Frequently Asked Questions

Julianne Buonocore. I’m the founder and president of The Literary Lifestyle, an authentic community that helps busy women relax, learn, and embrace a very cozy way of life. I also serve as the lead writer and editor-in-chief.

I’m a reader of 100+ books per year, I studied English literature, and I’ve been on The Today Show’s Read with Jenna Book Club, Read with Jenna Book Club, Buzzfeed, The Atlantic, Esquire, Mashable, The Everygirl, Glamour, and more. My essay was published in the book But I’m a Gilmore!

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2019: An avid reader, I was writing book reviews and themed book lists (especially for literary travel during my Italian honeymoon) for my personal use, but I wanted a more public digital place to store them, so my friends and family could access my tips too. My blog, “Jules Buono®,” was born based on my nickname.

2020: The COVID-19 pandemic provided me with more time for reading and blogging, so both of my hobbies grew during this time. I decided to tackle the Gilmore Girls reading challenge to read the 500+ books mentioned on the show while re-watching it on Netflix. My social media followers loved this idea and wanted to join in. Thus, my book club, The Rory Gilmore Book Club, was born.

2021: My blog, Jules Buono®, had grown substantially, and I wanted the brand to reflect what it had become and where it was going in the future. I re-branded it to The Literary Lifestyle® by: Jules Buono®. I also ran a book drive that secured 1,500 books in one week for low-income Philly-based school districts that were especially in need of this support due to the challenges of the pandemic.

2022: What started as a personal blog had become a full-fledged business. I quit my lawyer job and started focusing my full-time efforts on The Literary Lifestyle®, helping increasingly more readers improve their own reading lives. I also wrote an essay about my book club that was published in the book, But I’m a Gilmore!: Stories and Experiences of Cast, Crew, and Fans. And I published The Literary Lifestyle’s® first product, a printable Reading Journal.

2023-2024: The Literary Lifestyle® now reaches 8+ million readers each year, through our website, email community, book club, and several other social media channels. It is one of the leading book-related digital content providers worldwide, promoting literacy while also remaining free and accessible to readers.

This is the #1 question I get, often from busy students, workers, and/or moms. I have learned many great strategies on how to find time to read books, and I have consistently read over 100+ books per year over the last several years. Here are three tips to get you started:

First, you should always have access to a book, whether print, digital, and/or audio, so you can take advantage of unexpected free time, like waiting in line.

Second, I love to recommend setting small, very attainable daily goals, like 5 minutes or pages of reading per day. You will both start to build a habit and often read even more than that once you get started.

Third, be mindful of what wastes time in your day and commit to changing it, whether it’s TV, social media, or something else. In other words, prioritize reading over other things in your life, especially if those other things aren’t serving you.

Some of my top tips to read more books include:

-Always have a book on hand so you are prepared when you unexpectedly get time.

-Set a goal and tracking your progress to challenge yourself.

-Participate in a fun reading challenge or community with others.

-Choose the right books for you, so you don’t get stuck in a book that’s not working (and don’t be afraid to stop reading the wrong book).

Books are art, and art is subjective, so there’s never a one-size-fits-all answer to this common question. But, you can easily determine this with my helpful guide to what to read next that’s customizable to your personal preferences.

You can view the web version of the Rory Gilmore book list on The Literary Lifestyle blog or subscribe for free to get a printable PDF checklist version.

I like to categorize my favorite books in terms of the decades of my life. They are:

Childhood: The Polar Express, The Baby-Sitters Club series, and the American Girl series
Teens: East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Twenties: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Thirties: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

My absolute favorite places to get books from are the library (free) and library sales (cheap). Beyond that, I regularly get books from these sources, and recommend them to you as well: Everand (digital and audio), Book of the Month (print), and Libro.fm (audiobooks that support independent bookstores).

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