5 books I want to read from the Gilmore Girls Reading List in 2020

It’s not a secret that I am a huge Gilmore Girls fan. It’s this one TV which always feels like home. It’s so funny and easy and I genuinely love all the characters. They make me feel so cozy and happy.

So, I thought 2020 is the year to finally get started on the Gilmore Girls reading list. One of my goals for this year is to read more difficult books aka classics and that is exactly what the reading list mostly consists of. So let’s kill two birds with one stone.

Here are the five books I picked from the Goodreads Gilmore Girls Reading List for 2020:

Franny and Zooey by J. D. Sallinger

The short story, Franny, takes place in an unnamed college town and tells the tale of an undergraduate who is becoming disenchanted with the selfishness and inauthenticity she perceives all around her.

The novella, Zooey, is named for Zooey Glass, the second-youngest member of the Glass family. As his younger sister, Franny, suffers a spiritual and existential breakdown in her parents’ Manhattan living room — leaving Bessie, her mother, deeply concerned — Zooey comes to her aid, offering what he thinks is brotherly love, understanding, and words of sage advice.

I’ve never read a Sallinger book but because the scene in Gilmore Girls was so present in my mind I thought it would be the perfect book to start this challenge. I am halfway through the story and to my surprise I really like it. I will definitely share my thoughts on it once I am done (:

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

‘The more I know of the world, the more am I convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!’

Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor’s warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Through their parallel experience of love—and its threatened loss—the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.

I should probably reread Pride and Prejudice before I get into Sense and Sensibility but for some reason, I finally want to start this Jane Austen classic. It’s definitely been on my tbr for way too long and I can’t wait to finally start reading it. Do you have a favourite Jane Austin book?

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Lockwood, the new tenant of Thrushcross Grange, situated on the bleak Yorkshire moors, is forced to seek shelter one night at Wuthering Heights, the home of his landlord. There he discovers the history of the tempestuous events that took place years before; of the intense relationship between the gypsy foundling Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw; and how Catherine, forced to choose between passionate, tortured Heathcliff and gentle, well-bred Edgar Linton, surrendered to the expectations of her class. As Heathcliff’s bitterness and vengeance at his betrayal is visited upon the next generation, their innocent heirs must struggle to escape the legacy of the past.

I read this one a few years ago and I remember that I absolutely loved it, so I wanted to reread it and see if my mind has changed or if I still like it as much. When I was on Goodreads to get the synopsis of Wuthering Heights I saw that a lot of people didn’t like it at all to my surprise. So, now I am even more excited to see why everyone thinks so because like I said I personally loved it. Definitely super excited to get back into the story of Catherine and Heathcliff.

The Nanny Diaries by Nicola Kraus & Emma McLaughlin

Nan has a tricky relationship with her employer, Mrs X.
A non-existent relationship with Mr X.
But she loves their little boy to pieces.

In between looking after four-year-old Grayer and running a thousand errands for Mrs X, his rich, uptight Manhattanite mohter, Nan is trying to have a life. There’s college, shopping, her friends, her cat George. And the gorgeous Harvard boy from the sixth floor…

But the X family’s dramas keep intruding – visits from Mr X’s predatory mistress, catastrophic family outings and, as a final straw, the case of the marriage-destroying panties. As Divorce looms, Nan realises how attached she’s become to the Xs’ unloved son – and how nannying has become more than just a job.

Funny, touching and true-to-life, The Nanny Diaries is a modern-day Mary Poppins story – with attitude.

One of my friends brought me this book from her trip to London and I was surprised when I saw it on the reading list. I also saw the reviews on Goodreads and it seems like not a lot people liked it either but I am going to give it a try anyway. Has anyone of you seen the movie?

The Diary Of A Young Girl by Anne Frank

Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank’s remarkable diary has become a world classic—a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit.

In 1942, with the Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, the Franks and another family lived cloistered in the “Secret Annexe” of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and surprisingly humorous, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short.

I started reading this book a few times but always stopped. Not because I didn’t like it but because I thought it was so sad and just heartbreaking. It’s such an important story and this time I will finally finish it. Anne Frank deserves that.

 

…and these are my picks for my 2020 Gilmore Girls reading challenge. You can find the list here.

Have a good one xx

 

*Synopsis are taken from Goodreads