I remember the first time I watched Gilmore Girls. I was fifteen, home from boarding school, and my mother and I we were channel surfing when we stumbled upon what was essentially two better looking versions of us. The witty/sarcastic banter, conversations peppered with pop culture references, and above all the close friendship between Lorelai and Rory was something that we immediately identified with. As a teenager in the late 90s/early 00′s, it was awesome to see a female character my age that was kind of nerdy like me in the sense that she loved literature and considered her mom to be her best bud.
I came across The Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge while mindlessly browsing Pinterest one evening, and it happened upon me at such a great time — that same evening I was ruminating about my tendency to get lost in the busy work of life and forget to just focus on the things I love, particularly reading and writing. I started working in libraries a couple of years ago because I love books – the smell, the feel and of course, the content (most of the time, heh), and yet, in the past year it had become a real effort to sit down and read a book from start to finish or to write my own material. When I saw The Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge it reminded me of the times that I would watch Gilmore Girls with my mom and feel a connection with the characters, and left me nostalgic for earlier times when I could write or read with total abandon.
I decided to write this blog as a practice in self-discipline – something to keep me on track with the reading challenge (which I believe originated here.) It is also a practice in writing, and something fun to focus on in the new year.
I thought about going through the list by reading one book a day, but seeing as I am a busy woman I am going to focus on reading one book a week, for one year. I will be selecting the books in no particular order. Also, after a little research I have found that these books weren’t actually read by Rory Gilmore (some of them were just referenced in dialogue, or read by another character…like Jess Mariano *swoon*), so because I am a sucker for accuracy it will be referred to as “The Gilmore Girls Reading Challenge” on this here blog.
So! Here goes. Book Number 1 from The Gilmore Girls Reading Challenge is:
My dear friend Nadine suggested this book to me last year. I checked it out from the library twice. And both times, I forgot I checked it out and it sat on a table. But now – I AM GOING TO READ IT.
By the end of the week I’ll post some more information on the book and some insights. If anyone is reading this blog, have you read anything that you enjoyed from the list? I may occasionally post about a non-Gilmore book, like my new favourite graphic novel Essex County. Got it for Christmas, couldn’t put it down. I love books that make my heart sink (in a good way) in the end, and this was one of them. Tales about individuals in rural Ontario, that weave together in really special and surprising ways…so good!
Tags: 2012, books, gilmore girls, goals, library, reading, reading challenge, resolutions, self reflection, writing
