Read like Rory, lead like Lorelai

Book in bulk annual leave for this Gilmore Girls marathon.

Book in bulk annual leave for this Gilmore Girls marathon.

Introverts rejoice! Being a book worm is trending as TikTokers are racing to complete a mammoth Gilmore Girls inspired reading challenge. 

One that your monthly book club would probably pass on. One that involves devouring more than 400 books.

The Rory Gilmore Reading List is inspired by one of the main characters of the cult TV show Gilmore Girls, Rory Gilmore, who is one of modern pop culture’s most famous bookworms.

@crazy.reads

401 to go! #fypシ #booktok #gilmoregirls #foryoupage #rorygilmore

♬ la la la gilmore girls - mia!

The entire series constantly referenced books and writers, featuring all the characters reading a wide range of literature from The Art of War by Sun Tzu, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner and Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen.

There have been so many book references on the show that a Rory Gilmore reading list has been created and celebrated online and via Good Reads groups since it starting kicking off during Covid lockdowns.

Bookworms and avid fans of the show have taken the pledge to complete every single book referenced or seen on the show.

A whopping 408 books are on the list, including titles featured in the show's 2016 revival, A Year in the Life.

Thanks, in part to the Gilmore Girls inspired literary challenge, there’s now a unique corner of TikTok that’s for avid readers called, #booktok.

The hashtag - racking up more than 20 million views - was created by self-confessed book nerds as a space to share everything from must read titles to bookshelf organisation videos, for example, very aesthetic looking rainbow coded bookshelves.

Australian bookseller Booktopia has jumped onto the trend and has launched a dedicated campaign on TikTok to name books that have been trending on #booktok and hence, jumping off their bookshelves. 

@luckies_universe

Thanks @booktopiabooks for this great read #Booktopia #SponseredBookLover

♬ original sound - Luckie's Universe

The online store has seen a huge volume of traffic coming through to the website from TikTok, courtesy of the #booktok phenomenon. Visitors coming from TikTok are also visiting 40% more pages than average website visitors. 

Booktopia's Head of Trade Product Joel Naoum told The Oz, #booktok is the "closest thing to real word of mouth of on the internet,"  and that it is "amazing" seeing younger people come through from the internet to discover new titles. 

"We put the campaign together over the past couple of months to tie in the books that have been trending on Tiktok," Naoum said. 

"We're seeing there are books on #booktok that came out years ago that are resurfacing (in popularity) and getting popular on Tiktok which is great for us as we are passionate about older books too."

Genres that have seen a spike in sales thanks to #booktok include: romance (especially LGBTQ+ romance), YA (young adult) and fantasy.

"A lot of them have young adults or new adults protagonist."