The Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge (Extended Edition)

[00:00:01]Hello pals and welcome to my Rory Gilmore reading challenge. This video has been inspired by my 2026 rewatch of the Gilmore Girls. I'm currently just at the end of season two. Rory Gilmore is a character in the Gilmore Girls and she is an avid reader and the Rory Gilmore reading challenge is a list of all of the books that she's seen reading throughout the Gilmore Girls. I love um watching these videos and I have done the reading challenge before, but I thought it would be fun to film an updated version. I'm going to be doing the extended version. There are 349 books on this list. So, to keep this to a manageable length, I'll concentrate on the books that I have read.

[00:00:51]I'll also include a link to the extended um list in the description box.

[00:00:58]Right, let's go through and see what I've read and also judge Rory's reading taste. So, first book on the list is On the Road by Jack Kurak, which I have read and I do have on my shelf handily cuz it's right next to me the original scroll edition of this. I read this in like 2012 2013. I read him and some Alan Ginsburg. I've just never really connected with the beat writers. I do have my coffee in my Starbucks spare mug, which I feel like is something Lauraai would approve of. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn I've not read. It's one of the one of the gaps in my classics reading. Let's carry on. Madame Bovery I have read. You think I mentioned in the Guardian 100 best novels of all time? Um, Flobear really isn't for me. And I did promise myself after reading Madam Bravery that I wouldn't read anything else by him because um, our outlooks on life are very, very different. War in Peace. I have read.

[00:02:01]Let's keep going. Oh, I have read Great Expectations.

[00:02:05]Um, one of the things that I think it's important to note about this list is that when Gilmore Girls start, Rory um, starts at Chilton Academy with the view to going to Harvard. She ends up at Yale. This list, cuz I have done a shorter version of it before, is very much the list of a school girl reading the classics to try and find her own taste. I don't think Rory ever does find her own taste, but it very much has that vibe. If I had created a list of all the books I'd read when I was like 22, I think it would be similarish to this.

[00:02:49]There are some Harry Potter novels on here. We'll scroll past these cuz I don't recognize them. Um, and there are also some novels which are very much of their time. Richard the Fed and Shakespeare Sonets I have read. Valley of the Dolls I've never read but I really want to. Crucible and Northanger Abby Jana some of my favorites. A street car name Named Desire I did read at school. Um, the portable Dorothy Parker I have read and let me see if I can find it because I really love Dorothy Parker and a few Christmases ago my mom got me the portable Dorothy Parker the folio edition which I really really love.

[00:03:36]Okay, any books that are kind of handy to me I will try and pull out. Uh, Metamorphosis by Kafka. Oh, I can't tick that because I'm trying to drink my coffee. Um, let's keep on going.

[00:03:51]Swanseway by Marcel P. I have a feeling that my time to read some P is almost upon me. The complete poems of Emily Dickinson and the onbridge journals of Sylvia Pla are tricky ones because I have read bits and pieces from her journals, but I've never read it cover to cover. And the same with Emily Dickinson. I have read selected collections of her poems, but never the complete poems. So I won't take them, but maybe I could get like half a point.

[00:04:25]Carrie, I have read. It's one of the few Steven Kings that I have read. McBth, Sa Corinina, The Morning Bride, I've never heard of. Is that an American classic?

[00:04:37]If you're from America and I don't recognize some of these, but you would recommend them, do let me know. Gone with the wind. I haven't read.

[00:04:47]Um, the witch tree symbol I've never heard of. The bell jar. I have read. The bell jar is one of those interesting novels for me where if I was 21, 22 or a teenager, that was like a defining novel for me. Now, I feel like I've outgrown it a little bit, but I don't feel like I've outgrown her poetry. So, yeah, that one is an interesting one for me. Let's carry on. There's some nature there. I did read some nature in university, but I don't think I read it cover to cover.

[00:05:24]To kill a Mockingbird and Hamlet, I have read The Grapes of Rough. I haven't read. It was on my summer reading list for last year and I didn't get round to it, but I do want to read it before the Netflix adaptation comes out. So, I think it's back on the list for autumn.

