17 Binge Worthy Reads

In October I read and focused on spooky reads. In November I plan to focus on family, togetherness, and giving. In the spirit of November, I made a list of books you can read with your children, siblings, cousins, and families as a whole. As a plus, most have either a movie or tv series adaptation–in hopes, you will read and then watch together!

Before you read down my list keep in mind, you don’t have to be in the same room, state, or country to read a book together. With the help of technology you can text, facebook message, video chat, or call your fellow readers. It is an amazing digital world we live in, take advantage and enjoy reading together.

1.The Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

There are 13 books and a fantastic Netflix series! If anything, watch the series together it is so much fun and it following the books almost word for word.

2. The Chronicles of Narina by C.S. Lewis

The Chronicles of Narina is made up of seven books. They are not long, easy to read, magical, but a tad dated. There are a few movies: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

3. The Oz series by L. Frank Baum

This series will keep you and your reading friends BUSY. It is 14 books in total with a few movie adaptions. The Wizard of Oz and The Return to Oz are both movies based off books in the series, I do not recommend The Return to Oz because it is a tad freaky.

4. Author Dr. Seuss

I know, Dr. Seuss is an author not a series of books, BUT quite a few of his works have been adapted into short animated films and longer movies. One of the most famous being, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. There are many other good ones, The Lorax, Horton Hears a Who, and Cat in The Hat, to name a few. I love love love Dr. Seuss!

5. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland series by Lewis Carroll

The books are not that long and most editions have pictures to look at, which I enjoy. I have listened to the series on Librivox, but reading them aloud is probably just as fun. You have a few movie adaptions to choose from as well.

6. Howl’s Moving Castle series by Diana Wynne Jones

This series is made of up of three books, the first being my favorite book, Howl’s Moving Castle. Studio Ghibli made a beautiful film based loosely on Howl’s Moving Castle.

7. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende (English translation by Ralph Manheim)

I read it some time ago and recall enjoying it, but taking my time. Some books call for you to savor the words, for me, it was this one. The first movie, The Neverending Story, follows the book pretty well. The Neverending Story 2 is awful, ignore it or watch it for fun.

8. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

I liked it, but keep in mind it is dated. It can make for a fun read aloud read or audiobook. Lucky for you there are a few adaptions out there, one of my favorites being Treasure Planet. If you wanted to get crazy, you could watch the Pirates of the Caribbean movies after for pirate fun.

9. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Another old one, I said I would limit myself to a few classics! The Secret Garden is one of my favorite books! It is fun but probably more enjoyed by girls than boys. The 1993 adoption if my personal favorite but there are others out there to enjoy.

10. The House With the Clock in The Walls series  by John Bellairs/Brad Strickland

Where was this series when I was a child, how had I overlooked this series for so long? SO MUCH FUN and a tad spooky. There are 11 books and one recent movie: The House With A Clock In Its Walls.

11. The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan

There are five books in this series. They get a little long but read easy and are exciting. If you love Greek mythology, this is the series for you. There are movies for the first two books in the series, they follow the books pretty well. Like most movies, everything could be better, but they still are fun.

12. The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Giver is a good book, and part of a three book series. It might be a little harder for younger readers to understand, but early middle schoolers will pick up the plot fine.  Sadly, this isn’t a feel-good story. There is a movie, it is pretty recent, and I enjoyed it.

13. Time Quintet Series by Madeleine L’Engle

The first book, A Wrinkle In Time is often on the banned book list, so it is not often read in the classroom. The series is magical and powered by love and science. There are five books in this series, they are easy to understand and short. There was a recent Disney movie, it was cute but I thought the book was better.

14. Captain Underpants by Dev Pilkey

I owned, read, and loved the first 6 books, there are now 12. I assume they all have the same flip book goodies and characters. I did not go on to read 7-12. These are so much fun, but you will find they are also on the banned book list of school and classrooms because they promote violence, potty humor, and a slew of other things that kids and adults love to giggle at. Please read at least the first one with your friends and family. Then watch the silly movie, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie. There is a spin off Netflix series called The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants.

15. Author Roald Dahl

These are lovely books to read together or aloud! I can’t pick just one, so I am going to list the ones that have movies fitting to my list. James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The BFG, The Witches, and Fantastic Mr. Fox. If you have not seen these movies, please do so and of course, read the books they are based off! Roald Dahl is near the end of my list because his work is very popular!

16. The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

What can I say about this series? If you haven’t read it, read it but try to read it without the hype of today’s world. I think that is the only way to enjoy the magic of the story truly. I was very hesitant to put Harry Potter on my list. It is so popular and at times over recommended …but here it is. Don’t get me wrong, I love the series, but there is more out there to read. This series is further down on my list frankly because it is long and gets darker as the books progress. If you want to be fancy, you can read the illustrated editions. They are beautiful and worth every penny. OR you can listen to the audiobooks, they are also amazing. The movies, as a whole, tell the story as best I feel a series of films at the time could. Read them, reread them, love it, and then watch the movie.

17. His Dark Material Trilogy by Philip Pullman

Soon to be a TV series, so you have some time to read these with your pals before you can binge the series. Sadly, these are still on my TBR list! I have the books sitting on my shelf right now looking at me, screaming to be read. Why still recommend them? I can’t count the number of times this series has been suggested to me and how shocked fellow readers are that I haven’t read this series! I am trusting my readers here…recommending blind.

Whew- You made it!

I know there are more series and stand-alone novels I can add to this list. Please feel free to add to it~

This list is about reads you can read together with almost anyone in your life. I challenge you to pick one to read with someone special this holiday season~ Happy reading!

Other reads that have movies that almost made my list:

The Hunger Games series

The Maze Runner Series

Gulliver’s Travels

Whinny the Pooh

Goosebumps