the mother of Lucca, a young boy with severe cerebral palsy. Determined to help her son thrive in an often overwhelming world, she travels to India with her family to pursue an experimental treatment with the potential to rekindle his brain's connections. The powerful Mexican drama — based on Anderson’s memoir Los dos hemisferios de Lucca (available in English as Lucca's World) — explores the rights of people with disabilities, as well as a mother's unwavering love.
No One Saw Us Leave
When Valeria (Tessa Ia) is caught having an affair, her husband Leo (Juan Manuel Bernal) punishes her for embarrassing the family — tearing her away from her children and ruining her reputation among their insular community. The young mother then teams up with an ex-Mossad agent to search for her kidnapped children. The five-part Mexican series is based on the Spanish-language memoir Nadie nos vos partir (No One Saw Us Leave) by Tamara Trottner who, along with her brother, was separated from her mother without warning for a span of three years.
If You’re a History and Period Piece Buff
All Quiet on the Western Front
In 1917, the third year of World War I, 17-year-old Paul Bäumer (Felix Kammerer) enthusiastically joins the German army along with his friends — and against his parents’ wishes. But as soon as Paul is deployed to the front lines in northern France, his romantic notions of fighting for Germany are violently dispelled by the brutal reality of trench warfare. Edward Berger (Ballad of a Small Player) directs the four-time Oscar-winning adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s classic novel of the same name.
Anne with an E
Amybeth McNulty stars in this acclaimed coming-of-age tale as Anne Shirley, a plucky and irrepressible orphan who finds an unlikely home with a spinster named Marilla Cuthbert (Geraldine James) and her soft-spoken bachelor brother Matthew Cuthbert (R.H. Thomson). Set in the late 19th century and inspired by Lucy Maud Montgomery’s children’s novel Anne of Green Gables, the three-season drama expands on the classic book and explores themes of identity, prejudice, feminism, bullying, and gender parity.
If You Adore All-Ages Adventures
A Series of Unfortunate Events
This series brings Lemony Snicket’s darkly comedic tales of the Baudelaire children to the screen. As the newly orphaned Violet (Malina Weissman), Klaus (Louis Hynes), and Sunny (Presley Smith) are passed around among their distant relatives and family friends, their evil uncle Count Olaf (Neil Patrick Harris) follows them at each turn, disguising himself in his plot to steal their inheritance. But the clever children repeatedly evade him, and uncover new information about their parents at each new place they stay.
Enola Holmes
Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown plays the titular sleuth, with Henry Cavill portraying the well-known pipe-smoking detective (and Enola’s older brother), Sherlock Holmes. If you have fun watching this first film, in which Enola looks into the mysterious disappearance of her mother (Helena Bonham Carter), make it a marathon with Enola Holmes 2, in which the two siblings work together to solve the case of a missing girl. Then get ready for Enola Holmes 3, as adventure chases the detective to sun-soaked Malta.
If You Collect Manga and Comics
ONE PIECE
Creator Eiichiro Oda has been writing and drawing this popular manga since 1997, and this live-action adaptation brings it to the screen. Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) is a young pirate who has the ability to stretch his body, thanks to the legendary Gum-Gum Fruit. With his signature straw hat and ragtag crew, he goes on a search for treasure — an epic voyage in which they encounter bizarre islands and formidable enemies. Set sail with the Straw Hats on this adventure, which has been renewed for Season 3.
SAKAMOTO DAYS
Based on the popular Japanese manga written and illustrated by Yuto Suzuki, this action-packed anime title centers on Taro Sakamoto, the legendary hit man who falls in love with a convenience store clerk. He retires in order to get married, raise a daughter, and live in a quiet town. When former enemies seek him out for revenge, he must return to the assassin world and revive his extraordinary combat skills to fight off impending threats, protect his family, and maintain his “ordinary” facade.
If You’re Wild About Web Stories
The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call
This medical K-drama stars Ju Ji-hoon as a hotshot surgeon who returns to Seoul after years of practicing combat medicine. Upon arriving in his hometown, he discovers that the region is in desperate need of improved trauma response care. With the help of his stellar medical team, he sets out to establish a top-tier trauma center, save lives, and beat the system. The eight-episode series is based on the webtoon Trauma Center: Golden Hour by Hansanleega and Hongbichira.
Bon Appétit, Your Majesty
Based on the web novel Yeonsankunui Chefro Salanamki by Park Kuk-Jae, this imaginative K-drama serves up both time travel and romance. Lim Yoon-a stars in the series as a chef who wins a prestigious culinary competition that catapults her to fame. But just as she’s secured herself a future in fine dining, she discovers an ancient cookbook that sends her back in time to Korea’s Joseon era, where she finds herself in a deadly position: head chef to a tyrant king (Lee Chae-min).
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