[00:05:40]Ulyses I haven't read and honestly I don't think I'm ever going to read. Um, the art of fiction I've never heard of that. What Maisy New I don't think I've read. Walden I have read Kujo. No.

[00:05:56]Um, some Mark Train I've never heard of.

[00:06:00]Sinclair Lewis, Alice, Adventures in Wonderland, I have read and next month I think I'm going to an Alice in Wonderland themed afternoon tea in Manchester, which I'm really excited for. So, I have planned to just reread that before I go. Who Moved My Cheese and Tuesdays with Mari are very much of the time. That's funny to see them there. Um, how Oh, yeah. I have read.

[00:06:25]Same for Oliver Twist. Uncle Tom's Cabin. I have read. I read that at uni.

[00:06:31]Let's carry on. Um I don't recognize any of these. Do you recognize um Udora Wely?

[00:06:39]I have read poems from Ansex, but never the complete poems.

[00:06:45]Falner. Uh the Catra and the Ry I have read. Romeo and Juliet. The Iliad. I have read. Of course, I'm filming this on a Sunday.

[00:06:54]Last Friday in the morning, I went to go and see the Odyssey. Um, and I thought it was incredible. There were things that it brought out from the original that I thought it did so well, like the bond between Adishius and all of all of his like crew. There were a few things that they changed or left out which I was kind of disappointed by, but I've never seen a classic as in like the original sense of the world brought to life like that before. I just thought visually it was so incredible. Uh, let's carry on. Amy Tam, the Joy Look Club.

[00:07:28]I've heard of Amy Tam. I've never heard of that. Helter Skelter. I've read bits and pieces of Let's Carry On. An Randran. That's funny because I just recently watched the episode where Rory and Jess are talking about an Rand. If I don't have a coffee, I might lose my voice. To have and have not by Tming White.

[00:07:50]I haven't read. I think that's his first novel and I think the general that if it is his first novel I think the general consensus is is that it's not really worth bothering unless you want to be a completist which I am the type of person who does want to be a completist so at some point I probably will have to read it of the king and Frankenstein I have read fellow I have read Wizard of Oz I have read and I still find quite creepy Goldilocks in Free Bear. Some of the books on here are so random. It's so funny because um I'm of the age where I watch Gilmore Girls when it was on originally and I was obsessed with Rory Gilmore because she's quite bookish and kind of introverted. Rory earlier on, so seasons like 1 through 4, I absolutely loved her character. [clears throat] And then as I got a bit older, Laura became my favorite character. And now when I watch it and after a year in the life, Emily, Richard, and Luca now my favorite characters. So my relationship with the Gilmore Girls has definitely evolved over time. Shakespeare's Henry I've read parts of but not all.

[00:09:08]Let's carry on. I have never read The Merry Wives of Windsor.

[00:09:12]Um, A Christmas Carol I have of course read. I've never read any Judy Bloom. I feel like she's something a lot of like American girls read, but I've never never read anything. Babe is such a random title. I've seen that before. Is that the same series of Babe Pig in the City? In which case, I've seen the film and I love the film, but I've never read that. The Art of War I read at uni. The Fellowship of the Ring I have read. Same for Julius Caesar.

[00:09:38]Um, let's carry on. Edgar Alan Poe, the Raven, and Other Writings. I've read bits by him. I don't think I've read that.

[00:09:46]Atonement, I have read Pinocchio. I have read The Snows of Kilamanjaro. I haven't. The Sun Also Rises in 1984. I have same for Wolvering Heights. I read Wolvering Heights earlier on this year.

[00:10:03]Um, just confirmed to me that it's not really for me. Crimson Petal in the White. I have read I thought it was Emily who reads The Crimson Petal in the White. That's a historical novel written by Michelle Faber set in Victorian London. It's very long but I do recommend it. [clears throat] Okay, so the trial I have read a room with a view I have read and Daisy Miller I have read. I have been thinking about what is my favorite Ian Foster. Is it a passage to India or is it Howard's End? I think A Room with Review is definitely my third favorite, but I might have to go back and reread to figure that out. The Da Vinci Code I have read and I think is a lot of fun. Um, Decline for the Roman Empire. I've read volume one. I will probably never go back and read the other volumes. Um, Catch 22 I have read in my Guardians 100 best novels of all time list. I did mention that I have read that such a long time ago. I barely have any memories of it and I think I was far too young to read it at the time. I think it just went over my head.

