The Outsider by Stephen King
What it’s about: Terry Maitland is charged with the murder of an 11-year-old boy, but eyewitnesses confirm they've got the wrong guy. A team of investigators attempt to get to the bottom of this peculiar case.
Adaptation info: HBO miniseries; first episode aired Jan. 12
Starring: Jason Bateman, Ben Mendelsohn, Cynthia Erivo
Watch the trailer.
The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
What it’s about: A veterinarian with the gift of communicating with animals sets sail on an epic adventure to find a cure for the queen's illness.
Adaptation info: Film; in theaters Jan. 17
Starring: Robert Downey, Jr. and then just...so many voices: Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, John Cena, Kumail Nanjiani, Octavia Spencer, Tom Holland, Selena Gomez, and more.
Watch the trailer.
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
What it’s about: A woman named Kate is hired to care for a young boy and girl after their parents' deaths and learns of the deeply disturbing secrets they keep.
Adaptation info: film, titled The Turning; in theaters Jan. 24
Starring: Finn Wolfhard, Brooklynn Prince, Mackenzie Davis
Watch the trailer.
The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion
What it’s about: This political thriller follows a DC journalist who gets swept into a dark world of conspiracies and corruption with her dying father at the center.
Adaptation info: film; premiering at Sundance on Jan. 27; Netflix release TBA
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Ben Affleck, Willem Dafoe, Rosie Perez
P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han
What it’s about: In the sequel to To All the Boys I've Loved Before, things take a surprising turn when another recipient of Lara Jean's love letters comes back into her life.
Adaptation info: film; on Netflix Feb. 12
Starring: Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Jordan Fisher
Watch the trailer.
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
What it’s about: In Yukon, Canada, during the Klondike Gold Rush, a sled dog named Buck must learn how to survive under the harsh Alaskan conditions.
Adaptation info: film; in theaters on Feb. 21
Starring: Harrison Ford, Dan Stevens, Omar Sy, Karen Gillan, Bradley Whitford
Watch the trailer.
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
What it’s about: In a small town in Indiana, Violet and Theodore, who are both struggling with past troubles, enter each other's lives and are forever changed.
Adaptation info: film; on Netflix Feb. 28
Starring: Elle Fanning, Justice Smith
The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
What it’s about: A woman named Cecilia believes she is being hunted by her abusive ex, despite reports that he died by suicide.
Adaptation info: film; in theaters Feb. 28
Starring: Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge, Oliver Jackson-Cohen
Watch the trailer.
The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
What it’s about: In an alternate reality, the Roth family struggles after Charles Lindbergh wins the presidential election against Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Adaptation info: six-part HBO miniseries; first episode March 16
Starring: Winona Ryder, Zoe Kazan
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
What it’s about: The lives of the Richardson family and the Warren family intertwine with dark secrets when Mia and Pearl Warren move into the Richardsons' rental home.
Adaptation info: series; on Hulu March 18
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Kerry Washington, Joshua Jackson
Watch the trailer.
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
What it’s about: An orphaned girl named Mary is sent to live with her unpleasant uncle and finds a magical garden in his estate.
Adaptation info: film; in theaters April 17
Starring: Colin Firth, Julie Walters, Dixie Egerickx
Watch the trailer.
The Good Shepherd by C.S. Forester
What it’s about: Cmdr. George Krause of the US Navy has to safely deliver 37 ships — carrying 3,000 men and $50 million worth of cargo — from the US to England during WWII, past lurking German submarines waiting to take them down.
Adaptation info: film, titled Greyhound; in theaters May 8
Starring: Tom Hanks, Stephen Graham, Elisabeth Shue
The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
What it’s about: A New York woman who suffers from severe agoraphobia spies on her neighbors and believes she's witnessed a violent act.
Adaptation info: film; in theaters May 15
Starring: Amy Adams, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gary Oldman
Watch the trailer.
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
What it’s about: Inspired by a true story, The One and Only Ivan follows a captive gorilla who's spent 27 years living in a shopping mall and hardly ever thinks about his former life in the jungle — until he's joined by a baby elephant who's shocked by his daily life.
Adaptation info: film; in theaters Aug. 14
Starring (voices): Angelina Jolie, Sam Rockwell, Helen Mirren, Danny DeVito, Bryan Cranston
Without Remorse by Tom Clancy
What it’s about: After tragically losing his pregnant wife, former Navy SEAL John Kelly becomes CIA operative Mr. Clark — and finds himself at the center of a dangerous conspiracy.
Adaptation info: film; in theaters Sept. 18
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell
Watch the teaser.
Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
What it’s about: A cruise trip on the Nile is thrown off course when a young, stylish passenger is found shot in the head — and beloved Agatha Christie detective Hercule Poirot is on the case.
Adaptation info: film; in theaters Oct. 9
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Rose Leslie
The Witches by Roald Dahl
What it’s about: The powerful Grand High Witch has arrived in England with an evil plan to gather her fellow children-hating witch communities — and it's up a young boy and his grandmother to stop them.
Adaptation info: film; in theaters Oct. 9
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci, Octavia Spencer
Dune by Frank Herbert
What it’s about: On the dry, inhospitable planet Arrakis, citizens vie for the "spice melange" — a drug that extends life and enhances consciousness. When the ruling Atreides family is overrun, the young heir Paul sets off on a dangerous, life-changing journey.
