“Wherever you lead, I will follow.”
If you sang that to the tune of the 2000s Gilmore Girls soundtrack, then so did we. In fact, now that we’re on the verge of fall, we’re drinking coffee from our Luke’s mug, wearing all the classic preppy sweaters, and following Rory Gilmore’s reading challenge to the letter.
You may be wondering what Rory’s reading challenge is? Here’s a summary.
What is Rory Gilmore’s reading challenge?
In almost every episode, Rory Gilmore can be found hiding under a tree, walking to class, or lying on her bed with a book in hand. As an ambitious high school student who dreams of walking through the iron gates of the Ivy Leagues, it’s usually classics, thought-provoking literary fiction, memoirs, and required reading.
The Rory Gilmore Book Challenge represents Rory’s love of books and highlights a wide selection of literary classics from all genres (both fiction and nonfiction) that Rory has demonstrated reading or speaking.
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How many books does Rory Gilmore read in the series?
Rory Gilmore’s reading challenge includes a total of 408 books.
To add variety to our personal reading experience, we tried Rory Gilmore’s reading challenge. Below are our top picks that stand out from the long list.
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Goodreads Rating: 4.08/5 stars
About the book: Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility explores the contrasting approaches to love and marriage of two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, as they navigate societal expectations and personal challenges in 19th-century England.
Sense and Sensibility is one of the best classics I’ve read. Compared to the author’s Pride and Prejudice, it’s the outsider novel and focuses a little more on relationship dynamics that are applicable to everyday life.
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Goodreads Rating: 4.19/5 stars
About the book: George Orwell’s 1984 is a dystopian novel that depicts extreme surveillance and control of every aspect of life by a totalitarian regime that erases individuality and truth to maintain its oppressive power.
Anyone who has ever read George Orwell’s “1984” will never stop thinking about it. The novel deals with the themes of power and loss of individuality and is also a feature-length film.
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Goodreads Rating: 3.93/5 stars
About the book: The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion is a poignant autobiography that explores the author’s experiences of grief and mourning following the sudden death of her husband and the long illness of her only daughter.
If you like reading Good Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking is a classic that every journalism professor and language lover will appreciate. Written in the style of an essay, this memoir is both heartfelt and gripping.
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Goodreads Rating: 4.26/5 stars
About the book: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a novel that explores racial injustice and moral development from the perspective of a young girl, Scout Finch, as her father, Atticus Finch, defends a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman in the racially divided American South.
It’s not just for high school summer reading. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic for good reason, and one of Rory Gilmore’s favorite books. Its raw themes of racial segregation make it a conversation piece that encourages continued learning.
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Goodreads Rating: 4.30/5 stars
About the book: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith is a coming-of-age novel that follows the struggles and expectations of Francie Nolan, a young girl growing up in poverty in early 20th century Brooklyn who strives for a better life despite numerous hardships.
We love resilient characters and that’s exactly what Francie Nolan is. Smart, moving and honestly one of the greatest novels we can highly recommend.
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Goodreads Rating: 4.34/5 stars
About the book: “11/22/63” by Stephen King is a science fiction thriller about a high school teacher who discovers a time portal to the past and tries to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy, but is faced with unforeseen consequences and challenges.
11/22/63 by Stephen King is perhaps Rory Gilmore’s best book. With one of the most compelling storylines, King takes you through the story in this gripping read full of action and heart. It’s also a miniseries on Amazon Prime Video.
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Goodreads Rating: 3.99/5 stars
About the book: The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom is a novel that follows the journey of Eddie, a maintenance worker who, after his death, meets five people from his life and learns how his actions and relationships have affected others in unexpected ways.
If you really want to answer life’s biggest questions, The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom is the book for you. It remains a real favorite and will make you think more deeply about the relationships in your personal and professional life.
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Goodreads Rating: 3.96/5 stars
About the book: Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things is a poignant novel that explores the tragic consequences of forbidden love and societal constraints through the intertwined lives of fraternal twins in Kerala, India in the 1960s.
A sweet and powerful book, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Joy is thematically comparable to George Orwell’s 1984 as it deals with oppression, individuality and relationships. It will keep you hooked from start to finish.
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Goodreads Rating: 4.35/5 stars
About the book: Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is a moving novel about the complex friendship between two boys in Afghanistan, marked by betrayal and redemption as one man returns to his homeland to confront his past and ask for forgiveness.
Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is remarkable in many ways, exquisite, powerful, and guaranteed to move you to tears. The author does a phenomenal job of portraying perfectly imperfect characters in a beautiful way.
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Goodreads Rating: 4.03/5 stars
About the book: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides is a novel that traces the life of an intersex person, exploring their unique identity and experiences while reflecting on larger themes of family, immigration, and self-discovery across multiple generations.
Middlesex won the Pulitzer Prize and deserves all the recognition it gets. Its main character remains one of our favorites and it is one of those “must-read-before-you-die” books.
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Goodreads Rating: 3.46/5 stars
About the book: The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin is a satirical novel that offers a candid look into the life of a young nanny working for a wealthy New York family, exploring the challenges and absurdities of her job and the complexities of class and privilege.
Yes, there are some entertaining, timely books by Rory Gilmore on the reading list and The Nanny Diaries is one of them. It examines social classes through the life of a young and witty woman. If you are looking for a light-hearted read, this book is for you.
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Goodreads Rating: 3.93/5 stars
About the book: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a novel that criticizes the American dream through the tragic story of Jay Gatsby, a wealthy and enigmatic man whose obsessive pursuit of love and status has disastrous consequences in the opulent but morally corrupt world of 1920s New York.
This list of favorites would be incomplete without mentioning F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.” The film is a hit on Amazon Prime Video and is packed with all the feel of the 1920s.
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