How to Be a Hipster Reader: Part Two
wittysarcasticbookclub Contemporary Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Middle Grade, Mutterings, Nonfiction, On the Edge of Your Seat! Mysteries and thrillers, Sci-fi, Uncategorized January 6, 2021 January 6, 2021
I'm back with another guide to becoming a part of the Book Hipster Collective. If you'd like to read my original post, so that you can say you read it before there was a part two, you can find it here.
As previously determined, while skinny jeans and Buddy Holly glasses are a plus, the real definition of a "book hipster" is a reader who has read the book before it was a movie/show. So, here I am to help you with that worthy goal! I've gathered a list of books that are going to be movies or TV shows before too much longer, so that you can read them now. Due to… *gestures at everything*…release dates are very much up in the air. Still, it's a good time to get started.
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot: Despite not being my usual fare, I loved this book. It's the gentle sort of wonderful that is always timely. This has become a PBS show which is already on the air, so now is the time to read this book.
For over forty years, generations of readers have thrilled to Herriot's marvelous tales, deep love of life, and extraordinary storytelling abilities. For decades, Herriot roamed the remote, beautiful Yorkshire Dales, treating every patient that came his way from smallest to largest, and observing animals and humans alike with his keen, loving eye.
In All Creatures Great and Small, we meet the young Herriot as he takes up his calling and discovers that the realities of veterinary practice in rural Yorkshire are very different from the sterile setting of veterinary school. Some visits are heart-wrenchingly difficult, such as one to an old man in the village whose very ill dog is his only friend and companion, some are lighthearted and fun, such as Herriot's periodic visits to the overfed and pampered Pekinese Tricki Woo who throws parties and has his own stationery, and yet others are inspirational and enlightening, such as Herriot's recollections of poor farmers who will scrape their meager earnings together to be able to get proper care for their working animals. From seeing to his patients in the depths of winter on the remotest homesteads to dealing with uncooperative owners and critically ill animals, Herriot discovers the wondrous variety and never-ending challenges of veterinary practice as his humor, compassion, and love of the animal world shine forth. (taken from Goodreads)
Dune by Frank Herbert: There's been a lot of excitement over the upcoming movie adaptation, which has been pushed back a little. Still, it's on the horizon, and this is one of those books that sci-fi fans really should read anyway.
Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, heir to a noble family tasked with ruling an inhospitable world where the only thing of value is the "spice" melange, a drug capable of extending life and enhancing consciousness. Coveted across the known universe, melange is a prize worth killing for…
When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul's family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined. And as he evolves into the mysterious man known as Muad'Dib, he will bring to fruition humankind's most ancient and unattainable dream. (taken from Goodreads)
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton: First of all, it should be noted that, here in the U.S., the title is actually The Seven and a Half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. The slight name difference never ceases to amuse me. Whatever name it goes by, this is a fantastic novel!
Aiden Bishop knows the rules. Evelyn Hardcastle will die every day until he can identify her killer and break the cycle. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes up in the body of a different guest at Blackheath Manor. And some of his hosts are more helpful than others. With a locked room mystery that Agatha Christie would envy, Stuart Turton unfurls a breakneck novel of intrigue and suspense.
For fans of Claire North, and Kate Atkinson, The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a breathlessly addictive mystery that follows one man's race against time to find a killer, with an astonishing time-turning twist that means nothing and no one are quite what they seem. (taken from Goodreads)
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams: This is not a drill, folks! Douglas Adams' hilariously bizarre book is once again being adapted, this time into a HULU series. If you didn't read the book before watching the 2005 movie, you can save your book hipster cred by reading it before checking out the show.
Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have") and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox—the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod's girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years. (taken from Goodreads)
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid: I'm tentatively excited about this upcoming movie. I say tentatively because I loved the book so much that I'm afraid no adaptation will do it justice. Sigh. Such is the burden of a book hipster.
A gripping novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous break up.
Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six, but nobody knows the real reason why they split at the absolute height of their popularity…until now.
Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go-Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it's the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she's twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.
