11 Amazing Reads From the Authors Behind Your Favorite TV Shows and Movies

By Chelsea Duff Updated: February 21, 2018

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Some of your favorite movies and TV shows only became fit for the screen after they were adapted from bestselling books. But chances are, even if you loved the show or film enough to check out the original series, you didn’t dig much deeper than that. The authors behind those stories have more tales to tell, and we have a feeling you’re going to love these just as much. Check out more amazing reads from the minds behind your favorite flicks below.

Big Little Lies --> The Husband's Secret

HBO, Amazon

Liked Big Little Lies? Read Liane Moriarty's The Husband's Secret

The HBO thriller enthralled everyone who tuned in, and Moriarty's other novel is no different. In the book, Cecilia discovers a letter written by her husband to be delivered after his death. Unfortunately, he's still alive — and the secrets revealed inside the note have far-reaching consequences for not only Cecilia, but the rest of her community.

Where to buy: $7.48, Amazon
Sex And The City --> Killing Monica

Getty Images, Amazon

Liked Sex and the City? Read Candace Bushnell's Killing Monica

If you loved the pop culture references and steaminess of HBO's Sex and the City, this novel from the original author of the series is right up your alley. Pandy "PJ" Wallis, the main character, is the author behind the Monica books and movies, making plenty of money for her publishers and her husband. But when both her marriage and her interest in the series starts to go south, she just might take the opportunity to reinvent herself with the help of a one-time friend.

Where to buy: $2.97, Amazon
The Notebook --> The Rescue

YouTube, Amazon

Liked The Notebook? Read Nicholas Sparks' The Rescue

The Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams-led movie had pretty much everybody sobbing in the theater, like many of Nicholas Sparks' film adaptations. The Rescue similarly tugs at the heartstrings, following the story of volunteer fireman Taylor McAden and the single mom he saves, Denise Holton. Together, they must search for her missing son, Kyle, and maybe even find lasting love along the way.

Where to buy: $14.40, Amazon
Gone Girl --> Dark Places

YouTube, Amazon

Liked Gone Girl? Read Gillian Flynn's Dark Places

Gillian Flynn brings the same twists and turns to Dark Places that wound through Gone Girl. When Libby Day was young, her mother and sisters were murdered — and she swore on the stand that it was by her brother, Ben. But 25 years down the road, a group called the Kill Club is determined to prove Ben's innocence, and Libby finds herself wrapped up in the tragedy and the danger once more.

Where to buy: $9.46, Amazon
True Blood --> Real Murders

HBO, Amazon

Liked True Blood? Read Charlaine Harris' Real Murders

HBO's Sookie Stackhouse isn't the only heroine in Harris' arsenal. In Real Murders, readers follow true crime buff Aurora "Roe" Teagarden in the first novel of a series as she discovers a real-life murder in her town. She and the rest of her true crime club, Real Murders, find themselves in the center of the investigation and have to get to the bottom of things before the danger becomes too much.

Where to buy: $6.07, Amazon
Atonement --> The Children Act

YouTube, Amazon

Liked Atonement? Read Ian McEwan's The Children Act

Atonement broke our hearts on screen. In another of McEwan's books, readers follow Fiona Maye, a High Court judge presiding over family court. When a case comes before her featuring a 17-year-old boy refusing medical treatment for religious purposes, she has to decide where her morals and values lie — and what's the right decision for the teen and his family.

Where to buy: $10.20, Amazon
The Handmaid's --> Tale Oryx And Crake

Hulu, Amazon

Liked The Handmaid's Tale? Read Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake

Couldn't look away from the Hulu show? Another of Atwood's books takes a similar look into the future — but this time, it's from Snowman's perspective. His name was Jimmy before the plague that struck the Earth, but he might be the last human left now as he mourns the loss of his best friend, Crake, and his love, Oryx. With the help of the "Children of Crake," he explores the wilderness that's left of the world.

Where to buy: $10.87, Amazon
Life Of Pi --> Beatrice And Virgil

YouTube, Amazon

Liked Life of Pi? Read Yann Martel's Beatrice and Virgil

Featuring all the magic, mystery, and wild-animal intrigue of Life of Pi, Martel's novel follows Henry after he receives a strange letter from a taxidermist. In trying to discover the true meaning of the letter and the puzzle it poses, he finds his life intertwined with those of donkey Beatrice and howler monkey Virgil.

Where to buy: $9.71, Amazon
The Other Boleyn Girl --> The Kingmaker's Daughter

YouTube, Amazon

Liked The Other Boleyn Girl? Read Philippa Gregory's The Kingmaker's Daughter

Gregory is known for her forays into historical fiction, and The Kingmaker's Daughter is just as evocative and emotional as the novel brought to life on-screen by Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson. The so-called Kingmaker, Richard Neville, is a powerful man in 15th Century England, and aims to reach even further through his two daughters, Anne and Isabel. The royal intrigue only builds through the story as the politics grow ever more complicated.

Where to buy: $10.19, Amazon
The Girl On The Train --> Into The Water

YouTube, Amazon

Liked The Girl on the Train? Read Paula Hawkins' Into the Water

Haunted by the same darkness present in The Girl on the Train, Hawkins' other novel tells the story of a teen girl and her terrified aunt. After the girl's mother is found dead in a nearby river, the mom's sister is called to take care of her niece, moving back to the town she never wanted to return to. Together, they'll be forced to confront the past — and the danger that still lies ahead.

Where to buy: $15.69, Amazon
Bones --> Two Nights

Getty Images, Amazon

Liked Bones? Read Kathy Reichs' Two Nights

Two Nights doesn't have all that much in common with Kathy Reichs' penned series about Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist solving crimes — well, except for the murder mysteries. Main character Sunday Night has been running from her past all her life, but when a young girl goes missing, Sunnie gets unwillingly involved in the case and caught up finding answers for the family missing their child.

Where to buy: $7.73, Amazon

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