Spring Cleaning Your TBR. What Stays. What Goes.

Your TBR should excite you. Not stress you out. Not make you feel like you owe it something every time you walk past the shelf.

This week we got honest about our shelves, and things got a little uncomfortable. One of us owns approximately 3,000 books and has read about 10 percent of them. Another owns all three Fourth Wing hardcovers and has not started book one.

We are not here to judge. We are here to be judged together.

If your shelves are giving you anxiety instead of joy, keep reading.

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🧼 The Types of TBR Clutter

Most book clutter falls into a few recognizable categories. See if any of these live on your shelves.

The Hype Hangover
You bought it because everyone was talking about it. The buzz faded. The book did not.

The Aspiration Shelf
Books you keep for the person you wish you were. The 700-page presidential biography. The literary fiction era that never arrived. Be honest.

The Series Trap
You bought books two and three before finishing book one. Sometimes it works. Sometimes you DNF book one and now own a trilogy you resent.

The Gift Guilt Stack
Someone gave it to you. You feel obligated to keep it. That is not a good enough reason.

The Pretty Cover Buy
You bought it because it was beautiful. You cannot be stopped. Honestly, neither can we.

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🔍 Three Questions to Ask Before You Keep It

Run each book through these before it goes back on the shelf.

Would I buy or request this today?
Not two years ago. Right now. If the answer is no, it can go.

Am I keeping this for me or for the person I wish I was?
You already know the answer.

Did I DNF or dislike book one?
The rest of the series will not fix it.

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📱 Apps Worth Knowing About

Libib
Scan your books, tag locations, and export to a spreadsheet. Extremely useful if your shelves are out of control.

Goodreads
Still the default for want-to-read lists. Do a quarterly clean-up so it does not turn into a graveyard.

StoryGraph
A strong alternative with better mood and pace tracking. Best on desktop for imports.

Libby and Hoopla
Free with your library card. Libby for holds. Hoopla for instant access with limits.

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For the full conversation, including our confessions, disagreements, and what we are actually getting rid of, find us at linktr.ee/chapteronesceneone.

Now tell us. What is the most embarrassing thing sitting on your TBR right now?

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The Woman in Cabin 10 (Netflix, 2025): Same Yacht, Very Different Story

Netflix had a good premise to work with. A woman alone on a luxury yacht, convinced she witnessed something no one will believe, nowhere to go, no one on her side. The bones of Ruth Ware's novel are strong. What the adaptation does with them is a different conversation.

The Woman in Cabin 10 stars Keira Knightley as Lo Blacklock, a journalist at The Guardian who boards a fundraising yacht trip through the Norwegian fjords and spends the rest of the film trying to convince people that something terrible happened in the cabin next door. Guy Pearce plays Richard Ballmer, Hannah Waddingham plays Heidi, and the supporting cast rounds out the collection of rich, mildly suspicious yacht guests who all seem to know exactly why Lo should calm down.

The movie makes two significant changes from the book right out of the gate, and they pull the story in opposite directions. Lo is no longer a travel writer. She's an investigative journalist at a major newspaper, still raw from watching a witness get drowned in front of her on another story. It's a better setup for the character. It gives her a reason to keep pushing when any reasonable person would have taken the "nobody here but us guests" answer and gone back to bed. The second change is that she doesn't have a boyfriend waiting at home, a mother texting her, a boss trying to reach her. She has Ben, her ex, who is also on the yacht, who cares about her, and who absolutely cannot stop accidentally telling people things she asked him not to tell anyone. When Lo disappears below deck and the rest of the guests start filing off in Norway, the only person who even notices is Ben. If Ben dies, nobody is looking for her. No spoilers on whether Ben dies.

The film follows the book's structure closely enough that if you read part one, very little here will surprise you. She hears the splash. She sees the handprint on the glass, this time clearer and more dramatic than a mascara smear. She reports it, gets dismissed, gets gaslit in increments, finds a hair in the shower drain, loses the hair, gets pushed into the pool with the cover closing over her, loses her jacket and the button she found in the pocket. The evidence problem is the same as the book: every piece of proof is exactly plausible enough to have an innocent explanation, which is the point, but it means the audience has to work to stay with her.

Where the movie opens up the story is in Ann. The book keeps her at a distance. The film gives her more presence and more intention. She invited Lo specifically. She wanted a journalist there. She shows Lo the speech she plans to give at the fundraiser gala, the one announcing she's giving away most of her money. She hides it in a cubby in the library and makes sure Lo knows where it is. This version of Ann is not just a victim of circumstance. She was already setting something in motion. The film gets credit for that.

