Looking for your next obsession? Each month, BookSparks CEO Crystal Patriarche shares the stories and screen moments she can’t stop talking about. Whether it’s a hot new release, a timely re-read, a binge-worthy series, or some buzzy book news, her picks are your shortcut to what’s worth watching and reading right now.

Must Re-Read

 

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

The epic revenge tale The Count of Monte Cristo gets a new adaptation for 2026. All eight episodes are streaming now on PBS Passport, with weekly episodes airing on PBS beginning March 22. Sam Claflin stars in this bold and captivating mini-series, filmed in gorgeous European locations. It’s the perfect time to re-read the sweeping French classic by Alexandre Dumas.

Buy the book now: Bookshop.org | Amazon

New Must Reads

Whidbey by T Kira Madden

Whidbey is a heart-wrenching story of three women connected by one man, whose murder forces each of them to confront a dark past. It’s an evocative, slow-burn character study about trauma, forgiveness, and justice—and who gets the power to tell the story.

Buy the book now: Bookshop.org | Amazon

Once and Again

Once and Again by Rebecca Serle

Lauren has inherited a rare gift: the ability to turn back time—once. She finds herself at a crossroads in her marriage, taking a break in her hometown while her husband spends the summer on a job in New York. She runs into her childhood sweetheart, and sparks reignite. Lauren must decide whether using her one chance to rewrite history will truly change her future or cost her more than she expects.

Buy the book now: Bookshop.org | Amazon

Lake Effect by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney

Clara doesn’t want to go back to her hometown, where people still haven’t forgiven her mother’s adulterous affair two decades prior. But events draw her back, and her life turns upside down. Set in 1970s and 1990s suburban Rochester, NY, Lake Effect is a quiet yet powerful novel about family, feminism, and the surprising influence the book The Joy of Sex had on a generation of women.

Buy the book now: Bookshop.org | Amazon

Nine Missing Girls by Steena Holmes

Nine cases of missing girls. One relentless investigator. In this dark, haunting thriller, FBI child abduction specialist Meri Amber attempts to solve each case, and the job never gets easier. As she untangles secrets and lies, every breakthrough reveals another twist in a pulse-pounding mystery.

Buy the book now: Bookshop.org | Amazon

Must Pre-Order

James by Percival Everett (paperback edition)

Pulitzer Prize-winning novel James has sold more than a million copies—and the paperback lands April 21. Preorder this brilliant reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, told from the perspective of Huck’s enslaved sidekick, Jim. In Percival Everett’s hands, Jim becomes James: intelligent, devoted to his family, and determined to secure their freedom at any cost. As his journey collides with Huck’s, James steps out of the margins and into the spotlight, reclaiming his story—and reminding us of his humanity.

Buy the book now: Bookshop.org | Amazon

Must Watch

 

Final Season of Outlander

Crystal has been counting down to the eighth and final season of Outlander, which premiered in March with ten episodes to conclude Clare and Jamie’s sweeping love story. This last chapter drops them into the heart of the American Revolutionary War, while Brianna and Roger navigate new challenges back in the 20th century. Expect long-awaited answers about Faith, plenty of high-stakes drama—and an emotional goodbye worthy of a saga this epic.

 

New Film Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man

The Peaky Blinders TV series starring Cillian Murphy is headed to the big screen with a new film, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man. Fans have been waiting four years to see these characters again, and the film will pick up in 1940s Birmingham, England, where a graying, exiled Tommy Shelby must save his family and nation from a Nazi plot. Look for it on Netflix on March 20 and in select theaters starting March 6.

 

New Limited Series Vladimir

Julia May Jonas’s 2022 novel Vladimir has arrived on Netflix as a deliciously provocative limited series, with all eight episodes ready to binge. Rachel Weisz stars as a middle-aged professor whose infatuation with her enigmatic younger colleague (Leo Woodall) quickly spirals into dangerous obsession. Seductive and darkly funny, the series blurs the line between fantasy and reality as desire and delusion become increasingly difficult to untangle.

 

New Series Scarpetta

Amazon Prime Video brings Patricia Cornwell’s bestselling mystery series to the screen this month with a gripping new adaptation of Scarpetta—and a second season is already in the works. Nicole Kidman stars as the iconic Dr. Kay Scarpetta, a brilliant and formidable medical examiner tracking a serial killer, with Jamie Lee Curtis playing her complicated sister. Told across dual timelines that weave together past and present cases, the series layers forensic detail with psychological tension. The result is sleek, atmospheric, and relentlessly suspenseful.

Must Know

Audrey Niffenegger is taking readers back to the love story that broke our hearts—this time through the eyes of the next generation. She recently announced a sequel to The Time Traveler’s Wife titled Life Out of Order, publishing October 27, 2026, with Henry and Clare’s daughter, Alba, at its center. Born with the same rare time-traveling disorder as her father, Alba slips unpredictably through decades, caught between shifting timelines and the relationships that change with them. A gifted violinist, she finds solace in music and strength in a community of artists and activists in an increasingly fractured world.

Since its 2003 publication, The Time Traveler’s Wife has become a global phenomenon, selling more than nine million copies and inspiring a feature film starring Rachel McAdams, an HBO miniseries, and even a West End musical. It’s safe to say this sequel is already one of 2026’s most anticipated releases. To celebrate, HarperCollins will publish a collector’s edition of the original novel this July—just in time for a reread.

Preorder the book now: Bookshop.org | Amazon