Fall is the unofficial Gilmore Girls season, so let’s read seasonally and just like the characters in Stars Hollow would! Over many years of taking the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge, I’ve maintained a list of about three dozen books I’ve read that feel like fall.
Here, I’ve narrowed it down specifically for Gilmore Girls fans into these sweater weather categories:
- Fall Books on the Gilmore Girls Reading List
- Fall Books That Feel Like Gilmore Girls
- Fall Books That Rory Should Read
- Fall Books That Lorelai Should Read
You’ll find everything from eerie classics to intellectual dark academia, spooky thrillers, and cozy autumnal romances in these Gilmore Girls book recommendations.
Start with one of my favorites Macbeth, Rebecca, The Dutch House, The Secret History, or Practical Magic; or, pick the ones that resonate most with you below!
Classic Fall Books on the Gilmore Girls Reading List
- The Crucible by Arthur Miller: play
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling: Young Adult fantasy and dark academia
- Macbeth by William Shakespeare: play
- Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: thriller
- Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury: dark fantasy
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
My review: 3 out of 5 stars
This classic play centers on the Salem witch trials. A parable, its purpose is to convey the harm that violence sanctioned by society can cause. In Gilmore Girls episode 1.7 “Kiss and Tell,” Lorelai tells Luke he looks like one of the guys from the adaptation, which makes for a great pairing with the play. The adaptation is more immersive because the play itself is just dialogue.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
My review: 5 out of 5 stars
As everyone knows, this bestselling book series of all time is the first in a series about an orphan boy who goes to wizard school and fights evil. Harry Potter appears a few times in Gilmore Girls. Notably, you may recall Brian wanted to name Hep Alien “The Harry Potters.” Whether you’ve read it, I always like to recommend the Minalima editions, which are illustrated and interactive.
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
My review: 5 out of 5 stars
This play is the tragic rise and fall of the King of Scotland, featuring the three witches, who chant predictions and manipulate Macbeth with famously spooky lines like: “Double, double toil and trouble: Fire burn, and cauldron bubble,” which Rory says in episode 1.13, “Concert Interruptus.” Like all Shakespearean tragedies, it’s haunting, but this one is also spooky. I recommend the No Fear edition because it contains the original text and a modern translation. It’s one of my favorite classics!
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
My review: 5 out of 5 stars
This atmospheric thriller centers on a servant who marries a wealthy widow and moves into his estate, Manderley, where the “ghost” of his first wife lingers. It’s so eerie! This Gilmore Girls reference is a bit harder to find — it’s when Max (the name of the book’s widow) nicknames Rory “Rebecca.” If you like modern thrillers, you can’t miss this one.
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
My review: 3 out of 5 stars
Filled with fall imagery and magic, this is the story of two young boys’ obsession with a Halloween night carnival that brings dark, strange things to their town. Right after Rory says the Macbeth line above, she says its other famous line, “With the pricking of my thumb, something wicked this way comes.” This book was named after that line. You can pair it with the Disney adaptation on a blustery night!
The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe
My review: 5 out of 5 stars
In this short story, a mysterious beating heart causes uncontrollable paranoia in a murderer who thinks he committed the perfect crime. It’s very obviously from the Poe Society episode of Gilmore Girls (3.17 “A Tale of Poes and Fire”). It has one of the most unforgettable and haunting twists in all of literature.
Fall Romance Books That Feel Like Gilmore Girls
- The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller: small town romance
- Well Met by Jen DeLuca: Renaissance Faire romance
The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller
My review: 3 out of 5 stars
Livvy leaves behind a fancy pastry chef job in Boston for a job at a Vermont inn, where she falls for a local who comes home to care for his ailing father. There’s a Harvest dinner, an apple pie contest, and everything you would expect from a cozy, small-town, fall romance. This romance feels the most like Gilmore Girls overall. It’s one of my top recommendations for fans.
Well Met by Jen DeLuca
My review: 3 out of 5 stars
Emily moves to her sister’s small town to help her recover from an accident. There, she volunteers for the local Renaissance Faire alongside her teenage niece, where she falls for the leader, who has a complex history with the fair. Cue the Liz and TJ vibes! This gives readers a more unique take on fall vibes.
