Russian Folktales (1873) by Alexander Afanasyev 

Spotted in: John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) – 00:06:01

One of the common threads in the John Wick franchise are references to Russian folklore. The protagonist portrayed by Keanu Reeves is referred to as Baba Yaga by the criminal world – the most fearsome witch in Slavic folklore. In John Wick 3, Wick requests an original copy of Afanasyev’s fairytale collection; the page he stops on features an illustration from Vasilisa the Beautiful – a tale about a young girl who gets held captive by the witch. The scene ends with Reeves’s character taking down an assassin using the very same book – and proving the literal meaning of “knowledge is power.”

Other books spotted: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky, War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, The History of the Russian State by Nikolai Karamzin, and some others

The Lady with the Dog (1899) by Anton Chekhov

Spotted in: The Reader (2008) – 00:38:15

Set in post-WWII Germany, The Reader follows the relationship between a young boy and an older woman, in which literature plays a pivotal role, exactly as the title hints. Thus, the movie comes with a mountain of books the protagonist reads out loud to his love interest. One of them is The Lady with the Dog – a short story by Anton Chekhov about an adulterous affair, which begins on a summer vacation. The book appears twice in the narrative – first, early on in their relationship and later, when the female character tries to re-read it on her own. 

Other books spotted: Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak and War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Invitation to a Beheading (1935-1936) by Vladimir Nabokov

Spotted in: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) – 00:46:34

In the Marvel Spider-Man universe, Mary Jane Watson or MJ, can be called a bookworm; she’s often spotted wearing bookish clothes, reading books, or having a pile of them in her hands or near her. And her read oftentimes mirrors the plot of the movie, whether it’s family relationships or the protagonist’s main secret. For example, for a bus ride, she opts for Nabokov’s Invitation to a Beheading. The story follows the last days of a man condemned to die and his reflections on the penalty and life in general. One of noteworthy details in the plot is a spider, which is called nothing less than an “official friend of the jailed” by the author.

Other books spotted: The Adolescent by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Crime and Punishment (1866) by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Spotted in: Wallace & Gromit: A Close Shave (1995) – 00:17:17

Another on-screen bookworm, but this time an animated one, is Gromit. In the A Close Shave short, when Gromit gets framed and imprisoned for sheep-rustling, he picks Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky – or punningly Fido Dogstoyevsky – as his prison read, and there couldn’t have been a more fitting title. Plot-wise, however, the movie and the book go their separate ways. Unlike the animation, Dostoevsky’s novel focuses on the inner turmoil of the real killer.