What it doesn't get credit for is the emotional scaffolding. Lo's backstory, the drowning she witnessed, is shown in fragments and never fully contextualized. You understand intellectually that she is traumatized. You don't feel the weight of it. In the book, the combination of the break-in, the sleep deprivation, the medication, and the drinking all work together to make Lo's credibility genuinely wobble. In the film she seems more like someone who is having a bad week than someone whose mental state has given everyone around her legitimate reason for pause. That matters, because the whole story depends on that doubt.

The cast mostly works. Keira Knightley looks exhausted and stressed in exactly the right way, which is a specific skill. Waddingham is magnetic in the limited screen time she gets. Guy Pearce is efficient at being the kind of dangerous that wears a navy blazer. The problem isn't the performances. It's that the film runs an hour and a half and doesn't quite have enough room for everything it's trying to do.

Our Rating

All three of us landed at half watch, which is the middle bucket on our scale. It's not a bad movie. It moves, it's watchable, and it works fine if you've never read the book. If you have read the book, you'll spend the whole runtime recalibrating for the differences and wondering whether the movie or the novel made the better call on any given choice.

The job change was the right call. The trauma backstory needed more room. Ben's arc lands. The ending is cleaner than the book's. The cast is good. The hour and a half wasn't quite enough.

Book or movie?

Read the book. If you have to choose one, it's the book. The movie is a fine Saturday afternoon watch, but it doesn't replace the claustrophobia of being stuck in Lo's head for three hundred pages on open water with no way out.

If you liked the Netflix version:

• The Woman in the Window (Netflix)
• Rebecca (Netflix, 2020)
• The Girl on the Train (2016)
• Gone Girl (2014)
• Behind Her Eyes (Netflix)

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Missed part one? The book episode is up now. Find us everywhere at linktr.ee/chapteronesceneone.

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The Woman in Cabin 10: She Knows What She Saw. Nobody Else Does.

Locked-room mysteries live or die on one question: do you trust the person telling the story? Ruth Ware builds her entire novel around making that question as hard as possible to answer.

The Woman in Cabin 10 follows Lo Blacklock, a travel journalist who lands a coveted spot on the maiden voyage of the Aurora Borealis, an ultra-exclusive yacht with only ten cabins cutting through the Norwegian fjords. She's there to network, write something worth reading, and maybe finally get her career unstuck. What she gets instead is a scream, a splash, and a smear of what looks like blood on the glass of the cabin next to hers.

The problem is that cabin is empty. According to the crew, it has always been empty. Nobody is missing. Nobody was ever there. And Lo? She's running on almost no sleep, she's been drinking, she's on anxiety medication, and she had a traumatic break-in at her apartment just days before boarding. Every circumstance is stacked against her credibility, and the people around her are not subtle about using that against her.

What follows is a tight, claustrophobic thriller where the real tension isn't what happened in Cabin 10 but whether anyone will ever believe Lo long enough to find out. Ware is deliberate about piling on the reasons to doubt her protagonist, and she's equally deliberate about making you furious on Lo's behalf anyway. The isolation of open water does a lot of heavy lifting here. There is nowhere to go. There is no one to call. Lo's emails stop going through. The yacht keeps moving.

Ruth Ware writes under a pseudonym and has built a reputation for exactly this kind of closed-room suspense. She's been compared to Agatha Christie, and after this one, we understand why. Her instinct is to trap her characters somewhere inescapable and then start removing every tool they thought they had. The Woman in Cabin 10 was published in 2016 alongside a wave of similar thrillers, but it holds up. The atmosphere is specific, the setting does real work, and the unreliable narrator here has actual reasons to be unreliable rather than just being conveniently forgetful.

The book stays entirely in Lo's head, which is both its sharpest weapon and its one real limitation. You feel every hour of her sleep deprivation. You understand exactly why she keeps making choices that look bad from the outside. But the claustrophobia of her perspective means the larger picture only comes into focus slowly, and the ending moves faster than everything that came before it.

We had a genuinely good discussion on this one. The unreliable narrator device lands differently depending on how much patience you have for it, and we do not all have the same amount. We also got into whether Lo's mental health history made her less credible or just more vulnerable, and whether the story would have played out the same way if the character at the center of it were a man. That conversation got interesting.

Trigger warnings: anxiety and anxiety medication, alcohol use, home break-in, violence.

