Wait for the title reveal

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

- Kritika Kapoor

1. 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, books are everywhere. 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.

2. 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 with big ambitions.

3. Literary classics in Normal People.