2026 Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge (+ Printable PDF Checklist)

What is the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge?

The Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge is a challenge to read the hundreds of books referenced on the television show Gilmore Girls.

6th Annual Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge Prompts for 2026

I’ll share comprehensive reading lists each month on Substack, but if you want to plan ahead, below are ten books I recommend for each prompt, as well as what I plan on reading this year.

January: A Kids’ Book

I always like to start the year with an easy prompt so readers can get a quick win and/or catch up if they find the challenge later in the year. There are tons of children’s books referenced on Gilmore Girls. Here are 10 I loved.

1. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
2. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
3. Charlie & the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
4. Deenie by Judy Blume
5. Eloise at the Plaza by Kay Thompson
6. Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol
7. Horton Hears a Who! by Dr. Seuss
8. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
9. Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

I currently plan on reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.

February: A Book Adapted to Film

February is a great month to read books adapted to film because we are often stuck indoors and can read and watch. Many of these film adaptations also correspond to children’s books, so you can easily read two short books to start the challenge.

There are also tons of book-to-film adaptations referenced on Gilmore Girls. Here are 10 I loved.

1. Atonement by Ian McEwan
2. Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote
3. The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller
4. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
5. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
6. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
7. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
8. The Shining by Stephen King
9. Wild by Cheryl Strayed
10. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

I currently plan on reading Peyton Place by Grace Metalious.

March: A Book Published in 2000 or After

Gilmore Girls premiered in 2000 and features many modern classics and/or books that were part of the zeitgeist. This contemporary fiction really intrigued me when I decided to take on this challenge. I want our reading to focus at least once this year, specifically on the book world at the exact time of the show. It transports us to Stars Hollow in a unique way!

1. Atonement by Ian McEwan
2. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
3. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
4. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
5. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
6. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
7. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
8. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
9. The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin
10. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

I currently plan on reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon.

April: A Classic Book

Rory Gilmore loved to read great literature at Chilton and Yale, so it’s no surprise that there were so many classic books referenced on Gilmore Girls.  We’re a few months into the challenge, and I consider this the first truly challenging prompt.

However, I don’t want it to be too challenging for you, so below are 10 classics I both loved and think are very readable.

1. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
3. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
4. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
5. The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
6. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
7. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
8. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
9. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
10. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I currently plan on reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare.

May: A Book Associated With Rory Gilmore

Of course, one of the biggest reasons we take this challenge is to read like Rory. So, let’s do exactly that this month. Below are ten books from the show that I enjoyed and are closely associated with Rory (read, discussed, studied, on her shelf, etc.).

1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
2. Atonement by Ian McEwan
3. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
4. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
5. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
6. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
7. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
8. Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway
9. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
10. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

I currently plan on reading The Group by Mary McCarthy.

June: A Female Author

Both the show Gilmore Girls and the books on it are very female-forward from Lorelai and Rory to Emily, Paris, Lane, Sookie, and more. So, let’s take a month to celebrate books by women. Below are 10 that I enjoyed that are not just by women, but also about them.

1. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
2. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
3. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
4. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
5. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
6. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
7. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
8. A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
9. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
10. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

I currently plan on reading Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann.

July: A Short Book

Since it’s summer, let’s relax and read something short and sweet. So many short books (under 250 pages) were referenced on Gilmore Girls, including many plays and children’s books.  Here are 10 that I loved. I tried to focus on books that are different than those I recommended in other months, so you have some variety in your reading.

1. Candide by Voltaire
2. Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhrv
3. Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg
4. Love Story by Erich Segal
5. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
8. Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway
9. A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
10. The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

I currently plan on reading Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett.

August: A Book Set in Europe

The Gilmore Girls famously travel to Europe during the summer (as did Richard and Emily on various occasions), so let’s do so too–through books set there! While there are many set in Europe on the full list, here are ten I read and enjoyed. I tried to focus on ones to which the setting was somehow important to the plot.

1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
2. Atonement by Ian McEwan
3. Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
4. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
5. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
6. Hamlet by William Shakespeare
7. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
8. Night by Elie Wiesel
9. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
10. A Room with a View by E.M. Forster

I currently plan on reading Gigi by Collette.

September: A Book Associated With Lorelai Gilmore

Earlier this year, we read books associated with Rory, so let’s read one associated with Lorelai, too! It’s a fun juxtaposition and something we haven’t covered to date in the many years of this challenge! Here are 10 that I enjoyed and may have you thinking of her reading at Luke’s Diner or the Dragonfly Inn.

1. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
2. Charlie & the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
3. Deenie by Judy Blume
4. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
5. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain
6. The Shining by Stephen King
7. A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
8. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
9. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee
10. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum

I currently plan on reading The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells.

Reading Tip: The American Library Association retains lists of the most commonly banned books if you want more options.

October: A Book From Season 2 of Gilmore Girls

By October, you should be about a season deep into your Gilmore Girls rewatches, so let’s read a book from Season 2 to pair with your reading. Here are ten that I enjoyed. I focused on curating books that you may most clearly recall from the show (including a few Jess books).

1. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
2. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
3. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
4. Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhrv
5. Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg
6. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
7. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
8. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
9. Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson
10. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum

I currently plan on reading The Lottery: And Other Stories by Shirley Jackson.

November: A Non-Fiction Book

Since November is widely considered “Non-Fiction November” in the literary world, this is an ideal time to focus on non-fiction in our challenge. Here are 10 options I loved.

1. Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
2. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
3. I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron
4. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
5. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain
6. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
7. Night by Elie Wiesel
8. Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett
9. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
10. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

I’m leaning towards Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi.

December: A Random Book

For the last month of this year’s challenge, we usually read a book that’s still on your TBR list–a freebie of sorts. This year, a book club member recommended a new take on this, and I loved it– a random book. You can choose any book from the list at random. Don’t like it? Keep picking at random until something sparks joy in you. Let’s make our holiday reading serendipitous!

Of course, this is a very personal challenge, but below are 10 recommendations I enjoyed on the themes of Christmas, popular picks, and must-reads, in case they randomly come up for you.

1. The Best of Martha Stewart Living: Holidays by Martha Stewart Living
2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
3. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
4. Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhrv
5. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
6. How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
7. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
8. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
9. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
10. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Frequently Asked Questions

Take the Challenge to Read Like the Gilmore Girls

To take the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge in 2026, subscribe on Substack to get your free printable PDF checklist of the books, Instagram story templates to track your reading, and more to get you started. I also recommend you follow along on Instagram, where our virtual book club members are highly active.