Fun Fact:
Romance ranks at the top of Google search interest in nearly half of U.S. states! This is especially true during the unofficial Gilmore Girls season of fall, when both Gilmore Girls and fall romance books are trending on Google searches.
Fall Literary Fiction Books That Rory Gilmore Should Read
- The Dutch House by Ann Patchett: literary fiction
- If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio: literary thriller and dark academia
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt: literary fiction and dark academia
- We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson: literary fiction
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
My review: 5 out of 5 stars
Two siblings grow up on their own and occasionally return to reminisce at their childhood home, most often around Thanksgiving. Rory would love the literary fiction writing style of this Pulitzer Prize finalist, and she would relate to the complicated family dynamics. The audiobook is narrated by Tom Hanks and is so well-performed that I got chills at the end. It’s one of my favorite books of the last decade.
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
My review: 4 out of 5 stars
Looking for Yale vibes? This book follows a group of Shakespearean actors at a conservatory, where a night of drunken debauchery led to death. With parallels to Shakespearean tragedies running throughout, it’s an ambitious coming-of-age book that explores everything from coping with grief to the motivations that drive us. Rory would love the Shakespeare references!
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
My review: 5 out of 5 stars
An outcast from California, desperate to fit in at a preppy New England college in the 1980s, becomes friends with his fellow Greek classmates, and their obsession with Greek has deadly consequences. The crew spirals as they process the gravity of their actions. Obviously, Rory would love the setting, but I think she’d also appreciate the stellar dialogue in this modern classic. It’s one of those books that every avid reader just has to read! You’ll never forget it.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
My review: 4 out of 5 stars
Merricat lives with her sick uncle and reclusive sister, Constance, in an isolated New England home, haunted by a family tragedy that once put Constance on trial for murder. When cousin Charles arrives, their fragile world unravels in this chilling tale of secrets and survival. We know Rory is a fan of Shirley Jackson, and she would love how masterfully this disturbing book was written. It’s short, easy, and oh, so creepy!
Thrilling Fall Books That Lorelai Gilmore Should Read
- How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix: horror
- The Only One Left by Riley Sager: thriller
- Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman: literary fiction series
How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix
My review: 4 out of 5 stars
After their parents tragically die, Louise and Mark reunite to sell the family home. Complicating things, however, is a possessed puppet named Pumpkin, who has been part of the family for many years. Through this demonic doll, they process trauma and grief. Lorelai would totally reference Pumpkin in her fast talk! I’m telling you, he is so creepy, and his character is such a unique catalyst for the story.
The Only One Left by Riley Sager
My review: 5 out of 5 stars
This is a chilling 1980s Gothic tale about a tarnished caregiver working for a woman accused of a gruesome family massacre in her spooky cliffside estate. This “Lizzie Borden” of her Maine town has been rendered mute by a stroke but wishes to tell her side of the story over a typewriter. It’s eerie, ominous, and actually jaw-dropping. Lorelai would read it for its pop culture connections. It’s mine and many other readers’ favorite of his thrillers. Defiinitely a cold night by the fireplace kind of book!
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
My review: 4 out of 5 stars
This is the first in a bewitching series of books about the Owens sisters, long cursed in love. They live with their elderly aunts in Massachusetts, where they are taunted for living in a musty house with mysterious potions and black cats. As adults, they escape, but when the men in their lives die, they must come back together. Everything about this series feels very “Lorelai” to me — the magic, the aunts, the doomed romances, and the popular movie adaptation she’d watch. (Note that it’s a bit different!)
Tip:
To maximize the Stars Hollow vibes, read these books while listening to my Gilmore Girls playlist and wearing your Rory Gilmore sweater.
Frequently Asked Questions
During fall, Gilmore Girls fans should read books that feel like the show, from cozy thrillers to dark academia and coming-of-age novels, magical stories, and small-town romances.
Out of the 500+ books on Gilmore Girls, the dark academia references include The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling, Old School by Tobias Woolf, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, and A Separate Peace by John Knowles.
Recap
If you’re still struggling to decide where to start, try one of my favorite fall books: Macbeth or Rebecca from the Gilmore Girls book list, The Dutch House or The Secret History for readers like Rory, or Practical Magic for readers like Lorelai.
