TOP TEN TUESDAY | MOST MEMORABLE CHARACTERS

I adore it when I find a character (or person, if it’s non-fiction) in the pages of a book that I feel like I really get. One that could step off the page, fully formed, and sit down to have a cuppa with me. When this happens, the book will inevitably be counted amongst my most treasured possessions, and I’ll likely go back to it again and again. Here are ten (plus a couple bonuses) who I’d like to introduce you to.

Fictional Characters

Cassandra Mortmain from I Capture the Castle

Yes, Cassandra was in last week’s post too! But I just adore her wide-eyed innocence, her naivete and her keen observance of the people around her. There’s something about her that just makes me want to protect her from the evils of the world.

Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters from The Fault In Our Stars

I loved both these characters in different ways. They were both so strong, had such self-awareness for teenagers, and managed to find a way to live a life that they knew would soon be taken from them. It’s a lot harder to do than you might think, and my own health issues have made it clear to me how truly rare their ability to keep finding joy in life is. I adore them both.

A.J. Fikry from The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

Who wouldn’t love this literary curmudgeon who allows his life to be turned upside down by a tiny human tornado?

Will from If I Fall, If I Die

Will is another of those characters who gave me strength at a time when I needed it. He is so small and vulnerable, yet manages to withstand all the pressures life heaps on him without sacrificing his love for his damaged mother or his need to go out and have an adventure. I loved him so much.

Mark Watney from The Martian

I mean,what’s not to love? Smart, resourceful, irreverent and hilarious. Checks all the boxes.

Taylor Greer from The Bean Trees

I’ve read this book (and its sequel, Pigs In Heaven) a couple of times, and while they are both problematic, I can’t help but love Taylor for her willingness to turn her life upside down to protect a child that is not her own, and that she could easily have just handed off to someone else. Her fierce love for this child and her fight to keep her is something I can’t help but admire, and her ability to do the hardest thing when she knows it’s best for that child even more so.

Juliet Ashton from The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

I don’t know if it was Juliet I loved or just the cast of characters taken as a whole. Either way, this book got me right in the feels, and I definitely plan to come back to it again in the future.

Starr Carter from The Hate U Give

Starr is thrust into the centre of a battle she wants no part of, but instead of walking away, she decides to fight for her friend, for her family, and for her community. She is brave, smart and wise beyond her years.

Memoir Writers

Helene Hanff from Q’s Legacy and 84, Charing Cross Road

I adore Helene. If there’s one literary person I wish I could meet, she’d probably be it. Her love of books and dry sense of humour are the perfect combination to make me adore her, and I have had very few reading experiences as satisfying as reading her books.

Mark Lukach from My Lovely Wife In the Psych Ward

I only recently read Lukach’s book, but I have so much admiration for him and his wife, Giulia, for sharing their story. There aren’t enough accounts of what serious mental illness does to the people around the mentally ill person, and it’s a tough place to be. It must have taken so much courage to write this, and even more for him and Giulia to decide to send it out into the world. Their story is one you absolutely should read.

I’d love to hear which characters have walked by your side long after closing the book they live in, and if you’ve been won over by any of my picks this week!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly link-up feature created by The Broke and the Bookish and hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. 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.