Love These Shows? Check Out These Books!
With a nod to television award season, I’ve pulled together some television and book recommendations.. I hope you find below some great show AND book ideas!
The Crown -> The Royal Governess
The Crown is a Netflix series about the life of Queen Elizabeth II from her wedding in 1947, to Philip Mountbatten, until the early 21st century. The Royal Governess, a recent release by Wendy Holden, brings to life the unknown childhood years of Queen Elizabeth II and reveals the spirited young governess who made her the icon she is today. You can read more and get your copy here.
Succession -> All This Could Be Yours
Succession, an HBO series, centers on the Roy family, the dysfunctional owners of Waystar Royco, a global media and hospitality empire, who are fighting for control of the company amid uncertainty about the health of the family's patriarch, Logan Roy. All This Could Be Yours is a timely, piercing exploration of what it means to be caught in the web of a toxic man who abused his power; it shows how those webs can entangle a family for generations, and what it takes to—maybe, hopefully—break free. You can read more and get your copy here.
Killing Eve -> The Perfect Girlfriend
Killing Eve is a BBC spy-chasing drama about Eve and her obsessive (and reciprocated) pursuit of the cagy Villanelle. If you love this show, you’ll want to check out the book on which it is based, Codename: Villanelle. Also recommended is The Perfect Girlfriend, a creepy, page-turning novel about the terrifying Juliet and the lengths to which she’ll go to win back her former boyfriend. You can read more and get your copy here.
Insecure -> Here Comes the Sun
Insecure is a half-hour HBO comedy series that follows the friendship of two modern-day black women and all of their uncomfortable experiences and racy tribulations. In Here Comes the Sun a cast of unforgettable women battle for independence while a maelstrom of change threatens their Jamaican village. You can read more and get your copy here.
Insecure fans will also want to check out Issa Rae’s book, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl. You can read more here.
Schitt’s Creek -> The Floating Feldmans
Like so many others, I fell in love with the Rose family and the new lives they built for themselves in Schitt’s Creek. Adrift together on the open seas during a family vacation cruise, The Floating Feldmans will each face the truths they've been ignoring—and learn that the people they once thought most likely to sink them are actually the ones who help them stay afloat. You can read more and get your copy here.
The Good Place -> Heaven Looks A Lot Like the Mall
In The Good Place, four people and their otherworldly frienemy, struggle in the afterlife to define what it means to be good. In Heaven Looks A Lot Like the Mall, 16-year-old Tessa suffers a shocking accident in gym class, she finds herself in heaven (or what she thinks is heaven), which happens to bear a striking resemblance to her hometown mall. It’s the story of a young heroine who hasn't always made the right choices but needs to discover what makes life worth living. You can read more and get your copy here.
Dead to Me -> The Wife Between Us
Dead to Me is about a friendship that blossoms between Jen and Judy. Jen mourns her husband, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver, while Judy claims she is grieving for her fiancé who died of a heart attack. Assume nothing. In much the same way, The Wife Between Us wants you to make many assumptions. None of which are true. Or are they? You can read more and get your copy here.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel -> Heartburn
In The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Midge Maisel’s husband has dreams of a standup comedy career. Midge, a committed supporter of his dream and cheerleader of his lackluster talent, nonetheless finds herself alone when he leaves her and moves in with his secretary. But, guess what? Turns out Midge was the funny one all along – and she gets the last laugh (literally) as she embarks on her own journey to become a standup comedian. If you love this Amazon series, you’ll want to check out Heartburn, a fiction story not-so-loosely based on Ephron’s own divorce from journalist Carl Bernstein. You can read more and get your copy here.
Watchmen -> The Women’s War
Watchmen is an HBO superhero series based on the 1986 DC Comics. It focuses on events surrounding racist violence in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2019. The Women’s War is a feminist fantasy epic, where a revolutionary spell gives women the ability to control their own fertility—with consequences that rock their patriarchal society to its core. You can read more and get your copy here.
Mrs. America -> Mrs. Everything
Through the eyes of the women of that era - both conservative Phyllis Schlafly and prominent second-wave feminists including Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Shirley Chisholm and others, Hulu’s Mrs. America explores how one of the toughest battlegrounds in the culture wars of the 1970s permanently shifted the American political landscape. Mrs. Everything, a multigenerational novel and a rich family saga, explores the strides women have made and the barriers (internal and external) that still hold them back. You can read more and get your copy here.
Little Fires Everywhere -> Such a Fun Age
Hulu’s Little Fires Everywhere tells the story of Elena Richardson, a woman who thrives on structure and rules, and her family. When Mia Warren, an artist who has been living a nomadic lifestyle as a single mother with her daughter, Pearl, arrives in town, it threatens everything that Mrs. Richardson has known. Such a Fun Age is a page-turning and big-hearted story about race and privilege, set around a young black babysitter, her well-intentioned employer, and a surprising connection that threatens to undo them both. You can read more and get your copy here.
Is the show better than the book? Find out for yourself by reading the Celeste Ng book on which it is based. Check it out here.
The Morning Show -> She Said
Told through the lens of two complicated women working to navigate the minefield of high-octane jobs while facing crises in both their personal and professional lives, The Morning Show is an unapologetically candid drama that looks at the power dynamics between women and men, and women and women, in the workplace. She Said, written by the reporters who broke the news of Harvey Weinstein's sexual harassment and abuse for the New York Times, tells the thrilling story of their investigation and its consequences for the #MeToo movement. You can read more and get your copy here.
Self-Made -> On Her Own Ground
Self-Made is a Netflix series depicting the life story of black hair care pioneer and mogul Madam C. J. Walker and how she overcame the hostilities of turn-of-the-century America, epic rivalries, and tumultuous marriages to become America's first Black, self-made female millionaire. The series is based on the book, On Her Own Ground, by Walker’s great-great-granddaughter, A’Lelia Bundles. You can read more and get your copy here.
Unbelievable -> Believe Me
A dramatization of the 2008–2011 Washington and Colorado serial rape cases, the Netflix series Unbelievable follows Marie, a teenager who was charged with lying about having been raped, and the two detectives who followed a twisting path to arrive at the truth. In Believe Me: How Trusting Women Can Change the World, contributors ask and answer the crucial question: What would happen if we didn't just believe women, but acted as though they matter? With contributions from many of the most important voices in feminism today this book is an essential roadmap for the #MeToo era and beyond. You can read more and get your copy here.
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