Setting up your fall TV reading list

I know that it is still summer yet those back to school sales are not that far off,folks, so the time to look ahead to fall entertainment is now. With that in mind, I have a trio of upcoming TV series that happen to be book adaptations as well, combining two great tastes that tend to taste great together.

First up is Netflix with Alias Grace, based on Margaret Atwood's 1996 historical fiction about a notorious murderess in 19th century Canada. Grace Marks was a housemaid accused and convicted of killing the wealthy man she worked for and his mistress,who happened to be the housekeeper.

Grace was sent to a local mental asylum as part of her life sentence yet must also serve as maid to the governor during the week, Over a decade after Grace's conviction, a budding psychiatrist,Dr. Simon Jordan, is allowed to practice some new techniques on her in the hopes of proving her innocent and finding out what really happened. Grace has no choice but to submit but what is discovered is shocking in more ways than one.

I've read this book a long time ago and happy to have a good reason for a reread. This miniseries was filmed in Canada and stars Sarah Gadon in the title role. I'm not familiar with Gadon yet am well acquainted with director Mary Harron( American Psycho,The Notorious Bette Paige) and curious to see how this offbeat tale will be brought to life this November:

Next up is season three of Outlander, which is naturally based on the third book in Diana Gabaldon's series entitled Voyager. Here, we follow Claire back in the twentieth century, hoping to find out if her beloved Jamie truly survived the Culloden massacre and where she could find him by once again going back in time.

You have to give Starz a heaping amount of credit for making such an elaborate plot line work as smoothly as this one does that not only pleases the book fans but brings in a new crowd interested in the human drama as well as the time travel/historical fiction aspects of the story.

I've held off on reading Voyager in order to be surprised by the new season,although come September, I might just read along with the show in order to keep that momentum going:

Speaking of momentum, the third season of Poldark is set to air in the US by October and there is plenty to deal with, as Elizabeth is married to the hated Warleggan and due to give birth to a child that is not her new husband's, for one.

I must confess that I'm a bit behind in reading the Winston Graham books on which this current series is based(two books behind,to be exact), However, I do believe that the upcoming season will use the plot points from the fifth and sixth novels,The Black Moon and The Four Swans.

As convenient as it is for the show to double up on the books, it can make things tricky for those of us trying to catch up. On the other hand, it's also a good excuse to pick up those gorgeous tie-in cover editions,so, maybe this is a bookish blessing in disguise?:

With the world in various states of chaos at the moment, it is a comfort to have some good reading and viewing to look forward to. It does occur to me,though, that all three of these book and TV series are set in the past,which is fine but it would be nice to have something a bit more contemporary on this horizon as well.

For example, it's wonderful that Stephen King's Mr. Mercedes will be airing soon but alas, it's on a streaming channel that many of us don't have access to. Oh well, perhaps it will be out on DVD at some point, giving us a golden binge watch opportunity for the future. In the meanwhile, I hope that the next Stephen King small screen adaptation arrives on a more accessible avenue of entertainment: