Ten Characters Who are Total Book Nerds (Like Me)

July 28, 2015 Top Ten Tuesday 30

toptentuesday2Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature/meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Things I Love/Hate About Romance in Books.

Ten Characters Who Are Book Nerds

I’m just going to kind of throw these out here in any order, but those of you who know me will recognize some of my favorites! I also have this nagging feeling that I’ve forgotten someone really obvious, but no doubt whoever it is will show up on someone else’s list.

 

Isaac Vainio pulling the sword from the… book. And check out the shelves behind him!

  • Hermione Granger (the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling). Hermione is going to be on pretty much everyone’s list today. She is the ultimate book nerd. When in doubt, go to the library.
  • Isaac Vainio (the Magic Ex Libris series by Jim C. Hines). Isaac is a total SF/F nerd. Not only can he quote or refer to a huge number of books, he’s also a libriomancer: he can literally reach into a book and take out anything that will fit through the book’s dimensions.
  • Anne of Green Gables (the eponymous series by L. M. Montgomery). As a child, Anne loves books and frequently acts out the stories from them – just as I did when I was growing up. She never loses her love of books and stories, even after she grows up and has children of her own.

Megan Followes, as Anne, reading Anne of Green Gables

 

  • Beauty (from Robin McKinley’s Beauty) loves books so much, “she used to read [her foal] her Greek translations… And he survived.” This book actually offers two book nerds; the Beast‘s castle has a huge, multi-room library that contains not only books that have been written, but books that haven’t been – yet. (My idea of Paradise!) And he enjoys reading. (I should think so, cooped up in an enchanted castle for hundreds of years!)
  • Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane (the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries by Dorothy Sayers). Lord Peter collects rare books and incunabula, and scatters both well-known and obscure quotations into his conversation at the drop of a hat. Harriet writes mysteries, and can usually match him quote for quote, so I think she’s a bit of a book nerd, too.
  • Mary Russell (the books by Laurie R. King) was “fifteen when I first met Sherlock Holmes, fifteen years old with my nose in a book as I walked the Sussex Downs, and nearly stepped on him.” Reading while walking – the mark of a true book nerd. She becomes a scholar as well as a detective, so the addiction to books never leaves her.
  • Andromeda and Periapt (Mercedes Lackey’s One Good Knight) are both bookworms, so they get along quite well. Periapt is quite literally a bookwyrm (a book-loving, book-hoarding dragon.) The human Andie fits several bookworm stereotypes; she is mostly blind without her thick glasses, and loves to do research.
  • Jo March (Little Women by Louisa May Alcott) loves to read and aspires to become a published author – which she does, eventually.
  • Talia (the Arrows of the Queen trilogy by Mercedes Lackey) prefers books to chores, which often gets her into trouble in her strict, highly religious and male-dominant culture. Becoming a Herald means not only freedom from the strictures of her family’s expectations, but also classes and access to a whole Palace library full of books. (It means a lot of other things, too, some wonderful and some dangerous, but we’re focused on books right now.)
  • Lindsey (Library Lover’s mystery series by Jenn McKinlay) She’s a librarian; of course she loves books!

Norman Rockwell, ‘Jo seated on the old sofa’ (1937)

 

Honorary Mention

  • Kvothe (the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss) is more of a music and theater nerd than a book nerd, but he is obsessed with getting into the University’s Archives to search for information on the legendary Chandrian, who killed his parents. (The Archives are amazing: huge and extensive. I would love a chance to wander around in there.)
  • Matthew Claremont (the All Souls trilogy by Deborah Harkness) isn’t exactly a book nerd – or rather, he’s not just a book nerd – but he does treasure his books, most of which he is old enough (as a vampire) to have bought when they were first published. Actually, books are pretty important to Diana Bishop as well; she’s a scholar as well as a witch. And one particular book is of crucial importance to both of them.

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30 Responses to “Ten Characters Who are Total Book Nerds (Like Me)”

  1. Kaja

    I thought about including Kvothe, too! I’d love access to that University library, even though its shelving system is a mess. 🙂
    And Anne is a great pick! I completely forgot about her.
    Kaja recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: Book NerdsMy Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      The shelving systems in the Archives would break my heart, but the stacks – I could happily spend years in there!

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      It is an awesome series. Where else will you find both Gutenberg and Ponce de Leon as secondary characters? And a kick-a$$ dryad as one of the MCs?

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      What a great group title! And yes, I would too (if I weren’t happily married, and if the Beast and the library were real.)