Who should read it:

• If locked-room mysteries are already your thing and you want one that earns the setting
• If you like a narrator you have to work to trust
• If atmospheric, slow-build tension is more satisfying to you than action
• If you want something that will make you deeply paranoid about cruise ships

Who should skip it:

• If you need a tidy resolution and full closure
• If unreliable narrators frustrate rather than hook you
• If you want multiple perspectives

Podcast Episode

This week on Chapter One Scene One, we break down the book in full, including whether the evidence Lo has is actually evidence, what Ben's deal is, and the question we asked our listeners: if you were another passenger on that yacht, would you have believed her? We have a collective answer. It might surprise you.

The book episode is up now. Find us on your favorite podcast app or at linktr.ee/chapteronesceneone. Next week: the movie, which makes some choices.

If you liked The Woman in Cabin 10 and want more:

• One by One by Ruth Ware
• In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
• The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware
• The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
• Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris
• The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

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Enemies to Lovers Movies That Actually Deliver

If you've spent any time in the romance reading community, you know enemies to lovers is the genre's crown jewel. The tension. The banter. The moment they finally stop pretending they hate each other. It's a formula that works, and the good news is, it translates to film just as well as it does on the page.

We put together six movies that scratch that itch, ranging from classic rom-coms to underseen gems. Whether you want workplace rivals, competing agendas, or two people who absolutely should not be falling for each other, this list has you covered.

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The Hating Game (2021)

She hates him. He hates her. The office has never been more interesting.

Lucy and Josh share an office, a rivalry, and approximately zero interest in being civil to each other. Or so they'd both like to believe. The Hating Game is based on Sally Thorne's beloved novel, and it's one of the rare book-to-screen adaptations that actually lands the tension. Lucy Hale and Austin Stowell have real chemistry, and the slow build pays off. If you loved the book, you'll find a lot to enjoy here. If you haven't read it yet, this movie might push you to fix that.

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How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)

She's trying to get dumped. He's trying to keep her. Neither is being honest.

Two people with competing hidden agendas fall for each other anyway. Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey are the platonic ideal of early-2000s rom-com casting, and the mutual manipulation angle gives this one more edge than your average meet-cute. It's funny, it's a little chaotic, and the moment everything unravels is genuinely satisfying.

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Two Weeks Notice (2002)

She works for him. She hates him. She's definitely not going to miss him.

Sandra Bullock plays a principled lawyer who takes a job with a billionaire developer she finds insufferable, then spends the next two weeks trying to quit. Hugh Grant does his Hugh Grant thing, and the dynamic works because she's the one with all the conviction and he's the one who slowly realizes he actually needs her. Not just professionally.

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The Proposal (2009)

She needed a visa. He needed leverage. Nobody planned on feelings.

Sandra Bullock again, this time as a demanding boss who ropes her assistant into a fake engagement to avoid deportation. Ryan Reynolds brings the barely-contained resentment that the setup requires, and the family trip to Alaska forces them into actually knowing each other. It's charming, the comedic timing is sharp, and it holds up better than a lot of its contemporaries.

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The Ugly Truth (2009)

She produces the show. He is the show. This is going to be a problem.

Katherine Heigl plays a buttoned-up morning show producer who gets saddled with a crude, contrarian on-air personality played by Gerard Butler. He's insufferable. She's uptight. They are, predictably, going to fall in love. The Ugly Truth leans hard into the conflict and doesn't apologize for it. It's not trying to be subtle, and it doesn't need to be.

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Morning Glory (2010)

She's trying to save the show. He's trying to tank it. Guess who wins.

Rachel McAdams plays a determined producer tasked with reviving a failing morning news program. Harrison Ford plays the legendary journalist she recruits, who has exactly no interest in doing the job. The enemies-to-lovers element here is less romantic and more of a professional grudge match, which makes it a slightly different flavor than the rest of this list. It's underseen and worth your time.

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You've Got Mail (1998)

Business rivals by day. Anonymous pen pals by night. One of them is lying.

The gold standard. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan play bookstore competitors who despise each other in person and fall in love over email without realizing they're talking to the same person. It's cozy and warm and also a little morally complicated if you think too hard about the power imbalance. Don't think too hard about it. Just watch it.

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Down With Love (2003)

She wrote the book on not needing men. He's going to prove her wrong.

