Cinema-Worthy Books: "The Host," "Lost Symbol" and "Dangerous Days of Daniel X"

I believe that books provide the best inspiration for blockbuster movies, and many of them have done just that. If I had a dime for every time I have heard, "You know that movie was a book, right?" I'd be well on my way to having more than just change in my pocket. Just look at the Twilight series written by Stephenie Meyer for example. If it had not been for the books' massive fan-base, perhaps those mega motion- pictures would have never existed.

Now, if I were the person in charge of choosing the next three books to be developed into movies I would not have to think twice. The Host by Stephenie Meyer, The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, and The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson are on my list of recent reads and have also ignited a desire to see them on the silver screen.

Meyer's The Host is a sci-fi mind over matter novel entangled in love and determination. I've envisioned Megan Fox as Melanie slash Wanda and Jensen Ackles as Ian, directed by Catherine Hardwicke- who coincidently directed Twilight.

The Lost Symbol kept my heart racing, as did Dan Brown's historical adventure Angels and Demons. Of course now that Tom Hanks has set the Robert Langdon bar, I could accept none other than Hanks to fill this role. Ron Howard is a cinematic genius at bringing intelligent thrillers to life - take The Da Vinci Code for example- and I would nominate him to direct The Lost Symbol.

Last but certainly not least, I oddly enough enjoyed the creativity of James Patterson's The Dangerous Days of Daniel X to the point that I'd like to see it adapted to a screenplay. I would love to see a young version of James Franco play Daniel and Dakota Fanning was a no-brainer for me as first pick to play Phoebe. When I was a teenager Brendan Fraser was the popular actor of the day who snagged all of the young roles, and now though still popular, I can see him playing the part of Daniel's father. If James Cameron could work his Avatar magic on Daniel X, we just may have a hit on our hands.

There you have it; my cinema- worthy reads. Books that almost made the list: A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, The Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, and The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. In a perfect world I'd have my way, and I would have a dime for every book that really was made into a movie.