Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books (and Bookish Goodies) I’d Love To Get As Gifts (2015)

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Top Ten Books I Wouldn’t Mind Santa Leaving Under My Tree This Year. Since I don’t have a tree and I’m not on Santa’s route (and my winter holiday has already come and gone), I’ll stick with books and bookish items that I’d love to get as gifts — any time at all!

For the most part, my list consists of books and related things that I’d love to receive, but for whatever reason — high price, feeling like too big an indulgence, a “nice to have” but not really a necessity — I just most likely wouldn’t buy these for myself. (Ahem, secret gift givers — are you paying attention??)

1) The new illustrated Harry Potter: This looks absolutely gorgeous! Next time I find myself with a giftcard in my hands, this will be my treat to myself.

2) Also related to Harry Potter, I’d love to get the complete series as audiobooks:

3) This one has been on my “want” list for years: Firefly: A Celebration by Joss Whedon

Description: Titan’s three bestselling Firefly titles collected together at last, just in time for the 10th anniversary of Joss Whedon’s beloved series. This huge, 544 page full colour volume is simply one of the most lavish books ever produced for a TV show, and is presented in a foil-stamped leather-effect binding. Plus, as an exclusive bonus for this edition, a pocket at the back of the book contains 9 frameable photo prints of the cast, featuring rare and previously unseen images, and a facsimile of one of the prop banknotes used in the show.

4) This one too: Bone: Full Color One Volume Edition by Jeff Smith

Bone is one of my very favorite things ever. I love the artwork, the story, and the ridiculous stupid rat creatures. We have the 9 individual books, but I’m sure lusting after this all-in-one version. However… at about $100, this isn’t an edition I’m likely to buy unless I’m suddenly discovered by some long-lost wealthy relative… I can dream, can’t I?

5) The gorgeous hardcover collected edition of the first three volumes in the Saga series:

6) Sticking with graphic novels, I’d love to own my own set of the Alex + Ada trilogy, which I read this past year thanks to my public library:

7) I have a perfectly functional Kindle — but it’s one of the old-model keyboard Kindles, and I’m kind of itching for an upgrade (for no good reason, really, since it works just fine and I enjoy using it). Still, if I were to get a newer Kindle, I’d probably go for the Kindle Voyage, ‘cuz it just seems cool.

8) I love all the amazing book-related shirts, totebags, mugs, etc over at Out of Print:

9) I’d definitely love to receive pretty much any of the Collectible Edition books available from Barnes and Noble:

Dracula and Other Horror Classics (Barnes & Noble Collectible Editions) The Bronte Sisters: Three Novels (Barnes & Noble Collectible Editions) Anne of Green Gables (Barnes & Noble Collectible Editions)

10) There are several memoirs and non-fiction books that I’ll probably borrow from the library eventually, but wouldn’t mind actually owning — among them:

What are you hoping to find under your tree, in your stocking, or in the UPS driver’s hands this year? Whatever you’re wishing for, I wish you good health, good friends, lots of laughter, and amazing reading!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out our regular weekly features, Shelf Control and Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Do you host a book blog meme? Do you participate in a meme that you really, really love? I’m building a Book Blog Meme Directory, and need your help! If you know of a great meme to include — or if you host one yourself — please drop me a note on my Contact page and I’ll be sure to add your info!

14Dec2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten (or so) Books I Read in 2015

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Top Ten Books I Read in 2015. I pulled up my Goodreads stats for 2015… and discovered that I gave 5-star ratings to 48 books.

Granted, some of these were re-reads (A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore, Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein) or audiobook versions of classics I read long ago (all the works of Jane Austen), but still, it’s kind of thrilling to see how many books I truly loved in 2015!

For the purposes of this list, I’m narrowing it down to the best of the bunch, excluding re-reads and graphic novels, and probably leaving out some of the books I’ve already raved about ad infinitum. In no particular order, here are the best of the bunch:

Note: If you want to know more about any of the books mentioned here, click on the links to see my reviews.

