Rory Gilmore is in a league of her own when it comes to reading. Through seven seasons of “Gilmore Girls,” TV’s favorite bookworm is shown holding, reading or referencing hundreds—literally, hundreds—of books.
We’ve picked 28 books mentioned, discussed or seen in the series. Count the ones you’ve read, and then see which character’s reading habits are most like yours based on your total.
“Anna Karenina” by Leo Tolstoy
Early in their relationship, Rory convinces Dean to read it
“Atonement” by Ian McEwan
The book Rory reads as she waits to start her first class at Yale
“The Bell Jar” by Sylvia Plath
Lorelai tells Rory she should say home and read this book instead of going to a Chilton party because it’ll have the “same effect”
“Deenie” by Judy Blume
The book Lorelai said she was probably reading when pregnant with Rory
“Emma” by Jane Austen
Rory convinces Dean to it and promises to read something by Hunter S. Thompson in return
“The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand
The book Rory and Jess talk about after he outbids Dean for her picnic basket
“Franny and Zooey” by J.D. Salinger
After being caught by Lorelai in Rory’s room, Jess says he was looking to see if she had this book
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” by J.K. Rowling
Miss Patty uses this book to train her dance class: “Now, walk smooth. That’s a new ‘Harry Potter’ on your heads. If they should drop, Harry will die and there won’t be any more books.”
“A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius” by Dave Eggers
The book Rory is reading when Logan crawls through her dorm window, before they sleep together for the first time
“Howl and Other Poems” by Allen Ginsberg
The book Jess lies about not reading, then steals Rory’s copy of it and writes notes in the margins
“Leaves of Grass” by Walt Whitman
Richard and Emily gift Rory a 100-year-old copy of this book—in Latin
“Madame Bovary” by Gustave Flaubert
The book Rory is reading when Dean first notices her
“Moby-Dick” by Herman Melville
The book Rory is reading the first time Dean talks to her
Any or all “Nancy Drew” books by Carolyn Keene
Rory tells Logan that she’s read the entire series
“The Naked and the Dead” by Norman Mailer
Mailer visits the Dragonfly Inn, and Lorelai says that Rory read this book when she was very young
“Nickel and Dimed” by Barbara Ehrenreich
The book Lorelai reads as she’s waiting in the hospital for Sherry to give birth
“Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens
Rory calls Jess “Dodger,” a character in “Oliver Twist,” when he steals her copy of “Howl”
“On the Road” by Jack Kerouac
Lorelai calls a tourist who hits on her a “regular Jack Kerouac” in the pilot and calls Rory the same thing in one of the trailers of the revival
“One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The book Jess is reading as he leaves for California
“Out of Africa” by Karen Blixen (also known as Isak Dinesen)
The book Lorelai buys for Luke to give his girlfriend Rachel in Season 1
“Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
Rory and Tristan play the star-crossed lovers for a class project
“A Room of One’s Own” by Virginia Woolf
The book Rory is reading on the bus to Chilton in Season 1
“Swann’s Way” by Marcel Proust
The book Lorelai borrows from Max Medina
“The Year of Magical Thinking” by Joan Didion
The book Rory reads while on Valentine’s Day vacation in Martha’s Vineyard with Logan, Lorelai and Luke
Anything by Ernest Hemingway
Rory promises to give Hemingway another chance if Jess rereads “The Fountainhead”
Anything by Dorothy Parker
Rory brings “The Portable Dorothy Parker” with her to a Chilton dance she’s attending with Dean
Collection of short stories by Edgar Allan Poe
The Independence Inn catches fire while the Poe Society is visiting
Any book by Hunter S. Thompson
(see “Emma”)
WHO ARE YOU?
25-28
Rory Gilmore
Drop Everything And Read is not just a reading timeout your class did in grade school—it’s a way of life. You can read anywhere, anytime. A bookstore or a library is your natural habitat, and the thought of spending any period of time without a book in hand causes you anxiety.
21-24
Jess Mariano
Oh, you read. A lot. But you’re dark and mysterious about it … and the ladies/fellas love it. You’ve got deep thoughts when it comes to literature. You’re so ready for someone to drop an obscure literary reference because you’ve got an even more obscure one to fire right back.
17-20
Richard Gilmore
You have to be well-read in order to rub elbows with your colleagues in academia—God forbid someone sounds smarter than you. You tend to stick to the tried-and-true classics, though. Anything after 1950 is just too modern.
13-16
Paris Geller
You would check off more titles on this list if writers weren’t so long-winded (C’mon, Kerouac. Edit.). You just don’t have enough time for leisure reading between bossing around your friends and running the world. But you can hold your own in a literary debate.
9-12
Lorelai Gilmore
You have too much energy and not enough attention span to sit down and read for hours at a time. But you have a weakness for celebrity memoirs and tell-alls.
5-8
Lane Kim
Your reading is a side effect of having a bookworm for a best friend. Maybe you had a bit of a sheltered life, so books help you catch up on what you missed growing up. You’d spend your money on new music over books any day.
1-4
Dean Forester
You read books to impress that cute girl/guy. It’s kind of doubtful that you actually read those. You’re possibly a CliffsNotes user.
