12 Books You Must Read Before Seeing The Movie

It's one of those media truisms — even with fancy special effects, debonair actors, and butter popcorn, the book is almost always better than the movie. But, that doesn’t mean you shouldn't see the movie. After all, there's nothing more fun than seeing your favorite characters brought to life on the big screen — and then dissecting the ink-to-celluloid translation afterward. Plus, if you've read the book first, you're more likely to get all the insider jokes. Luckily, Hollywood just loves turning books into movies, so much so that rights often get snapped up before the book even hits shelves. Here's the forecast for the best of what's coming up, so you can do the reading ahead of time.