1) Inside the O’Briens by Lisa Genova (review)

2) The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant (review)

3) Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf (review)

4) The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (review)

5 & 6) The Uninvited (review) and The Cure for Dreaming (review) by Cat Winters

7) The Marvels by Brian Selznick (review)

8) Winger by Andrew Smith (review)

9) Depth by Lev AC Rosen (review)

10) The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson (review)

Look, I read too many great books this year to stop at 10… so onward we go!

11) You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day (review)

12) The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher (review)

13) The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian (review)

14) All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (review)

15) The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown (review)

What were you favorite books from 2015? Share your links, and I’ll come check out your top 10… or 15!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out our regular weekly features, Shelf Control and Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

7Dec2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2015

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Top Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2015. What fun! I “met” so many authors this year for the first time. Here are my top 10:

Note: If you want to know more about any of the books mentioned here, click on the links to see my reviews.

1) Cat Winters: I read two Cat Winters books this year — an adult novel, The Uninvited, and a YA novel, The Cure for Dreaming. Both were amazing.

2) Dana Stabenow: On a whim, I started listening to the audiobooks of Dana Stabenow’s Kate Shugak mystery series. I’d always heard good things, and a big plus for me is the Alaska setting. I’m now on my 4th in the series, and it’s so consistently terrific. (Review of book #1, here.)

3) Emily St. John Mandel: I read Station Eleven early in the year, and loved it.

4) Jacqueline Winspear: Another audio discovery! I’d been hearing about the Maisie Dobbs series for a while now, and finally decided to give the first book a try. Well worth it.

5) Benjamin Percy: The Dead Lands was one of the most disturbing things I read all year… and yet, I’m looking forward to reading more by this author.

6) Winston Graham: Thank you, BBC and PBS, for introducing me to the gorgeous world of Poldark. After watching the first couple of episodes, I just knew I had to read the books as well.

7) Chris Pavone: I really enjoyed his sleek spy drama, The Expats, and look forward to reading The Accident in the near future.

8) Elizabeth Gaskell: North and South has been on my to-read list for years, and thanks to my book group, I’ve finally read it!

9) Jack London: Another classic! I can’t believe I never read any of Jack London’s novels before now — but I finally listened to the audiobook of The Call of the Wild, and thought it was great. I’d really like to read more of his books.

10) Felicia Day: Is this cheating? I’ve loved Felicia Day as an actress and nerdy girl hero for a long time, but this year, I can add her to my author list as well! Her memoir, You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) is such fun to read.

I can’t wait to see who I’ll meet in 2016!

Which authors did you discover in 2015?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out our regular weekly features, Shelf Control and Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

23Nov2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten books that make me grateful for book groups & book friends

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is a Thankgiving freebie — so we can each come up with our own take on something we’re thankful for this year.

I thought I’d take a moment to reflect on how important my book group is to me. A smarter, kinder, warmer bunch of people I can’t even imagine… and what’s funny is that while I feel that I know them all so well, we’ve never actually met in person! We have such amazing conversations about books in general, our shared love for the Outlander series, and our monthly groups reads… as well as offering one another friendship and support through all our many non-bookish ups and downs.

In addition to spending time with great people, thanks to my book group I’ve read some really wonderful books! Here’s a list of ten books that I might (or might not) have chosen on my own, but which I’m thankful to have read and discussed with my book group friends.

1) The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emma Orczky (review)

2) North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (review)

3) The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown (review)

4) The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (review)

5) The Day of Atonement by David Liss (review)

6) The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian (review)

7) All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (review)

And these last three are extra special, because not only did we read amazing books and have fabulous discussions, but we were also fortunate enough to have the authors join us to answer questions and participate in the conversations:

8) Henna House by Nomi Eve (review)

9) I Shall Be Near to You by Erin Lindsay McCabe (review)

10) Gathering Storm by Maggie Craig (review)

So, a big virtual hug to my book club friends! Thank you for enriching my life for all of these years — I’m looking forward to many, many more!

What books or bookish things are you most grateful for this Thanksgiving week?

Please share your thoughts, and if you wrote a TTT post, don’t forget to share your link!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out my regular weekly features, Shelf Control and Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Do you host a book blog meme? Do you participate in a meme that you really, really love? I host a Book Blog Meme Directory, and I’m always looking for new additions! If you know of a great meme to include — or if you host one yourself — please drop me a note on my Contact page and I’ll be sure to add your info!

