Recs if you like The Plot...

Bibliophilia at its best - books about books, readers, libraries, bookstores!

This includes book that have either mystery or thrillers as a primary or secondary genre. If you have recommendations to add please comment and I'll happily add them 💕

This list is for stories about stories, including the more obvious "books-about-books", but also books about who gets to tell stories, what versions of stories become "truth", and other story-based themes. *While not intended to be strictly fantasy, this list does lean heavily into this genre due to my personal reading tastes. **Suggestions welcome!

Fiction about writers stealing manuscripts, ideas, and author identities or perpetrating some kind of con on the public

Books about stories, writing, reading, and books in general

Please let me know if there are any I should add

Books about books. Books about authors/writers. Books about readers…but not like Annie Wilkes from Misery. Just non-psychotic readers. This list doesn’t include libraries or bookstores, because those are totally different types of pizza.

Books about books because there are never enough books

I asked Pagebound for books with a book inside the book. The following list is made up out of those recommendations. In some of them the MC is writing or reading a book that you also get to read, in others it is short stories or oral histories. In all of them, you get more then just one story. I have not read all of these books. I am open to more recommendations.

NB The Book of Counted Sorrows by Dean Koontz is often referenced is his other works and only later was actually written.

The New York Times published a list on August 5th, 2026, of the 50 best thrillers published since 2000 as voted on by hundreds of writers of every kind of crime fiction, from legal thrillers to spy novels to cozy mysteries, as well as librarians, editors, critics and Bookstagrammers.

Every single person in this book could benefit from some professional help

Novels whose main characters are artists, recommended by Pagebound users. Recommendations are always welcome; the only rules are that the main character must be an artist of some form (be it a painter, writer, actor, musician, dancer, or even a chef) and that their art must play a key role in the plot. If you're looking for YA or middle grade novels about artists, please check out the "Aspiring Artists" list on my profile.

stories with lots of twists and turns, including (but not limited to) murder mysteries

August 2026 List of the best thrillers of the 21st century as nominated by mystery/thriller authors

Books for an adult book club at your local library!

Protagonist is lying throughout the entire novel, if anyone finds out, everything they are striving for crumbles. Suggest away!

What would you do for success?

Note: I will be deleting my PB account within the next two weeks, and I believe this list will be erased. Feel free to screenshot it if you see anything that interests you! ☺️ 3/17/2026