Adaptation info: film; in theaters Dec. 18
Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac
News of the World by Paulette Jiles
What it’s about: In the aftermath of the Civil War, elderly widower Captain Kidd travels Texas, reading newspapers to communities who are illiterate or without access. When he agrees to transport a young, captive orphan (in exchange for a $50 piece of gold), the unlikely pair set off on a wild, dangerous journey.
Adaptation info: film; expected in theaters Dec. 25
Starring: Tom Hanks, Neil Sandilands, Chukwudi Iwuji
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
What it’s about: As a teen In Nigeria, Ifemelu falls in love with her classmate Obinze. Looking to leave their militarized home country, they each head west — Ifemelu goes to college in the US; Obinze, denied a visa to America, moves to London.
Adaptation info: 10-part HBO Max miniseries; release date TBA
Starring: Lupita Nyong'o, Uzo Aduba, Zackary Momoh
Normal People by Sally Rooney
What it’s about: Marianne and Connell embark on a relationship in high school that shifts with them as they go through their most formative years.
Adaptation info: Series on Hulu and the BBC; release date TBA
Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Paul Mescal
Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
What it’s about: J.D. Vance describes his upbringing in rural Ohio by parents from Kentucky — recounting a family history of poverty and addiction, and reflecting on Appalachian values and social issues in his hometown after leaving the area and eventually making his way to Yale Law School.
Adaptation info: Netflix film; release date TBA
Starring: Amy Adams, Glenn Close, Gabriel Basso, Freida Pinto
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
What it’s about: Society has collapsed after a swine flu epidemic killed most of the human population, and a nomadic troupe of actors and musicians returns to a once-familiar region to find friends missing and the rest of the town under the control of a charismatic but dangerous prophet.
Adaptation info: 10-episode HBO Max miniseries; release date TBA
Starring: Mackenzie Davis, Matilda Lawler, Himesh Patel, Gael García Bernal
Bridgerton by Julia Quinn
What it’s about: In Regency-era England, the eight very wealthy Bridgerton children are looking for love — and their romantic foibles are tirelessly tracked in a London gossip rag.
Adaptation info: Netflix series; release date TBA
Starring: Phoebe Dynevor, Golda Rosheuvel, Julie Andrews as narrator
Cherry by Nico Walker
What it’s about: A young veteran returns from Iraq, becomes addicted to opioids, and starts robbing banks.
Adaptation info: film; release date TBA
Starring: Tom Holland, Ciara Bravo, Bill Skarsgård
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
What it’s about: A young woman falls for and marries an older, wealthy man and moves to his sprawling estate in Cornwall — only to find she can't escape the ghost of his late first wife.
Adaptation info: Netflix film; release date TBA
Starring: Lily James, Armie Hammer
The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie
What it’s about: A priest is murdered, and inside his shoe is a list of mysterious names. When it appears the people on the list are soon to die, one man with a connection to the list decides to get to the bottom of this dangerous mystery.
Adaptation info: two-part miniseries on Amazon Prime and the BBC; release date TBA
Starring: Rufus Sewell, Kaya Scodelario
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
What it’s about: In a dystopian future, genetically engineered citizens are confined by a strict caste system based on intelligence, and subdued through indoctrination programs and a drug that induces happiness — but one young man decides to fight the system.
Adaptation info: series on forthcoming NBCU streaming service Peacock; release date TBA
Starring: Alden Ehrenreich, Jessica Brown Findlay, Harry Lloyd
I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb
What it’s about: A life-spanning saga following identical twin brothers as they deal with mental illness, loss, and family betrayals.
Adaptation info: HBO miniseries, release date TBA
Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Rosie O'Donnell, Kathryn Hahn, Juliette Lewis
The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock
What it’s about: In 1960s rural Ohio, a bizarre, nefarious, and suffering community — including a corrupt sheriff, a spider-eating preacher, and a man who is trying desperately to save his dying wife with prayer and animal sacrifice — deal with the psychological effects of WWII.
Adaptation info: Netflix film; release date TBA
Starring: Tom Holland, Chris Evans, Eliza Scanlen, Robert Pattinson
The Stand by Stephen King
What it’s about: In a post-apocalyptic future, a mutated strain of the flu has decimated 99% of the global human population. Those remaining are torn between two leaders: Mother Abagail, a 108-year-old woman who sees this as an opportunity to build a peaceful community, and Randall Flagg, aka the "Dark Man," who relishes violence and chaos.
Adaptation info: CBS All Access miniseries; release date TBA
Starring: James Marsden, Amber Heard, Whoopi Goldberg, Alexander Skarsgård
You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz
What it’s about: Therapist Grace Reinhart Sachs has a seemingly perfect life — married to a highly successful oncologist, mother to a loving son, and author of a forthcoming book telling women to trust their first impressions of the men they meet. But weeks before the book comes out, it all falls apart, and Grace finds herself at the center of a public disaster involving a violent death and a missing husband.
Adaptation info: HBO miniseries, titled The Undoing; release date TBA
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Grant, Donald Sutherland
CORRECTION
Donald Ray Pollock's name was misstated in an earlier version of this post.