9Nov2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Top ten book-to-movie adaptations that I can’t wait to see

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is the top ten movie (or TV) adaptations of books which we really want to see. My list is a bit of a mix: Some here are movie/TV adaptations that I’ve finally seen, some are movies that are already out that I just haven’t gotten to, and a few are movies/TV adaptations that are coming up in the next year that I’m really looking forward to.

Recently seen:

1) The Martian by Andy Weir: Finally saw it this past weekend! I loved the book, and I was really wondering whether the movie would do it justice… but I thought it was terrific! Hint: See it while it’s still in theaters — this is a movie that needs the big screen/3D experience!

2) North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell: Even though the BBC mini-series is from 2004, I’d never seen it before this week. I loved the book, and thought the TV version was beautifully done. And also: Richard Armitage. Need I say more?

Need to see:

3) Room by Emma Donoghue: The book was powerful and painful, and so even though the movie version looks like it’s really well done, I’m a little hesitant about sitting through it.

4) Still Alice by Lisa Genova: Another tough subject, which is probably why I’ve held off on seeing the movie, even though I’ve heard such good things about it.

Still to come:

5) Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them by J. K. Rowling: It’ll be interesting to see how a Hogwarts textbook gets turned into a full-length movie! The early photos certainly make it seem intriguing.

6) Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith: Jane Austen and zombies, oh my! I think the trailer looks awesome.

7) 11/22/63 by Stephen King: I loved, loved, loved this book. The TV series airs in February 2016 on Hulu, starring James Franco, and I just hope it sticks to the book!

11-22-63

8) Me Before You by Jojo Moyes: The movie version is due out in March 2016, starring Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin.

9) Into the Forest by Jean Hegland: I had no idea there was going to be a movie version until I started researching this post! I loved the book, so this is super exciting. The movie premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September, but so far, I haven’t found a US release date. Let’s go with 2016, shall we?

And finally…

Why haven’t I ever seen this at any point in my life?

10) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: I don’t know what was wrong with my upbringing, but clearly something was deficient, because I never, ever saw the movie version of To Kill a Mockingbird, and that’s just not okay. Adult me needs to fix this.

What movie adaptations are you most excited about? Let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to share your link!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out my regular weekly features, Shelf Control and Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

26Oct2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Weird, Wild, Wonderful Witchy Books

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week, leading up to Halloween, I’m focusing on ten books about witches… some cute, some not so much, some the real deal, and some the wrongly accused. What do they have in common? They’re all about witches… and they’re all pretty awesome.

Witches for kids:

1) Old Black Witch by Wende and Harry Devlin

2) The Witches by Roald Dahl

3) The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

4) The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling (Hi, Hermione!!)

Falsely accused witches:

5) The Crucible by Arthur Miller

6) Outlander by Diana Gabaldon: Yes, there’s a witch trial! And no, Claire may be a time traveler with special healing powers, but a witch, she ain’t.

Talented witches:

7) A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

8) The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

Fairy tale witches:

9) Wicked by Gregory Maguire

10) Fables, volume 10: The Witches by Bill Willingham

And an extra one, just for fun..

Whether on TV or in comic book form, there’s no denying that Willow is one awesome witch!

Are you ready for Halloween yet?

Share your links, and I’ll come check out your top 10!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out our regular weekly feature, Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

21Sep2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Top ten books on my TBR list for fall 2015

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is the top ten books on our fall to-be-read lists. Sigh… I love these TBR topics. Ten books that I want to read? No problem.

New books, recently released and soon to be released:

1) The Marvels by Brian Selznick

2) The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood

3) Saga, volume 5 by Brian K. Vaughan

4) The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss by Max Wirestone

5) Until We Meet Again by Renee Collins

6) The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher

And some books that I’ve had for a while, but need to actually read:

7) The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

8) Depth by Lev AC Rosen

9) Lock In by John Scalzi

10) And wrapping it all up, I want to finally get to one of the three Austen Project books currently sitting on my shelves:

One more for good luck? Why not? I got all the way to ten, and realized I forgot to include a book that I’m really looking forward to:

So, there you have it — my top ELEVEN reading projects for fall 2015. What books are on your fall TBR list? Share your link, please, and I’ll come check out your top 10!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out my regular weekly features, Shelf Control and Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

14Sep2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten books over 1,000 pages… and yes, I’ve read them!

