Read it before you watch it with Binge Read Bookshop!
Did you know: 70% of top blockbuster movies rely on books, plays, or comics for their source material, while 25% of all television dramas are based on books.
On the flip side, books can see anywhere between a 90-300% increase in sales when they are adapted into TV shows or movies.
How Hollywood adaptations are revitalizing American reading habits
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There are millions of books to choose from when selecting your next read. When a studio invests millions of dollars into a project, it signals to readers that the story is worth their time.
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Screen adaptations transform what is usually a solitary activity into a major national conversation, especially on social media. Readers are more likely to pick up the book before watching the adaptation so they can join in on the online discourse.
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Diving into a thick novel or a complex fantasy world can feel intimidating, especially for those with shorter attention spans. Watching the movie or show in tandem with reading the book helps create familiarity with settings and characters.
Meet the owner
Hi! I’m Natalie, the owner of Binge Read Bookshop.
As a 90s baby, I grew up in the age of the Pizza Hut BOOK IT! program and summer reading challenges at the library. Never one to back down from a competition, I gamified reading from an early age. When I was a teenager, a new level of gamification began to power my TBR list: reading the book before seeing the movie.
Book-to-screen adaptations are nothing new. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was first adapted into a feature film in 1931. But, in my biased opinion, I came of age during the golden age of adaptations. I was in high school when Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Hunger Games dominated the New York Times Bestseller lists and the box office. I stood in line at Borders for midnight book releases and stood in line at Cinemark for midnight movie releases. Even before social media really hit its stride, I HAD to be among the first to read or to watch something to avoid spoilers.
I read so many books growing up that I only applied to colleges with excellent creative writing programs so I could pursue a career as an author. After a year, I ended up switching majors to television production. Looking back, my interests have always been split between books and the screen!
As Hollywood evolved with the growth of streaming in the 2010s, more books than ever before were being optioned for the screen. I was working in Los Angeles in TV at the time, and my to-read list was off the charts, but I remained vigilant in my “I need to read the book before I watch this” stance. I started to become that annoying friend who would say things like, “Did you know that was a book?”
I retired from my Hollywood lifestyle after 5 years to pursue other dreams, and when it came time to realize the biggest dream of all (opening a bookstore!), I knew exactly what I wanted my niche to be.
Welcome to Binge Read Bookshop, where you’re encouraged to read it before you watch it, and where the book is (almost always) better than the movie.