Books
The New Book To Read, Based On The TV Show You Miss The Most
Winter is by far the worst season of the year (yes, I WILL fight you on this), but there are a few things that make it more bearable: hot tea, fuzzy socks, good books, and the triumphant return of some of the best shows on TV. If you, like me, are counting down the days until regularly scheduled programming finally resumes, read these books while you wait for your favorite shows to come back on air. Trust me — these stories are just as fun, just as dramatic, and just as addicting as your preferred binge-worthy programs.
It's no secret that Americans are addicted to television. According to popular statistics, nearly three-quarters of Americans binge-watch videos, whether they be traditional TV shows or online programs. Those same statistics show that millennial viewers and younger binge-watch for an average of five hours, or roughly six episodes of a standard one-hour show without the commercial breaks. The numbers don't lie: we're hooked on TV.
Our love of TV goes beyond the new binge-watching trend that is taking couches in America by storm, though, and into a brand new king of obsessive territory. In addition to the average five hours and four minutes of TV we watch a day, according to a Nielsen study in 2016, viewers are constantly talking about their favorite shows with friends, passionately debating about characters online, desperately searching for spoilers on the web, and anxiously counting down the days until new seasons of their beloved shows return.
If you are one of the millions of Americans hooked on TV, don't worry: your favorite programs are coming back soon. In the meantime, here you can read these 9 books while you wait.
While You Wait For 'The Flash,' 'Supergirl,' and 'Arrow,' Read 'Batman: Nightwalker' by Marie Lu
If you're waiting for CW's DC Comics Lineup, which return the week of Jan. 16...
Even though Batman doesn't appear in any of the CW's DC Comics shows doesn't mean fans of The Flash, Supergirl, and Arrow won't love reading Marie Lu's highly anticipated YA about the masked crusader. In Nightwalker, readers meet an almost 18-year-old pre-Batman Bruce Wayne. When an impulsive decision lands the young heir community service at Arkham Asylum, he meets a captivating young woman who will change everything and force him to discover just what kind of hero he is meant to be. A fun and thrilling read perfect for comic book fans and loyal viewers of CW's Arrowverse.
While You Wait For 'Riverdale', Read 'Genuine Fraud' by E. Lockhart:
If you're waiting for Riverdale, which returns Jan. 17...
If you're obsessed with the dark and twisty tone of Riverdale's second season, you'll love reading E. Lockhart's latest YA thriller while you wait for it to return. Genuine Fraud is the kind of book where the less you know about it before reading the better, but I will say this: there is plenty of deception, drama, romance, and murder to keep you hooked.
While You Wait For 'American Crime Story,' Read 'Hotel Scarface: Where Cocaine Cowboys Partied and Plotted to Control Miami' by Roben Farzad
If you're waiting for American Crime Story, whose second season premieres Jan. 17...
Maureen Orth's true-crime masterpiece Vulgar Favors may be the basis for Ryan Murphy's upcoming season of American Crime Story, but why spoil the story when there are plenty of other juicy real-life narratives to entertain you while you wait? In Roben Farzad's thrilling true story, readers are transported to Miami — the same city where Versace was murdered — to walk the halls of the Mutiny, the real life hotel and club that inspired the story in Scarface, at the height of the cocaine popularity in the 1970s. Featuring plenty of glamour, excess, drugs, money, and murder, Hotel Scarface is an exciting story you won't be able to stop yourself from binge-reading.
While You Wait For Shondaland Shows, Read 'This Could Hurt' by Jillian Medoff
If you're waiting for Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, or HTGAWM to return with new episodes on Jan. 18...
It may not be set at a hospital, university, or political law firm, but Jillian Medoff's honest and hilarious novel about the modern workplace and the role it plays in shaping our lives will appeal to fans of Shonda Rhimes's professional dramedies. This Could Hurt explores the lives of five HR employees at a large corporate research company as they navigate the ups and downs of their personal and professional lives, especially where both overlap. Hilarious as it is heartfelt, this smart novel has everything you've been missing since your favorite shows went off air: love, loss, living life.
While You Wait For 'The Walking Dead,' Read 'The Final Day' by William R. Forstchen
If you're waiting for The Walking Dead, which returns Feb. 12...
There might not be zombies in William R. Forstchen's alternate America, but the dystopia in his John Matherson series is just as terrifying as anything you will see on The Walking Dead. In The Final Day, the town of Black Mountain is trying to rebuild after a series of unbelievable catastrophe, environmental and man-made. When a new government takes over and deems the Constitution null and void, it is up to John Matherson and his old commanding officer, General Bob Scales, to save their community. A terrifying post-apocalyptic thriller you won't be able to put down.
While You Wait For 'Once Upon A Time,' Read 'The Hazel Wood' by Melissa Albert
If you're waiting for Once Upon a Time, which returns March 2...
If you miss the Enchanted Forest, take a trip to the Hinterland while you wait to return in Melissa Albert's deeply satisfying modern fantasy novel. When 17-year-old Alice's mother is kidnapped by a mysterious figure who claims to be from the land of her grandmother's dark fairy tales, she is forced to go to the place her mother warned her against: the Hazel Wood estate. With the help of a classmate who knows everything about her grandmother's twisted fairy tales, Alice embarks on an adventure of a lifetime to save her mother — that is, if she can survive herself.
While You Wait For 'Jessica Jones,' Read 'Bonfire' by Krysten Ritter
If you're waiting for Jessica Jones Season 2, which premieres March 8...
The heroine of actress Krysten Ritter's novel might not be a superhero, but Abby Williams will certainly remind you of the kickass Jessica Jones. A hot-shot environmental lawyer in Chicago, Abby is living her best life. That is, until a case forces her to go back to the small town she abandoned a decade ago and face her best friend's disappearance all over again. A dark and twisty story that will keep you up well past bedtime reading, Bonfire will delight fans of Ritter's on-screen fierce female characters.
While You Wait For 'Roseanne,' Read 'Seven Days of Us' by Francesca Hornak
If you're waiting for the Rosanne reboot, which premieres March 13...
You've been waiting years for Conner family to be on screen again, and spending the holidays with the Birch family is the perfect way to run out the rest of the clock until they finally return. In Seven Days of Us, Olivia and her entire family are forced to spend seven days in quarantine with each other, cut off from the rest of the world beyond their estate, and no one is happy about it. Naturally, tensions run high as long-kept secrets creep out into the open for everyone to see. A smart and funny novel about the bonds between siblings, parents, and children, Seven Days of Us is the perfect dose of family drama for those waiting to see Rosanne.
While You Wait For 'The Handmaid's Tale' Read 'Red Clocks' by Leni Zuma
If you're waiting for The Handmaid's Tale Season 2, which returns March 29...
If you thought Gilead was a scary place, wait until you read about Leni Zumas's equally terrifying, if not more believable, dystopia where abortion is illegal and every embryo has inalienable rights. Red Clocks follows five radically different women as they struggle to survive in this new world where their rights, identity, and freedoms are in constant question. A rich and imaginative novel that will chill you to the bone, Red Clocks should be on every The Handmaid's Tale fan's reading list.
