Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Favorite Heroines

Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic from The Broke and the Bookish is my Top Ten Favorite Heroines.

1.  Nancy Drew - Nancy is the best heroine ever.  She's always brave, she's always perfectly polite and her pumps always go with her dress.  Not to mention the fact that the girl is a walking encyclopedia and knows everything about everything.  She's also willing to go investigate despite that she or one of her friends gets kidnapped every time.  And despite  all the obstacles against her she always figures it out in the end.  I think Nancy was my first experience with binge reading!  Also, the covers are fantastic!

2. Rue from The Hunger Games - So Rue isn't technically the heroine of The Hunger Games but I loved her.  She had the most against her coming in - she was the smallest, the youngest and the most vulnerable - but she managed to keep a good attitude.  She was nice to Katniss when she sensed she needed a friend and tried to help her even knowing all the odds against them both.

3. Gemma James from Deborah Crombie's Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James mysteries - We meet Gemma when she's just starting out as a Sergeant and through the next 15 books (and hopefully many more) we watch her career and her relationship with Duncan grow.  But even from the beginning, Gemma is smart, logical, not afraid to speak up and with just the right amount of kindness and compassion.

4. Kate from The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn - This is one of my very favorite Bridgerton books and Kate is one of my favorite Quinn heroines.  She's smart and sarcastic and incredibly loyal both to her family and to her friends.

5.  Anne Shirley from the Anne of Green Gables Books by L.M.  Montgomery - We meet Anne as a little girl who makes the best of some pretty horrible circumstances, and we are by her side as she grows into the young woman who is pursuing her BA and then to the mother who sends her sons off to war.  She's tough enough to go through all that and still see the beauty in life.

6.  Lucy Pevensie from The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis - It's hard not to like Lucy! From the moment she steps through the wardrobe and into Narnia she pretty much rolls with it.  Not only is she okay with the whole other world in the wardrobe but she fights without hesitation to fix injustice.

7. Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - Scout is one of the few children in a book - particularly one considered a classic - that really comes off as a child.  She's nice and funny and brave but through it all she's a child seeing it all through a child's eyes.

8. Mary from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - I adore watching Mary grow up a bit in this book.  She goes from whiny little brat to interested and interesting.

9. Vera from And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie - Vera's past doesn't really make her a typical heroine but the fact that she doesn't have a complete and total breakdown by the 3rd murder while stuck on the island is truly impressive!

10. Evie from Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleyaps - I can't leave off Evie!  The shyest of the Wallflowers in the Kleypas series, Evie is smart enough to realize the situation that Sebastian is in and how they can help each other.  Not only that but she actually faces him and ignores his pretty obnoxious behavior to get what she wants.

So those are my top ten!  Who am I missing?  Who should I go check out ASAP?

43 comments:

  1. Awesome choices! I forgot about Lucy! I always related to her a lot as I am the second girl in my family.
    http://youmeandacupofteablog.blogspot.com/2015/02/top-ten-favorite-heroines-from.html

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    1. Lucy is such a great character! I connected to because she just seemed fun!

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  2. I can't believe I forgot about Lucy and Anne! I do, however, want to rearead Anne of Green Gables since it has been so so long and I fear I am forgetting some of her awesome adventures.
    Thanks for sharing.
    Amanda

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    1. I reread all of Anne last year and really enjoyed it. I get something new out of it every time I reread the series.

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  3. How awesome that you picked Rue! I tried to avoid mainstream heroines (like Katniss) and didn't even think of her. Shame on me.

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    1. I tried to avoid mainstream a bit since I figured Katniss and Hermione would get lots of love today. I loved Rue! She was my favorite character.

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  4. Oh I love your list from Scout to Nancy Drew..fantastic!

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  5. Great choices - Scout surprised me, but she's perfect. And Nancy Drew. From my childhood. I might have added Sue Barton.

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    1. I will definitely have to look for Sue Barton. I reread a Nancy Drew not to long ago and it was so funny!

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  6. Oh, I love your list. To begin with Nancy Drew - I didn't have her on my list, but I did have Gemma James. Love her and I so love that series. I never thought of Vera as heroine, but you know, she is quite the stalwart soldier. By the way, have you seen any of the movies made of that book. Love those too.

    So, if you like the mystery angle, you might want to take a look at my list. It's all mystery, all the time. LOL

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    1. I so enjoyed your list though it was not good for my TBR! Vera is definitely not a typical heroine but I figure anyone who makes it more than 2 days on that island deserves heroine status!

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  7. I was just leaving a comment on another blog professing how much I love Evie from Devil in Winter. I also included a Quinn heroine - Penelope Featherington. Although I absolutely love Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, it isn't my favorite Quinn book (although it is way up there) but there was something just so wonderful about Penelope. But I love Kate, too. And Pall Mall scene in The Viscount Who Loved Me - definitely a favorite!

