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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The “Read with Pride” Library Display:

Isaac’s Book Stack in Paris: