My Lorelai Gilmore reading list proves she may have actually been the best reader on Gilmore Girls. I’ve tracked the books mentioned throughout the series since 2021, when I started my Rory Gilmore reading challenge, and I’ve spent years refining my list of the books referenced on Gilmore Girls for my own book, the Unofficial Guide to the Books on Gilmore Girls.
While Rory gets most of the credit for being Stars Hollow’s bookworm, Lorelai has an impressive reading list of her own. Her references span classic literature, contemporary fiction, pop culture nonfiction, memoirs, and more. Her book recommendations are often more varied than you might expect. In fact, I’ve found that most readers who take my quiz identify as a Lorelai-type reader.
So, whether you’re a longtime fan revisiting familiar titles or want to read your way through Lorelai’s literary world, this guide will help you find your next book.
10 Iconic Books Lorelai Read on Gilmore Girls
This section isn’t about the best books Lorelai read, or even my favorites. It’s her most iconic reading moments on the show: what she was seen reading, what books she’s said she read, etc. They really showcase her as the Renaissance woman she is!
Deenie by Judy Blume: A teen model copes with scoliosis and happens to be the coming of age book Lorelai read when she had Rory. (Season 3, episode 6 “Take the Deviled Eggs”)
The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band by Tommy Lee et al.: Lorelai is seen reading this Mötley Crüe autobiography. (Season 2, episode 18 “Back in the Saddle Again”)
I’m With the Band by Pamela Des Barres: Lorelai is seen reading this groupie memoir. (Season 3, episode 16 “The Big One”)
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain: Lorelai is seen reading this chef’s memoir. (Season 1, episode 4 “The Deer Hunters”)
Moby Dick by Herman Melville: Lorelai reads the quote, “Oars, oars, grip your oars, and clutch your souls now. My God, pull, men!” (Season 6, episode 15 “A Vineyard Valentine”)
Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich: Lorelai reads this nonfiction title about getting by in America at the hospital. (Season 3, episode 13 “Dear Emily and Richard”)
Out of Africa by Karen Blixen/Isak Dinesen: Lorelai buys this African memoir as a gift for Rachel. (Season 1, episode 20 “P.S. I Lo…”)
Sailing Alone Around the Room by Billy Collins: Lorelai reads this poetry book in bed. (Season 6, episode 16 “Bridesmaids Revisited”)
Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette by Judith Thurman: Lorelai tells Rory to bring “that Colette biography.” (Season 2, episode 3 “Red Light on Wedding Night”)
Wild by Cheryl Strayed: Lorelai goes on a hike inspired by this grief memoir. (A Year in the Life: “Summer” and “Fall”)
Lorelai Gilmore’s Reading List
Of the 475+ books on the Gilmore Girls reading list, 136 are attributable to Lorelai Gilmore.
The Rules:
- Books given or recommended to Lorelai count. I assume she would have read them.
- Books in Lorelai’s possession that may belong to another character (like her pile of books that remind her of Luke) count.
- Books Lorelai references in regard to another character (like saying Rory read it) count. It’s still a reference, and her knowledge of titles matters.
- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
- All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
- The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson
- And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
- Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
- The Art of War by Sun Tzu
- The Automated Battlefield by Frank Barnaby
- Babe by Dick King-Smith
- Bambi: A Life in the Woods by Felix Salten
- A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar
- The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
- Ben Hur by Lew Wallace
- Beowulf by Anonymous/Seamus Heaney translation
- Butterfield 8 by John O’Hara
- Call of the Wild by Jack London
- Casino Royale by Ian Fleming
- “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe
- The Celebrated Jumping Frog by Mark Twain
- Charlie & the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
- Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
- The Children’s Hour by Lillian Hellman
- Cinderella by the Brothers Grimm
- Clifford the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell
- The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
- The Crucible by Arthur Miller
- Cujo by Stephen King
- Cyrano De Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
- Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
- Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
- Deenie by Judy Blume
- Diamonds Are Forever by Ian Fleming
- The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band by Tommy Lee, et al.
- Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhrv
- The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
- The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
- The Fair Penitent by Nicholas Rowe
- The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
- Firestarter by Stephen King
- Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers
- The Ghost of Mrs. Muir by Josephine Leslie
- The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
- Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet
- The Godfather by Mario Puzo
- Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
- Goodnight Spoon by Keith Richards
- The Gospel According to Jesus Christ by José Saramago
- The Graduate by Charles Webb
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Hamlet by William Shakespeare
- Hansel and Gretel by the Brothers Grimm
- Harvey by Mary Chase
- Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
- Henry VIII by William Shakespeare
- He’s Just Not That Into You by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo
- The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
- Horton Hears a Who! by Dr. Seuss
- Hotels, Restaurants, and Inns of Great Britain and Ireland 1986 by Egon Ronay
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
- The Iliad by Homer
- I’m With the Band by Pamela Des Barres
- In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
- Into What Far Harbor? by Allen Drury
- I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron
- The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
- Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
- Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
- Lassie Come-Home by Eric Knight
- Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore
- The Little Locksmith by Katharine Butler Hathaway
- The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
- Love For Love by William Congreve
- Macbeth by William Shakespeare
- The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon
- Marathon Man by William Goldman
- Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers
- Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus by John Gray, Ph.D.
- Midnight Express by Billy Hayes
- Moby Dick by Herman Melville
- Mommie Dearest by Christina Crawford
- The Mourning Bride by William Congreve
- Myra Waldo’s Travel and Motoring Guide to Europe
- The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
- Nancy Drew and The Witch Tree Symbol by Carolyn Keene
- Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
- Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
- No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
- The Odd Couple by Neil Simon
- Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
- Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
- On the Road by Jack Kerouac
- Out of Africa by Karen Blixen/Isak Dinesen
- Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
- The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
- The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger
- The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
- Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
- Pomeranian: An Owner’s Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet by Happeth A. Jones
- The Portable Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker
- Psycho by Robert Bloch
- Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
- Rapunzel by the Brothers Grimm
- Richard III by William Shakespeare
- Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
- Sailing Alone Around the Room by Billy Collins
- Scarface by Armitage Trail
- Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette by Judith Thurman
- Selected Hotels of Europe by Fodor’s
- Shaft by Ernest Tidyman
- Sleeping Beauty by The Brothers Grimm
- Snow White by the Brothers Grimm
- The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
- A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
- Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust
- “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
- Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
- The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
- Un Petit Lapin by Matias
- Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
- Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
- War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
- The Watercolors for the Birds of America by John James Audubon
- What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles
- What Happened to Baby Jane? by Henry Farrell
- Wild by Cheryl Strayed
- The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike
- Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson
- Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee
- Wicked by Gregory Maguire
- “The Wisdom of Eve” by Mary Orr
- Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes
- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum
- The World of Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
