Watching Them Read: Fictional Characters and The Books They’re Reading
I love spotting fictional characters reading books or trying to figure out what’s on their bookshelf in the back. It’s like playing the Punch Buggy game from when we were kids, except instead of punching someone I usually just end up adding a book to my TBR list because it’s obviously a sign from the book gods.
While I don’t think any character will top Archer’s Baby-Sitter’s Club moment, in terms of humor and awesome nostalgia reference, I do still get excited for most references because, well, books.
And since I like to assume everyone else is also always looking for more books to read here are my recent book spots (Punch Booky?) while watching TV. Don’t worry, spoiler-free as always.
Catastrophe (Amazon Prime)- A transatlantic “one-night stand” during a business trip leads to a long-distance “I’m pregnant” phone call.
“#1.3” While Sharon was looking at Orgasmic Birth I was interested in the book on the shelf behind her: The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil. (Because I need to know how gigantic? And how evil? These are questions that need to be answered, people.)
Mr. Robot (USA Network)– Hackers and conspiracy theories galore!
“eps1.0hellofriend.mov” Elliot might go off on a bit of a tangent during a therapy session: “We all know why we do this, not because Hunger Games books makes us happy, but because we want to be sedated.” (I guess this is where I confess I haven’t read the last two books of the series and this was a gentle reminder that I should really finish the series—bring on the anxiety!)
Ray Donovan (Showtime)- Well written mostly terrible people doing terrible things because they’re rich and have a “fixer.”
“Walk This Way” Instead of joining the party downstairs Bridget decides to curl up with Ernest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast—shout-out to awesome Rioter Kelly who recognized the cover. (Any teen more interested in a book over a party, no matter how bad the party, must be reading something at least decent. Oh, right, we’re still confessing—while I’ve been to Hemingway’s house and know bits of his personal life I remember nothing I read of his in school. Whoopsy. So I added this book to my reading list.)
Orange Is the New Black (Netflix)- Awesome ladies behind bars.
“Empathy Is a Boner Killer” The entire season was full of books–*cheers*–including a fabulous bookish speech by Poussey. While I’ve read a lot of the books shown and mentioned, or already had them on my TBR pile, one author’s name really stood out: Sister Souljah. It keeps coming up in political opinion pieces and news articles as Sister Souljah Moment which I only had a super fuzzy memory about regarding her and Bill Clinton–a Presidential candidate at the time—so curiosity got No Disrespect by Sister Souljah added to my list.
iZombie (The CW)- Think Veronica Mars’ awesome zombie cousin.
“Patriot Brains” Major quickly hides something in his drawer as the camera focuses on Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov on his dresser. (I’m sorry this wasn’t a scene where Major was shirtless and holding this book—Oh, wait, I have Photoshop and can quickly remedy this problem. Hold please…)
Have you read any good books lately “recommended” by one of your TV characters? Who are your favorite bookish characters?
