Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I'm Thankful NOT To Be- Classics Edition

 

TOP TEN TUESDAY

HOSTED BY THAT ARTSY READER GIRL

Today I'm participating in Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl book blog. I've wanted to do this for awhile but hadn't found the time. I love the idea of posting top ten lists each week and while I may not get to all of them, it's still fun to try! This week in honor of Thanksgiving the topic is Thankful Freebie. Here is my top ten list of characters I'm thankful not to be. I loved this idea and have to give credit to Cindy at The Speedy Reader blog for this creative idea. 

1. Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca 

by Daphne Du Maurier

The creepy, clingy, obsessed head housekeeper of Manderly was not a happy lady. I was glad she didn't win in the end. 

2. Melanie Hamilton in Gone With the Wind

by Margaret Mitchell

I always felt sorry for poor Melanie. She's too sweet and compliant....she gets taken advantage of left and right and then dies in the end. I can't help it...I always preferred to be Scarlet!

3. Oliver in Oliver Twist

by Charles Dickens

This one almost needs no explanation. How can you not feel compassion and pity for this poor kid? It's a hard story to get through for sure. Happy ending...but tough getting there.

4. Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath

by John Steinbeck

He has the weight of the world and his family on his shoulders. Tom means well but can't seem to ever get it right or catch a break. It's a tough life for him.

5. Marley in A Christmas Carol

by Charles Dickens

As a child I felt so sorry for poor Marley. I'm glad he tries to pass on the knowledge of what NOT to do in life but I always felt bad he's stuck in the underworld. 

6. Napolean in Animal Farm

by George Orwell

There's something pathetic about a character who can't see how oppressive he's become. You can't help but feel sorry for those who abuse others because they have become so evil. 

7. Mr. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice

by Jane Austen

This one is meant to be funny. I just love the Father in this book and how long suffering he is with his wife. But would I want to be him in that house of chattering women? Nope :) 

8. Daisy in The Great Gatsby

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

This character just comes across as an empty headed fool who uses those around her and won't take responsibility for her actions. I wouldn't want to be Daisy as she grows older and looks back on her life. 

9. Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment

by Feodor Dostoevsky

Watching the character try to justify his horrible crimes is frustrating. It is humbling to see him come to terms with what he has done. 

10. Gilbert in Anne of Green Gables

by Lucy Maud Montgomery

I always felt a little sorry for poor Gilbert.....always chasing dramatic Anne. Sometimes I wanted to tell him to go find someone more sensible and worthy of his adoration.  

November Books To Celebrate Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving. I love celebrating the day with family and not having to make presents and Santa the focus. Halloween is over, it's fall, and the Christmas madness has not descended upon us yet. I'm also a proud American who loves to remember the good things about our country and the pioneer spirit of the Pilgrims and those who came after them are always a great place to find amazing stories. Here are a few I've read and a few I'd like to read. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick

Amazon Synopsis: 

How did America begin? That simple question launches the acclaimed author of In the Hurricane's Eye and Valiant Ambition on an extraordinary journey to understand the truth behind our most sacred national myth: the voyage of the Mayflower and the settlement of Plymouth Colony. As Philbrick reveals in this electrifying history of the Pilgrims, the story of Plymouth Colony was a fifty-five year epic that began in peril and ended in war. New England erupted into a bloody conflict that nearly wiped out the English colonists and natives alike. These events shaped the existing communites and the country that would grow from them.

Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford

Amazon Synopsis:

These men, women and children, who became known as the Pilgrims, would found the Plymouth Colony. They had to survive harsh winters, poor harvests, disease and famine in the early years of their new settlement. These struggles were only exacerbated by conflicts they had with other English settlements, French settlers and against Native Americans. But they persevered in what has become one of the most iconic periods in the history of the United States. William Bradford, who was Plymouth Colony Governor five times for a period of nearly thirty years, recorded a detailed history of this settlement and the lives of its colonists in his Of Plymouth Plantation.

 

Running With the Wind by Dionne Haynes

Amazon Synopsis:

Jedediah Trelawney joins a small, overcrowded ship bound for America. A young man from a privileged background, he struggles to adapt to life at sea. Determined to earn the respect of his fellow passengers, he undertakes arduous tasks alongside the crew, but Jed is not cut out for the life of a sailor. Sickness is rife aboard the Mayflower. Inspired by Samuel Fuller, a self-taught physician, Jed develops a fascination with the healing arts. He thrives as Doctor Fuller’s apprentice and challenges traditional ideas, seeking kinder methods for treating the sick. Smitten by Desire Minter, Jed dreams of a future as a respected colony physician with Desire as his wife. Hostile passenger, John Billington, has other ideas. When Billington threatens to reveal Jed’s past, Jed becomes the victim of bullying and bribery. Somehow, Jed must silence Billington for good, or risk losing everything — including his life. A page-turning tale about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.

Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims  by Rush Limbaugh

Amazon Synopsis:

Okay, okay, my name’s really Rusty—but my friends call me Rush. Rush Revere. Because I’ve always been the #1 fan of the coolest colonial dude ever, Paul Revere. Talk about a rock star—this guy wanted to protect young America so badly, he rode through those bumpy, cobblestone-y streets shouting “the British are coming!” On a horse. Top of his lungs. Wind blowing, rain streaming...  Well, you get the picture. But what if you could get the real picture—by actually going back in time and seeing with your own eyes how our great country came to be? Meeting the people who made it all happen—people like you and me?  Hold on to your pointy triangle hats, because you can—with me, Rush Revere, seemingly ordinary substitute history teacher, as your tour guide across time! “How?” you ask? Well, there’s this portal. And a horse. My talking horse named Liberty. And—well, just trust me, I’ll get us there.  We’ll begin by joining a shipload of brave families journeying on the Mayflower in 1620. Yawn? I don’t think so. 1620 was a pretty awesome time, and you’ll experience exactly what they did on that rough, dangerous ocean crossing. Together, we’ll ask the pilgrims all our questions, find out how they live, join them at the first Thanksgiving, and much more. 

Flight of the Sparrow by Amy Belding Brown

Amazon Synopsis:

Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1676. Even before Mary Rowlandson was captured by Indians on a winter day of violence and terror, she sometimes found herself in conflict with her rigid Puritan community. Now, her home destroyed, her children lost to her, she has been sold into the service of a powerful woman tribal leader, made a pawn in the ongoing bloody struggle between English settlers and native people. Battling cold, hunger, and exhaustion, Mary witnesses harrowing brutality but also unexpected kindness. To her confused surprise, she is drawn to her captors’ open and straightforward way of life, a feeling further complicated by her attraction to a generous, protective English-speaking native known as James Printer. All her life, Mary has been taught to fear God, submit to her husband, and abhor Indians. Now, having lived on the other side of the forest, she begins to question the edicts that have guided her, torn between the life she knew and the wisdom the natives have shown her. Based on the compelling true narrative of Mary Rowlandson, Flight of the Sparrow is an evocative tale that transports the reader to a little-known time in early America and explores the real meanings of freedom, faith, and acceptance.