A love letter to 1960s Doris Day comedies, starring Renee Zellweger as a feminist author and Ewan McGregor as the journalist determined to expose her as a fraud. The whole film is a stylish, self-aware wink at the genre's conventions, and it has one of the best third-act twists in rom-com history. If you haven't seen it, clear your Saturday.

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Follow us at @chapteronesceneone for more book and adaptation content.

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The Hating Game - Shortcake gets her Man

We're back with part two of The Hating Game, and this time we're leaving the book behind and heading to the screen. If you missed part one where we talked about Sally Thorne's novel, go back two weeks and start there. This week we're talking about the 2021 Netflix adaptation, and we have thoughts.

The Cast

The movie stars Lucy Hale as Lucy Hutton, Austin Stowell as Joshua Templeman, Corbin Bernsen as Mr. Bexley, and Sakina Jaffrey as Helen. The casting conversation alone could be its own episode. Laura had always pictured Selena Gomez in the role, and it's honestly not a bad call. The two have a similar energy and look, and either would have worked. Lucy Hale is good, but if you grew up watching Pretty Little Liars it takes a minute to fully shake that association.

As for Austin Stowell as Josh? He's fine. He's just not quite what any of us had pictured. He does look good in blue though, which matters more than you'd think if you listened to our book episode.

What the Movie Gets Right

The adaptation is more faithful than we expected. The core story is intact, the key scenes are there, and the office setup is actually an improvement over what the book describes. Cozier, warmer, more believable as a place two people would slowly fall for each other while pretending they hate each other. The tension between Lucy and Josh translates reasonably well to screen, and there are moments that are genuinely fun to watch, especially if you've already read the book and know what's coming.

What the Movie Loses

Here's the honest problem: so much of what makes the book work lives inside Lucy's head. Her internal monologue, the way she analyzes everything, the slow accumulation of feelings she refuses to name. That's nearly impossible to translate to screen, and the movie doesn't fully crack it. You can see the tension but you can't quite feel the weight of it the way the book lets you.

The pacing is the other issue. Things move fast. The emotional buildup that the book takes its time with gets compressed significantly, and that compression costs you some of the investment in the characters. The supporting cast also gets a lot less development, which if you loved certain characters from the book, you'll notice.

Our Rating

We use popcorn buckets. We didn't fully agree, which honestly tracks for us.

Laura landed at 2.5 buckets. Katya split the difference between the adaptation quality and the story itself. Michelle gave it a 4 because she holds romcoms to romcom standards, which is the correct way to rate a romcom.

The consensus: it's a great airplane movie. It's a great holiday movie since it's set at Christmas. It's better than a Hallmark movie, it has real conflict and genuine chemistry, but it's not going to surprise you. If you've read the book you'll have fun with it. If you haven't, it still works on its own, you'll just be missing some of Lucy's best material.

It's on Netflix. You already have a subscription. You know what to do.

If You Liked The Hating Game, Try:

Anyone But You 

My Best Friend's Wedding 

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry and on Netflix (Stay tuned for a future episode)

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Missed part one? Listen to our book episode. Find us everywhere at linktr.ee/chapteronesceneone. Back next week with whatever book and screen combo we land on next.

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We Hate You (But Make It Romantic): Our Enemies to Lovers Book Recs

Let's be honest: enemies to lovers is the trope that has no business working as well as it does. The tension, the bickering, the slow burn realization that the person you can't stand is somehow the person you can't stop thinking about? Perfection. We rounded up some of our favorite enemies-to-lovers reads across a range of settings — because whether your enemies are competing for a job title or neighboring bookstore shelves, the formula hits every single time.

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

Lucy & Joshua | Publishing Industry

Same job title. Opposite everything else. Zero chill. Lucy and Joshua share a desk and a mutual hatred that somehow becomes the most charged will-they-won't-they in romance history. If you haven't read this one yet, fix that immediately.

Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady

Nora & Eli | Booksellers

Competing bookstores. Neighboring shelves. One of them has to lose. This one is for everyone who has ever dreamed about owning a bookstore (hi, same) and also wants to watch two stubborn people fall for each other against their better judgment.

The Long Game by Elena Armas

Lina & Cameron | Soccer Industry

Reluctant teammates. Forced proximity. She's going to need a bigger white flag. Elena Armas does forced togetherness better than almost anyone, and this one is no exception. The tension is exhausting in the best possible way.

The Marriage Game by Sara Desai

Layla & Sam | Business/Law

Shared office space. Clashing ambitions. This was never supposed to get complicated. Layla and Sam are stuck sharing a space and making each other absolutely miserable — until they aren't. This book delivers on the slow burn without dragging it out forever.

