Books to TV: What Could Be Better (or Worse)?

Recently, I’ve been texting everything I can find about HBO’s GAME OF THRONES to my brother. He’s a big fan of the books and mentioned to me in January that it was being made into an HBO series, a fact he found exciting for two reasons: 1) as I said, he’s a big fan and 2) fantasy series are not always the first (or second, or third) chosen for adaptation. Especially for TV.

This has me thinking: what series do I want to see made into a TV show? I can name quite a few off the top of my head–Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress novels seem a perfect fit. And can’t you see the amazing people who inhabit Stephanie Laurens’s Cynster novels in a fantastic miniseries, a la Downton Abbey?

But whenever I really think about it, I get nervous. Sometimes adaptations go wrong. I love the Harry Potter books, and thoroughly enjoy the movies, but I wouldn’t say they were my ideal adaptations–and I could spend hours boring you with how I think they should have been made. Have you seen The Lost World: Jurassic Park? Did you read the book? Because…wow.

Obviously, True Blood is a good example of a TV show taking its inspiration from a book and being very successful and enjoyable. And Pretty Little Liars is undeniably awesome. But apparently I’m a glass half-empty girl on this subject. Can you soothe my fears? What books would you love to get their own series? What adaptations of books have you loved? And are you as excited for Game of Thrones as my brother is? (I don’t actually think that’s possible.)