5 Books to Read Before They Hit Theaters This Month

Crazy Rich Asians, by Kevin Kwan
Movie Release Date: August 17
Kwan’s hilarious novel is one of the most flat-out entertaining things we’ve read in years, and has been crying out for a film adaptation since the day it hit shelves. The story of an “ABC” (American-born Chinese) woman named Rachel who travels to China to meet her boyfriend’s family and is shocked to discover that they’re not simply wealthy, they are mind-bogglingly wealthy—among the richest families in China, and deeply hooked into a skein of gossip, position, and fashion largely invisible to the West. Rachel’s whirling adventure through the decadent and often mean-spirited world of obscene decadence is pure popcorn, and the movie should follow suit.

Three Seconds, by Anders Roslund and Borge Hellstrom
Movie Release Date: August 17
In recent years, Roslund and Hellstrom have been cranking out tense and meticulously-plotted thrillers under the radar, but hopefully this summer’s adaptation of one of their best will change all that. Piet Hoffman has been living a double life—devoted, peaceable family man on one side, and dedicated, long-term snitch for the police on the other, moonlighting as a criminal in order to infiltrate the underworld. His newest assignment is to go to prison, take control of a methamphetamine operation, and help the police dismantle it—easy! The film stars Rosamund Pike, Clive Owen, and Joel Kinnaman.

The Little Stranger, by Sarah Waters
Movie Release Date: August 31
This terrifying novel, set in a crumbling estate in Warwickshire after World War II, should be absolutely terrifying on the big screen. With the perfect mix of Gothic ingredients—a once-great house and family in dire straits, inexplicable illnesses, haunting spirits, encroaching madness—it is the sort of book that cries out to be made into a film. What’s great about the way Waters sets out the story is that you aren’t just in it for the scares—you’ll also really like the characters, from the brilliant doctor who has fond memories of Hundreds Hall from his childhood, to the stalwart young daughter of the ruined family he falls in love with.

The Meg, by Steve Alten
Release Date: August 10
Alten’s hit series of killer shark books finally gets the big screen treatment, with a cast including Jason Statham, Li Bingbing, and Rainn Wilson. The story revolves around carcharodon megalodon (known affectionately as Meg), an extinct species of shark that was once one of the largest and most deadly predators in the world. Jonas Taylor, former Navy deep-sea pilot and current marine paleontologist, suspects the Megs aren’t as extinct as we might think, and is given the chance to head into the Mariana Trench, the deepest spot in the ocean, to find out. Unfortunately for Taylor (and the rest of the human race), his actions unleash a terror that soon threatens all life on earth (or at least all life in proximity to an ocean). This is a book that moves fast and plays loose with science—but all in the service of a rollicking good time.

The Wife, by Meg Wolitzer
Release Date: August 17
Wolitzer’s story of a woman in her 60s who decides the time has come to end her marriage while flying first class to an awards ceremony in honor of her older husband is witty and sharply observed, and we can’t wait to see what stars like Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce can do in the lead roles. Flipping back and forth between the present day and her college years, when she fell under the sway of her charismatic creative writing teacher and chose to give up her own literary dreams in order to help build his career, this story of pent-up resentment, male privilege, and a smart woman who decides not to take life’s humiliations anymore sounds like ideal superhero counter-programming, especially if it lives up to Wolitzer’s book, in which her characters emerge as living, fire-breathing people.
What literary adaptations are you looking forward to seeing on the big screen this summer?