Top Ten Tuesday – Favorite Characters

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish (the picture above is linked to their site). This weeks top ten asks for your favorite book characters. This one definitely took putting some though into. I’ll say that these ten are in no specific order.

1. Ruth Ramsey from The Abstinence Teacher: She became a favorite of mine right when I started reading this book. I not only fell in love with the story, but I fell in love with the characters. Ruth Ramsey is a single mother, she works hard to give her daughters a good life, but there is so much that she needs to learn to cope with in this novel and it all proves her strength. A middle aged woman, she gets told to do her job differently, her daughters want to explore religion, something she is not too keen on, and sometimes she even still feels the effects of being a divorcee. She takes this all in stride, she keeps her chin up as she learns to adapt.

2. Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice: They just so happen to be my favorite literary couple of all time. I was never satisfied at the end of Pride and Prejudice. I needed more, which led to an infestation of Pride and Prejudice sequels and variations into my book collection. Elizabeth Bennett is strong witted and will stand up to anyone. She isn’t so shallow that she would marry Mr. Darcy for his money or his title (unlike Caroline Bingley who wants only that). Mr. Darcy is caring and affectionate, but its difficult to see it because of the way he presents himself. I could go on and on, I could talk about why I love the original, and why I love sequels and variations, but I won’t. I’ll just say it again, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett are the best couple in literary history.

3. Brianna Concannon and Grayson Thane from Born in Ice: This book quickly made its way to my list of all time favorites. Brianna and Grayson were fantastic. Brianna, though she might come off as nothing more than a woman who is a good cook really is so much stronger than people give her credit for. Ultimately, when Grayson enters her life she knows that she is going to lose him, but she still gives her entire self to him anyways. Grayson Thane has had a tough life. Now he just stays on the move, like a man with no past and no future, just the present, but Brianna tears down his walls, and he’s the better for it. These two have become my second favorite literary couple of all time. The book was absolutely amazing!

4. Charlie from The Perks of Being A Wallflower: What can I say that will get the point out there? Charlie is amazing. I first read this book when I was about 14 years old and it has stuck with me ever since. So much so that I have a tattoo that is one of my favorite scenes from the book.

As you enter the tunnel, the wind gets sucked away, and you squint from the lights overhead. When you adjust to the lights, you can see the other side in the distance just as the sound of the radio fades to nothing because the waves just can’t reach. Then, you’re in the middle of the tunnel, and everything becomes a calm dream. As you see the opening get closer, you just can’t get there fast enough. And finally, just when you think you’ll never get there, you see the opening right in front of you. And the radio comes back even louder than you remember it. And the wind is waiting. And you fly out of the tunnel onto the bridge. And there it is. The city. A million lights and buildings and everything seems as exciting as the first time you saw it.

Charlie goes learns so much throughout the book. His experiences are the ones people have on a daily basis. But the ending is what makes it, because he realizes what he’s repressed. And it gives him the opening to face his past and move on forward.

5. Jack and Annie from the Magic Tree House books: I devoured these books growing up. The one that stuck with me the most was when the two went to Pompeii just before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. I remember thinking how cool it would be to get to go on all those adventures. And I really learned quite a bit from the books themselves. The two were just so lucky to be helping Morgan le Fay and seeing all this cool stuff while they did!

6. Danny from Joe College: Another Perrotta character makes the list. I love Danny because he has some of the best lines like, “I’ll pencil you in at bedtime,” but he’s also got balls when he stands up to the guys taking over the lunch truck routes. The book in and of itself is hilarious, especially with the whole roach coach thing going on. But Danny has a special place in my heart.

7. Jonas from The Giver: When I originally read this book in school I hated everything about it. When I shook all that off I realized that Jonas, well he’s actually kinda cool. He has to adapt to all of this new knowledge in this book. He learns about things that no one else knows. He gains a huge responsibility at only 12 years old. I’m not sure I can think of a bad thing to say about him. Jonas is just Jonas.

8. Scout from To Kill A Mockingbird: I could go on a long rampage about all the reasons Scout should be everyone’s favorite character, but one sentence will say it all. Scout kicks ass.

9. Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye: Ever since my first reading of Catcher in the Rye in middle school, something about Holden Caulfield has stuck with me. His story is one of the ultimate of all time. In my own personal book it is rivaled only by Charlie from The Perks of Being A Wallflower. I have yet to figure out what it is I love so much about Holden, but it’s there regardless.

10. Billy and his pups from Where the Red Fern Grows: It’s been years since I read this book, but Billy has stuck with me. The tragedy a coon hunt turned into has stuck with me. Billy had this great relationship with his pups in the book, he loved them, and I cried and cried when they died. Billy is absolutely one of my favorites, right up there with his pups.