Top Ten #Booknerd Characters

Top Ten Tuesdays are on a roll these days, with topics I adore. In line with the diversity theme, what’s the best moment in reading? Discovering a character you can relate to. For me, this is often when I find a character that loves books/words/geekiness just like I do.

These are my favourite fictional bookworms, in order of when I first met them (because I just can’t rank them!).

1. Jo March – Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (free on iTunes!)

I don’t think I ever finished reading the full-length version, but I did read the abridged version as a little girl and definitely identified with Jo. I, too, used to love writing plays that my siblings and cousins had to act out.

2. Hermione Granger – Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

Does she even need any introduction? Hermione was the first character that showed me that being a bookworm could be admirable, rather than embarrassing.

3. Etienne St. Clair – Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

I’m not one to swoon over literary characters based on their physical descriptions, but I really liked that St. Clair bought Anna a BOOK. And quoted Pablo Neruda. And ever since I read Anna, I’ve been wanting to read Banana Yoshimoto’s Kitchen (which I still haven’t, boo).

4. Alaska – Looking for Alaska by John Green

Seriously, the biggest reason I can’t wait for the movie is that I WANT TO SEE ALASKA’S BOOKS. She was a tortured character and I felt an immediate connection when I read about all her stacks of books. I have stacks of books too! But not as many as her, I’m sure.

5. Charlie – The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Charlie is so awkward, but I loved reading about him discovering the world of literature as introduced to him by his teacher, Bill. He loses some brownie points in thinking that The Catcher in the Rye is an awesome book, but oh well.

6. Liesel Meminger – The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

You can’t give me a character who gets bullied for not knowing how to read, then learns how to read and falls in love with it, and NOT expect me to fall in love with her.

This is me every time I walk into a bookstore or library.

7. Dante – Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Although Aristotle is the one who says all the wonderful things about books and words and reading, Dante is the one who opens this world up to him. Dante’s dad is also pretty awesome and probably has a hand in his love of books!

8. Anna O’Maley – Words and their Meanings by Kate Bassett

I won’t deny that Anna irritated me a bit, if only because I had went through what she went through and dealt with it – and I was impatient for her to find her way, too. But, anyway, Anna is a talented writer and I was happy to see her rediscovering her love of words.

Base image by Deviantart: Holunder.

9. Vanessa Bell nee Woolf – Vanessa and her Sister by Priya Parmar

Is this acceptable? Vanessa Bell was a real person, but I really enjoyed her in this book, too.

10. A – Another Day by David Levithan (review up now!!)

A had me at the funny story of discovering Judy Blume’s Forever in Every Day. In Another Day, A really piles on the recommendations to Rihannon, which is awesome. I also felt really sorry for A in terms of never really being able to own books. A horrifying thing to ponder.

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A special mention goes out to Matilda (Roald Dahl) and Elizabeth Wakefield (Francine Pascal) who were probably the first two bookworm characters I ever read.

Happy Tuesday! Which other bookish characters should I meet?