Books can take us to new worlds, help us form new ideas, and teach us something in the span of a few pages. Much like the novels you read, Alabama Public Television and PBS strive to bring you stories that enlighten, inform, and entertain.
If you’re like us and enjoy great books AND great educational programming, check out this list of docs and dramas that pair perfectly with bestsellers that you’ve either read or put on your TBR (to-be-read) list!
Journey Through Space
Orbital is the 2024 Booker Prize-winning novel by Samantha Harvey that gives us a glimpse into the day in the life of six astronauts aboard the last space station mission before the program is dismantled. It’s poignant, thoughtful, and perfect for all of the NASA lovers out there.
If you’re craving more content about space flight, NOVA: Return to the Moon takes place half a century after Apollo and focuses on the Artemis missions’ aim to bring astronauts back to the Moon and establish a lunar space station. You’ll follow the Artemis II engineers and crew on the perilous 10-day journey to orbit the Moon.
An Epic Tale of Revenge
We know we’re kind of cheating this one, but both the classic historical fiction and the new MASTERPIECE adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo are fantastic!
Follow the story of Edmund Dantes played by Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Daisy Jones & The Six), who is thrown in prison for a crime he did not commit. He learns of a hoard of treasure and thus decides to escape the fortress, find the treasure, and use it to destroy the three men who framed him. This has everything: riches, revenge, romance, and suspense!
Stream the 8-part mini-series now with APT/PBS Passport.
Take a Trip Down South
Endearing and quintessentially southern, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whisle Stop Cafe takes place in Irondale, Alabama, Fannie Flag’s birthplace, with a cast of memorable women running a cafe and serving up good coffee, barbecue, and laughs. These characters may feel familiar, especially if you were raised in the South.
Garden Party is an Alabama Public Television original series, where Trace Barnett shares generations of family recipes and gardening know-how from his home kitchen and family farm. All with a sassy, swanky Southern twist!
Examine the Threads of Family and Identity
In Brit Bennett’s New York Times Bestseller, The Vanishing Half, twin sisters who have both grown up in the same Southern Black community run away together, only for their two lives to disperse in adulthood. It’s an emotional family story about ‘passing’ and how our past shapes us.
“Hidden Genes,” one of the episodes from Season 8 of Finding Your Roots, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. helps Rebecca Hall and Lee Daniels solve family mysteries through DNA detective work, illuminating both history and their own identities.
Go Back In Time to See the Sparks of Revolution
The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777 is a detailed account of the first twenty-one months of America’s violent war for independence. This Pulitzer Prize winner comes from Rick Atkinson, who is featured in Ken Burns The American Revolution!
Speaking of Ken Burns, the master storyteller, deep dives into the rebellion of the American Colonies in this new six-part series. The American Revolution is a story of our origins and the bloody struggle that involved more than two dozen nations.
Save a Seat for these Spooky Tales
Many of us grew up with 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey, a collection of Kathryn Tucker Windham’s southern ghost stories that were fondly borrowed from libraries and given to young readers across the state. With 13 unique ghost stories and folk tales, Windham superbly brings to life the people and places involved in these tales, as she does the spooky encounters.
Now, in this Alabama Public Television original series, you can see these literary treasures brought to life in a new way! Watch the first two episodes of our show, Jeffrey’s Southern Ghosts, on YouTube!
Fall in Love With These Timeless Classics
Fun fact: The end of Cecilia inspired Jane Austen to write her second novel, Pride and Prejudice! This underrated social satire and love story, accompanies Cecilia in her quest to maintain her fortune. But, there’s a catch: to hold onto her wealth, her husband must agree to take her surname.
Widely considered the best book-to-screen adaptation of the source material, Andrew Davies’ multi-award-winning adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic Regency romance stars Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle with a fabulous supporting cast! Witness the timeless tale of Elizabeth and Darcy in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
Learn About the Tragedy of America’s National Mammal
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Yes, we put Ken Burns on here twice!
If you’re a fan of historical horror, Stephen Graham Jones’s novel The Buffalo Hunter Hunter follows a Blackfeet Indian named Good Stab as he haunts the fields of the Blackfeet Nation. This American Indigenous revenge story is chilling and will surely leave an impact on the reader.
The Ken Burns film The American Buffalo details the history of how the Buffalo sustained the lives of Native people for untold generations, then was driven to the brink of extinction, before an unlikely collection of people rescued it from disappearing forever. Stream The American Buffalo here!
Contemplate Nature and Beauty
Mary Oliver’s talent for weaving together poetry that illustrates the interconnectedness of all living creatures shines the brightest in Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver. The collection spans Oliver’s work from her very first book of poetry, No Voyage and Other Poems, through her last, Felicity.
Our team got a sneak peak of this episode of American Masters premiering in August 2026 that celebrates the life and career of the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer. Shaped by a solitary childhood and rising literary fame, Oliver published more than 30 collections of poetry and essays on nature, beauty, and the journey towards love. Watch the preview of the episode “Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World“!
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