Top 5 Thursday: Female Book Characters

I already shared my favorite movie character, both male and female, with you. Now it’s time for the book characters that I love. As always, ladies first.

5. Clare Abshire (“The Time Traveler’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger)
Some people might call Clare insane, for giving up her life for a man who travels through time. He can leave at any time and be gone for quite a while. Clare knew that she loved Henry and she wouldn’t be happy without him. To me, Clare is a hero.

4. Minerva McGonagall (“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling)
Professor McGonagall seems fierce and she is very strict. That has led to a huge amount of respect. I like her as an authority figure and she’s always been my favorite female character from the Harry Potter series. Her students can always rely on her.

3. Jane Eyre (“Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Brontë)
Jane is an intelligent, honest, plain-featured young girl forced to contend with oppression, inequality, and hardship. I love that she’s so assertive and she speaks her mind, although most people won’t expect it.

2. Katniss Everdeen (“The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins) Far out the strongest woman I ever read about. Katniss has to survive in a game where young people have to kill each other. Most people would have already given up, but not Katniss. She fights, helps others and defeats.

1. Elizabeth Bennet (“Pride & Prejudice” by Jane Austen)
It is already my favorite book, but Elizabeth Bennet is an intelligent young woman, with a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous. Elizabeth doesn’t want what every other woman wants (read: her mother). She doesn’t want to just ‘marry well’. She wants to love a man and marry him out of love.

They almost made the top 5: Celia Foote (“The Help”), Hermione Granger (“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling), Fanny Price (“Mansfield Park” by Jane Austen), Beatrice Prior (“Divergent”’ by Veronica Roth), Matilda Wormwood (“Matilda” by Roald Dahl), Benny Hogan (“Circle of Friends” by Maeve Binchy), Violet Baudelaire (“A Series of Unfortunate Events” by Lemony Snicket), Allie Hamilton (“The Notebook” by Nicholas Sparks) and Cecilia Tallis (“Atonement” by Ian McEwan)