Read this first: The books behind 2012's summer movies

Get A Sneak Peak At The Summer Blockbusters

Many of this year's biggest summer film releases were inspired by books, ranging from Spider-Man to Savages!

Andrew Garfield

If you can't wait for this summer's big blockbuster movies, you could always cheat and read the books that inspired them first! Here are three that you shouldn't miss:

The Amazing Spider-Man by Marvel Comics

The new movie The Amazing Spider-Man, which stars Andrew Garfield as the famous building-scaling superhero, is closely based on the Marvel comic book series of the same name. Impressively, the comics have been published regularly since 1963, and several omnibus editions are available from book stores.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith

From the writer of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies comes the equally absurd and hilarious Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which is being adapted for the big screen by Tim Burton. The book, which is part of a trend for mashup novels, imagines if President Lincoln had a secret identity as a vampire hunter!

Savages by Don Winslow

Savages is a dark, graphic crime novel which the New York Times described as Winslow's "gutsiest and most startling bid for attention." The story tells of two hippy drug dealers who try to rescue their shared girlfriend, who has been kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel. The film has attracted big names including Salma Hayek and Uma Thurman.

Image courtesy of WENN.com.