It’s not hard to find fiction within fiction – passing references to novels abound in literature, on TV, and across cinema screens. But it is more difficult to pick out fictional characters whose reading truly says something about their personality; or in some way relates to the plot of their fictional realm.

Intertextuality comes in many forms, so we were keen to set some rules. We decided to look for fiction or poetry (no non-fiction allowed) that characters who were fictitious themselves (but across any medium – literature, films, TV, stage) had read prominently. And their reading matter had to exist in the real world.

So, despite being one of the most famous bookish protagonists, Hermione Granger didn’t make the cut. Nor did Belle from Beauty and the Beast, as we never get to see the particular books she is reading.

Here is our selection; share your choices in the comments below.

Warning: possible spoilers ahead.

The Mysteries of Udolpho – read by Catherine Morland, Northanger Abbey

There is probably no better example of a novel within a novel influencing plot and character. It is Catherine’s passionate love of Gothic horror novels – and Ann Radcliffe’s Udolpho in particular – that shapes her own naive outlook and leads her astray.

On first visiting Northanger Abbey, Catherine is disappointed to find that it is not the dark and frightening abbey of her imagination, but a perfectly normal and hospitable house. She gets into trouble exploring Mrs Tilney’s old rooms, her mind filled with tales of murder and dark excess. Eventually, the inexperienced Catherine learns to separate reality from the fantastical elements of Gothic fiction.

Everything That Rises Must Converge – read by Jacob, Lost

The ITV series Lost teemed with literary references. Not an episode aired without a character flicking sand from the centre crease of a novel and getting the pages stuck together with sun cream (OK, not quite). Cue huge climb in Amazon sales for whichever author (or author’s estate) was lucky enough to have been featured. One of the key literary cameos was the Flannery O’Connor novel, Everything Rises Must Converge in the finale of season five.

O’Connor’s starring moment came when Jacob was seen reading the book moments before John Locke falls from a window. The themes of the book (it’s a short story collection) foreshadow a lot of what happens in season six. You can find Lost literary references here.

The Great Gatsby – read by D’Angelo Barksdale, The Wire

One of the most underrated scenes in The Wire is this one in which D’Angelo Barksdale, after listening patiently to his fellow inmates in the prison book club, gives an astute analysis of The Great Gatsby. (He has been working in the prison library). “He’s saying that the past is always with us. Where we come from, what we go through, how we go through it – all that shit matters,” he tells the group. An important life lesson for any of The Wire’s characters, and indeed, anyone at all.

La Vie de Marianne – read by Adèle, Blue is the Warmest Colour

A key scene in Abdellatif Kechiche’s adaptation of Julie Maroh’s graphic novel is Adèle’s first date with Thomas (also the first day she catches sight of Emma). Adèle’s monologue about her love of reading, and in particular La Vie de Marianne by Pierre de Marivaux, is a perfect microcosm of her personality. She loves to read and she loves to learn; whole scenes of the film underscore this point. Adèle becomes an infant school teacher in order to “pass on” her love of books. Meanwhile, Thomas says he prefers Les liaisons dangereuses.

Great Expectations – read by Matilda Wormwood, Matilda

Roald Dahl’s Matilda is one of the best-known bookworms in literature. The very first book Matilda reads is the only one she can find in the house; a guide to easy cooking. After she ventures out to the library, however, a whole new world of words opens up.

Her favourite children’s book is The Secret Garden, but when she moves onto the adult section of the library with the help of Mrs Phelps, it is reading Dickens’s Great Expectations that further inspires her love of literature. She also indulges in Hemingway, Greene, and Orwell. She cements her role as one of fiction’s literary elite by managing to finish Ulysses.

Lady Chatterley’s Lover – read by Joan Holloway, Mad Men

In just the one hurried conversation about DH Lawrence’s controversial novel, we get a miniature sketch of the key women at advertising firm Sterling Cooper. “I can see why it got banned”, says Joan archly, before adding: “It’s just another testimony to how most people think marriage is a joke.”

Peggy, in her first-season wide-eyed innocence, asks to borrow it. Don Draper is also seen in one episode reading Frank O’Hara’s collection, Meditations in an Emergency. There are more Mad Men literary references here.

The Catcher in the Rye – read by Jerry Fletcher, Conspiracy Theory

This one is a slight cheat, given that Jerry never actually reads Salinger’s classic bildungsroman. However, his character is programmed to buy it whenever he sees it, so it plays a pretty significant part in the plot – especially when the electronic record of one purchase gives him away.

Leaves of Grass – read by Neil, Todd et al, Dead Poets Society

In probably the most famous film about poetry, Robin Williams stars as the inspirational English teacher John Keating, who encourages his students at a strict private school to appreciate verse and embrace unorthodox methods of learning. In particular, Keating introduces a group of pupils to the poetry of Walt Whitman, asking them to call him “Captain, O Captain!” in reference to the poem. The group of boys get in trouble for re-establishing the Dead Poets Society of the film title, discussing and debating poetry in their spare time. John Keating is the archetypal inspirational teacher on screen. Well, him and Tina Fey as Ms Norbury in Mean Girls.

The Velveteen Rabbit – read by Kathy, Friends

In the Friends episode The One With The Dirty Girl (um), Chandler manages to win the affection of his crush – but also Joey’s girlfriend – Kathy, when he buys her a first edition copy of her favourite book from childhood, The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams. (Joey has bought her a “pen which is also a clock”). Rachel is also a fan of the book, exclaiming: “The Velveteen Rabbit! When the boy’s love makes the rabbit real!”

Nausea – read by Tony Stonem, Skins

It’s a typical choice for an intelligent, sometimes belligerent teenager having an existential crisis, smoking a fag round the back of the sixth-form common room – Sartre’s Nausea. Who didn’t read this as a 16-year-old ball of confused arrogance, insecurity, zits and lust, trying to find their way in the world and searching for meaning in a life that consists of 80% physics theory revision and 20% getting rejected by a crush? It is a brilliant novel, of course, but also a rite of passage.

In 2007, Skins burst on to UK television on E4, a programme purporting to show the reality of British teen life. While most of the scenes of wild drug-taking in mansions didn’t ring true, the sight of Tony flicking through Nausea on the loo certainly did. It was a great way to introduce his character within minutes of the opening episode; Tony the pseudo-intellectual, Tony the poseur, Tony the confused wannabe nihilist.

Of course there are plenty more bookish fictional characters. Rory Gilmore from The Gilmore Girls references over 250 books, so we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below on fictional characters’ reading habits.