The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Shay & Dominic | Radio Industry

Coworkers. Fake exes. Real feelings they did not plan for. This one has the added layer of a fake relationship premise, which means the enemies-to-lovers slow burn gets to overlap with all the delicious complications of pretending to be something you're not.

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Nora & Charlie | Publishing Industry

Two publishing enemies. Same small town. No escape route. Emily Henry flips the small-town romance trope on its head and gives us two Type A overachievers who are clearly meant for each other and fighting it the entire time.

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Beth & Lincoln | Media/Journalism

He reads her emails. She doesn't know. This is going to be a problem. Technically this one is more of a slow-burn love story than a straight enemies-to-lovers, but Lincoln's internal conflict as he falls for someone through their words alone is its own kind of tension. A classic Rowell gut punch.

The Honey-Don't List by Christina Lauren

Meg & James | Home Renovation Show

Two assistants. One imploding boss couple. Nowhere to hide. Meg and James are stuck managing a crumbling TV marriage while trying to ignore whatever is developing between them. Christina Lauren delivers the chaos with their usual sharp wit.

Which of these have you read? Drop your ranking in the comments, and let us know what enemies-to-lovers titles you think we missed. We are always accepting recommendations and will absolutely judge you if you haven't read The Hating Game yet.

Follow us for more content @chapteronesceneone

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The Hating Game by Sally Thorne: Three Stars, One Black Dress, and a Lot of Feelings

Enemies-to-lovers is one of the most reliable setups in romance, but it only works when both people are fighting something real. Sally Thorne's debut novel gets that right. Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman are executive assistants to the co-CEOs of Bexley & Gamin Publishing, a freshly merged company where two very different work cultures are forced to share one gleaming chrome-and-glass office. Lucy is sunshine and vintage dresses. Josh is color-coded shirts and judgmental eyebrows. Neither of them smiles at the other. One of them takes it personally.

That's the whole game, really. Lucy decides on day one that Josh is her enemy, largely because he didn't smile back when she introduced herself. What follows is a series of escalating psychological warfare rituals: the staring game, the mirror game, the HR game, competitive coffee break timing. Jeanette from HR is earning every cent of her paycheck. When both of them are up for the same promotion and one of them will have to either report to the winner or quit, the stakes get personal fast.

What makes this work is the banter. Thorne writes dialogue that actually crackles. Josh tells Lucy her apartment smells like cat food. Lucy tells Josh his uncle Satan must not have had anything available in her price range. The insults are specific and funny, and underneath them you can feel two people who are paying very close attention to each other.

The deeper story is about two lonely people who have organized their lives around work because they don't have much else. Lucy has her Smurf collection, her strawberry farmer parents, and one friend who got laid off. Josh has his color-coded shirts, a family of surgeons who view his career as a personal failure, and complicated history that surfaces at his brother's wedding. When they're forced to be vulnerable with each other, the tension shifts from funny to genuinely affecting.

The book stays in Lucy's head the entire time, which is both its biggest strength and its most frustrating limitation. You're fully inside her voice, her humor, her spiral of denial. But Josh is so opaque for so long that the payoff requires some patience. His mom knew about Lucy from day one. He'd been quietly reading her mother's strawberry blog. He sent the roses. The details are sweet, but you have to piece them together from the outside.

The book closes at a turning point rather than a full resolution. You know where their hearts are, but some loose ends stay loose. Readers who want a tidy wrap-up may find it abrupt. Readers who are fine sitting with the feeling will probably love it.

Who should read it:

• If you want slow burn tension that actually pays off
• If sharp, funny dialogue is your main criteria for a good romance
• If you like your book boyfriend difficult but secretly devoted

Who should skip it:

• If you need a dual perspective to stay invested
• If the grumpy/sunshine dynamic isn't your thing
• If you want more than two fleshed-out characters

Podcast Episode

In this episode we're talking about whether the enemies-to-lovers formula actually earned it here, Josh's shirt rotation schedule, the black dress scene, and why none of us could picture that chrome-and-glass office. Did the book stick the landing? Does Katya, a self-described enemies-to-lovers skeptic, buy it? What would Josh's POV have looked like? We have opinions.

The Hating Game book episode is up now on your favorite podcast app. Links in the sidebar or find all our platforms here: https://linktr.ee/chapteronesceneone. Come back next week when we talk about the 2021 movie starring Lucy Hale and Austin Stowell.