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week is a FREEBIE week, meaning we can choose our own Top Ten topic, whatever strikes our fancy.

I came up with a bunch of ideas, but then thought I’d keep it simple and go by the numbers — in this case, page numbers. I can’t say for sure that these are absolutely the ten longest books I’ve ever read, since it was hard to be certain if I was always comparing similar editions. For consistency’s sake, whenever possible, I’m using the page count from the mass market paperback edition, just to get an apples-to-apples comparison — but I can’t be 100% sure that I’ve always picked the right version. So let’s just say that my figures are using the *close enough* standard…

Without further ado, here are (according to Goodreads) ten of the longest books I’ve ever read:

1. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (1,463 pages)

2. The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon (1, 443 pages)

3. A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon (1,439 pages)

4. A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin (1,177 pages)

5. The Stand by Stephen King (1,167 pages)

6. Shogun by James Clavell (1,210 pages)

7. War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk (1,056 pages)

8. The Witching Hour by Anne Rice (1,038 pages)

9. Hawaii by James Michener (1,036 pages)

10. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (1,011 pages)

Honorable mention: In some cases, it was really too close to call. Depending on the edition, I could also easily have included:

A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon
It or Under the Dome by Stephen King
Alaska by James Michener
The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George
The Far Pavilions by M. M. Kaye

What’s the longest book you’ve ever read? Let me know if we have any of these HUGE books in common.

And hey — what was your freebie topic this week? Share your links, please, and I’ll come check out your top 10!

NEW THIS WEEK! I’m starting a new Wednesday Feature… please come back tomorrow and check it out!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out my regular weekly feature, Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

7Sep2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten completed series that I never finished reading

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Ten Finished Series I Have YET to Finish.

Well, I have plenty of those. And this is why I’m trying not to start new series, at least not while they’re still in progress. Because I lose interest between books, or just never care enough in the first place to continue — or by the time the next book comes out, I’d have to go back and re-read the earlier ones to remember what’s happened, and who has time for that?

My top ten didn’t-finish-’em series (with pictures of the book I’d need to read next, if I ever ended up reading further):

1. Locke & Key by Joe Hill: This one is a crying shame, and I swear I will finish! I absolutely adored this scary, creepy graphic novel series, and I’ve read five of the six volumes. But when #6 came out, I thought I should read #1 – 5 again first so that I’d fully appreciate the grand finale… and then I just didn’t make time for it. So, I do intend to finish reading this series. This year, maybe?

2. The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. I read the first three books in the series and thought they were great, then decided to take a little break — and I’ve just never gone back. No particular reason, except that every time I picked up the 4th book, I’d always find something else I was more in the mood to read at that moment. Someday, perhaps.

3. Birthright series by Gabrielle Zevin: I liked the first two books well enough, but by the time the third came out, I just didn’t have the story on my mind any more, and didn’t feel a need to go back to it.

4. Mara Dyer series by Michelle Hodkin: This was a weird one for me. I really liked the first book, started the 2nd, and just didn’t feel at all drawn into the story. I ended up DNFing the 2nd book, and haven’t been curious enough to give it another try.

5. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series by Stieg Larsson: I finished the first book, but hated it, and had no interest at all in reading any further.

6. The Finishing School series by Gail Carriger: This one isn’t a perfect fit for the topic, since the final book doesn’t come out until November. I adored the Parasol Protectorate series, but after reading the 1st book in this YA series (Etiquette and Espionage), I decided I’d pass. I didn’t particularly enjoy the main character or the younger tone, and I haven’t heard anything yet about the rest of the series that’s been enough to make me want to give it another try.

7. Inheritance Cycle by Chris Paolini: I read Eragon as a joint reading project with my son, and I thought we’d continue with the rest of the books. But as he doesn’t seem interested in the 2nd book, Eldest, I’m not going to bother either. I didn’t really enjoy Eragon all that much, and I’d only continue if I had my kiddo to share the experience with.

