3 Books that Should Be Movies: "The Hunger Games," "Midnight Never Come," and "The Poisonwood Bible"

When I read, it's like watching a movie. My brain makes a visual picture as my eyes pass over the words. As such, I am always excited to see books I have read become movies, more to see if they got it right than if I did. Here are three books - or series of books - that would make fantastic movies. If Eragon and Twilight can make it, these should be a no-brainer.

Suzanne Collins is British author writing a futuristic fantasy series set in North America. The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and soon to be released Mockingjay are a series of books that would make great movies. The easiest aspect of making movies out of these books would be the special effects. Collins incorporates enough of the futuristic world that any up-and-coming George Lucases would be able to run with it if they wanted to. However, an independent producer could also do without flying machines and technological cities, at least until the first movie becomes a hit and he has a much larger budget for the second one. The vast majority of the scenes in The Hunger Games take place in easily achieved (and paid for) locations: The woods, a small town square, a train, a training facility. The competitors fight with bows and arrows and knives, not lasers. Nearly the whole of the first book could easily be filmed in Appalachia. Casting may be more difficult for this movie. The main character, Katniss Everdeen, has to be at least moderately attractive, but the character herself is completely unaware of that fact. The actress must portray a teenage girl with a killer instinct who can also giggle and twirl in a fancy dress. Kristen Stewart seems an acceptable choice for the role, although the books describe Katniss and those who live in her area of District 9 as darker skinned with light eyes.

On the opposite end of the spectrum from Suzanne Collins is author Marie Brennan, an American writer who is currently working on a historical fantasy set in London. Midnight Never Come begins the faerie tale during Elizabeth I's reign. In Ashes Lie brings us into the next century, and the soon to be released A Star Shall Fall yet another. Rumor has it that Brennan is already hard at work on the next novel in the series, taking place in the Victorian era. A crucial challenge for turning the Onyx Court series into movies would be costuming. Brennan vividly describes the faerie dresses and rigorously attends to period dress for the humans in her novels. But beyond the fanciful wardrobe, costumers will be required to create boggarts, trolls, and any number of faerie creatures. Brennan makes the faerie court come alive on the page; it would be up to the wardrobe designers to do her justice in the movie. The special effects of the Onyx Court - that faerie palace that exists in London's shadow - would be a test of any computer animator's skills or director's vision.

I imagine that those casting fae would find similar challenges as those whose task it was to cast the elves in the Lord of the Rings movies. The human-looking fae are anything but human-looking, and the actors and actresses must possess a beauty that, to use Brennan's word, is "alien." The heroine, Luna, finds herself in many different roles. This actress must simultaneously portray an outcast, a lover, and a queen. Though she is young, I believe Mia Wasikowska demonstrated this range of skill admirably in Alice in Wonderland. While I read the books, I consistently pictured Tilda Swinton when reading Invidiana. This is admittedly a bit of a type-cast as she does tend to play other-worldly beings fallen from grace, as in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and Constantine. Angelina Jolie might work as well. As for the gentlemen in the books, I would recommend boyishly attractive men with a flair for dramatic acting. As long as we're breaking the budget in special effects, let's go with Brad Pitt as Michael Deven in Midnight Never Come; Tom Hanks as Antony and Russell Crowe as the physician Jack Ellen in In Ashes Lie.

Finally, to diverge from the fantasy theme, I recommend that Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible be made into a movie. This novel spins a poignant tale of a family of missionaries that depart for Africa and the trials and terrors involved therein. This book would transform easily into a dramatic movie depicting a clash of cultures, the love between mother and daughters, and the sometimes dreadful finality found only in Africa. With his flaming red hair, Alan Tudyk could be cast as the father, if he could convincingly portray a deadly serious lunatic. Besides him, however, this sort of book-turned-movie would lend itself to acting talent that is not yet known.