Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Should Be Adapted Into Netflix Shows

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

I have strong opinions about today’s topic! All of these books would make amazing shows. I can only hope that Netflix will realize they need more content and pick them up.

A laptop with the Netflix logo on it. The laptop is sitting on a bed and flanked by a stuffed animal and a blanket. 1.The Clan of the Cave Bear series by Jean M. Auel

Why: This series has everything – romance, adventure, history, science, and even a little science fiction.

It would also be amazing to see what current CGI would do with Neanderthals, mammoths, and other extinct species.

2. The Neanderthal Parallax series by Robert J. Sawyer

Why: The only thing cooler then seeing Neanderthals 30,000 years ago is imagining what they’d be like to day if they’d survived and we had been the ones to go extinct.

3. The Deep by Rivers Solomon 

Why: Now is the perfect time for a show about healing old wounds. As I said, the world building hinted at so many things that could be expanded upon. A TV show would create so much space for Ms. Solomon to explain Wanjinru society more clearly and show additional differences between it and other versions of mermaid tales that exist out there.

4. The Lost Ones by Anita Frank 

Why: Is there ever a bad time for a haunted house story? I think not. My review noted my frustration with some illogical choices the main character made. I otherwise liked her a lot and can’t help but to wonder if her decisions would make more sense on the small screen since the era she lived in would be brought to life in ways that can be a little trickier in a book.

5. The Spellbound Spindle by Joy V. Spicer 

Why: I love the idea of having more feel-good fairy tales on Netflix. There were so many scenes in this book I couldn’t talk about for spoiler reasons that would look amazing on a TV. Let’s just say that the antagonists were very colourful characters, and their dialogue would make me laugh pretty hard if I heard it.

6. The Farm by Joanne Ramos 

Why: Surrogacy can be a complicated topic, especially in scifi novels like this one where surrogates are monitored so closely. The themes in this novel about how society thinks about women’s bodies and how pregnancy can be commercialized are ones that could be dramatized nicely.

7. The Testaments (The Handmaid’s Tale #2) by Margaret Atwood

Why: Okay, so technically I’m sure that some of the themes will be included in future seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale, but I’d sure like to see to see a spinoff set years from now when all of the various plot lines have finally reached their climax. I enjoy The Handmaid’s Tale, but I’ve also found past seasons to be really dark and heavy. It would be nice to see this world reach a peaceful resolution in the end.

104 Responses to Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Should Be Adapted Into Netflix Shows

  1. Great list! One of these days I need to give the Clan of the Cave Bear series a try, and I agree that it would be really interesting, with today’s technology, to see the prehistoric world on the screen.

  2. The Deep would be so beautiful and sad as a TV adaptation. I’d love to see it. Great idea about The Testaments. I assume the Handmaid’s Tale series will end up incorporating some of the story threads into future plots — I hope they get there!

  3. The Deep could be a great adaptation! I spent a large chunk of time while I was reading it trying (and failing) to visualize the characters, so I’d love to have Solomon play a part in bringing it to the screen.

  4. I would definitely watch the Neanderthal ones!
    …if I could find the time. I’ve been trying for a year to finish Narcos: Mexico, or even start Big Bang season 12..

  5. I’m one of those people who usually likes adaptations, but sometimes the producers do “ruin” it or it’s like a “in name only” adaptation. Still, it’d be fun to see some of our favorite books on screen. 🙂 Hope some of yours eventually make it to TV, Lydia. Thanks for the visit to Finding Wonderland.

    • You’re welcome. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that any adaptations that come out of anything folks mentioned today will be accurate.

  6. I´ve read Auels´s first book, but not the rest of the series. and I´ve seen The Handmaid´s Tale. and if The Testament is about Aunt Lydia and her second thoughts about what to do it sounds very interesting. the other books I know nothing about

    • Yes, The Testaments is about Aunt Lydia (among a couple of other interesting characters). The second Earth’s Children book is my favourite. It’s called The Valley of Horses.

  7. My god! I completely forgot about the Clan of the Cave Bear! What a great series- you’re right, it would make for a really interesting adaptation!

    • There was a terrible low-budget film (somewhat) based on the first book that came out in the 80s. Us fans like to pretend like it never happened. Haha.

      But we need a real version.

    • There was a bad, low-budget film based on the first book that was made in the 1980s. But it veered so far away from the original plot and characterization that I have trouble thinking of it as legitimate. LOL.

      So…technically, yes. 🙂

  8. I haven’t read any of the books (though hubby read “The Clan of the Cave Bear” years ago) but I’m sure they’re all good books for a movie.

    However, I haven’t even watched The Handmaid’s Tale, even though I read it several times. I’m just too scared it will ruin my experience with the story.

    Thanks for visiting my TTT earlier.

    • The show is different from the book. I’d recommend not watching The Handmaid’s Tale if you found anything in the novel triggering as the show went into ten times the detail about that stuff.

      But the storytelling in it has been good so far.

  9. This list is so cool — they’re all new to me, and I like your reasons for why they should be shows! Particularly, the SpellBound Spindle — I think Netflix would be perfect for that!

  10. I did think I saw during my research at the weekend that The Deep has been optioned – but of course now I can’t find the reference. We can hope. It would be a fascinating extension of the evolution from music to page to take it to screen!

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