Did You Know ‘Gilmore Girls’ Had Its Own Book Series Written from Rory’s Perspective?
Literature was always a huge part of Gilmore Girls. Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) was a lifelong bookworm, and she always had a pile of books on hand to read at any time. Between Rory’s reading lists and all the other famous literary references, Gilmore Girls mentioned more than 300 books. So, it only made sense that a collection of novels would accompany the show. Did you know that a Gilmore Girls book series told from Rory’s perspective existed? Learn more about them below.
Did Rory Gilmore write a book?
In Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, Rory wrote a book about life with her mother, Lorelai (Lauren Graham), including various romances and other relationships with friends and family. She called it Gilmore Girls, just like the show. Many fans have come to imagine that the show itself is actually a televised version of Rory’s book.
Unfortunately, a real version of Rory’s book from A Year in the Life was never published (even though many people would love to read it). However, some Gilmore Girls fans might not know that there actually was a book series written as though it came from Rory’s mind. The novels were created long before A Year in the Life.
How many ‘Gilmore’ books are there in the series?
While Gilmore Girls began in 2000, the books didn’t arrive until 2002. Like Mother, Like Daughter, written by Catherine Clark, was a novelized version of the show’s premiere episode. Most of the details matched the episode, but instead of seeing the story from an outside perspective, readers got to see how things played out from Rory’s point of view. Check out the synopsis for Gilmore Girls: Like Mother, Like Daughter (via Thriftbooks):
“Okay, let’s face it. My mom and I are never going to have a ‘normal’ mother-daughter relationship because my mom isn’t just my mother, she’s my best friend. She would do anything for me, including asking her parents for the tuition money to send me to Chilton, this prestigious prep school that just accepted me. That was probably one of the toughest things she’s ever done, although agreeing to weekly dinners in exchange for the loan probably runs a close second. My mom’s just miserable at the mere thought of this. But the way I look at it? — I’d just say life is going to get a lot more interesting.”
Book No. 2, I Love You, You Idiot by Cathy East Dubowski, took place just after Rory and Dean Forrester (Jared Padalecki) broke up in season 1. In the third book, I Do, Don’t I?, also written by Catherine Clark, Rory shared her thoughts on Lorelai’s engagement to Max Medina (Scott Cohen) and caught up on extracurriculars to impress Harvard.
Finally, there was a fourth book, The Other Side of Summer by Gilmore Girls producer Helen Pai. This one detailed Rory joining the Puffs, her debutante ball, Jess Mariano’s (Milo Ventimiglia) move to Stars Hollow, and Tristan’s (Chad Michael Murray) return to Chilton.
Where to find the ‘Gilmore Girls’ books
Unfortunately, the Gilmore Girls book series is no longer in print, so it’s somewhat hard to find. At the time of this writing, Thriftbooks has all four novels available to buy. However, they’re pretty expensive at $50 to upwards of $150 apiece.
There are plenty of other books available for fans of ‘Gilmore Girls’
Even if you can’t get your hands on the Gilmore Girls book series, there are plenty of other pieces of Gilmore literature to enjoy. Those who are interested in behind-the-scenes trivia can check out the Gilmore Girls Companion Book by A.S. Berman. If you love food as much as the Gilmores, you can buy the Gilmore Girls Official Cookbook. Finally, Lauren Graham has a series of memoirs and essays in which she discusses her days on the show. There’s something for every Gilmore fan.
Gilmore Girls and Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life are now streaming on Netflix.
