The most recommended screenplay books

I’ve enjoyed most of Grisham’s novels, but I’m picking this legal thriller (as are most of his books) because of the fascinating plot. It’s a David vs. Goliath story, in which the underdogs are seeking righteous justice from a huge corporation by using the legal court system. The planning involved to make it happen and the attempts by the opposition to destroy the effort gives an inside-baseball look at how multi-million dollar lawsuits are put together. The book also made a great movie!

The author’s work with Dawn Lee McKenna might be more fighting for this list (check out The Stillwaters Suspense Series) but I absolutely love this series because the main characters are fun to follow along with. They are so multi-dimensional, and the dialogue is outstanding. I could read chapter after chapter of them chatting about nothing, and still enjoy it. The action is well-written and not hokey, which I love. The twists and turns will leave you wanting more, and I cannot wait to read more from Axel in the future. You should, too! 

I had never been to Greenland when I first read Gretal Erlich’s book, and I knew very little about this mysterious continent. What I loved most about Erlich’s writing is that she really takes readers on a journey, introducing us to the people she meets in her travels, which are as fascinating as her singular way of describing the landscape, which is like no other place on earth.

Many years later, I travelled to Greenland and appreciated the accuracy of her descriptions firsthand. 

I was floored by this fantastic thriller. Most “invisible man” stories cast the invisible character as the villain, but Memoirs flips the script, and the result is magnificent. The protagonist, Nick, is the victim of a scientific accident, and must go on the run from the corrupt government agents who want to capture him. The result demonstrates that Nick missed his true calling—he should have been a secret agent himself. Saint’s protagonist is clever and resourceful as he navigates through every attempt to trap him. And the best part of this different take on the genre: It leaves you asking yourself, “What would I do?” I’ve read it three times, and I spend the intervening years wondering how I would have survived in Nick's shoes. An absolute must-read.

There’s nothing like the antics of a pet to bring a lady and a gentleman together. A beloved dog with the improbable name of Honeysuckle does just that in this charming novel. A letter that ended up at the Dead Letter Office leads Honey’s pretty owner to a small town in Iowa to find the man who writes words she can’t forget. You’ll find yourself remembering them too.

Desmond, a retired teacher, is embarrassed by increasing deafness which he tries to hide. Hearing loss is a constant source of domestic friction with his busy wife and of social malaise, leading Desmond into mistakes and follies, and to find himself in incongruous situations. Comes Alex, a student whom Desmond has agreed to help after a misunderstanding at a party… Despite sensitive topics (deafness, confrontation with death), Deaf Sentence manages to be deeply entertaining with a lame love story and a disillusioned portrait of contemporary society. I recommend it to everyone, because we all feel overwhelmed from time to time. 

I read this book almost 30 years ago, but it’s still one of my all-time favorites—an enthralling blend of romance, history, and paranormal suspense.

For me, this book checks all the boxes: a mysterious haunting, intriguing history, fascinating settings, and star-crossed former lovers who come back into each other’s lives. Madeleine’s Ghost shifts between the past and the present, revealing secrets and layers to the story along the way.

The characters came to life for me, and I relished traveling with them between New York City’s colorful East Village and the sultry bayous and boisterous streets of New Orleans. 

Because of its subject matter, this book was extremely difficult to read, but the story was worth every second.

Barratt is a master at educating readers about the past while also putting human faces and emotions to events often regulated to the pages of textbooks. Transportive, moving, and skillfully written, Within These Walls of Sorrow is the most poignant account of the Holocaust—both the tragedy of collective evil and the triumph of individual good—I have ever read. 

Many people will be familiar with Monty Python’s The Life of Brian – the movie. But the screenplay has actually been published as a book!  Available online for less than twenty bucks! So you can have a permanent reference for all your favourite lines!  And if by chance you haven’t heard of it, The Life of Brian has to be on any list about poking fun at religion and gods. To this day, whenever I think of "Always look on the bright side...," I burst into giggles.

There are numerous books on writing for TV but Yvonne’s book is eminently practical covering the basics and also the more complex and nuanced aspects like the relationship between writers and script editors. Given the importance of the streamers writing for TV is more important than ever.