If you liked The Hating Game and want more:

• Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren 
• The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren 
• Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin 
• Beach Read by Emily Henry 
• People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry 
• The Roommate by Rosie Danan 
• One Day in December by Josie Silver 

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Your Pride & Prejudice Homework Before the Netflix Miniseries Drops

A new Pride & Prejudice is coming, and this one has absolutely no business being as stacked as it is. Netflix is releasing a six-part miniseries written by Dolly Alderton and directed by Euros Lyn, with Emma Corrin as Lizzy, Jack Lowden as Darcy, and Olivia Colman as Mrs. Bennet. No release date yet but production wrapped in the UK, so 2026 is happening whether you're ready or not.

On the podcast we talked about all of this, and we also realized that a new adaptation is the perfect excuse to do your homework. Whether you've seen all of these or none of them, here's every P&P adaptation worth watching before Netflix has its turn.

1995 BBC Miniseries

Start here. Six episodes, Colin Firth, the wet shirt, Jennifer Ehle being the sharpest Lizzy ever put on screen. It's the most faithful adaptation and the one every other version gets measured against. If you haven't seen it, clear your weekend.

2005 Film

The 1995 miniseries has the better Lizzy, but the 2005 film has the better Darcy. Matthew Macfadyen plays him as genuinely socially awkward rather than just cold, and the cinematography makes it one of the most beautiful versions to exist. The rain proposal and the hand flex have been living rent-free in people's heads for twenty years for a reason.

Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)

Helen Fielding wrote Bridget Jones as an explicit P&P retelling, and then the movie had the audacity to cast Colin Firth as the Darcy analog, making him essentially play Mr. Darcy playing Mr. Darcy. It holds up completely and proves this story works in literally any setting.

Austenland (2013)

Keri Russell plays an Austen superfan who spends her savings on a Regency theme resort to find her own Darcy. It is deeply cheesy and commits entirely to that bit. Watch it in the right headspace and you'll have a great time.

Pride & Prejudice + Zombies (2016)

This should not work, and yet. The Bennet sisters are zombie-slaying martial arts experts and the movie is still surprisingly faithful to the source material. Lizzy is still sharp, Darcy is still insufferable, and the zombies are almost incidental. Weirdly worth your time.

Death Comes to Pemberley (2013)

P.D. James wrote a murder mystery sequel to P&P, someone turned it into a miniseries, and Matthew Rhys plays Darcy. It's darker than your typical Austen content and raises real questions about what life at Pemberley actually looked like after the happily ever after. A different vibe, but a good one.

Lost in Austen (2008)

A modern woman accidentally swaps places with Elizabeth Bennet, ruins the entire plot, and then desperately tries to fix it. Meta, funny, and completely self-aware. One of the more creative takes on the source material and worth watching for the concept alone.

Pride & Prejudice: A Latter-Day Comedy (2003)

P&P transplanted to BYU campus with Mormon college students. Low budget, high commitment, and genuinely charming if you meet it where it is.

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The Netflix version has a cast that could genuinely compete with 1995 for the title of best adaptation, and we'll be covering it on the podcast the second it drops. In the meantime, get caught up.

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Our Adaptation Watchlist: Book to Screen Picks We Can't Wait to See

 

Whether you're a book nerd like us or just someone who appreciates a good story, there's nothing quite like the anticipation of seeing your favorite novel come to life on screen. We've rounded up the adaptations each of us is most excited about. Check out our lists and let us know which ones you'll be watching too.

Laura's List

Rose Hill Series by Elsie Silver
Amazon MGM Studios | Release TBD | TV Series

Elsie Silver's steamy small-town romance series is coming to the small screen. The Rose Hill books follow four single dads finding love in a fictional Rocky Mountain town. The first book, Wild Love, centers on billionaire Ford Grant, who's trying to escape the press and open a recording studio when he's hit with sudden fatherhood and an attraction to his best friend's younger sister, Rosie Belmont. Amazon MGM Studios announced the development in June 2025, with Silver serving as executive producer alongside Temple Hill's Wyck Godfrey, Marty Bowen, and James Seidman. No writer is attached yet, which means we're still a ways out from seeing this one hit our screens, but the producers behind Twilight are involved, so expectations are high.