[00:11:08]So, I am going to go back and reread that. Baywolf I um reread at the beginning of this year.

[00:11:17]It takes a village by Hillary Clinton.

[00:11:19]Rory's um admission essay when she's applying to Harvard or Yale. I can't remember which one was going to be on Hillary Clinton and then she changes it to be about Lauraai. Oh, Leaves of Grass. I have read um Joan Ddian. I have read I've never read Charlotte's Web by Eie White. Um Inlo Cold Blood. I genuinely can't remember. I think I have read it, but I'm not going to take it cuz I'm not 100%.

[00:11:44]Um it's so funny to think of reading before like tracking your reading. Um I do track my reading now, but there are so many books that I'm so hazy on cuz my memory is terrible. Caval Cavalier and Clay I DNFED and the Louise Erdritz I've tried with her and I've dnfed her in the past and Frank I have read. I should also say this is the extended edition.

[00:12:13]There is a longer list than this which is around 500 books but to keep this to a reasonable length I've gone for the 349 titles. The Awakening I have read and was just so so on. Um there's more Falconer on this list. Beloved I have read.

[00:12:34]Uh same for Brave New World. Canterbury Tales I read bits and pieces of and I've also read bits and pieces of it in the old English.

[00:12:44]Code of Worers I have read. Joffrey Parker I've not read the complete stories of.

[00:12:50]Let's keep on going. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime I have read and I think is a really sweet little book. Death of a Salesman I read at school when I was a teenager. Dracula and Dr. Dracula and Mr. Hyde I have read. Same for Emma.

[00:13:10]I like I mentioned I've just finished Persuasion.

[00:13:14]I'm going to crack on with my summer TBR and pick up The Magic Mountain soon before heading back to some smaller Austin works in between to kind of wrap up Jane Austin July.

[00:13:25]Everything is illuminated. That really takes me back. Fahrenheit 451. Let's carry on. Oh, Michael Moore. Do you remember him? My god. Jonathan Lam is one of those authors that used to be so popular. When I was a book seller, I used to work with a few people who were obsessed with him. The God of More Things I DNFed. The Good Soldier. I really want to get to The Great Gatsby and the Heart of Darkness. I have read.

[00:13:49]This is quite a random list. The House of Sand. I've never even heard of that.

[00:13:53]I've read a different David Sedaris. I wonder if it will be on here. Let's carry on. More Upton Sinclair. I probably need to get to him. The Kiterunner. Did I read The Kiterunner?

[00:14:06]I genuinely can't remember. I don't think I have. Lenny Chie's lover. I don't think I've read The Life of Pie. I think I've just seen the film Chronicles of Nana and Little Women more. The Lottery and The Lovely Bones.

[00:14:20]God, I actually quite like The Lovely Bones and I really like the adaptation, too. Oh, yep. The Master and the Margarita and Me Talk Pretty One Day. I have read Middle Sex. I haven't read.

[00:14:32]I've read The Virgin Suicides. I would actually quite like to read that. Let's carry on. Movable Feast and Mrs. Doway.

[00:14:40]I have read My Sister's Keeper. I've seen the film. I don't know that I've read the book. One of the things that I will say about these lists is um and a few people commented it on the Guardians 100 best novels is that these lists are very um arbitrary. Obviously, that one was pulled together from like quite a lot of different different critics. This is a list of like a fictional character of what she's reading in a TV show and it's very much of the moment and in keeping with her character. And so I don't want to like add a disclaimer. It seems kind of silly, but obviously um whatever number you come up with at the end isn't a determin of like how well read you are. It is just a little bit of fun. I think what you get is um an average score based on what other people have taken taken taken the quiz.

[00:15:35]Let's carry on. Of my men, I have read Diary of a Wimpy Kid. That's so random.

[00:15:41]Ocean Craig. I have read a passage to India and Our Mutual Friend. I have read um The Pex of Being a Wallflower. I loved that book in like 2010, 2011.

