The weather is getting colder and there’s nothing better than curling up on the couch and watching Gilmore Girls. The close mother-daughter relationship between Lorelai and Rory has captured the hearts of audiences since the early 2000s. Stars Hollow’s combination of witty dialogue, endearing characters, and idyllic setting has earned it acclaim. Gilmore Girls this place is like a show of maximum comfort.
Rory is beloved as a smart, shy character who is almost never shown without a book in her hand. She even says that she “lives in two worlds. One of them is the world of books.” For seven seasons Gilmore GirlsRory mentions or reads over 400 books, so who better to get recommendations from?
Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert
Rory reads Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert in the first episode of the first season after she decides she doesn’t want to go to Chilton Prep School. Her uncharacteristically rebellious decision forces Madame Bovary a very appropriate choice of book to read given the questionable decisions of the main character.
Madame Bovary The story tells of a young French woman named Emma Bovary, who, tired of her husband, begins several affairs. When the novel was published in 1857, the betrayal horrified readers and the novel was eventually banned for a time. However, it is now again being hailed as a groundbreaking classic due to its morally ambiguous protagonist and its exploration of realistic French society. Madame Bovary is the perfect classic for non-classical readers who want to read something different.
Northanger Abbey Jane Austen
It’s no surprise that Rory is a fan of Jane Austen, one of the world’s most influential writers. In season one, Rory encourages her boyfriend Dean to read. Northanger Abbey, claiming that “he needs to read Austen.” Northanger Abbey follows naive Catherine Morland as she falls in love with the charming Henry Tilney, but soon discovers some disturbing secrets.
Austen played with the gothic genre, simultaneously embracing it and ridiculing it. Although Northanger Abbey is one of her lesser-known novels, it is no less interesting, its gothic theme makes it perfect for the dark months.
“Atonement”, Ian McEwan
Rory reads Redemption Ian McEwan in season four, when she first attends Yale University. Season four is a transition period for Rory and includes some bad decisions, but read Redemption is not one of them. Published in 2001, Redemption received critical acclaim and was adapted into an Oscar-nominated film starring Keira Knightley, Saoirse Ronan and James McAvoy.
Redemption The story takes place in three time periods, from England in the 1930s, through World War II, to the present day. It explores the aftermath of 12-year-old Briony’s disturbing confession and how it changes the lives of those around her forever. Redemption is an intriguing but ultimately devastating novel that is perfect for readers hoping to become completely immersed in a book.
Like water for chocolate, Laura Esquivel
Rory’s reading choices are very varied, as evidenced by her reading. Like water for chocolate Mexican writer Laura Esquivel, translated by Carol and Thomas Christenson. This is a magical realist novel told in parts, each with a recipe attached. Like water for chocolate follows the youngest daughter Tita, who is forbidden by her mother to marry her beloved Pedro. Feeling hopeless, Tita turns to cooking as an expression of her forbidden love and desire.
Unlike Gilmore Girls is like water instead of chocolate depicts a mother-daughter relationship filled with struggle. It is also a complex exploration of female sexuality and social expectations of women.
Isabel Allende’s House of Spirits
In the final season Gilmore GirlsRory praises her friend for choosing popular Spanish writer Isabel Allende. Allende’s most famous novel House of Spirits, which began as a letter to her 100-year-old dying grandfather. This letter then became the manuscript of her first novel.
House of Spirits covers four generations of a family during a period of change in South America. The story centers on Clara and Alba, who are bound by their involvement in the ruthless patriarchal power of Esteban’s family. It uses magical realism, but also explores issues of class and the role of women in a patriarchal society.
After watching again Gilmore Girls for the seventh time, take a break and try embodying Rory by reading some of her book recommendations.