Rule #1 of being a Hipster: You got to be on top of the trends and do All the Things before they’re cool. That’s tricky to do since that means you have to know what will be awesome sauce before it gets there.

So, if you have a deep burning desire to be a hipster and haven’t gotten passed skinny jeans and Buddy Holly glasses, here’s a handy hint to get you to the next level!

READ THE BOOK BEFORE THE MOVIE COMES OUT. (Not only will it be better than the movie but you can totally one up everyone who wasn’t so awesome to read it first).

As someone who loves both books AND movies, I am super excited to say the coming year is going to be loaded with awesome book to movie transitions. And, no, I’m not talking about Twilight. Breaking Dawn Part 2 is way too mainstream for true hipster quality. What should you be reading and looking out for? Here’s a run of soon to be movies that already are fantastic books:

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (Movie Release: December 14)

If this the first time you’ve heard about The Hobbit, you may be a touch behind the curve. Quick! Get to the library and read that book. This is the prequel to the Lord of the Rings so if you’d like a little more hobbit, dwarf, and elf action going into the holiday season, you’ll get it! The movie is set to be the first of three so you’ll have plenty more to wait for!

Hansel and Gretel by the Brothers Grimm (Movie Release: January 25, 2013)

Alright…this one is a little unfair ’cause having watched the preview, I can almost guarantee that the book and the movie are going to be nothing alike. All the same, if you haven’t read the original Grimm Fairy Tales, you should try them! They’re a lot more twisted than you’d expect. Also, Phillip Pullman (author of the Golden Compass Trilogy) just released a new translation of them. It is called Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Version and is definitely worth getting hipster about.

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion (Movie Release: February 1, 2013)

Zombie love story? Really? That sounds…gross. R is a zombie and he shambles around an America destroyed by the ravished undead. And he was totally one of them until he meets Julie, a totally living girl, that gives R something to be undead for. If you like your post apocalyptic novels with a touch of romance and hilarity, this one is refreshing.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl (Movie Release: February 15, 2013)

The first in the Beautiful Creatures series is set to come to the big screen in February. Ethan Wate, the lead, hates his tiny little southern town. His life was boring and nothing ever happened in Gatlin…until she moved to to town. Lena Duchannes is beautiful, different, intriguing, and cursed. Brooding romance, teen angst, and supernatural powers all combine to make this an A+ hipster choice.

The Host by Stephanie Meyer (Movie Release: March 29, 2013)

Alright Twilight fans, there’s a Stephanie Meyer book on this list. And, no, it isn’t The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. The Host is a science fiction/romance about an alien race that possess people. Humans are fighting for survival but when one alien tries to take over Mel, a human rebel, her emotions make the alien creature fall in love with the Mel’s one true guy. The result? Well, you’ll have to come check out the book to find out more!

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Movie Release: May 10, 2013)

The Great Gatsby is a classic. If you aren’t reading it for a class, you should try it on your own. It has everything: wealthy, partying socialites, desperate love affairs, gangland crime, and, of course, murder. The movie is bound to breathe some new life into this traditional classic but, if you read the book first, you’ll be able to say you knew about it all along.

World War Z by Max Brooks (Movie Release: June 15, 2013)

This upcoming movie is going to be ideal for some hipster zingers. The movie looks like it is going to be action, Brad Pitt, zombies, Brad Pitt, explosions and Brad Pitt. But the book…it’s a gem of political intrigue and a real world look at what could actually happen if a world wide zombie crisis shambled up and bit us. If you don’t want to grab the book itself, you should definitely check out the audiobook on this one. It is full cast and has voice over from great actors like Alan Alda and Mark Hamill (that’s Luke Skywalker to you Star Wars fans). Oh! Interesting aside: Max Brooks is the son of the famous director Mel Brooks.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (Movie Release: August 23, 2013)

Vampires, werewolves, and Shadowhunters. Oh my! This first book in the Mortal Instrument series is already hard to get a hold of – it is that popular. I can practically guarantee there will be a wait list a mile long for the books after the movie comes out. So, if you haven’t yet gotten caught up in the twisted world of Cassandra Clare’s ultra sexy supernatural world of love/hate, good/evil, and shadowhunter/mundanes, uh, you should. Like now.

The Last Apprentice by Joesph Delaney (Movie Release: October 18, 2013)

Tom Ward, the main character, is the seventh son of a seventh son which basically means he can see all the things us normal-like folks cannot: boggarts, ghasts, and ghosts in particular. What do you do with that power? Well, you better learn how to develop it! This is the first in a very lengthy series. If you like creepy and gruesome with your action/adventure/fantasy, this series will do the trick. That October release date probably means the movie will be creepy too!

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (Movie Release: November 1, 2013)

In the far future, humanity has invented interstellar space travel which means they’ve run into other species. After barely surviving galactic warfare, human kind is in peril. Ender, a third child of the Wiggins family, is sent into the army at the tender age of six. Trained in the Battle School, Ender may turn out to be earth’s last hope. This book is one of the classic science fiction dystopian novels. You like Hunger Games? You like Divergent? Give Ender’s Game a try…’cause the movie is set to make this the next explosive hit.

Matched by Ally Condie (In Development)

This is another one for Hunger Games’ fans… Cassia’s Society keeps track of everything and life is just about perfect. They track your progress through school, pick what job you’ll work, match you to your life partner, and designate the day you die. No worries. No problems. When Cassia is matched to her best friend Xander, she should just waltz into adulthood without a thought but she can’t. Right before she’s matched to Xander, she saw a picture of another boy. And that makes her question if the Society really is always right… The movie is being worked on and does not have a release date so reading this series now will give you superstar hipster status.

So, newbie hipsters…come on down to the library and happy reading!