Start here to learn how to become a free or paid member of the Friday Night Readers book club inspired by Gilmore Girls.

Get your exclusive printable PDF of the 500+ books referenced on Gilmore Girls when you subscribe to Friday Night Readers’ free email newsletter community. Tens of thousands of readers have accessed this popular bonus.

Books are art, and art is subjective, so there’s never a one-size-fits-all answer to this common question. But you can quickly decide what to read next from the Gilmore Girls reading list with my helpful quiz.

Julianne Buonocore. I’m the founder and president of Friday Night Readers (formerly known as The Literary Lifestyle® and The Rory Gilmore Book Club), an authentic virtual book club community dedicated to helping you embrace a cozy and literary way of life inspired by Gilmore Girls.

I’m a reader of over 100 books per year. I studied English literature and have been featured in The Today Show’s Read with Jenna Book Club, as well as on BuzzFeed, The Atlantic, Reader’s Digest, Women’s Health, The Everygirl, Glamour, and more. My essay about our book club was published in the book But I’m a Gilmore!

Visit Friday Night Readers’ Contact page for more information for authors, brands, creators, and readers.

2019: As an avid reader, I wrote book reviews and themed book lists (especially for literary travel during my Italian honeymoon) for my personal use. However, I wanted a more public digital platform to store them, so my friends and family could access my recommendations as well. My blog, “Jules Buono®,” was born based on my nickname.

2020: Quarantine gave me more time for reading and blogging, allowing my hobbies to flourish during this period. I decided to tackle the Gilmore Girls reading challenge by reading the 500+ books mentioned on the show while re-watching it on Netflix. My social media followers loved this idea and wanted to join in on it. Thus, my book club, The Rory Gilmore Book Club, was born.

2021: My blog, Jules Buono®, had grown substantially, and I wanted the brand to reflect what it had become and where it was going in the future. I re-branded it to The Literary Lifestyle®. I also organized a book drive that secured 1,500 books in one week for low-income, Philly-based school districts that were especially in need of this support due to the pandemic’s challenges.

2022: What started as a personal blog had become a full-fledged business. I quit my law firm job and started focusing my full-time efforts on The Literary Lifestyle®, helping an increasingly larger number of readers improve their reading lives. I also wrote an essay about my book club that was published in the book But I’m a Gilmore!

2023-2024: The Literary Lifestyle® reached millions of readers through our website, email community, book club, and other social media channels. It became a leading provider of digital book-related content worldwide.

2025: As the threats and effects of Artificial Intelligence grew, I decided to lean into the human element of my business, The Rory Gilmore Book Club, full-time via memberships and other streams of income than informational blogging. This sparked my desire to officially merge The Literary Lifestyle and The Rory Gilmore Book Club into a more focused brand and niche community: Friday Night Readers. This new brand name remains fully inspired by Gilmore Girls but is ever so slightly more open-ended. The new name is a nod to Friday night dinners from Gilmore Girls.

This is the #1 question I am asked, often from busy students, workers, and/or parents. I have learned many effective strategies for finding time to read over 100 books per year in the last several years. Here are three tips to get you started:

First, you should always maintain access to a print, digital, and/or audiobook so you can take advantage of unexpected free time, like waiting in line.

Second, set small, attainable daily goals, such as 5 minutes or a certain number of pages to read per day. You will start to build a habit easily, and you will often read even more than that once you get started.

Third, be mindful of what wastes time in your day and commit to changing it, whether it’s TV, social media, or something else. In other words, prioritize reading over other things in your life, primarily if those other things aren’t serving you. This takes some work and practice, but it’s worth it.

I have learned many effective strategies for reading over 100 books per year in the last several years. Here are a few tips to get you started:

Always have a book on hand to prepare when you unexpectedly get time. Apps and e-readers are especially helpful in this regard.

Set a goal and track your progress. It’s very motivating and satisfying!

Participate in a fun reading challenge or book club community with others, such as this one!

Choose the right books for you, and don’t be afraid to stop reading a book that isn’t a good fit. The easiest way to do this is by searching for books similar to ones you’ve already read and liked.

My favorite places to get books are the library (free) and library sales (cheap). Additionally, I regularly receive books from the following sources and recommend them to you: Book of the Month (print), PangoBooks (mostly used print books), and Libro.fm (audiobooks that support independent bookstores).

Get exclusive discount codes for these retailers.