All The Books Isaac Reads in ‘Heartstopper’ and Where To Buy Them

Today, August 9, is National Book Lovers Day!

Instead of celebrating with book to screen adaptations or reads inspired by our favorite shows, we thought we’d take some inspiration from one of current TV’s biggest book lovers: Isaac Henderson (Tobie Donovan) from Heartstopper (which itself is based on a book!).

Nearly every time Isaac is on screen, he’s reading a book, no matter what situation he may be in. Class? He’s definitely reading. Game night? Of course he has a book. Prom?! He’s already snuck out to go to the library!

Because of this, there’s no shortage of incredible books visible throughout the two seasons of Heartstopper that are currently streaming on Netflix, so we thought we’d round them all up for you in one neat guide. Use the links below to jump between seasons or scroll on down. You may just find your new favorite book.

• Season 1 Books
• Season 2 Books
• Other Books That Appear in Heartstopper

Season 1:

• Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert, $9, original price: $18

  The book that started it all. The second book in Frank Herbert’s Dune series is the first book we see Isaac reading in Season 1, Episode 1 of Heartstopper. The novel continues the story of Paul Atreides and picks up where Dune left off.

  AMAZON

  BARNES AND NOBLE

• Naruto: Volume 72 by Masashi Kishimoto, $9, original price: $10

  Isaac doesn’t just read books — he also reads manga and graphic novels (fitting, since Heartstopper itself is based on a graphic novel). Naruto is a long-running manga series, and in Season 1, Episode 2, we see Isaac reading the 72nd volume of the series, which is also the final one.

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• Quantum Mechanics: The Theoretical Minimum by Leonard Susskind and Art Friedman, $15, original price: $20

  Keeping the streak of series going, Quantum Mechanics: The Theoretical Minimum, which Isaac reads in Season 1, Episode 3, is actually a sequel to The Theoretical Minimum: What You Need to Know to Start Doing Physics by the same authors.

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• A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson, $8, original price: $11

  Finally, Isaac has started a new series in Season 1, Episode 4! A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is the first book in a trilogy by author Holly Jackson about a teenage girl determined to prove a convicted murderer’s innocence in a case that rocked her small town.

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• Proud: My Autobiography by Gareth Thomas, $17

  In Season 1, Episode 4 Isaac is reading on the sidelines at Charlie’s rugby practice, and the book couldn’t be more fitting. Proud: My Autobiography is Gareth Thomas’ story — in 2009, Thomas was one of the most well-known rugby players in the world when he came out as gay.

  Series executive producer Patrick Walters told Netflix that the choice “speaks to the fact that Isaac, as a character, is always one beat ahead of what’s going on. In Episode 4, a lot of the friends are kind of going, ‘Oh, is there something going on between Nick and Charlie?’ And it’s just nice to have Isaac standing there, reading this incredibly pointed queer book.”

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• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, $9

  Not even a sleepover with his friends can keep Isaac from reading. In Season 1, Episode 5, he keeps his copy of the romance novel that has stood the test of time, Pride and Prejudice, close by during a heated game of Monopoly.

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• Radio Silence by Alice Oseman, $10, original price: $13

  One of the more fun and meta book choices in Season 1 is Radio Silence by Alice Oseman — the very same Alice Oseman who created, writes, and draws Heartstopper. Radio Silence is a novel that builds on a part of the Heartstopper story, following a character named Aled Last, who is one of Charlie’s best friends, alongside Tao and Elle. In Heartstopper (the TV show), Aled is replaced by a new character — Isaac!

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• Gender Explorers: Our Stories of Growing Up Trans and Changing the World by Juno Roche, $18

  In Season 1, Episode 7, Isaac is seen reading Juno Roche’s collection of interviews with young trans people. The book features candid conversations with trans youth, their parents, and caregivers.

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• There Is No Planet B by Mike Berners-Lee, $9, original price: $14

  In the Season 1 finale, Isaac spends field day reading, of course. He’s reading There Is No Planet B, a handbook outlining what we can do now in these crucial years of the climate crisis.

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Season 2:

• I Love This Part by Tillie Walden, $17

  Author/illustrator Tillie Walden’s graphic novel I Love This Part is the first book we see Isaac with in Season 2 of Heartstopper. It’s the story of two girls passing time at school together in a small town and the unexpected relationship that blossoms as a result of that.

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• Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, $12

  Also in Season 2, Episode 1, Isaac is seen reading Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé’s debut novel, Ace of Spades. Frequently described as “Get Out meets Gossip Girl,” Ace of Spades is set at an elite private academy and follows two top students whose secrets are revealed to their classmates via anonymous texts.

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• We Are Okay by Nina Lacour, $9, original price: $12

  We Are Okay, a YA novel by Nina Lacour, appears in more than one episode of Season 2, first popping up in Episode 2 as Isaac’s latest read. It follows Marin, who ran away from her old life and her best friend, and Mabel, the best friend she left behind finally catching up with her.

