Winrit, thanks for the plug. I've been mulling it over in my head for a few days actually. Its hard since I tend to read a lot of stuff after its made int movies. But I've got some thoughts.
Survivor:
This was mentioned in another thread. Chuch Palaniuk's disection of a modern anti-christ and cult followings coupled with post-modern consumerism would make a really great film in the hands of the right director. In those of a lesser talent could yield tragic results.
1776
David McCullough's broad disection of the year of our nation's birth won the Pulitzer. It shows our forefathers as men, not the legendary giants we often grant them be. While McCullough's other Revolutionary novel about John Adams is getting the Band of Brothers treatment by Playtone/Hanks and HBO, this would also make for a riveting Mini-Series.
Redwall (Series)
I know that a BBC animated film exists for the first of this series, "Redwall" as well as one for one of its many sequels, but I think this would make a fabulous live action motion picture. Combine miniature sets, with go-motion CGI enhanced characters and you have gold. The story is about a mouse run abby being held under seige by a nefarious army of Rats, Weasels, Ferrets, and Stoats. With the help of other woodland creatures the mice hope to stave off their enemies and uncover a mystery about their past.
OK, the next two books I list are of SPECIAL SIGNIFICANCE. As a filmmaker these are two books I dream of bringing to the screen someday. They are really rather important books to me and ones I feel I would be able to do great justice to.
The Hiding Place
by Corrie Ten Boom
I read this book in 8th grade and its one of my all time favorites. This centers on a family of watchmakers in the Netherlands during the Nazi Occupation. Their religious beliefs cause them to join the Resistance and take into their care 6 Jews running from their fate with the Nazis. What occurs in at once terrifying and a testament to the bravery of some people. This book contains one of the most cinematic moments I've ever read in my life, one I recognized as a middle schooler as the stuff films were made to show. The book also shows a side of concentration camps many films about this subject fail to deal with, the imprisonment of those who tried to save Jewish lives.
(There is already a film version of this, but it doesn't even come close to what the book can offer a movie.)
The Island
by Gary Paulson
Better known for his book Hatchet (An standard on many a summer reading list) Paulson wrote this incredible young adult story of a boy's reverence to nature.
After his father is transfered to a small town time seems to have forgotten he makes friends with a girl his age and with an island that becomes his refuge and teaches him how to gorw up. Its a bit pretentious at times, but ultimately it deals with becoming an adult, or at least a wiser teen in an incredible way. It relates this boys journey to all he witnesses in nature, art, and beauty.
If I made this I would cast Kristen Stewart in the female lead. She's a really talented actress, perfect for the film.
This next book is one already in production, but its a runner up, if you will.
Torso
This may be a cheat as it is a Graphic Novel and is under development with David Fincher at the wheel. I've stated before that this book feels a lot like Se7en, which it does. Centering on Elliot Ness's later years in Cleveland, Torso is a true story of Ness's battle with political upheaval in the face of a serial killer. Fincher, if he follows through with this, will make a pulp movie like we've not seen in years.