Just-right book and tv pairings make a good binge watch even more enjoyable. Watching and reading to see how works share settings, themes, plot concepts or even (you’ll get this in a minute) the aesthetic of a creator is instructive for me as a reader and a writer. I’ve always enjoyed exploring read-alikes and similarly-themed novels, such as this delightful duo of recent women’s fiction novels featuring sentient animals. So for me, putting television and novel posts like this one together is just plain tv and book nerd fun. Below is a three-part list of personal favorite television series and my read-along choices.
Book & TV Pairings Part I: Yes, Bill Lawrence is a Genius
From the mind that brought you Scrubs, Ted Lasso and more delights, here are two recent charmers from the great “V Doozer” (search it on Instagram though you probably already know).
WATCH Rooster; READ Straight Man by Richard Russo. English department chair at small northeastern college navigates academia, family life and more in this comic novel. Also worth a read are titles by author Carl Hiassen on whom Steve Carell’s character of Rooster is loosely based.
WATCH Shrinking; READ How to Read a Book by Monica Wood. An honest and ultimately hopeful story of the aftermath drunk-driving crash, and the ways we seek to forgive both others and ourselves. For more about personal demons and the value of relationships, community and therapy, pick up Elinor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman.
Book & Television Pairings Part II: I’m a Gen Xer With an Ever-Growing Respect for the Post-Mid-Life (Ugh! Right?)
Ted Danson of The Good Place and Cheers delights as a retired professor and recent widower. Steve Martin and Martin Short play two denizens of an historic and mystery-filled New York apartment building. Take your pick. Or watch ’em both.
WATCH A Man on the Inside; READ The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman or Vera Wang’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutano. Osman and Sutano are geniuses at writing post mid-life characters and for crafting mysteries full of heart. Osman has a new series, called We Solve Murders which also incorporates some charming intergenerational relationships.
WATCH Only Murders in the Building; READ Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson. Swap Manhattan’s Arconia building for the Sky Lodge Mountain Retreat, a desolate and isolated ski lodge; pivot the dialogue from the mechanics and challenges of true crime podcasting to the classic rules of murder mystery writing; keep the quirky charm and loopy humor and that’s all the reason you need for this lovely read-along recommendation.
Books ‘n’ TV Part III: Ready for Some Mind-Bending?
Adam Scott and Sterling K Brown headline two “what would you do?” dystopian scenarios that are hard to turn off after just one episode. (Who am I kidding? These were BINGES with a capital “B.”)
WATCH Severance; READ The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood. A desperate couple joins the radical community of Consilience, agreeing to live alternating months in a prison cell and as civilians on the outside in exchange for shelter and security with disturbing results.
WATCH Paradise; READ Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. Through multiple points of view and across different timelines, the author shows both the collapse of civilization and the attempts to preserve culture and history in a post-apocalyptic world. Another good pairing is Wool by Hugh Howey which, amusingly, now has its own Apple TV series.
There’s nothing wrong with binge watching if you still manage to reach your word count or page goal of deadline or however you quantify a successful writing day. So, I’m off to do that now. But, later, maybe I’ll check out the uber-talented Tatiana Maslany in Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed or see what’s up with the Duffer Brothers new sci-fi adventure, The Boroughs. Happy writing (and watching) everyone!
