Listicle: 10 on-screen readers and what their books reveal

Spotting a book in a TV show is rarely a coincidence. It’s often an Easter egg or a character clue. In these 10 new shows, it’s a sign of something deeper

Listicle: 10 on-screen readers and what their books reveal

• 
  Fitzgerald and Buddhist self-help in The White Lotus

  Nothing on the show is accidental. Not the pineapples, not the monkeys. Definitely, not the books. In S3, the Ratcliffe patriarch contemplates suicide, while his wife Victoria reads The Beautiful and the Damned by F Scott Fitzgerald (a nod to their crumbling excess). Their eldest, Saxon, starts off a spoiled jerk but turns to Buddhist nun Pema Chodron’s When Things Fall Apart as he matures.
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  Sally Rooney in Succession

  In S2, eagle-eyed fans noticed Shiv reading Conversations With Friends. The parallels with Frances are hard to miss — both struggle with daddy issues, self-loathing, and emotional repression. Shiv and Tom’s dysfunctional marriage echoes the book’s themes of infidelity and non-monogamy. Plus, it’s the perfect trendy beach read, even for billionaires.
• 
  Literary classics in Normal People

  A show based on a book that’s full of books? Call it Bookception. As English and History majors at Trinity, Marianne and Connell study James Joyce and dig into Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook. Their shelves are stacked with Austen, Twain, Arthur Miller, and more. When Connell gifts Marianne Frank O’Hara’s poetry, it’s intimate, literary, and heartbreaking, much like the show itself.
• 
  Football and fungi in Ted Lasso

  Books are as much a part of Coach Beard’s mystique as his beard. Often spotted reading in his office, he even inspired a real-life podcast: Coach Beard’s Book Club. His picks range from football bibles (Inverting The Pyramid by Jonathan Wilson) to pop fiction (Nick Hornby’s About A Boy), and books about mushrooms (Merlin Sheldrake’s Entangled Life). Beard’s bookshelf defies explanation. Perfect!
• 
  Didion and Babitz in Gossip Girl

  Gen Z Upper East Siders put the phone down long enough to read a book. Audrey Hope’s shelf is iconic. It’s stacked with literary It Girls such as Joan Didion (The White Album), Eve Babitz (Black Swans), Carmen Maria Machado, Elena Ferrante, and Anne Sexton. Her taste reflects both her high-achieving perfectionism and old-money roots.
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  Mary Shelley in Wednesday

  One goth icon recognises another, so, of course, Wednesday Addams idolises Mary Shelley. Her botany professor gifts her Frankenstein, a fitting nod to both her writerly ambitions and the monster lurking in the shadows. In Nevermore Academy, Poe references are everywhere too. He has a whole sport tournament named after him. Wednesday’s second favourite read is Machiavelli’s The Prince. That tracks too.
• 
  Dostoevsky and Dante in You

  When your main character is a murderous bookstore owner, books aren’t just props, but plot devices. Joe Goldberg name-drops everyone from Austen to Kundera, often with pretentious flair. His picks mirror his psyche: Crime and Punishment signals guilt and redemption, Don Quixote reflects his delusions of chivalry. In the finale, he’s reading The Executioner’s Song. An apt choice, but we’ll spare you the spoilers.
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  Contemporary lit in And Just Like That

  Now a podcaster, Carrie Bradshaw’s book collection is eclectic and contemporary: There’s Gabriel Krauze’s Who They Was and Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys. It’s also consciously inclusive, spotlighting marginalised voices. The picks are a nod to Sarah Jessica Parker’s real-life book club, which helped curate the titles. The show’s Insta even posted Carrie’s reading list.
• 
  W Somerset Maugham in Industry

  Eric Tao, the cutthroat, foul-mouthed MD at Pierpoint & Co., thrives in the brutal world of finance. So, when he’s seen reading The Razor’s Edge, a novel about rejecting materialism in search of meaning, it’s unexpected. And telling. In a world built on status, it adds a surprising layer to a man we thought we had pegged.
• 
  Cookbooks in The Bear

  In S2, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shot of Carmy’s apartment revealed a towering stack of cookbooks. Fans went wild. Screenshots were taken, lists were made. The titles included Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art, by Shizuo Tsuji; Tartine All Day; and Anthony Bourdain. Each character’s book choice echoes their arc: Marcus pores over The Noma Guide to Fermentation to level up his desserts, Richie reads Unreasonable Hospitality (we’re so proud!). Carmy’s stack proves what we knew: Baggage aside, the man is a genius.