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Variety
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May 27, 2026 11:55am PT
Hudson Williams Shared His Favorite Books On Instagram. Naturally, They’re Selling Out Fast
By
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It may have been a gay romance novel that propelled Hudson Williams to superstardom but the “Heated Rivalry” actor’s literary proclivities span much wider than one might expect. Since his rise to fame, Williams has not been shy about sharing his thoughts on his favorite novels, recently compiled by one super-fan in a now-viral tweet.
The list includes lesser-known cult classics such as John Williams’ “Stoner” (a 1965 novel that recently returned to the zeitgest thanks to #BookTok), the buzzy New York Times bestseller “Martyr!” by Kaveh Akbar and Luigi Pirandello’s esoteric philosophical text “One, No One and One Hundred Thousand.” He’s got range, baby!
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whole section for hudson and being named as hudson williams book club. you don’t mess with hudfluence 👏🏻 pic.twitter.com/RR381NA8kM
— armaya ⛸️ (@armayamkyla) May 24, 2026
Williams has mentioned some of the titles in passing during interviews. Others, he’s felt so passionately about that he’s taken to Instagram to share rave reviews to his 4.4 million followers. On “Martyr!,” which follows a young, queer, recovering alcoholic and poet, he wrote: “For anyone’s who’s felt like a diletante artist or for biracial people who feel disconnected from their culture(s). Also for agnostic atheists.”
He also wrote that Joan Didion’s “Play It As It Lays” “goes down like absthinthe (but it’s amazing)” and that “Stoner” is “beautiful in its simplicity.”
Unsurprisingly, Williams’ diehard fans jumped to get their hands on the actor’s favorite titles. One librarian noted that “Martyr!” immediately grew a mounting waiting list after he posted about it on Instagram, while bookstores across the country have created display tables dedicated to his recommendations.
Below, a list of Williams’ favorite books:
Stoner by John Williams
$14.95 $16.95
It Lasts Forever and Then It’s Over by Anne de Marcken
$14.87 $15.95
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
$10.66 $20.00
Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion
$9.99 $18.00
NO. 1 BESTSELLER
Didion and Babitz by Lili Anolik
$13.79 $20.00 31% off
One, No One and One Hundred Thousand by Luigi Pirandello
$10.00 $11.25 11% off
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Sex and Rage by Eve Babitz
The Drama of the Gifted Child by Alice Miller
$9.29 $16.99 45% off
Slow Days, Fast Company: The World, The Flesh, and L.A. by Eve Babitz
$12.89 $17.95
My Struggle: Book 1 by Karl Ove Knausgaard
$10.29 $19.00 46% off
Slouching Towards Bethlehem: Essays by Joan Didion
$12.34 $18.00 31% off
King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering Masculinity Through the Lens of Archetypal Psychology – A Journey into the Male Psyche and Its Four Essential Aspects
$13.61 $18.99 28% off
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