Orange Is the New Black: A Reading List

Orange Is the New Black is the latest series from Netflix based on Piper Kerman's memoir of the same name. The main character, Piper Chapman, is a middle class woman who has to leave behind her life in order to serve 15 months in prison for transporting a suitcase full of drug money for an international drug smuggler/former lover.

Piper and other characters such as Tastyee, Red and Alex are seen reading or referencing various books throughout the series. I decided to watch Orange Is the New Black a second time in order to compile a list of the books that are visible in a scene or explicitly referenced to. Feel free to add any I may have missed in the comments.

City of Thieves by David Benioff

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Ulysses by James Joyce

Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters by Meredith Zeitlin

Emma by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

1,000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Night Shift by Stephen King

The Complete Illuminated Books by William Blake

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper

You can also check out the Tumblr Books of Orange Is the New Black and Buzzfeed's latest article "All Of The Books Referenced On Orange Is the New Black" to see Tastyee's quotable lines about Harry Potter, screenshots of Red reading of the YA book Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters and Alex reading City of Thieves and The Glass Castle.

Comments

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Another book...

Piper is also seen reading "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn, it shows her reading the book when she is out in the "yard" reading by the tree when she discovers the chicken for the first time. It also shows the book when she is in her cell with her new roommate, the black woman whom everyone thinks is a murderer (I forget her name right now). The reason I remember this is, at the time, I was reading the same book (which turned out to be an outstanding book!). Just thought I would add this comment, but I appreciate the books that you have listed and will look into reading some of them in the near future. I loved the Netflix series "Orange is the New Black" and I'm quite bummed that I didn't know there was literature to this show- or I would have most definitely read it first. Thanks! Erika

Plenty: Vibrant Recipes from London's Ottolenghi

The spine of "Plenty" by Yotam Ottolenghi featured prominently in Piper's yuppie kitchen flashback during the episode where she is starving in prison. What other cookbooks have viewers noted?

More Cook Books

The New Cook by Donna Hay The New Basics Cookbook by Sheila Lukins and Julee Rosso Chez Panisse Fruit by Alice L. Waters The Cafe Cook Book: Italian Recipes from London’s River Cafe by Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray La Bonne Cuisine de Madame E. Saint-Ange by Madame Evelyn Saint-Ange and Paul Aratow Food Matters by Mark Bittman Baking by Dorie Greenspan

Kerman's memoir

The book references different books than the show. Has anyone found or made a list of these?

That is a great question! I

That is a great question! I am currently on the hold list for Piper's memoir. I'll make sure to make notes of the books she mentions.

Not from the book, but

Not from the book, but there's a post on Piper's prison website on the top 10 reads at Danbury Federal http://www.thepipebomb.com/archives/000337.php