I like to think of myself as a real-life equivalent of Rory Gilmore. I know a lot of fans of Gilmore Girls might think that about themselves, but hear me out:
1. Lesson #1: Preparedness
I've brought a book with me everywhere since I could read - and that was years before Gilmore Girls ever premiered!
2. Lesson #2: Organization
We can all relate to lack of shelf space, but I'm now running out of space to put shelves! I may steal Rory's drawer idea next...
3. Lesson #3: Passion
I, too, love the smell of books. And the feel of them. And reading them, obviously. Being surrounded by books is utter bliss.
4. Lesson #4: Portability
Let's put it this way: I own multiple book sleeves so I can bring my books with me wherever I go without damaging them (see Lesson #1). It has become physically difficult to not enter a library book sale or a bookshop these days, and especially difficult not to buy something there. And often, when I go book shopping, I'm attracted to books that I already own as I browse. The struggle is real.
5. Lesson #5: Addiction
I always overpack for trips, short or long - because I need to bring a variety of reading material with me! Besides, what if I run out of material before the end of the trip?
Reading similarities aside, I'm also a quick-witted brunette who speaks in fluent references, I'm very close to my mom, and I live in small-town Connecticut. Are you convinced yet?
Regardless of how similar or dissimilar we are, I was curious to see how similar my reading taste is to Rory's. I downloaded a printable checklist of all the books Rory mentions reading in Gilmore Girls from Tanya at Mom's Small Victories. So far, I have read the following books from the list:
1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
2. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
3. Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
4. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
5. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
6. Atonement by Ian McEwan
7. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
8. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
9. Beowulf: A New Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney
10. Brigadoon by Alan Jay Lerner
11. Candide by Voltaire
12. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
13. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
14. The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse
15. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
16. A Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
17. The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber
18. The Crucible by Arthur Miller
19. The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown
20. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
21. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
22. Eloise by Kay Thompson
23. Emma by Jane Austen
24. Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol
25. Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales and Poems by Edgar Allan Poe
26. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
27. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkein
28. Fiddler on the Roof by Joseph Stein
29. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
30. Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Alvin Granowsky
31. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
32. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
33. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
34. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
35. Hamlet by William Shakespeare
36. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
37. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
38. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
39. Henry IV, Part 1 by William Shakespeare
40. Henry IV, Part 2 by William Shakespeare
41. Henry V by William Shakespeare
42. How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
43. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
44. Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
45. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
46. Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
47. The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen
48. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
49. The Lottery: And Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
50. Macbeth by William Shakespeare
51. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
52. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
53. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
54. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
55. The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin
56. New Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson
57. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
58. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism
59. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
60. Othello by William Shakespeare
61. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
62. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
63. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
64. The Portable Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker
65. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
66. Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
67. Rapunzel by The Brothers Grimm
68. The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
69. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
70. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
71. The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkein
72. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
73. A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
74. The Scarecrow of Oz by Frank L. Baum
75. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
76. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
77. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
78. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
79. Small Island by Andrea Levy
80. Snow White and Rose Red by The Brothers Grimm
81. The Sonnets by William Shakespeare
82. Stuart Little by E.B. White
83. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
84. Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
85. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
86. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
87. Richard III by William Shakespeare
88. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
89. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
90. Walden by Henry David Thoreau
91. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
92. The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum
93. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
93 books is pretty good going, but there are still 246 more to go! I'm not consciously trying to complete the challenge within a certain time frame (i.e. "I will complete this challenge within a year!"), but I will try to read all of these books over the course of my reading career. Therefore, I will check in with this challenge once a year to see how many more books I can check off the list.
What do you think of the Rory Gilmore challenge? Would you give yourself a time frame in which to complete it, or would you freestyle it like me?
If you're joining me on this journey, grab some coffee and happy reading!