Gilmore Girls Season 1- The Free Printable Reading List That Will Make You Smarter

Looking for the best Gilmore Girls reading list to keep you busy in cosy girl season？These are all the books Rory Gilmore reads, holds or mentions in season 1 of Gilmore Girls.

Planning a cosy reading weekend is extremely fun, but finding the best books to read for it can be tricky. With so much out there, sometimes we just need reading inspiration from our favourite bookworm character. As a reader myself, and a big fan of Gilmore Girls, I am giving you the complete season 1 Gilmore Girls reading list categorised by episode.

Here you will find all the best books from the Gilmore Girls reading list for the perfect cosy evening.

This post is all about the Gilmore Girls reading list that will make you smarter.

Free Pintables Included

Read like a gilmore

Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge: Season 1 Book List

If you’ve ever watched Gilmore Girls, you know that Rory Gilmore is the ultimate reading girl inspiration. Like, seriously. Her taste in books is immaculate. Rory’s bookshelf leans heavily toward the classics, which is perfect if you’re hoping to push yourself as a reader, grow your vocabulary, or finally get around to those books you “always meant to read.”

And because I am me, I have compiled every single book Rory references, carries, or reads in Season 1. Yep. Every. Single. One. Consider this your official Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge: Season 1 Edition.

Whether you’re a long time fan of the show or just someone looking for a new reading list to tackle, these books are a great way to channel your inner small town bookworm.

The Gilmore GIRLS READING List- Season 1

Here’s what Rory reads (or mentions) in the very first season of Gilmore Girls:

Episode 1

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
Mistress of Mellyn by Victoria Holt
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
Mommie Dearest by Christina Crawford
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen

Episode 2

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Episode 3

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
Happy Days, Newspaper Days, and Heathen Days by H.L. Mencken
A Mencken Chrestomathy by H.L. Mencken
Peyton Place by Grace Metalious

Episode 4

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
Richard III by William Shakespeare
Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare
A Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
The Oxford Complete Works of William Shakespeare
Who’s Who and What’s What in Shakespeare by Evangeline M. O’Connor

Episode 5

A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Henry VIII by William Shakespeare
Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann

Episode 6

Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers

Episode 7

Audubon by John James Audubon
Shaft by Ernest Tidyman
The Automated Battlefield by Frank Barnaby
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
The Fair Penitent by Nicholas Rowe

Episode 8

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Episode 9

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Midnight Express by Billy Hayes
The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
The Group by Mary McCarthy
The Portable Dorothy Parker

Episode 10

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
The Miracle Worker by William Gibson
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Episode 11

Pentagon by Allen Drury
Polar Star by Martin Cruz Smith
Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust
The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
The Shining by Stephen King

Episode 12

Into What Far Harbor? by Allen Drury
Rapunzel by the Brothers Grimm
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

Episode 13

Carrie by Stephen King
Dynasty of Death by Taylor Caldwell
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
The Flounder by Günter Grass
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

Episode 14

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (again)

Episode 15

Horton Hears a Who! by Dr. Seuss
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

Episode 16

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Bambi by Felix Salten
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Episode 17

Nancy Drew and The Witch Tree Symbol by Carolyn Keene
Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault
The Art of Eating by M.F.K. Fisher
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
The Godfather by Mario Puzo
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee

Episode 18

Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Henry VIII by William Shakespeare
The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

Episode 19

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Hansel and Gretel by the Brothers Grimm
Man O’ War by William Shatner
The Biological Time Bomb by Gordon Rattray Taylor
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Lost Weekend by Charles Jackson
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
Time Life’s Big Book of Flower Gardening
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Worldly Goods by Lisa Jardine

Episode 20

Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen
P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern
The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson
The Art of Fiction by Henry James
Ulysses by James Joyce

Episode 21

Anywhere But Here by Mona Simpson
Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette by Judith Thurman
Snow White and Rose Red by the Brothers Grimm

(And yes, that’s just Season 1. Rory’s TBR grows wildly as the seasons go on!)

How to Read Like Rory

So—how do you even begin to read like Rory Gilmore without spiralling into a caffeine-fueled panic attack at Luke’s? Here are a few ideas:

Pick one book per month. Classics can be dense, so don’t burn yourself out.
Keep a reading journal. Rory would definitely annotate. You’ll actually remember what you read.
Mix it up. Pair heavier books (Anna Karenina) with shorter ones (The Little Match Girl) so you don’t stall.
Romanticize it. Make a pot of coffee, curl up in a cozy corner, and pretend you’re in Stars Hollow.

Why YOU SHOULD READ FROM THE GILMORE GIRLS READING LIST

If you’re looking for reading inspiration, Rory Gilmore has already done the curating for you. Season 1 alone is a masterclass in must-read classics. I challenge you (and myself) to read as many of these as possible.

So grab a book, grab a cup of coffee, and let’s get reading.