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If you’re looking for your next great read, the inspiration might just come from your television. Many famous shows started as books. In fact, many of the best ones did. “I noticed that shows based off a novel seem to be really well written & interesting,” wrote one Reddit user. Perhaps that’s because an author took enormous care developing the characters, crafting the plot twists, and building the story’s world before anyone ever even though of committing it to film. Despite that, plenty of shows take initial inspiration from a book, then make the concept their own. Sometimes that means carrying on beyond the end of a novel’s narrative or taking characters in a totally different direction.
But while plenty of readers are getting ideas for their to-be-read pile from TV, people remain split about whether it’s better to always read the book first. While many prefer to experience the book without the images from a screen shaping their imagination, others think there are advantages to reversing the order. “I’ve come to prefer seeing the movie first. Then I’m not constantly bothered by what’s missing or changed,” wrote one Reddit user. “And afterwards I can read the book and get a more full experience of the story.”
Gossip Girl was originally a frothy YA series
<img src="https://comicvibe.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/gossip-girl-was-originally-a-frothy-ya-series-1785775953.jpg” alt=’The cover of the book “Gossip Girl”‘>
Long before “Gossip Girl” was scandalizing parents as a CW drama, it was a series of YA novels created by author Cecily von Ziegesar. These short, compulsively readable books follow a group of prep school students who are living it large on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The show quickly deviated from its source material, but the books — which largely center on a series-long love triangle between Blair, Serena, and Nate — served up plenty of drama in their own right. In fact, for all of the show’s camp, the books contain a scathing, gleeful self-awareness — so much so that acclaimed author Janet Malcolm penned a rave review of the series for The New Yorker. “The books are essentially a satire, so they’re poking fun at the elite to an extent — the show, especially as it goes on, doesn’t feel like it’s doing that,” wrote one Reddit user.
The series kicked off in 2002 with the publication of the inaugural installment, “Gossip Girl,” and includes an additional 12 books, as well as various spinoffs. Though they’re ostensibly written for a young audience, the wryness of these books make them a fun read for adults, too. “This book has definitely stood the test of time. The writing is just as smart as it was when I first read it when I was 12,” wrote one Goodreads reviewer. “Nearly 20 years later and this book is still better than any YA contemporary being published now. And that’s the tea.” Another Goodreads user simply wrote, “Addictive.”
The Handmaid’s Tale started as a horrifying speculative novel
The 2017 Hulu series “The Handmaid’s Tale” drew inspiration from Margaret Atwood’s 1985 book of the same name. In fact, the first season of the series quite closely follows the original text, before expanding beyond its dystopian premise. Set in the future, Atwood envisioned a country where plunging birth rates spark a reactionary movement that undoes centuries of women’s rights progress. Formerly independent women are stripped of their work, property, and even their names, and directed to focus their attention on conceiving and bearing children.
Fans are still undecided whether the show lives up to the originalng to read,” wrote one Reddit user. “I’m sad that people are missing out on that by watching the show first.” Other fans feels the show is a wonderful addition to the richness of the novel. “The book is very good, and the show satisfies my hunger for more detail about Atwood’s universe,” wrote one Reddit user
Still, if the television series is horrifying, that’s a tribute to Atwood’s haunting writing, which has transcended to the status of modern classic. “I’ve been moved by books in the past, many times, but I’ve never before read a book that has emotionally drained me to such a degree,” wrote one Goodreads reviewer. “This is frightening and powerful.” Like the best dystopian fiction, “The Handmaid’s Tale” might be set in a world far away, but it poses questions about the world we inhabit right now.
Shrill began as a hilarious memoir
In “Shrill,” the 2019 Hulu series, Annie is a writer, just trying to navigate work and emotionally unavailable men in Portland. The show is equal parts funny and tender as it confronts issues like misogyny and fatphobia. But long before there was Annie, there was Lindy West, the blazingly funny writer behind the 2016 memoir “Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman” that inspired the show. West got her start writing about gender and pop culture for the likes of The Stranger and Jezebel. Still, “Shrill” marked a pivot into the personal for the beloved online writer, and it makes for one of the best memoirs by a non-celebrity with an important story to share.
For anyone who loves the humor or message behind the series, West’s memoir offers more of the same playful tone and empowering message.”The book is a more in-depth look on a fat woman growing some d*** balls and becoming comfortable with sharing her voice,” wrote one Reddit user who discovered the book after falling in love with the series. “It’s a great read for anyone who loves the show.”
After all, the show’s wit and warmth owe much to West’s memorable voice. “Reading this book felt like slipping into the warmest, tightest hug — if that hug cracked fart jokes and shared candidly affirming anecdotes and espoused social justice — feminism, fat liberation, body acceptance, anti-rape activism — in a manner that made you want to pee-your-pants-laugh and roar and rave all at once,” wrote one Goodreads reviewer.
Big Little Lies was inspired by a mystery novel
The HBO series “Big Little Lies” made major waves when it was released in 2017. The series featured a star-studded cast, including Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, and Shailene Woodley, and even brought icon Meryl Streep in for its second season. The plot revolves around a wealthy enclave of women on the California coast, but beneath the elegant veneer of their lives there are dark currents. The adaptation was so successful it paved the way for many of the Reese Witherspoon picks that subsequently made it to the big (and little) screen.
However, despite the popularity of the series, many fans remain adamant that book is even better. “Overall, the book is my favorite book of all time,” wrote one Reddit user. “Almost every detail of the book is done in a superior way to the show.” There’s a reason the sequel novel from Moriaty is among the biggest new release books of August 2026.
The show found a broad audience for how it dealt with delicate issues including domestic violence and infidelity, in part because the original source material — a 2014 novel by Liane Moriarty — handled those themes well. “On the surface, this seems like a story I’ve read a thousand times before. A neighborhood of women keeping secrets … And yet, this was so much more,” wrote one Goodreads reviewer. “There is a sharpness to the writing and the observations that is so searing and spot-on, it could almost feel a little painful if not for the humor.”
Normal People is incredibly faithful to this modern novel
The 2020 Hulu series “Normal People” was based on a 2018 Sally Rooney novel of the same name. The show sticks to the source material, which follows Connell and Marianne as their lives intersect in high school and through college. The show was critically acclaimed, like the book, and despite their close similarities, fans maintain that both are worth checking out. “I feel like they are two equally brilliant but very different animals. The book does a better job of showing the inner workings of the characters,” wrote one Reddit user. “However, I was moved by the show more than the book because Rooney writes in such a sparse way that you could blink and miss some of the more poignant moments.”
After all, as wonderful as the show is, there’s no denying the modern love story owes its subtlety to its literary source. It’s the kind of novel that feels instantly destined for classic status. “[Rooney] conjures the tension and emotion in a scene just from the way someone wrings out a dish sponge; she conveys the full weight of feeling from a look or a shrug,” wrote one Goodreads reviewer. “In Rooney’s imagining, Connell and Marianne as separate entities are less important than the interplay between them.”
