Your favorite reads: At a theater near you

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Joining a book club has always been too much of a production. All those reading types, agreeing on discussion points they printed out off the internet, drinking red wine and laughing. Who needs them– you’ve always preferred white wine, anyway.

Well, you’re in luck, because for the next six weeks, you don’t need a book club. All you need is a few movie tickets, and you’ll be just as well-read as the next book clubber. Or, close enough anyway. Then come January, make that New Year’s resolution to read more, and you’ll already be four “books” in the black. Here’s what’s in store for you through the end of the year:

“The Twilight Saga: New Moon” (Nov. 20). It’s been a whole year since we were able to stare into Robert Pattinson’s dreamy eyes, wishing so badly Edward Cullen were a real person…er, vampire. Whatever. It’s been a year, and we’re ready for more. With this second installment in the “Twilight” series, Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) finally steps up to the plate, and in Edward’s absence, he and Bella form the bond that will threaten the vamp throughout the rest of the novels– and surely, the movies as well. Bonus: We get our first real taste of the Volturi, and Dakota Fanning stars as the diabolical Jane. Stephenie Meyer should be pleased.

“The Road” (Nov. 25). With “All the Pretty Horses” and “No Country for Old Men” under his belt, Cormac McCarthy is no stranger to having his novels turned into movies. “The Road” is his most recent book (published in 2006), and its dark, end-of-the-world subject matter is matched by its stream of consciousness writing and lack of character names. The Man and The Boy are our heros, and they spend the story walking down a post-apocalyptic deserted road, always cold and hungry, and always fighting to stay alive. All of this leaves us wondering exactly how the movie will look, but we expect Viggo Mortensen as The Man to act his way to Oscar and make the movie worthy of its Pulitzer Prize winning inspiration.

“The Lovely Bones” (Dec. 11). Alice Sebold first hit best-seller success in 1999 with “Lucky,” a memoir she wrote about being raped in college and how it changed the rest of her life. In 2002, the author followed with “The Lovely Bones,” a novel telling the tale of a murdered girl watching over her family and her killer from heaven. Superstar director Peter Jackson personally purchased the movie-making rights, and has some big names lined up to star, including Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz and Susan Sarandon. We’re most looking forward to Saoirse Ronan’s portrayal of young heroine Susie Salmon though; if you don’t remember Ronan, she was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2008 for her role as Keira Knightley’s younger sister in “Atonement.”

“Sherlock Holmes” (Dec. 25). Four novels and 56 short stories may have been enough for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle when he was writing about Sherlock Holmes back in the 1880′s, but we’re not going to be happy until we see Robert Downey Jr. portraying Holmes on the big screen. And Jude Law as Watson certainly won’t hurt the cause, either. “Sherlock Holmes” is set to be the big Christmas Day release this year, mainly because its direct competition falls squarely into completely separate categories: “Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squeakuel” (children); “It’s Complicated” (romantic comedy); and “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (fantasy, and Health Ledger’s final film). “Sherlock Holmes” has the corner on the whole-family-getting-together market, we’re sure.