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• Book Lovers by Emily Henry, $10, original price: $17

  Book Lovers is one of the few books actually mentioned by name in the series — when Tara asks Isaac what he’s reading, he replies with the name of Emily Henry’s third adult contemporary romance. Nora is a cutthroat literary agent in NYC who agrees to a sisters’ trip off the grid in North Carolina. She’s not expecting to see anyone else from home, especially not Charlie Lastra, a book editor who she’s used to verbally sparring with… but meeting after meeting has the two of them rethinking their own stories and the endings they’d assumed they’d have.

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• Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, $25, original price: $31

  In Season 2, Episode 4, the gang jets off to Paris, and Isaac is seen reading one of the great French works of literature on the bus ride over. The long-winded novel follows escaped convict Jean Valjean as he attempts to become a respected member of society, set against a backdrop of revolution.

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• The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupéry, $7, original price: $12

  While roaming the streets of Paris, Isaac is clutching a copy of the beloved French classic tale about loneliness, love, loss, and friendship.

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• The Awakening by Kate Chopin, $4

  First published in 1899, The Awakening, which Isaac reads in Season 2, Episode 4, was shocking to readers. Gone were the days of pious women in Victorian-era romantic fiction; Chopin’s portrayal of womanhood and infidelity was bold for its time, even if it might not seem that way now.

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• The Outsider by Albert Camus, $12

  In Season 2, Episode 5, Isaac is seen reading the Albert Camus classic The Outsider. It’s the story of an ordinary man who commits a senseless act of violence, and the ways that act of violence shapes his life after.

  Note: The Outsider is also published as The Stranger. Despite having different titles, they’re the same book.

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• Crush by Richard Siken, $16, original price: $18

  It wouldn’t really be a Heartstopper party if Isaac didn’t have a book in his hand the entire time. In Season 2, Episode 6 the gang throws a surprise party for Tara in their Paris hotel room, and while a game of spin the bottle/truth or dare is happening, the camera pans to Isaac reading this book of poetry. Crush is a collection of queer poetry about romance, obsession, desire, violence, and eroticism.

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• Boy Erased: A Memoir of Identity, Faith and Family by Garrard Conley, $14, original price: $17

  Boy Erased is a memoir by Garrard Conley, the son of a preacher who was outed and forced to attend a church-supported conversion therapy program. Isaac is seen reading the book in Season 2, Episode 7.

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• We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir by Samra Habib, $12, original price: $19

  Isaac’s memoir streak continues in Season 2, Episode 8 with We Have Always Been Here, a memoir by Samra Habib. It follows Habib’s journey fleeing Pakistan as a refugee and settling in Canada, all while on a journey of exploration that leads them to discover and accept their truest self.

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• Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman, $14

  Another one of the books we see Isaac read in Season 2, Episode 8 is Summer Bird Blue. The young adult novel follows Rumi, a mixed-race teen who attempts to find her way back to music in the face of immeasurable grief when her sister is killed in a car accident.

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• Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex by Angela Chen, $14, original price: $16

  In Season 2, Episode 8, Isaac leaves prom for the school library, where he picks up a book from the Pride display that we’d seen in an earlier episode — it’s perhaps the most important book to his two-season journey so far because it’ll likely give him a deeper understanding of himself and his sexuality. Ace by Angela Chen is an introductory exploration of asexuality and what it means to be asexual in a world that’s obsessed with the idea of sexual attraction as the basis for romance.

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• Other Books That Appear in Heartstopper

  The “Read with Pride” Library Display:

  • Beyond the Gender Binary by Alok Vaid-Menon
  • Bi: Bisexual, Pansexual, Fluid, and Nonbinary Youth by Ritch C. Savin-Williams
  • My Shadow is Pink by Scott Stuart
  • I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver
  • Melissa (George) by Alex Gino
  • My Magic Family by Lotte Jeffs and Sharon Davey
  • All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
  • 100 Queer Poems by Mary Jean Chan
  • The Kingdom of Sand by Andrew Holleran
  • When You Call My Name by Tucker Shaw

  Isaac’s Book Stack in Paris:

  • Pandora by Susan Stokes Chapman
  • The Story of Art Without Men by Katy Hessel
  • The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
  • Better Living Through Criticism: How to Think About Art, Pleasure, Beauty, and Truth by A.O. Scott
  • Muse: Uncovering the Hidden Figures Behind Art History’s Masterpieces by Ruth Millington
  • Loveless by Alice Oseman
  • Fierce Love: A Bold Path to Ferocious Courage and Rule-Breaking Kindness That Can Heal the World by Dr. Jacqui Lewis
  • Pax by Sara Pennypacker

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