[00:15:52]That's a great coming of age novel. I have read The Picture of Dorian Gray. I don't know if it's a controversial statement, but I'm not a big fan of Oscar Wild, much like Emily Bronte in Wthering Heights. I can see that it is and should be a classic. I find it very cold and I think he's a much more complex character than is often than he's often like portrayed as. Let's carry on. Pride and Prejudice. Of course, I've read that one. Quiet storm.

[00:16:24]Lolita, one of my favorite novels. I do get with Lolita why quite a lot of people won't go go near it, but I think it's incredible. Reading Lolita in Tyran is something I've always wanted to read, which is a nice reminder. That's one of the things I love about this list is that you do get little light bulbs to be like, "Oh, yeah. I forgot that I really want to read that." Rebecca, I have read The Red Tent. God, I've not seen that for years. Shank Redemption. I've seen the film. A room of One's Own is a very Rory book and I have read it. Right. The Scarlet Letter, The Scarecrow of Oz. Um, The Simone Devoir I've read extracts of and I would love to read the whole thing. Right, we're on to the last page.

[00:17:10]Let's power through Sens and Sensibility. I have read several biographies of Winston Churchill. That's not very useful. I've read the first one. If it's if it's this full biography of the Second World War, the Henry Miller, I would love to read. Shadow of the Wind. I think I've read. Yeah, I think I have. Um, let's go past these ones.

[00:17:32]Um, potentially that's the last one that I've read. Oh, no. The Time Traveler's Wife. I used to really love that book. I haven't read it for a very long time. I have a beautiful vintage cloth edition of that which is so lovely.

[00:17:46]Carol Shields. I've read some of his short stories, but not that novel.

[00:17:51]Oh, The Virgin Suicides. I have. And that is a really lovely edition. I used to own that edition. It was like a pocket one. Um, right. I think that this is the last. Yeah. 349. Wicked. I haven't read that. So, let's get my results. I've read 89 of 349.

[00:18:12]Um, which I think is higher. Yeah, higher than 91% of users. Um, 1184 out of 12,732.

[00:18:21]I think the average [clears throat] amount people have read is 56. So, that's nice. What I will say is that I'm the right age for some of these novels because I read them at the time. Like, I can't really recommend if you haven't already picked up to go back to My Scissors Keeper or The Life of Pie, but because I was there at the time, [gasps] [laughter] I have them. Um, that was really, really fun. Um, yeah, I love doing stuff like this. Maybe at some point I'll do the whole I'll do the complete 500 list. Um, but that that was really really fun. One of the things, let me stop screen recording. One of the things that I've been thinking of doing, and it has been inspired by my rewatch of the Gilmore Girls, just because I'm having so much fun re-watching it, I always do, is doing a series where I do uh like coffee with a classic. would be coffee with Middle March or coffee with um The Magic Mountain or coffee with On the Road and I can just talk about that classic and do a little review for it and just have a really informal chat about my reading history of the novel, what I read by the author, what I made of the novel and I can just make myself a maybe a different cup of coffee or a cup of coffee inspired by that novel for each classic. Um, maybe I've been watching too much Gilmore Girls. Um, but I think it could be quite a nice idea. I have been trying to think of like a pun title for it, but I I I really can't.

[00:20:02]I've been racking my brains. If anyone has any good titles, ideas, I would love to hear them. Um, and I just think that could be a a nice fun way to talk about classics on the channel and have it be a little bit more informal than a book review, which can take quite a lot of time to prepare. But like I said, I've also potentially been watching too much Gilmore Girls, so we'll see. I should also mention, and I keep on forgetting to mention this, I set up an Instagram account for this book channel. It's just like photographs of what I'm reading or places that I've been. Some of my photos from my Jane Austin trip to Jordan and my trip to Winchester are on there. I will do my best to remember that I have it and to update it. But yeah, I thought that that would be quite a nice thing to do. That is it for today's video. Thank you so much for watching. I love to hear from you in the comments if you've done this reading challenge, what your thoughts are on Gilmore Girls, and I will see you all in the next video. Bye.