The books on this list are already must reads and many have already been featured on WhytoRead, but these books are soon to become movies. Its best to read these books before they become top movies to watch, or you’ll have to fight the impression of the scenes and characters shown to you instead of using your imagination.

One of the best things about reading is flexing your imagination muscles. Read these books before they become top movies will let you use your imagination to the fullest extent. We’re sure these books will make great movies, most movies that are based on books are, but as book lovers, we want you to read the books first.

16 Best Books To Read Before They Become Movies in 2015

The main character, Watney, presumed dead, is accidentally left by his crew mates when an intense Martian dust storm forces them to abort their mission. What follows for part of the book is a logbook style narrative that describes in great technical detail Watney’s efforts to extend his life until the next scheduled mission arrives in 4 years.

The Dark Tower features one of Stephen King’s most powerful creations—The Gunslinger. The epic of this series is so compelling and addictive, you’ll be reading it through to the end, making this one of the most addictive page turners on this list.

His whole childhood, Jacob heard his grandfather tell tales of the incredibly peculiar children with whom he grew up. The older Jacob gets, though, the more he thinks his grandfather’s tales are nothing more than make believe. But, when his grandfather speaks a few cryptic words before he dies, Jacob is determined to learn the mysteries of his grandfather’s youth.

Quentin Jacobsen is in love the perfect Margo Roth Spiegelman. One day, Margo shows up at Quentin’s window, and together they play pranks on Margo’s enemies. The next day, Margo has disappeared. Soon, Quentin finds clues left by Margo, and his quest to find her begins.

Louisa’s life is lackluster and she’s completely content with ‘playing it safe’ at life. Not that she’s ever allowed herself to contemplate how different things could possibly be. She goes to her job at the tea shop, she goes home to her windowless room at her parents house. But when she loses her job at the tea shop she accepts a temporary 6 month position as a caregiver to a quadriplegic, Will Traynor.

Even if you already know the story of the deadly Mt. Everest expeditions of 1996, you will appreciate Jon Krakauer’s own first person account of the Adventure Consultants and the Mountain Madness groups. Both of these expeditions were led by well-seasoned Everest climbers—Rob Hall from New Zealand and Scott Fischer from the States–and had the aid of expert guides, Sherpas from Nepal and “outsiders”. But we soon find that even these experienced people are not immune from the human frailties of greed, denial and self-serving.

One of Boston’s most notorious mobsters, who also happens to be the brother of one of Massachusetts’ most powerful politicians, spends more than a decade as a secret informant for the FBI. And, using his informant status as a shield, he grows his criminal empire and commits just about every crime on the books, including murder.

Victor Frankenstein takes it upon himself one night to create a monster out of old body parts. He and his monster spend the rest of their days haunted by the other’s existence.

Libby Day was seven years old when her mother and two sisters were massacred in a blood-soaked home invasion. It was Libby’s testimony which put her then-fifteen-year old brother, Ben, into prison for the rest of his life for the heinous murders.

In hauntingly compelling prose, the book unfolds the story of what really happened during the early morning hours of January 3, 1985, and how searching for, and uncovering that truth will change the lives of Libby and Ben.

After being mauled by a bear and left for dead by his companions, frontiersman Hugh Glass, despite his injuries and predatory threats, makes his way across 3,000 miles of the American frontier for retribution against the men who left him behind.

There have been many great stories of survival and tragedy on the seas, and this book is one of the best of them. At one time the story of the Whaleship Essex was well known in America, but gradually that story faded into memory. Nathaniel Philbrick brings that memory back to life again with his very well written book.

It is 2010, and Alan Clay is waiting for King Abdullah. He is a 54-year-old failed American businessman in serious debt, evading his creditors and anguishing over how he will pay for his daughter’s next year in college. He also has an angry ex-wife and a worrying lump on his neck. This is his last hurrah, a chance to turn his life from sad and broke to flush and secure, if he and his young team from Reliant can pitch this hologram presentation to the King and win an IT contract.

Back in the late 19th and early 20th century, the search for the mysterious lost city of gold was all the rage. Many explorers entered, many didn’t make it out alive, and no one ever found it, though it was thought that Percy Fawcett, his son and friend, must have discovered it and remained there.

The humorous memoir follows an Iowa-born man who returns to America after 20 years in England to walk the Appalachian Trail.

The novel tells a very personal story of one man’s role in the Argentinean system of criminal justice, his mild obsession with an unsolved murder, and the difficulty of pursuing the truth in a corrupt political regime.

Based on a true story, a former New York Times writer recounts his bizarre downfall. As he was about to be fired for fabricating details on a big story, Finkel learned that an arrested mass murderer named Christian Longo had posed as Finkel while he was on the run.