I’m actually surprised that this kind of topic has not come up more often! I’ve done Top 10 Tuesday and Top 5 Wednesday posts in the past about books that involve great friendships, but not so many about characters who I personally would want as a friend. I do tend to struggle a bit with these kinds of more abstract topics. I generally don’t think of the characters in the books I’m reading as possible friends (or boyfriends, since that question tends to come up a lot!) although there are a few that come to mind. I’m the type of person who prefers to have a pretty small group of very close friends rather than a bigger group of people that I don’t necessarily know that well. I still have the same best friend that I’ve had since second grade, although the pandemic has prevented us from really seeing each other much. We’re both relatively cautious, and both work in settings with vulnerable people so it’s been tough to make any plans. I work in a day program for adults with disabilities, and he’s a teacher in an elementary school. To be honest, aside from not being able to see this person and a couple of other close friends, I didn’t really mind having the pandemic as an excuse not to do certain kinds of social gatherings (ie. staff socials)! When it comes to book characters that I’d want as my friend, I tend to look for characters who share similar interests with me, or characters that seemed like they would be fun or interesting to hang out with. I’m not the most social person generally and I’m very introverted, so having some things in common would definitely give a good jumping off point for becoming friends with some of these characters!
Top 5 Wednesday is a meme created by Gingerreadslainey on Youtube, and is now hosted by Sam at ThoughtsOnTomes. The official GoodReads group with the weekly topics can be found here.
1) Pepper from Tweet Cute by Emma Lord – Even though I read this book over a year ago, this was the first character that immediately jumped to mind. I would love to hang out with Pepper (and her sister) and bake with them! They create such interesting cookies and treats, and I think it would be so much fun to do that together. I don’t bake very often, but I do enjoy it and I love sweets in general. I think the restaurant where she works would be a fun place to hang out, and I’d also love to try the food. Aside from the treats though, I also related pretty strongly to Pepper as a character for her overachieving tendencies, and I think we’d have a lot in common.
2) Quint from Instant Karma by Marissa Meyer – I feel like I bring this character up a lot, but he’s someone that I think would be a great friend. I’d love to have the chance to visit the animal rescue center where he works and help out with the animals. I love animals, although I’ve always been a little scared to actually work with them in case they bite. Quint would know how to do it safely. I also like that he’s willing to stand up for himself and values the importance of trusting each other and working together, the same qualities I mentioned for him recently in a post about characters who could be great leaders.
3) August from One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston – This is probably the character that I have the least solid reason for wanting to be my friend, but I really loved reading about her (and in general, this is a book that I loved that I probably don’t mention nearly enough). I loved how August carved out a place for herself in New York with her found family, and I remember leaving the book with a general impression that I’d love to be a part of that friend group. I’m not sure that we specifically have much in common, but I do like her interest in investigation and connecting people, and it seems like it would be interesting to talk to her about the people she is helping.
4) Rosie from Bookish and the Beast by Ashley Poston – I related very strongly to Rosie right from the start of this book because of her love of books, and I also appreciated the way she saw the Starfield series as a connection to her mother, who had passed away, which is something I can relate to as well since my father also passed. To be honest, a big part of what I loved about this book specifically was the parallels to Beauty and the Beast, which is one of my favourite fairy tales, but Rosie herself was a pretty big part of that. She seemed like someone that I would enjoy hanging out with and we could probably recommend a lot of books to each other, if she’s interested in trying books outside of the Starfield series.
5) Celie from the Serpent & Dove trilogy by Shelby Mahurin – This was a character that I didn’t expect to even like when she was first mentioned in the series, but I grew to really love her by the end as her role expanded significantly. Although she starts out pretty annoying, her behaviour is understandable given the relationship she’d had with Reid, and Celie also grows a lot throughout the series due to her experiences, and becomes someone who really shows a lot of bravery, intelligence and loyalty. These are all great qualities to have in a friend.
Abyssal Librarian 