Another band getting noticed is The Six, led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she's pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.
Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend. (taken from Goodreads)
The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood and Co. #1) by Jonathan Stroud: There is going to be a Netflix series based on the Lockwood and Co. series. If it's anything like the books, it's going to be a lot of fun.
A sinister Problem has occurred in London: all nature of ghosts, haunts, spirits, and specters are appearing throughout the city, and they aren't exactly friendly. Only young people have the psychic abilities required to see-and eradicate-these supernatural foes. Many different Psychic Detection Agencies have cropped up to handle the dangerous work, and they are in fierce competition for business.
In The Screaming Staircase, the plucky and talented Lucy Carlyle teams up with Anthony Lockwood, the charismatic leader of Lockwood & Co, a small agency that runs independent of any adult supervision. After an assignment leads to both a grisly discovery and a disastrous end, Lucy, Anthony, and their sarcastic colleague, George, are forced to take part in the perilous investigation of Combe Carey Hall, one of the most haunted houses in England. Will Lockwood & Co. survive the Hall's legendary Screaming Staircase and Red Room to see another day? (taken from Amazon)
The Beast and the Bethany by Jack Meggitt-Phillips: It's still early days for this one, but it looks like Warner Bros. has picked up the film rights for this delightful book. I devoured this one. Join me, fellow book hipsters, in reading this before it becomes a movie!
Beauty comes at a price. And no one knows that better than Ebenezer Tweezer, who has stayed beautiful for 511 years. How, you may wonder? Ebenezer simply has to feed the beast in the attic of his mansion. In return for meals of performing monkeys, statues of Winston Churchill, and the occasional cactus, Ebenezer gets potions that keep him young and beautiful, as well as other presents.
But the beast grows ever greedier with each meal, and one day he announces that he'd like to eat a nice, juicy child next. Ebenezer has never done anything quite this terrible to hold onto his wonderful life. Still, he finds the absolutely snottiest, naughtiest, and most frankly unpleasant child he can and prepares to feed her to the beast.
The child, Bethany, may just be more than Ebenezer bargained for. She's certainly a really rather rude houseguest, but Ebenezer still finds himself wishing she didn't have to be gobbled up after all. Could it be Bethany is less meal-worthy and more…friend-worthy? (taken from Amazon)
What say you, Reader? Are you a book hipster? Do you plan to read any of these books before they get the adaptation treatment?
As always, you can find most of these titles on Bookshop.org, which supports local bookstores (I also get a small kickback, if you use the above link).
"All Creatures Great and Small (TV Series 2020– ) – IMDb." Www.Imdb.com, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt10590066/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1. Accessed 6 Jan. 2021.
Kroll, Justin, and Justin Kroll. "Warner Bros. Acquires Rights to 'Beast and Bethany' for 'Harry Potter' Producer David Heyman (EXCLUSIVE)." Variety, 13 Mar. 2020, variety.com/2020/film/news/beast-and-bethany-movie-warner-bros-david-heyman-1203533521/. Accessed 6 Jan. 2021.
Ravindran, Manori, and Manori Ravindran. "Netflix Unveils New U.K. Projects With Sam Mendes, Rowan Atkinson, Andy Serkis." Variety, 13 Dec. 2020, variety.com/2020/tv/global/netflix-uk-original-series-slate-1234852613/. Accessed 6 Jan. 2021.
Villeneuve, Denis, et al. "Dune." IMDb, 29 Sept. 2021, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1160419/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1. Accessed 6 Jan. 2021.
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Published January 6, 2021 January 6, 2021
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5 thoughts on "How to Be a Hipster Reader: Part Two"
I will never qualify as a hipster, I have only read one.
All Creatures Great and Small, but Lockwood and Company looks goid.
The Scribbling Scribe says:
I'm actually curious to read some of these, but I must say the one I'm most excited for is the new Hitchhiker's' guide adaptation! Although I must admit I read the book AFTER I saw the 2005 movie (I couldn't be a hipster if I tried).
But you read it BEFORE the show, totally redeeming your hipster cred. 😆