Publishers and film scouts were given a late Christmas present from Richard & Judy this week, as the TV chat show hosts Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan - the UK's answer to Oprah - unveiled their 2007 book club selections.

Last year's picks dominated the bestseller lists, with Kate Mosse's Labyrinth becoming the overall number one book of 2006; this time around, the TV hosts have opted for eclectic, US-influenced titles.

On January 31, the Channel 4 show will welcome Yale law professor Jed Rubenfeld to discuss his hyped debut novel The Interpretation Of Murder, a dark literary thriller which reimagines Sigmund Freud's trip to New York. The tale of murder, sex and psychoanalysis has already been optioned by Lynn Harris of Warner Bros in a six-figure deal without a producer attached.

Rubenfeld will be followed by AM Homes, author of 1996's controversial The End Of Alice, which is narrated by a paedophile and murderer. Her latest, This Book Will Save Your Life, is an easier read, centring on an isolated Los Angeles man's efforts to reconnect with the world.

The most high-profile name on the list is Catherine Ryan Hyde, whose Pay It Forward was directed by Mimi Leder in 2000. Her Electric God is in pre-production with Andrew Hauptman's Mission Pictures and Nicolas Cage's Saturn Films; Cage will star for director Mark Pellington.

Ryan Hyde's Richard & Judy selection is Love In The Present Tense, a sentimental story about a five-year-old asthmatic boy who bonds with a young web designer, teaching them both the concept of lasting love.

Canadian screenwriter Lori Lansens (Wolf Girl, The Night I Was Wed) joins the list with The Girls. Narrated by conjoined twins, the book is pitched as "a breathtaking novel about the profound and transcendent love between two extraordinary sisters". Producers can contact the Bukowski Agency in Toronto.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie made waves with her debut Purple Hibiscus. Her follow-up, Half Of A Yellow Sun, has won glowing reviews for its personal take on the bloody Biafran war of independence.

The only UK authors to make the cut are William Boyd with Restless and James Robertson with The Testament Of Gideon Mack. Eight of Boyd's screenplays have been adapted. Restless, a suspenseful tale of Second World War spies, has already been shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards (formerly the Whitbread). Film or TV enquiries should go to Stephen Durbridge at The Agency in London.