If You Wish You Could Rewatch "Gilmore Girls" Again For The Very First Time, You'll LOVE These Books

These books are like a good hug!

Gilmore Girls is the morning coffee of TV shows. It manages to be comforting, romantic, and enchanting while encapsulating realistic scenarios, fleshed-out characters, and pragmatic complications that people face in real life.

Its character-driven plot, coupled with autumnal spirit, constructs something genuinely timeless and exuberant, making viewers perpetually gravitate towards it. If you’re a bookworm like the protagonist Rory Gilmore or an opinionated intellectual like Paris Geller, here are five books you should read that will remind you of the darling show!

1. I Hope This Doesn’t Find You by Ann Liang

Scholastic, Inc.

If you found Rory’s studious and over-achieving disposition appealing, you need to pick up this young adult romance by socially adored author, Ann Liang. I Hope This Doesn’t Find You is the perfect blend of Rory Gilmore’s highbrow quirks and Gilmore Girls’ overall swoon-worthy romantic touch.

When Sadie Wen, valedictorian and chronic people-pleaser accidentally sends out a batch of hate emails she had stashed in her drafts as a method of venting (hello, Lara Jean), her life is thrown into something equivalent to a tornado. Now people know her true opinions of them and they all begin to hate her — all except one. Julius Gong, who most of the cruel emails were targeted towards, surprisingly appreciates this real, honest version of Sadie and there begins their romantic and emotional journey.

Infused with adorable romance and taking place in an affluent high school environment, I Hope This Doesn’t Find You will make you squeal with delight and — if you’re anything like our beloved main character — maybe even sob occasionally!

2. Beach Read by Emily Henry

Penguin Publishing Group

If you watch Gilmore Girls for the complex familial relationships (aka Emily and Lorelai) and comforting small town aura, Emily Henry’s groundbreaking Beach Read should definitely be your next indulgence. This story has everything Gilmore Girls encapsulates: complicated relationships, a tight-knit small town, lots of pop culture references, and a romantic relationship for the books.

Struggling with writer’s block, January takes her abandoned grief and lack of inspiration to the beach house her dad left to her when he passed away the previous year. January decides to spend a summer in the house to cope with things and hopefully get some writing done. She’s struggling to deal with her father’s death, has a tight writing deadline to meet, and to make things worse (or so, so much better), she discovers that her neighbor this summer is no one other than her old college nemesis and acclaimed novelist, Gus Everett.

If you want a book that will give you all the feels — and I mean ALL the feels — add Beach Read to your TBR!

3. One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle

Atria Books

While Gilmore Girls is saturated with romance, small town semantics, and major autumn vibes, its true magical essence lies in the heartfelt relationship between Lorelai and Rory Gilmore. This whimsical duo won everybody’s hearts and is what made the show stand out.

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle focuses on the close relationship between mother-daughter duo Carol and Katy. After her mother’s death, Katy breaks down and becomes aimless. In order to reconnect with her mother and herself, she travels to Italy, where Carol had the time of her life before meeting Katy’s father. She indulges in mouth-watering food and views some heavenly scenery. Oh, and she sees her mother at the age of thirty. That’s right — not only does this book depict the relationship between Katy and Carol, it includes a time travel element where Katy gets to see her mother’s life before Katy was born. She finds herself facing harsh realities and discovering secrets about her mother’s life she had never known about before.

As she faces the adventure of a lifetime, Katy realizes there is so much of her mother and herself that she hadn’t unearthed.

If you want a book that reminds you of Lorelai and Rory, pick up One Italian Summer and get lost in the beautiful descriptions of Italy and its wonders while reminiscing about one of TV’s favorite mother-daughter relationships.

4. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Puffin Books

Little Women is a treasured classic for good reason. Centering around four tight-knit sisters, Little Women is a novel about love; whether that be romantic, sisterly, or platonic. Like Gilmore Girls, this novel is all about family and the strings that come attached with it. Jo March and Laurie, two prominent characters, also have a relationship that shares parallels with Rory and Logan’s relationship in the later seasons of Gilmore Girls, so if you want to break your heart the same way again, give Little Women a shot.

Additionally, like the show, the book is also female-led and stunningly exhibits the perks and flaws of being a woman and being raised in a heavily female-oriented environment. If you’re looking for a more complex, emotional story with hints of romance, Little Women may be your next favorite book.

5. A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston

Penguin Publishing Group

Throughout the course of Gilmore Girls, Rory changes quite drastically, but one constant always remains — her love for books. We can often catch Rory reading something or another, and in her valedictorian speech she also mentions how she metaphorically lives in the worlds created in her books. Now what if that literally happened?

In A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston, our dear protagonist Eileen finds herself trapped in the small town of Eloraton, the fictional location from her favorite book series that never had a proper conclusion. She finds herself on an adventure to help give the town a happy ending. Throughout her journey, she realizes that the town’s fate is intertwined with her own and that maybe this isn’t about discovering the destiny of the town, but herself.

If you’re looking for a read filled with heart, humor, and love galore, A Novel Love Story may be your perfect pairing!

Are there any other books that give you major Gilmore Girls vibes? Let me know in the comments!