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    1. Just the thought of the Pall Mall scene makes me giggle. I love Evie! She's so fantastic!

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  8. Oh you got some really refreshing picks today. Seeing quite a few of the same ladies today(not that that's a bad thing). But I love that you picked Rue instead of Katniss. Totally agree. And Nancy Drew, Lucy and Scout.
    Great, great picks this week. :D
    Happy reading!
    Brittany @ This is the Story of My(Reading) Life

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    1. I love Rue! She was such a great character! I did try to avoid Hermione because I knew she would be everywhere. But it was hard because she's such a great character.

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  9. Anne is my top heroine and has been for the last 21 years. Each time I reread the series I am more in awe of her. Reading as an adult I appreciate the strength of character needed to have got through her pre-Green-Gables childhood and retained her innocence and hope. Lucy is also in my top 10, and Scout is a runner up.

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    1. I love Anne! I reread all her books last year and really enjoyed them. We definitely get to watch her character evolve.

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  10. Anne is my top heroine and has been for the last 21 years. Each time I reread the series I am more in awe of her. Reading as an adult I appreciate the strength of character needed to have got through her pre-Green-Gables childhood and retained her innocence and hope. Lucy is also in my top 10, and Scout is a runner up.

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  11. What a great list, Katherine! I love Nancy Drew too. :-) And Rue. She is such an awesome character. Like Brittany said, I'm glad you picked her over Katniss. Katniss is a great heroine too, but Rue stole me heart in her short time with us. Scout and Lucy . . . Both great picks and very deserving.

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    1. Thank you! I loved Rue. I really wanted to root for her. I actually almost stopped reading the book because Katniss was going to have to kill her. Emma had to swear that that wasn't what happened before I continued!

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  12. I love that you picked Nancy Drew! If I didn't have so many books on my shelf waiting to be read, I would go back and read a few Nancy Drew mysteries for old time sake :) Rue was also my favorite from The Hunger Games, I shed a few tears over her! Great list!

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  13. This is such a great list. I hadn't even thought of Mary from The Secret Garden.

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  14. Lucy is definitely one of my favorites; although I read the Nancy Drew books, Nancy herself didn't do a whole lot for me. Many of your other choices I haven't read. I'd add Mercy and Anna, from two different series by Patricia Briggs; Elizabeth from A Dance through Time by Lynn Kurland; Sophie from Dragonee's Egg by Mary Brown; Hermione from Harry Potter by JK Rowling; and Zoe/Zoroaster from Playing the Jack by Mary Brown.

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  15. Nice that you're giving some lesser known characters some love! Especially Rue - I thought she was one of the best from The Hunger Games. And I really want to read Nancy Drew stories at some point.

    Bruna @ Bruna Writes

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  16. Amazing list with so many wonderful women! I adore Anne Shirley, I can't believe I forgot to include her on my own list. I adored Rue in The Hunger Games too, such a wonderful character.

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  17. There are some great gals listed on here, but I will admit you made me choke up a bit by mentioning Rue.

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  18. I have Quinn's on my tbr pile. Love your variety of heroines :D

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  19. Great list! I really really need to get to To Kill a Mockingbird... I've seen Scout on so many lists today :P Mary Lennox and Anne of Green Gables are great ones too :D My TTT this week

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  20. What a great list! I used to adore Nancy Drew's books.

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  21. Yes, Yes to Anne and Nancy Drew!

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  22. Great list Katherine! Scout, Anne and Lucy I loved too!

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  23. Wonderful list, Katherine! Nancy Drew, Gemma, Kate, Lucy Pevensie, Mary Lennox, and Evie didn't make my list, but most of them could easily have done! Kate was narrowly beaten out by Penelope from the same series, because, well, Lady Whistledown!

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  24. I love Nancy Drew. She is really one of the reasons I fell in love with mysteries at such a young age.

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  25. I adore Anne (with an e) Shirley! I'm so glad to see her on your list.

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  26. You are a book blogger after my own heart. Great take on this list. Nancy Drew is singlehandedly responsible for my love of reading. And Scout! And Anne. And Mary. So many fond memories from this list.

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  27. I am enjoying seeing what everyone came up with for this topic!

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  28. Great choices! I love the Nancy Drew cover. I chose books from the last 2+ years, but you came up with some great ones I remember from reading them years ago.

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  29. Oh Nancy Drew. I loved those books so much when I was younger. And I LOVE that you included Rue!

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  30. You have some amazing heroines on your list. Anne Shirley and Nancy Drew are excellent choices. Any Lucy Pevensie, I think she's my favourite out of all the Pevensies so I'm happy to see her here. Your list is bringing back so many great memories for me.

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