This week’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is “books to read if you’re in the mood for…” and I knew exactly what I wanted to talk about.
GILMORE GIRLS IS COMING BACK.
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I realize it’s not YA, more book-adjacent, but guys, I’m SO EXCITED FOR THIS REVIVAL! And don’t lie to me and tell me you didn’t watch it, you booklover, you. I know you totally fist-punched every time Rory had her nose in a book, sniffed a book, or pretended to be organizing books but was secretly just reading them.
See this quote from Rory’s high school valedictorian speech:
“I live in two worlds, one is a world of books,” she said. “I’ve been a resident of Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha County, hunted the white whale aboard the Pequod, fought alongside Napoleon, sailed a raft with Huck and Jim, committed absurdities with Ignatius J. Reilly, rode a sad train with Anna Karenina and strolled down Swann’s Way. It’s a rewarding world.”
Yup, RORY IS US. (If you like old movies and pizzazz, then so is Lorelai).
So, look, filming just started on this show, and we’ve got a long wait to go before we get to see anything. So if you’re dying for some Gilmore Girls feels, I’ve compiled my list of books you might be interested in reading while waiting for the first episode to be released (you know, aside from checking Twitter, Tumblr, and every entertainment website ever trolling for spoilers).
Books To Read While Waiting for the Gilmore Girls Revival
1. If you loved the small-town feel of Stars Hollow, then try…
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The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald
Not only does the town in this book remind me of Stars Hollow, but the whole friggin book is about love of books and reading. Just go read it!
2. If you liked Rory’s high school antics at prep school, then try…
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The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
Rory would never, ever be as crazy as Frankie is, but this book is feminist and intellectual and fun and preppy…and it’s hard not to see the Gilmore in that.
3. If you loved Lane’s punky attitude and great taste in music, then try…
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Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn or the Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O’Malley.
Both these books have characters in bands, and are chock-full of fun music and punky teens, late nights, and yeah, romance, because Lane gets that, too.
4. If you loved all the Gilmore guys, then try…
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The Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer
Ok, hear me out – this is the shippiest series I know of, so, because it’s fun, here are my parallels for the Gilmore dudes:
Logan → Kai: Snarky rich boy with strategic skill
Luke → Wolf: Gruff guy with a heart of gold
Jess → Thorne: Sassy troublemaker with a chip on his shoulder who changes his ways for the “one”
Dean → Jacin: the childhood love who will protect you from everything
Christopher → Ran Kesley (Wolf’s brother): weakling dude who keeps coming back to get in the way of the better guy
(And yeah, I know Lorelai dated other dudes like Max and Jason, but please, we know who the important dudes were, don’t we?)
5. If you liked Rory’s college years, then try…
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Secret Society Girl series by Diana Peterfreund and The Ivy Years series by Sarina Bowen
Both these series are set at fictional colleges that may or may not be Yale, and they both feature great romances, plucky female characters, and a LOT of collegiate stuff that you’ll like if you’re hankering after a school setting like Rory goes to.
6. If you loved the literary and pop culture references in Gilmore Girls, then try…
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Slaughterhouse 90210 by Maris Kreizman or Texts from Jane Eyre by Mallory Ortberg
Both these books are really fun mash-ups of literary and pop culture stuff and I honestly think Rory and Lorelai would have such a blast reading both.
7. If you loved Lorelai and her always-turbulent story of triumph and failure, as well as her many love triangles, then try…
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Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Taylor Jenkins Reid has the amazing ability to illuminate all the struggles of being a young adult – and I don’t mean a teen. In this book, her MC is trying to pick herself up from a major blow, and ends up with two parallel lives with a lot of the same and different struggles. I can totally see Lorelai as Hannah (or vice-versa) because the life lessons are there.
8. If you loved the mother-daughter relationship between Rory and Lorelai, then try…
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The Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares
Full of mom-daughter complexities, this book in the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants series really explores the dynamics of friendship and motherhood – between Carmen and her mom, in particular. Like the show, it’s painful and realistic to see your mom as both a friend and a parent and maybe something more.
9. If you loved the funny-snarky-irreverent dialogue in the show…then try:
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The Jessica Darling series by Megan McCafferty
The snarktastic Jessica will make you laugh, cry, and sass just as hard as this series does. Just go read it. One of the best YA series EVER.
10. If you love Lauren Graham and the entire cast and crew, then try…
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Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham
Look, it’s not technically about the show, but this is the closest you’re going to get to a Gilmore Girl right now, and the dialogue is snappy kinda like the show. Moreover, a lot of Franny’s struggles in Lauren Graham’s new adult book are probably ones that Lorelai had to deal with before the show began…just with an acting spin. And honestly, it’s just a really good book!