8.Sally Lockhart Quartet by Philip Pullman: This one was not intentional. I read The Ruby in the Smoke after picking it up at a used book sale and really liked it, but since I didn’t have the next book, I forgot about it for a while. I would like to finish the series, but I’d have to start over again from the beginning.

9. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams: I read three (or perhaps four?) of these books way back when, and I know I have at least one more to go. Maybe I just didn’t have the remaining one(s) at that time? I have no idea why I never finished, because I adore these books!

10. The Last Werewolf trilogy by Glen Duncan: I really liked the first two (ultra violent and bloody) books in this trilogy, and I do have the 3rd… but just haven’t felt like reading it yet. To be honest, I’m not sure I care enough anymore to go back to this story, and I’m not sure why. Still, I do own the book, so I’m not ruling it out!

Do we have any unfinished series in common? Or can you convince me to give any on my list another try?

Share your links, please, and I’ll come check out your top 10!

NEW THIS WEEK! I’m starting a new Wednesday Feature… please come back tomorrow and check it out!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out my regular weekly feature, Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

31Aug2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Characters I Just Didn’t Click With

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Ten Characters You Just Didn’t Click With.

This is a tough one. For me, this wouldn’t include the obviously bad eggs — I mean, we’re not intended to click with the villains, right? So I’m trying to come up with ten characters who are supposed to be important, sympathetic characters, people whose sides we’re meant to be on, but for whatever reason, I just never felt the love…. or at least, not right away.

Here we go:

Seven whom I just never really liked:

Gale Hawthorne (The Hunger Games): I was definitely Team Peeta, but even at the very beginning, Gale just didn’t particularly appeal to me, and he never did grow on me either.
Eragon (Eragon): Eragon’s a bit of a jerk, IMHO. He doesn’t listen to people who obviously know better, he keeps getting his friends into mortal danger, and he’s kind of careless with his magic. I love Saphira the dragon, but maybe the fact that the title character of the series doesn’t appeal to me is part of the reason why I haven’t felt compelled to continue reading the rest of the books.
Margo (Paper Towns) and …
Alaska (Looking for Alaska): I don’t like these wild child girl characters, the mysterious free-spirited untameable special ones who set the boys next door spinning in their orbits. Just, no. (As you can imagine, these books just didn’t work for me.)
Marguerite Blakeney (The Scarlet Pimpernel): It seems as though every chapter in this book has to remind us that Marguerite is the most beautiful and clever woman in all of Europe. I found her kind of insufferable, which is too bad, considering she’s the heroine.
Bella Swan (Twilight): Does this one even need explanation? I just wanted her to grown a spine and stop throwing her life away. Oh well.
Anyone from The Raven Boys: Don’t shoot me. I know people love this series. But when I read the first book, the characters all kind of mushed together for me and none of them made me care about them as individuals.

And three who became favorites — but it took me a while:

Margaret Hale (North and South): I’m still reading this book, so I have no definitive opinions yet. Margaret starts out as highly snobby and prejudiced, but she’s really improving! I didn’t click with her at first, but now I really like her.
Jo March (Little Women): Jo is meant to be the stand-in for the author and the one readers really connect with. I think my problem was that I read Little Women when I was a bit too young. Jo’s stubbornness and trouble-making streak didn’t appeal to me then; I was more smitten with Beth’s unwavering goodness. (This all changed when I re-read Little Women as a teen, because who wants to be good as gold as a teen-aged girl? Raising a little hell was much more enticing at that point.)
Fanny Price (Mansfield Park): Like Margaret Hale, Fanny Price really grew on me during the novel. I had a hard time seeing past her meek ways and her constant frailness, but I ended up really admiring her inner strength as the book progressed. So while I didn’t click with Fanny right away, by the end, I thought she was terrific.

Yes, eventually, for these three I’d have to say:

Are any of my characters on your list this week? Or have I included anyone about whom you feel completely the opposite?

Share your links, please, and I’ll come check out your top 10!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out my regular weekly feature, Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