8 Book Recs for Our Favorite Fictional TV Women

Mindy Lahiri (The Mindy Project): The Geography of You and Me, by Jennifer E. Smith
We all know Mindy loves a good meet-cute, and this one happens right on Dr. Lahiri’s home turf, New York City. Lucy and Owen live in the same apartment building—she’s on the 24th floor, he’s in the basement—and they both happen to be in the elevator during a citywide power outage. A relationship blossoms during a single afternoon and evening together. But as soon as the power is turned back on, the pair are forced back to reality and soon separated by an ocean—Lucy moves to London with her parents, and Owen heads west with his dad. But they continue to stay in touch, and the swoon-worthy romance that ensues would keep Mindy glued to the page.

Kimmy Schmidt (The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt): Emmy & Oliver, by Robin Benway
Our initial instincts were to recommend another one of The Baby-Sitters Club books to this former Indiana Mole Woman, since the only one she had in the bunker was Dawn and the Surfer Ghost. But we think it’s time to bump Kimmy up from middle-grade reads to YA with Emmy & Oliver, which, like Kimmy’s story, deals with a kid who was kidnapped. Emmy and Oliver were best friends and next-door neighbors when he was taken by his father a decade ago. Emmy’s parents in turn became super-overprotective of their daughter. But now Oliver has been found, and upon his return home, Emmy tries to rekindle the spark of their relationship with this boy who’s now a stranger.

Jess Day (New Girl): A Tale of Two Besties, by Sophia Rossi
So obvi the adorkable Jess Day has a built-in connection with A Tale of Two Besties—Zooey Deschanel, who plays Jess, is BFFs with its author, Sophia Rossi. (The pair also cofounded the website HelloGiggles together.) But we think Jess would love this book even without the beyond-the-fourth-wall connection. It tells the story of two 14-year-old best friends, California cool girl Harper and awkward fairy-wing-wearing Lily, as they embark upon divergent freshman-year paths: Lily is going to an alternative artsy high school, while Harper is going to Beverly High with the rest of their class. The usually popular Harper is suddenly a little lost in the enormous crowd of American Apparel-ed teens, and “gawkward” Lily is (sort of) loving life as one of the queen bees of her new school. Does growing up really mean growing apart for these BFFs? Or is there a way for them to stay together?

Rory Gilmore (Gilmore Girls): Fangirl, by Rainbow Rowell
We’d be remiss if we didn’t include Stars Hollow’s resident bookworm. As she said in her valedictorian speech when she graduated from Chilton, “I live in two worlds. One is a world of books.” But what do you recommend for the girl who has read everything? We like to think Rory is permanently stuck in 2007 (when Gilmore Girls went off the air), so we think we’re in the clear with Rainbow Rowell’s 2013 Fangirl. In it, Cath Avery is a superfan—and popular fanfic author—of the Simon Snow book series. Now that she’s starting college, her twin sister, who is growing away from both Cath and Simon Snow, doesn’t want to room with her, and it seems easier for Cath to keep living in Simon’s world rather than making one of her own.

Jane Villanueva (Jane the Virgin): Immaculate, by Katelyn Detweiler
We think Jane, who is accidentally artificially inseminated in the show’s first episode, would really be able to relate to Detweiler’s modern take on the immaculate conception. After a visit from a mysterious old woman who tells her “it’s time,” 17-year-old Mina discovers she’s pregnant—despite the fact that she’s never had sex. Few people believe her story, as the news spreads through her school, her community, and ultimately nationwide. Are miracles really possible? We have a feeling this one would be a page-turner for Jane.

Leslie Knope (Parks and Recreation): The President’s Daughter, by Ellen Emerson White
Considering Leslie Knope’s political ambitions, she probably would’ve jumped at a chance to be first daughter—naturally, she’d want the scoop on the happenings inside the White House. But in this take on Leslie’s fantasy, 16-year-old Meghan Powers doesn’t want her life in Massachusetts to be uprooted, even as her mother campaigns to be president of the United States. Along with the pressure of being the daughter of the first female president, she’ll have to move to a new house, enroll at a new school—but she’ll also learn a lot about herself and her mom along the way.

Cookie Lyon (Empire): Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx, by Sonia Manzano
C is for cookie, and that’s definitely good enough for us—if you’re talking about badass Cookie Lyon from Empire (or if you’re talking about chocolate chip cookies—that works, too). Cookie may rule the streets of Philadelphia, but Maria’s the boss when it comes to the street called Sesame. So we thought Cookie might be able to relate and even learn a thing or two in the memoir of Sonia Manzano, who played Maria on the PBS children’s classic. Manzano grew up in the south Bronx in a turbulent household with a violent alcoholic father and a battered mother. She also had a TV that took her away from grim reality and sparked her dream of becoming an actress. Manzano’s story, written for teens, is an inspiring one about overcoming adversity and turning fantasy into reality.

Peggy Olson (Mad Men): A Mad, Wicked Folly, by Sharon Biggs Waller
Peggy was ahead of her time, bursting through glass ceilings in a male-dominated industry in the 1950s and ’60s on Mad Men. So we think she’d really dig this story set in London in 1909, at a time when women had no voice and were taught to be only wives and mothers. But 17-year-old Victoria Darling is a rebel, dissatisfied with what’s expected of her as a woman—she wants to be an artist, and is willing to make brave sacrifices to pursue her dreams. After she’s expelled from school for posing nude for an art class, her parents try to marry her off to a wealthy man. But Vicky has other plans, secretly applying to the Royal College of Art, entwining herself in the suffragette movement, and falling for a boy who definitely doesn’t fit in with high society.
What book would you recommend for your favorite TV leading lady?