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Are you a Gilmore Girls fan? What books would you recommend reading for fans of the show? (And yes, I am aware of Rory Gilmore’s reading list – I just thought it would be fun to highlight some of my favorite things from the show!)
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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke and the Bookish to highlight a top ten list related to book blogging, and to get to know fellow book bloggers.
This is a lovely post and a lovely list! Thank you!Gilmore Girls is one of my favorite shows of all time 🙂 I’m so excited for the revival! I just added some of these books to my TBR in preparation 🙂
Love the idea behind your list! So excited for the Gilmore Girls revival.
This is the best list ever. I can’t wait for the new Gilmore Girls. Although I read Cinder years ago, now you have me wanting to pick up Scarlet because I was always all about Luke. I read Lauren Graham’s book when it was first released and while I enjoyed it, at the time, it only made me miss the Gilmore Girls ever more so it wasn’t my fave. I would love to live in or visit a place like Stars Hollow. Thanks for sharing!
Absolutely love this list!!!! I’m so excited for the return of Gilmore Girls, I’ve been rewatching it (even though I already know every episode by heart). Your list is perfect too!
I just finished watching the WHOLE series for the first time ever!! I don’t know why I never watched the show before, but when I heard about the revival, I knew I had to give it a try! I found it totally addicting and fun (and infuriating at times). I SO agree with the Jessica Darling comparison. That series not only follows a similar timeline as Rory’s, but I also had similar feelings towards Jessica as Rory… mainly- thinking she was hilarious and awesome as a high schooler and becoming super annoyed with her as she got older. Also YES to the Cinder guys!! Wolf is SO Luke, Kai is SO Logan, and Thorne is SO Jess!!! I always loved Thorne the most, so you can guess which Gilmore dude was my fave 🙂
OH MY GOD! This is the most accurate and GORGEOUS post in the world! I ADORE what you did with the prompt! I’m SO excited for the revival as well – I actually haven’t finished the show though. *cowers* My TV Network stopped playing it after the season five finale, when Lorelai proposes to Luke, AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MY LIFE ANYMORE.
I love this post (again) and you’ve gotten me SO excited – I need to finish TLC like yesterday.
New Follower:)
Wow great topic! I loveeeeeee Gilmore Girls and I can’t wait for the new show. 😀 😀
AMAZING CHOICE! I cannot wait for Gilmore Girls to come back. I love it so much. I haven’t read most of these books and if they are Gilmoreian then I am on board. But I did love your comparison between the guys in The Lunar Chronicles and the Gilmore Guys. Tell us how you really feel about Christopher!
Aw, I love this theme and this is a cool list! I’m not sure how I feel about the Gilmore Girls revival, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will be good. I love the Lunar Chronicles and I like your parallels between the guy characters; that’s pretty spot-on, haha. 😀
I’m late to the Gilmore Girls fan club. I didn’t watch a single episode until I discovered it on Netflix last year. Even though I’m really loving it, I still haven’t finished the series. It will be my goal to finish it before the revival airs. Also, I’m loving this list! The first three book mentioned on this list have really piqued my interest, so I’ll definitely be checking them out. Especially the Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend– love that small town vibe!
I love this list and will be adding so many of these books to my TBR! These all sound fantastic and has made me even more excited for the revival. But you’re right, we still have a way to go before it comes out, so these will be perfect to keep me entertained until then 🙂
Can you believe that I haven’t even seen one episode of Gilmore Girls? I heard there are a lot of book references???!!! Sooo… It is obvious though that I am not really a series fan… But I will try to watch at least the pilot to see if I like it!
Btw, I may be watching this due to the fact that The Linar Chronicles male characters have similarities in yhe Gilmore Girls characters!
Mwahahahahahaha! My evil plan worked!
You should definitely watch it, and don’t just watch the pilot, but maybe another episode after that. I kinda feel like you can’t judge any show by it’s pilot. It gets better as it goes. I’m planning to do a rewatch really soon…
Love, love, love this post, Tiff!!! 😀 The Gilmore Girls revival CANNOT come fast enough, so I’ll definitely have to check out some of these books. I’m especially intrigued by The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald! And I’ve been meaning to read the Lunar Chronicles! I love that you pulled similarities between Gilmore Girls and it…makes me want to read it even more! 😀
I’ve enjoyed so many of these books and have so many on my TBR too! I also need to come clean and say I haven’t watched Gilmore Girls.. YET! I am definitely planning on starting it this month 🙂 so excited to see what all the fuss is about!
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