Top Ten Tuesday

This is a neat weekly feature over at a blog I really enjoy, The Broke and the Bookish.  They read books similar to some that I've been reviewing, and they're fun and they write well.  Totally worth checking out.

Top Ten Fifteen Characters Who I Want to be Besties With

(I couldn't stop at ten.  I had trouble stopping at fifteen.  And these are in absolutely no particular order of preference.  I love them all equally.  If I could put all 15 of these folks in a book club on my back porch together I'd be the happiest girl in the world.)

1. Anne, of course, from Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery!  If you're a regular reader of mine, you'll probably notice my slight obsession with the Anne of Green Gables series.  I wonder if I could figure out a way to get Anne onto every Top Ten?  lol  But I do love Anne's spunk and adventuresome spirit and I think we'd have a lot of fun together.

2. Vianne, from Chocolat by Joanne Harris.  First: she seems really nice and laid back.  I could see us enjoying a glass of wine together on a back porch overlooking the river.  Second: she owns and runs a chocolaterie.  You know what that means: lots and lots of really good chocolate in my life!

3. Ann from 45 Pounds (More or Less) by K.A. Barson.  Ann is a teen who struggles with her weight, but she spends a summer losing weight the healthy way (exercise and portion control) and along the way she also lands her first part-time job and makes a new best friend and even gets a guy!  Her mom also struggles with her weight and they end up bonding a little.  This book didn't get a ton of attention when it came out but I thought it was most excellent and I highly recommend it.  It deals with weight, teen obesity, healthy habits, family dynamics, and eating disorders so well.  Ann is so likable!  And fun!  I'd like to be her bestie.

4.  So, he's a real person and not a "character" per se, but I'd also like to be besties with Josh Hanagarne.  He wrote the memoir The World's Strongest Librarian.  I really enjoyed his book.  It was very well written.  I laughed out loud a few times and I came close to tears other times.  He's a strong person inside and out, a fellow library worker, and a fellow redhead.  We could swap stories of times in the library trenches.  :)  Oh!  And he works in Salt Lake City and I've heard wonderful things about their main library.  I would like to visit it someday.

5. John Charming from Charming.  I know I've said this before, but if you haven't tried this book yet, go do so now!  I've totally become hooked on urban fantasy thanks to this book.  It made me laugh out loud and kept me hooked and now I never miss a chance to promote it.  I feel like John would be a lot of fun to hang out with on Friday nights at his bar.  And maybe later we could go blow up some vampires.

6. Stephanie Plum and Lulu from the Janet Evanovich Numbers books.  DEFINITELY.  I read the first one in book book form, but then I've listened to #2-#19 on audiobook and I just sit in traffic and howl with laughter!  I'd love to be their friends.  I want to hang out with them and catch bad guys; I want to get donuts and/or fried chicken and/or BBQ with them; I want to have pizza with Morelli and pot roast with her family and I want to take Grandma Maizer to a viewing.  These books are so much fun!  Go read one; you'll want to go hang out with these girls too.

7. Zuzana from the Daughter of Smoke & Bone books by Laini Taylor.  She's not the main character, so she doesn't get a ton of "screen time" in the books but what little we do see of her is great. She's fiercely loyal to Karou and she's bubbly upbeat.  She's incredibly smart and she's also crafty/artistic.  I'd love to roam the streets of Prague with this girl!

8. Velva Jean from Velva Jean Learns to Drive by Jennifer Niven!  Talk about spunk!  Velva Jean doesn't let anything (ANYTHING) bring her down or stop her.  Ever.  And she lives in Appalachia, which I know isn't the easiest or richest place to live but it's beautiful.  And it's very close to where I myself grew up, so it almost feels like home.  If you like Velva Jean in Velva Jean Learns to Drive, you can continue to follow her story in two more books.

9. Sage/Jaron from The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen.  He's smart and funny and love to play pranks and have misadventures.  I think we'd have a lot of fun hijinks together.

10. Laurel from the Wings series by Aprilynne Pike.  She's a fairy!  Yet she manages to maintain some semblance of normal.  She seems so very sweet and kind.  Of course, I would want to be a fairy with gorgeous petal wings too.

11. Magdalena Yoder from the Pennsylvania Dutch Mysteries by Tamar Myers!  She's incredibly smart and no-nonsense, yet she definitely knows how to have fun.  And imagine all the "English" things I could introduce her to!

12. George Washington.  I know, not a "character."  But I've read a ton of books about him!  He was a fellow redhead who loved to read, loved to hang out on his back porch, loved freedom, loved whiskey, and loved ice cream.  Tell me:  what is there not to love?

13. Scarlett O'Hara from Gone With the Wind.  I don't even feel like I need to expound on this choice; everyone's familiar with Scarlett from the book and/or movie.  I just feel like we're kindred spirits in some ways.  Also I'd love to live in the antebellum South with the dresses and the parties and the plantation homes.

14. Hayduke from The Monkey Wrench Gang and Hayduke Lives!, both by Edward Abbey.  The hubby and I went to AZ for the first time last October and I fell in love with the West.  I want to go running around with Hayduke and the gang!

15. Hermione from the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling.  Harry, the main character, gets into way too much danger.  I feel like I have a lot in common with Hermione.  My parents are wizards (to my knowledge, ha ha) and I love to read and spend time in the library.  I feel like I would also be overloading my class schedule and trying to keep my friends out of trouble... or at least out of danger.  And finally, I also had very frizzy unruly hair in middle school.  

What about you?  Who do you want to be fictional besties with?