Play Book Tag discussion

Who are your all-time favorite book characters?
What is it about them that makes them a favorite?
Are your favorites more on the good or evil side?

Atticus Finch - integrity, he's a good father, he's principled

So many,,,,

Fitz and Nighteyes and of course The Fool.-From Robin Hobb's books. These stories and characters are fabulous.

Froddo Baggins and Legolas from LOTR-Well, if I am being honest it's really Orlando Bloom I love 😍

Seems my favorites, for now are the good guys

Where to start....pretty much all good folk

Anne in Persuasion who has awesome internal conversations, the result of being surrounded by egotistical half-wits.
Lucy Snowe in Villette - so confident and strong

Temeraire - a superior dragon

Lady Osbaldestone from Stephanie Laurens historical romances - the grandest grande dame of them all, with sharp intellect

So many from series like Harry Potter - but Severus Snapes may be my favorite, and he is both good and evil really.

Eowyn from LOTR....along with many others like Pippin and Sam

Frederica and Halverstock from Frederica by Georgette Heyer and Venetia and Dameral from Venetia by Georgette Heyer - smart, witty and willing to defy expectations to find happiness.

- Robert Jordan (For Whom the Bell Tolls for his fatalism
- Holden Caulfield (The Catcher in the Rye) for his honesty and fragility
- John Corey (Plum Island) for his brashness
- Harry Angstrom (Rabbit Novels: Rabbit, Run and Rabbit Redux) for his amorality
- Jacob De Zoet (The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet) for his naivety
- Rusty Sabicch (Presumed Innocent) for his innocence
- Mac Malloy (Pleading Guilty) for his humanity
- Gail Amendola (Small Mercies) for her grit
- Troy Maxson (Fences) for his anger
- John Kelly (Without Remorse) for his vengeance
- Dagny Taggart (Atlas Shrugged) for her strength
- Santiago (The Old Man and the Sea) for his courage
- Terry McCaleb (Blood Work) for his heart
- Captain Woodrow Call (Lonesome Dove) for his stoicism
- Wade Watts (Ready Player One) for his irreverence
- Dirk Pitt (Cyclops) for his luck

Athos and d'Artagnan from The Three Musketeers - the one for being so kind and honorable, the other so clever and daring

Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice for being level-headed but also Emma from Emma for being so adorably wrong

Sebastian St. Cyr and Hero from the series by C.S. Harris for their intelligence and devotion

Chet the dog from the series by Spencer Quinn for his unquenchable joy in life

I agree about Temeraire and Captain Laurence from the series by Naomi Novik - best bromance ever! And Temerarie keeps exposing the foibles of humans.

Mark Watney from The Martian and Ryland Grace from Project Hail Mary (and Rocky!) for their inventiveness and refusal to give up

Henry Standing Bear from the Walt Longmire series by Craig Johnson (yes, I like Walt but not as much as Henry) - he is always there in a crisis and has a dry sense of humor

In LOTR, I always loved the little hobbits Merry & Pippin. I guess I identified with them as being small and having no special powers.

Oh, and my literary crush, Lord Peter Wimsey, from the mystery series by Dorothy L. Sayers for his ability to pretend he is just a silly nobleman, when he is actually the smartest person in the room.

Jane Eyre - for her sense of personal integrity - Jane Eyre

Sam Gamgee - for his unswerving loyalty - The Fellowship of the Ring

Betsy Trotwood - for her strident independence and her well hidden soft heart - David Copperfield

Horton the Elephant - because he meant what he said and he said what he meant and he was faithful 100 o/o - Horton Hatches the Egg

Peter Pan and Wendy Darling, created by J. M. Barrie. First, I grew up with them and then my son grew up with them. My sister even played Wendy's part in a play. Every child can relate to them.

Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, and Ron Weasley, created by J. K. Rowling. They captured the world's imagination. Each has their own special personality.

More recent and lesser known characters are:

Major Pettigrew in "Major Pettigrew's Last Stand" by H. Simonson. His growth from a "prim and proper" gentleman to someone who can break society's conventions to find happiness was awesome.

Jeremiah and Reuben Land in "Peace like a River" by L. Enger. This father and son were interesting and endearing to read about. They both have good hearts.

