Reese Witherspoon Reading List: 16 Books Optioned By The Legally Blonde Bookworm
When most of us really like a book, we might tell a couple of gal pals. When Reese Witherspoon likes a book, she snaps up the movie rights. In 2012 she launched her production company Pacific Standard, with a mandate to address the dearth of female-centric stories in mainstream entertainment. Since then, she has made a habit of turning great books into great film and TV shows, including the compulsively watchable Big Little Lies. She's also turned #RWbookclub, a hashtag with over 24,000 followers on Instagram, into one of the most reliable reading lists since Oprah's picks.
Here are 16 books Reese Witherspoon has already optioned.
Reese Witherspoon book picks
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng Blurb: In mid-March, Hulu announced it had ordered a limited eight-episode series with Ng’s best-selling 2017 tome at the centre, Witherspoon on production and Scandal’s Kerry Washington to star. The novel is about two families living in Shaker Heights, Ohio (Ng’s hometown), class conflicts and, yes, arson.
All is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker
Okay, it’s safe to say Witherspoon loves a thriller: Pacific Standard Films has optioned Walker’s mind-bending Gone Girl–esque novel about a woman who is assaulted, but left with foggy memories of the terrifying incident. Walker’s work was also Witherspoon’s July 2016 book club pick, one she said “had her guessing until the very end.
Napkin Notes by Garth Callaghan
The Witherspoon-Papandra production team is at it again with Callaghan’s poignant memoir. In it, the father of two recounts how he began putting tiny inspirational notes in his daughter’s lunchbox every day in an effort to connect. The story is made all the more heartwrenching with news of Callaghan’s subsequent cancer diagnoses.
Opening Belle by Maureen Sherry
Maureen Sherry’s Opening Belle isn’t the first financial crisis tome turned film (that’s Michael Lewis’ The Big Short), but it is the first to take a comedic, female lens to workplace sexism. Witherspoon plans to star in the forthcoming silver-screen adaptation —think Legally Blonde, but Wall Street — with Matthew Aldrich on writing duty.
The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin
Witherspoon and producing partner Bruna Papandrea will bring to life Benjamin’s debut YA novel, which sees pensive protagonist Suzy sleuthing around for the cause of her best friend’s death. Her working hypothesis? A rare jellyfish sting.
Second Life by SJ Watson
Another thriller! Pacific Standard nabbed the rights to SJ Watson’s follow-up to her wildly successful Before I Go To Sleep — the film adaptation of which starred Witherspoon’s Big Little Lies costar, Nicole Kidman. Second Life follows Julia Plummer as she traverses the dark web of sites to uncover her sister’s killer. We smell an alter-ego!
Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed
Not content to re-live the hike of Strayed’s life in Wild, Witherspoon will co-produce the HBO adaptation of Strayed’s compendium of advice columns, written under the Agony Aunt — style pseudonym “Dear Sugar.” Read the book (out for a while), cry, watch the show (out soon), cry, and, for new catharses in real time (out now), check out Strayed’s biweekly podcast. Then cry some more.
Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley
Pacific Standard is teaming up with with Sony Pictures TV’s TriStar Television to bring Buckley’s comedy about a reality TV star (one “Pepper Cartwright”) joining the United States Supreme Court — why does this feel uncomfortably familiar?
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Before it was the HBO series that we still can’t stop talking about, this brilliant ensemble story (both starring and produced by Witherspoon) was a novel by Australian hit machine Liane Moriarty, whose knack for exposing the ugly truths behind picture perfect suburbia has become a calling card. Reese picked up the book rights and produced the project.
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Witherspoon starred in and scored an Oscar nom for the movie adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s best-selling memoir about her journey of self-discovery while trekking the Pacific Crest Trail. This was the first film for Witherspoon’s production company Pacific Standard and was directed by Jean Marc-Vallee (who also helmed Big Little Lies).
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Before every engrossing, female-focused story with a twist was labeled “the new Gone Girl,” there was the original — a relationship mystery that introduced readers to the myth of the “cool girl” character. Reese snapped up the movie rights before the book was even published, and says she was okay with the fact that director David Fincher said she wasn’t right for the titular role.
Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty
Another page-turner (the latest) from Liane Moriarty begins with three couples at a backyard bbq on a beautiful summer day…and then things get dark. Great news for everyone suffering from Big Little Lies withdrawal — Witherspoon and her BLL co-star Nicole Kidman bought the development rights last year.
Ashley’s War by Gayle Lemmon
Reese’s production company won a major bidding war for the movie rights to this 2015 true story about an all-female special ops group in Afghanistan that paved the way for women in combat.
The Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll
An NYC magazine editor has the perfect job, the perfect fiancé and a really big secret about what happened when she was in high school. It’s adolescent drama with a super-dark twist. Reese, who signed on as producer of the movie version in 2015, calls it “the kind of book that grabs you and doesn’t let go.”
The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan
Another female-focused, multi-narrative drama, this one is a multigenerational story about marriage and many couples who have the same diamond. The book also stars Frances Gerety, the advertising exec who came up with the famous “Diamonds Are Forever” tagline. Reese’s production company picked up the film rights in 2013.
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