The Women by Kristin Hannah
Warner Bros. | Release TBD | Film

Kristin Hannah's historical novel about nurses who served during the Vietnam War is getting the big-screen treatment. The Women follows Frances "Frankie" McGrath, a young nurse who joins the Army Nurse Corps in the 1960s and faces the chaos of war alongside her fellow nurses. The book explores both the wartime experiences and the difficult homecoming these women faced. Warner Bros. acquired the rights in January 2024, before the book was even published, with Cate Adams and Diamond McNeil overseeing the adaptation. No casting has been announced yet, but given the novel's success, this one's attracting serious attention.

Long Bright River by Liz Moore
Peacock | Released March 13, 2025 | 8 Episodes

If you haven't already binged this one, Long Bright River premiered on Peacock in 2025. The series stars Amanda Seyfried as Mickey Fitzpatrick, a Philadelphia patrol cop working in Kensington, a neighborhood devastated by the opioid crisis. When a series of murders hits her beat, Mickey realizes her search for her missing sister Kacey might be connected to the killings. The eight-episode limited series also stars Nicholas Pinnock, Ashleigh Cummings, and Callum Vinson. Showrunner Nikki Toscano adapted Liz Moore's novel, which weaves together a murder mystery with a powerful story about two sisters, addiction, and a community in crisis. Worth the watch.

Katya's List

Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games) by Suzanne Collins
Lionsgate | Release November 20, 2026 | Film

Sunrise on the Reaping takes us back to the 50th Hunger Games, the Second Quarter Quell, where a young Haymitch Abernathy is reaped as tribute. The book and film were announced simultaneously in June 2024, a first for the franchise. Joseph Zada plays young Haymitch, with an absolutely stacked cast including Jesse Plemons as a young Plutarch Heavensbee, Ralph Fiennes as President Snow, Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket, Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman, Glenn Close, and more. Director Francis Lawrence returns, and the teaser dropped in November 2025. Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are reportedly reprising their roles as Katniss and Peeta in what's likely a flash-forward sequence. November 2026 can't come soon enough.

Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
Apple TV+ | Release April 15, 2026 | 8 Episodes

Margo's Got Money Troubles follows Margo Millet, a 20-year-old college dropout who gets pregnant by her English professor and turns to OnlyFans to make ends meet. When her estranged father, a former pro wrestler, shows up wanting to move in, she accepts for the childcare help and starts incorporating his wrestling advice into her online persona. Elle Fanning stars as Margo, with Michelle Pfeiffer as her mother, Nick Offerman as her dad, and Nicole Kidman in a supporting role. David E. Kelley serves as showrunner, and the series is produced by A24. The first three episodes drop April 15, 2026, with new episodes weekly through May 20. 

Murder is Easy by Agatha Christie
BritBox | Released 2023 | 2 Episodes

Agatha Christie's 1939 novel got a fresh adaptation from Mammoth Screen and the BBC. The two-part series aired on BBC One in December 2023 and is available on BritBox. The story follows Luke Fitzwilliam (David Jonsson), who meets Miss Pinkerton (Penelope Wilton) on a train to London. She tells him about a series of suspicious deaths in the village of Wychwood-under-Ashe that everyone thinks are accidents. When Miss Pinkerton turns up dead on her way to Scotland Yard, Fitzwilliam heads to the village to investigate. The cast includes Morfydd Clark, Tom Riley, Douglas Henshall, and Mathew Baynton. This adaptation updated Christie's story with some modern sensibilities while keeping the classic mystery intact.

Michelle's List

The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine
Netflix | Release TBD | Film

This psychological thriller has been in development for a while, but things are finally moving forward. The Last Mrs. Parrish follows a con woman who sets her sights on the beautiful, wealthy Parrish couple, planning to insinuate herself into their lives and become the next Mrs. Parrish. But the wife's life turns out to be far more complicated than she imagined. Netflix acquired the rights in 2021 (after Amazon's earlier attempt fell through), and in April 2025, Jennifer Lopez signed on to star with Robert Zemeckis directing. Filming began in September 2025 in New Jersey and New York City. The cast also includes Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Isabel May, Pierson Fodé, Debi Mazar, and Denis O'Hare. No release date yet, but with Zemeckis and Lopez attached, this one's generating serious heat.

The Astral Library by Kate Quinn
New Book Release | She Wishes!!

