The studious and literary Rory Gilmore is one half of the iconic mother-daughter duo at the heart of Gilmore Girls. Her reading list is massive and aspirational, covering multiple genres and time periods. All over the internet are compilations of Rory’s bookshelf, with hundreds of titles referenced and shown throughout the series and its revival, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. With so many titles to choose from, how do you begin to tackle this character’s literary tastes? We at Bookstr have the perfect solution: we are recommending to you one title for each season of the original show and each episode of the revival that encapsulates Rory’s journey across the series.
Trigger Warning: Some of the books in this list contain heavy themes of mental health, death, grief, and violence/murder. Please read all trigger and content warnings before purchasing.
Content Warning: This article contains some spoilers for the TV shows Gilmore Girls and Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.
Book Recs for the Original Series
Season 1: The Group by Mary McCarthy
These eight Vassar graduates have always been known as “the group.” Despite their differing personalities and life goals, they stuck together through thick and thin. After graduation, they disperse into the adult world, going after careers, falling in love, traveling, and living life in New York City. As the years roll by, some of them drift apart, while others become entangled in each other’s personal lives. When one of them passes away, they all come back together to reconnect and mourn a member of the illustrious group.
When we first meet Rory, she’s a 16-year-old girl transplanted into the cutthroat politics of Chilton, a private school for wealthy students. The new social atmosphere is confusing to her at first, especially when she becomes the target of a trio of mean girl types. The Group, aside from being a celebrated novel, makes sense for her to read at this time since it follows the messy social behavior of a group of elites.
Season 2: Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir
Simone de Beauvoir was a prominent feminist philosopher during the 1940s and 1950s, whose work chronicled women’s oppression and experiences of the time. Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter traces her youth in 1920s France, and the early rebellion she exhibited against the patriarchal establishment. Beauvoir also details her formative friendships and the early days of her love affair with her husband, Jean-Paul Sartre.
In the second season, Rory begins to push back against the “good girl” mold her family and community assigned to her. As she wrestles with feelings for new bad boy Jess Mariano, she’s met with derision on all sides. Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter is the perfect companion to help Rory sort through her teenage angst.
Season 3: Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
Sailor Ishmael recounts the tale of one man’s quest to seek revenge against a sea creature. Captain Ahab mounts a voyage with the sole object of finding and killing the white whale that bit off his leg on a previous excursion. The longer the journey goes on, the further Ahab is driven to madness, all set against the turbulent background of the high seas.
As Rory’s high school career comes to an end, it also means the culmination of getting into an Ivy League college, the biggest goal of her entire childhood and adolescence. Such a massive achievement can feel daunting — even maddening — like Ahab’s life-consuming quest. It makes sense that Moby-Dick was among her literary references in her Valedictorian speech.
Season 4: The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty by Eudora Welty
Eudora Welty was an accomplished writer, but her niche was definitely the short story. In this compendium of 41 works, Welty’s literary prowess sparkles on the page. Comedic and tragic, mythical and real, these short stories encompass the best of Eudora Welty’s career.
Rory’s first year of college is daunting; between intense courses and her first year writing for The Yale Daily News, everything is chaos. A short story collection is the perfect thing to keep her creative inspiration flowing, while also not feeling like as much of a reading commitment as a traditional novel.
Season 5: The Secret History by Donna Tartt
In the cozy New England landscape of Vermont lies Hampden College, an elite (if small) institution. There, six students in a classics course fall under the influence of their magnetic professor and strive to live a life elevated above their insipid peers. Narrated by one of the students, Richard Papen, The Secret History chronicles the group’s twisted descent into morally dubious and increasingly violent territory.
As Rory settles into the high society culture of her Ivy League college, she becomes seduced by the affluent lifestyle she and her mother had previously rejected. Rory’s involvement with The Life and Death Brigade, a secret society, and her new relationship with the charming if arrogant Logan Huntzberger unlock a new chapter in her life story. It’s intriguing that at this time, Rory would also be reading a book that criticizes privileged and self-absorbed students.
Season 6: The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
In late December 2003, Joan Didion’s daughter, Quintana, contracted pneumonia that eventually developed into septic shock. At the advice of her doctors, she was placed into a medically induced coma. Joan leaned on her husband, John, during this troubled time, but her grief suddenly achieved unimaginable heights when John passed away from a fatal heart attack several days later. Left without the partner she’d depended on for 40 years, Joan was forced to face her husband’s death and her daughter’s illness alone. The Year of Magical Thinking unravels Joan Didion’s complex emotional journey as she deals with loss, loneliness, and the intricacies of life.
