This week’s topic is one I’ve messed with and definitely made my own, but I had a hard time with the original topic (characters who would make good leaders). Not because it’s not a good topic, but because I just couldn’t think of enough characters I’d place in that category. I think the problem for me is that I don’t think there are many people I want in power who also make good leaders. I think the qualities that make you a good leader also make it hard to become one. That’s a larger discussion, and one I don’t want to get into right now. But I felt like choosing people who inspired me in some way was more my cup of tea!
   
   
Hermione and Mrs. Weasley from The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling, the former for her determination and intelligence, the latter for her protectiveness towards those she loves and nurturing presence.
Sara Crewe from A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett for her strength of character and ability to take even a small pleasure and let it overshadow all the bad in her world.
Taylor Greer from The Bean Trees and Pigs In Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver for her determination, courage and love.
   
Starr Carter from The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas for her bravery and ability to see people for their individual merits (and flaws) rather than judging based on prejudice.
Matilda Wormwood from Matilda by Roald Dahl for her sense of wonder, love of learning (and books!!!) and resilience.
Jenny Lawson, author of the blog The Bloggess and memoirs Let’s Pretend This Never Happened and Furiously Happy for the work she has done to bring mental health into the public consciousness and her example of acceptance and self-forgiveness.
Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun for her adventurous spirit in moving to another country and choosing to make it her home.
Oliver Sacks author of On the Move for his unending quest for knowledge, understanding and self-improvement.
Marina Keegan, author of The Opposite of Loneliness for her ability to bend words into the perfect shapes to represent the beauty of our world. I will never stop being sad that there won’t be more of her writing.
Helene Hanff, author of Q’s Legacy and 84, Charing Cross Road for her pursuit of self-education along with her quick wit and sense of humour.
Anne Frank, author of Diary of a Young Girl – does this one really need any explanation? Her strength and endurance are enough to raise her in anyone’s estimation, but the way she still managed to see beauty and wonder in a world so dark is something I will always aspire to.
Isabel Allende, author of Eva Luna, House of the Spirits, Paula and Of Love and Shadows (and many others) for her colourful stories, example of re-inventing oneself and her firecracker spirit.
J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series for her perseverance and discipline, and for her moral compass and willingness to stand up for what she believes in (and the books that will help teach generations of readers to do the same).
I hope you’ll forgive my significant twisting of the topic, but I felt inspired to share some of the authors and characters who have affected me personally – so I think they would likely do the same for many others. And isn’t that at least part of what makes a good leader? Being worth following?
I’d love to hear from you guys – which characters and/or authors stand out for you as inspirational and admirable? Who helped form your perception of the world and who you want to be?
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly link-up feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week TTT has a different topic, and everyone who links up has to create a link of ten items that fit that topic. To see past and upcoming topics, go here.
YES, YES, YES. I completely agree. Starr, Hermione, and Matilda would all be absolutely amazing leaders. 🙂 Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous post! <3
Love the enthusiastic response! Those girls are some of my new and old favourites. Thank you so much!
I skipped this week’s topic altogether, but I really like your spin on it. I really enjoyed reading what you admire about each character and author!
I nearly skipped it too, to be honest I mainly pushed myself to do it because I skipped last week! It’s one of those ones that I’m glad to have done after the fact though. Thanks!
Love the way you twisted this week’s topic!
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2017/11/07/top-ten-tuesday-132/
Thank you!
I struggled with this topic, too, but I love your spin on it. JK Rowling is definitely an inspiration for me.
I love her. And the fact that I love her so much adds to my enjoyment of the books she has written, so they have pretty much just become my favourite world!
I do like your twist and I enjoyed reading your picks. Hermoine would be such a great leader and she would inspire a lot of young girls.
Agreed! I feel like the world could use a leader (in any capacity) who is well-informed and intelligent. And, of course, more girls, please!
I agree about Hermione and Jenny Lawson! Yes. Great pick! I love how she infuses humor into educating about mental health, and sharing her own experiences.
I read Furiously Happy while dealing with depression and anxiety, and I can’t even tell you the relief I felt – not only because of feeling less alone, but because she made me laugh. Sometimes (in combination with proper medical treatment, of course) laughter really is a great medicine. She makes me so proud of her and inspired, all at the same time! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!
I like how you slightly shifted the prompt to a look at characters who have inspired you. We need to see these inspirational folks, I think, even if they are simply characters in books.
https://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2017/11/book-characters-as-president.html
You know, sometimes fictional characters are more real to me than people anyway. I think fiction is a wonderful way to explore the world and experience humanity from all kinds of new perspectives. I’m a big believer in the power of fiction to expand our ideas and perceptions of the world!
I love your take on the topic! What a nice, uplifting post! And I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who twisted the prompt a bit 🙂
Thank you! I’m big on uplifting at the moment. Yeah, I think it’s better to twist the prompt into something you’re excited to think about rather than following it to the letter and feeling a bit flat about it! Heading over to check out yours now!