Matt and Luke Morrison in "Crow Lake" by M. Lawson. These are teen aged brothers who managed to raise their two young sisters when their parents died. Their tenderness towards the girls (mixed with boyish clumsiness) was a sight to behold.

Here are two stand-out heroines:

Selena Peake DeJohn in the classic, "So Big" by E. Farber. In the turn of the century (1900), Selena is a free spirit who loves creativity. She does things her own way within the constraints of the time-period.

Lidie Newton in "The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton" by J. Smiley. She is a pioneer woman who travels west with her husband and gets involved with abolitionist activities in the 1850's. She is remarkable.

There are so many more characters I can list.

I also adore Aristotle and Dante from Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe and Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World for their courage, loyalty and love.

Holly R W wrote: "Peter Pan and Wendy Darling, created by J. M. Barrie. First, I grew up with them and then my son grew up with them. My sister even played Wendy's part in a play. Every child can relate to them.

He..."

Great shout out to the Major!

Robin P wrote: "Athos and d'Artagnan from The Three Musketeers - the one for being so kind and honorable, the other so clever and daring

Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice for being..."

Henry Standing Bear, a great straight man to Walt!

Jgrace wrote: "Jane Eyre - for her sense of personal integrity - Jane Eyre

Sam Gamgee - for his unswerving loyalty - The Fellowship of the Ring

Betsy Trotwood - for her strident inde..."

Thumbs up to Horton!

Thumbs up to Horton

Horton is also the character who said, "A person's a person no matter how small." Horton Hears a Who!
As a child I was always the youngest and the smallest in every class. As an adult I spent my career teaching the littlest ones. I'm very fond of Horton.

So many good ones already named-
BC- Atticus Finch - integrity, he's a good father, he's principled
Charlie - Captain Woodrow Call (Lonesome Dove) for his stoicism
Robin P - Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice for being level-headed
Chet the dog from the series by Spencer Quinn for his unquenchable joy in life
Mark Watney from The Martian and Ryland Grace from Project Hail Mary (and Rocky!) for their inventiveness and refusal to give up
JGrace - Horton the Elephant - because he meant what he said and he said what he meant and he was faithful 100 o/o - Horton Hatches the Egg
Holly - Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, and Ron Weasley, created by J. K. Rowling. They captured the world's imagination. Each has their own special personality.


I also love Richard Starlight for his strength and sense of decency in Medicine Walk and Starlight
Bruno Chief of Police in Martin Walker's series for his sense of community, justice and incredible cooking skills. https://www.goodreads.com/series/52300
And who can forget Precious of the First Ladies Detective series for her ability to see through bs.

First book crush was Edmund Dantes from The Count of Monte Cristo. I’m not sure what that says about me, but I moved on to Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights, so….

I love an unreliable narrator, Patrick Bateman from American Psycho is a perfect example, as is Grace Marks from Alias Grace.

I also like those classic characters full of turmoil, like Achilles, Merlin, Marcel from In Search of Lost Time, King Lear, and Raskolnikov from Crime and Punishment.

And I can’t forget: Fleur Pillager from several of Louise Erdrich’s books; Celie from The Color Purple; Saleem Sinai from Midnight's Children.

And of course the unsung heroes of the Harry Potter books: Dobby and Neville Longbottom. If I kept going on kids’ books, we’d be here all day!

There are just so many great characters! My list would be very long, but here are a few of my favorites:

Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings trilogy (wisdom and integrity)
Scarlett O'Hara & Rhett Bulter from Gone with the Wind (selfish and resilient)
Offred from The Handmaid's Tale (silently rebellious)
Stevens from The Remains of the Day (stoic and regretful)
Commander Krause from The Good Shepherd (heroic but human)
Pi Patel in Life of Pi (smart and adaptable)
Tess from Tess of the D'Urbervilles (innocence corrupted)
Count Rostov from A Gentleman in Moscow (colorful)
Randall McMurtry and Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (loveable rogue and controlling villain)
John Blackthorne from Shōgun (sense of adventure and adaptation to cultural differences)
Kunta Kinte from Roots: The Saga of an American Family (holding tightly to his identity even in slavery)
Klara from Klara and the Sun (an underappreciated intelligence)