In one of the most controversial plots of the entire show, Rory temporarily drops out of college in the sixth season and becomes estranged from her mother, following a cruel early career sabotage that leaves her reeling. Though her grief is nowhere near that of Didion’s, it makes sense that in this tumultuous time, she would be drawn to a story dissecting the struggles of life. Rory is seen reading this book after she has returned to school and healed her relationship with her mother. Seeking the words of a writer she finds inspiring feels fitting as Rory works to reclaim her dreams of becoming a journalist.
Season 7: On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser
William Zinsser taught an acclaimed course on writing at Yale, and his curriculum is the basis for On Writing Well. This book is for all writers, regardless of whether this practice is your career or your hobby. No matter what subject you wish to write about (people, culture, yourself, etc.), Zinsser’s tenets are the perfect foundation for improving your voice and crafting a powerful narrative.
In the final season, Rory approaches graduation and begins to look toward her future as a career writer. Of all the writing advice books out there, it makes sense that she would gravitate towards William Zinsser’s, given that she is studying at Yale.
Book Recs for the Revival
Winter: On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Recently divorced, writer Sal Paradise takes off for San Francisco. On his travels, he meets Dean Moriarty, a human firework who never stays in one place for long. Drawn in by Dean’s wildness, Sal finds himself infected by the same travel bug. Over the course of three years, Sal treks all across America and into Mexico, sometimes accompanied by Dean and sometimes not. As Dean’s personal entanglements begin to affect Sal, he soon wonders if this fickle friend has done more harm than good to those who love him. This edition, The Original Scroll, presents Kerouac’s unedited first draft of his classic semi-autobiographical novel, which has grown into a definitive work of the Beat movement.
When we are reintroduced to Rory in the revival, we see a working writer whose life is absolute chaos. Lacking any true home base, Rory lives out of a series of suitcases and boxes scattered throughout friends’ and family’s homes along the Northeast. Lorelai quips that her life is similar to the exciting travels of Jack Kerouac, a reference that serves to foreshadow Rory’s eventual questioning of how fulfilling this lifestyle truly is.
Spring: Consider the Lobster and Other Essays by David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace was a gifted writer with a particular penchant for humor. His award-winning novels and short stories are a testament to his power over language. In Consider the Lobster, Wallace brings his narrative prowess from John McCain’s 2000 presidential race all the way to the Maine Lobster Festival, answering such elusive questions as, “Do lobsters feel pain?” and “Did Franz Kafka have a funny bone?” Humorous and deliciously explosive, this essay collection will leave you a tried and true Wallace fan.
The second episode in the revival is where we really start to see the cracks in Rory’s career. Her obsession with achieving the best only pulls her closer to the ground. Though a Condé Nast executive compares her editorial writing to the great David Foster Wallace, she still fails to latch onto a pitch that really inspires her.
Summer: I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron
The brilliant Nora Ephron is most famous for her iconic romcoms like When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle, but when she wasn’t behind the camera, she brought that same humor to the page. In I Feel Bad About My Neck, Ephron uses her signature comedic voice to tackle the complexities of older womanhood, from menopause to empty nesting to obsessive cooking, and everything in between.
By the summertime, Rory is completely sick of the outside comments everyone has about her perceived failures. Now living in Stars Hollow and scrambling to take over the local newspaper, Rory is sick of the judgment of others. When she references Nora Ephron’s book in a moment of exasperation, we can’t help but laugh along at her struggles.
Fall: My Struggle: Book Two by Karl Ove Knausgaard, Translated by Don Bartlett
Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausgaard is best known for his impressive six-novel autobiographical series, which masterfully blends his real-life experiences with literary fiction. In the second volume of the collection, Knausgaard’s character leaves his wife and moves to Stockholm. Initially living in solitude, he begins to piece his life back together, connecting with friends old and new and eventually finding love again. Covering second love, the joys and troubles of fatherhood, and more, My Struggle: Book Two is a testament to Knausgaard’s gift for storytelling.
In the final episode of the revival, Rory isn’t doing much reading of her own since she’s busy writing her first book. My Struggle: Book Two is what Jess is reading at the time, but given that the two are reconnecting more following Jess inspiring Rory to write her novel, it wouldn’t be out of the question to think he might suggest his current reads to her. After all, this book is autobiographical fiction, and Rory is currently writing her and Lorelai’s life stories.
There you have it! Regardless of where you are in your own life, there’s a perfect Rory Gilmore title for you. Put on a pot of coffee and get ready for long reading nights ahead.
Interested in what the Gilmore Girls characters would be reading today? Click here.
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