  4. Lianne @ eclectictales.com

    I love your list, you mentioned a lot of different characters that I haven’t seen mentioned anywhere else. And omg, yes about Matthew Claremont, I would loooooove to have been Diana discovering his library and all those rare first editions he picked up over the centuries <333

    Great list! My TTT
    Lianne @ eclectictales.com recently posted…Top Ten TuesdaysMy Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      It really is a fun topic – I loved coming up with my list and wandering around checking out everyone else’s (or at least the ones I’ve had time to look at so far.)

  6. Katherine @ I Wish I Lived in a Library

    Great choices! Lindsay and Anne almost made my list but I never thought of Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. That’s so great! Mary Russell is another fantastic choice. I love how bookish she is and just how much common sense she has as well. Several of your characters are new to me as you read a lot more fantasy than I do but I’ll definitely be checking them out!
    Katherine @ I Wish I Lived in a Library recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Fellow Book NerdsMy Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      I love Peter and Harriet. How many men propose – and are accepted – in Latin?! Now I’m off to see who you did include! 🙂

  7. Lory @ Emerald City Book Review

    I could have made several lists with this topic! I debated including Anne, but decided to go with some lesser known choices (though I had to put in Jo from Little Women). Glad you included one of my favorite bookish couples too.
    Lory @ Emerald City Book Review recently posted…Ten Bookish CharactersMy Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      I was sort of surprised that I didn’t come up with more. I could have added Owen from Tamora Pierce’s Protector of the Small, a few more of Mercedes Lackey’s characters (Skif, Myste, Mags) and a few other secondary characters from various books, but none of them were as book-nerdish as the ones I listed (well, except Owen, but he’s definitely a secondary character.) I know I’m going to kick myself when I see some of the other picks out there!

  8. Amy @ Pages of Starlight

    You don’t have many books that I’ve read here – though it is awesome to see Mary Russell on your list. I never even thought of her. I’ve totally got to give at least Mercedes Lackey’s One Good Knight a go (if not her Arrows of the Queen trilogy too) because I love the idea of a book-hoarding dragon! I also already wanted to read Libromancer, but this has reminded me about it. Great list!
    Amy @ Pages of Starlight recently posted…Top Ten Characters Who Are Fellow Book NerdsMy Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      I’m glad this has reminded you, because Libriomancer is awesome! I like One Good Night, but start with the first book in the series, The Fairy Godmother, which doesn’t have a dragon but does cover a lot of necessary world-building. It’s partly a Cinderella retelling with a twist, followed by snippets of a number of other fairy tales, and it’s rather fun. The unicorns, though they don’t appear a lot, will make you laugh (in a good way.)

        • Lark_Bookwyrm

          It is! And I’m having trouble commenting on your site (for some reason, the comment plugin that uses IntenseDebate and WordPress.com doesn’t like me; I have the same trouble on other sites), but I wanted to comment:

          I really need to read the Cassandra Clare books someday, and Wrapped looks like fun. I had some fantasy characters on my list… and I should have included Elena from Mercedes Lackey’s The Fairy Godmother, since not only does she love to read, but she has a magic library and uses it to find out the things she needs to know to do her Godmother job.

          • Amy @ Pages of Starlight

            (I’m sorry to hear that.) I did enjoy The Infernal Devices and Wrapped was A LOT of fun – so I do totally recommend them. I definitely wanted to read a few more Mercedes Lackey books (I’ve read a few and really liked some and really didn’t like some) so I’ll definitely be giving The Fairy Godmother a go. I already thought it sounded appealing and you have totally convinced me.
            Amy @ Pages of Starlight recently posted…Review: The Dark Unwinding by Sharon CameronMy Profile

  9. Lindsay

    I actually just ordered a t-shirt with that Hermione quote, “When in doubt, go to the library.” I can’t wait for it to arrive — perfect to wear to work!

    Speaking of which, I’m totally intrigued by these Library Lovers mysteries you mentioned. The main character is Lindsey (close enough) and works at a library?!
    Lindsay recently posted…11 Literary Characters Who Are Fellow Book NerdsMy Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      Oh, I need one of those! Did you order it from this site, or someplace else? I think the DFTBA store has shirts with that quote on them, too.

      Yes, the Library Lovers mysteries are cozies set in a small coastal town in Maine (and it’s nearby islands), and the MC is the newly-appointed head librarian. She’s young – late twenties or early thirties, I think? – and single, and there’s a hint of a romance along with the various mysteries. I’ve only read the first three; they were fun. They’re by Jenn McKinlay, who also writes a cupcake-themed series and another set in/around a hat shop (I think.)