Okay, this one isn't actually in development for adaptation yet (as far as we know), but Michelle is hoping someone picks it up. Kate Quinn's first foray into magical realism releases February 17, 2026. The Astral Library follows Alexandria "Alix" Watson, who discovers a hidden library in the Boston Public Library where people can literally escape into their favorite books. Working with the acerbic Librarian, Alix learns she can step into the worlds of Jane Austen, Sherlock Holmes, and The Great Gatsby. But a shadowy enemy threatens the library and everyone it protects. The concept alone has us imagining what a screen adaptation could look like. Come on, Hollywood. Make it happen.

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Netflix | Release May 8, 2026 | Film

The book everyone called "that octopus book" is hitting Netflix in May 2026. Remarkably Bright Creatures tells the story of Tova Sullivan, a 70-year-old widow working the night shift at an aquarium, who forms an unlikely friendship with Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus. Together (yes, the octopus has inner monologue chapters), they uncover secrets about Tova's son, who disappeared decades ago. Sally Field plays Tova, with Lewis Pullman co-starring. The cast also includes Colm Meaney, Joan Chen, Kathy Baker, and Beth Grant. Olivia Newman, who directed Where the Crawdads Sing, helms the adaptation. Filming wrapped in May 2025, and Netflix confirmed the PG-13 rating and May 8, 2026 release date in January. This one spent 64 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and we can't wait to see Marcellus brought to life on screen.

What adaptations are you most excited about? Let us know if any of these are on your watchlist too.

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Romance Movie Recommendations

Since today is Valentine's Day we polled our friends for romance movies they would recommend. And because we have a podcast and a blog we are sharing them with the world. This list includes love triangles in wartime, small-town secrets, competing bookstores, obsessive vampire energy, and John Travolta at his peak swagger. Good luck and Happy Watching!!

Pearl Harbor

• Love triangle angst with letters across distance
• Best friends, one girl, impossible choice tension
• War torn heartbreak
• The kind of movie that makes you question who you're actually rooting for
• Features the classic "which guy deserves her more" dilemma that dominated early 2000s romance

Sweet Home Alabama

• Reese, Josh, Patrick chemistry in peak form
• Secret marriage drama with the iconic "You have a baby... in a bar" confrontation
• She liked the small town charm and young love nostalgia
• The ultimate "city girl goes home and remembers who she really is" story
• Delivers both rom-com sweetness and actual emotional stakes

You've Got Mail

• Enemies to lovers with competing bookstores
• Fall NYC vibes that make you want to live in the Upper West Side
• Anonymous email tension before catfishing was a concern
• "Don't cry, Shopgirl" remains one of the most devastating lines in rom-com history
• She wants to own a bookstore, and this movie is why

Twilight

• Obsessive vampire energy that defined a generation
• Rainy Pacific Northwest atmosphere
• Dangerous first love with actual danger
• Pure nostalgia for anyone who was a teenager when it came out
• Takes her back to when she was younger and thought this level of intensity was romantic (it still kind of is)

Grease

• Summer romance nostalgia with musical numbers
• Sandy's transformation arc that's still controversial
• "You're the One That I Want" is an all-timer
• Bad boy redemption story that set the template
• She has a thing for Travolta at his best, and honestly, fair

Urban Cowboy

• Mechanical bull tension that's somehow incredibly sexy
• Jealousy-fueled drama in a honky-tonk setting
• Small-town Texas heartbreak with a country soundtrack
• She likes the Travolta swagger (see a pattern here?)
• The kind of movie where the bar is basically another character

Crazy Rich Asians

• Singapore socialites and the family approval gauntlet from hell
• Mother-in-law nightmare scenario played out in couture
• Outsider finding home while staying true to herself
• Gorgeous cinematography that makes you want to book a flight immediately
• Proves rom-coms can be both visually stunning and emotionally satisfying

Crazy, Stupid, Love

• Midlife romantic reinvention with a playboy mentorship program
• Interconnected love stories that actually all work
• Divorce to swagger transformation arc
• Ryan Gosling's "seriously, it's like you're Photoshopped" abs
• The twist in the third act that makes you want to rewatch immediately

Pride & Prejudice (2005)

• Regency era romance with class-defying courtship
• Enemies to lovers built on misunderstanding and pride
• Witty banter battle between two people who are obviously perfect for each other
• Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen have chemistry that could power a small city
• The hand flex scene lives rent-free in romance lovers' minds

Isn't It Romantic

• Rom-com becomes reality in the most meta way possible
• Self-love awakening wrapped in a cynical architect's nightmare
• Fourth wall romance that both celebrates and skewers the genre
• Escaping fantasy hell to find real connection
• Perfect for people who claim they don't like rom-coms but absolutely do

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