June 9, 2019
My Favorite Quirky Literary Characters
Aren’t we all just a bit quirky?!
Quirky Defined
Definition of quirky: having many quirks : unusual in especially an interesting or appealing way (a quirky sense of humor, quirky ideas/behavior, a quirky and creative artist)
My personal definition also includes the word endearing. My favorite quirky characters have a story behind their quirkiness and often quirky is a survival strategy. Their quirkiness is understandable when a reader sees the entire picture and their quirkiness becomes endearing in light of the challenges they are bravely overcoming.
I’m linking up today with That Artsy Reader Girl: Top Ten Tuesday: Character Freebie.
Although I love characters of all types, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the recent abundance of stories with quirky characters. I love to hear their stories and celebrate their determination to live their best lives in spite of the circumstances. Even though my star ratings vary on the following books, I’ve loved all the quirky characters. My favorites are brave Eleanor and grumpy Ove. Do you love quirky? Who are your favorite quirky characters?
***Titles are Amazon affiliate links. Listed in order of Star ratings. And, yes, I realize I have eleven and not ten! I couldn’t leave any of them out!
Quirky Favorites
Eleanor from Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
5 Stars. My Brief Review.
Ove from A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
5 Stars. No Written Review.
Frank from The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce
5 Stars. My Review.
Loveday from The Lost For Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland
5 Stars. My Review.
Harold from The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
4.5 Stars. My Review.
Susan from The Cactus by Sarah Haywood
4 Stars. My Review.
Martha from The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick
4 Stars. My Review.
Keiko from Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
4 Stars. My Review.
Britt-Marie from Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman
3.5 Stars. (tempted to give this 4 stars) No Written Review
Nina from The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
3 Stars. (without Ch 5 it would have been 4 stars) My Goodreads Review.
Mrs. Braithwaite from The Spies of Shilling Lane by Jennifer Ryan
2.5 Stars. (the plot is sitcom-like, but I love Mrs. B) My Goodreads Review.
Thank you, authors, for creating wonderful, memorable, and endearing quirky characters!
QOTD!
Do you love quirky characters? Do you have a favorite quirky character? Do you love any of my quirky characters?
Happy Reading Book Buddies!
“Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.”
~Rainer Maria Rilke
“I love the world of words, where life and literature connect.”
~Denise J Hughes
“Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad ones.”
~Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
“I read because books are a form of transportation, of teaching, and of connection! Books take us to places we’ve never been, they teach us about our world, and they help us to understand human experience.”
~Madeleine Riley, Top Shelf Text
Looking Ahead:
Coming VERY soon! “ONE Great Summer Read” recommended by twelve blogger friends!
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***Blogs posts may contain affiliate links. This means that at no extra cost to you, I can earn a small percentage of your purchase price.
Unless explicitly stated that they are free, all books that I review have been purchased by me or borrowed from the library.
Book Cover and author photo are credited to Amazon or an author’s (or publisher’s) website.
Love this list. Which one would you say is your favorite?
I love them all but probably Eleanor is the most memorable/unforgettable! 👍😍
Eleanor is definitely an incredibly memorable character. I love her quirkiness.
Thanks for commenting!
Eleanor will always have a special place in my heart!
Yes…I love ❤️ brave Eleanor ❤️. Thanks for commenting!
Hello! I have nominated you for the blogger Recognition award! The rules can be found here! https://iwontsayiminlovewithreading.wordpress.com/2019/07/09/blogger-recognition-award/
Great list and take on today’s character freebie! The only book I’ve read is Eleanor and I loved her quirky character for sure. When I think quirky characters I immediately think of the ones in books by Robin Sloan (Sourdough and Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hour Bookstore). So fun! I love quirky characters 😃
My TTT post
Oh yes! These are great additions! Thanks for commenting and leaving your link! 👍
I never thought to do quirky characters! I’m so glad you did this list.
Thanks Leelynn!
Fredrik Backman writes some great quirky characters! Nice choices today!
Yes he does!!! I heard him say in an interview when asked how he could write a woman character like Britt Marie so well that Britt Marie is really him! 😂 Thanks for commenting!
I have not read any of the these but I’ve heard great things about Fredrik Backman, Eleanor, and Nina. This was such a fun list. In answer to your question, yes I tend to really go for the quirky characters. I would say my fave is Cath from Fangirl. Here is my post-https://paigesofbook.blogspot.com/2019/07/top-ten-tuesdays-favorite-female.html
Thanks for adding to the quirky character list! 👍 Thanks for commenting and leaving your link!
Loved elanor definitely check out some of these other reads ❤️
Thanks for commenting and happy reading! 👍😍
I loved Ove’s quirkiness.
❤️ me too!
[…] Yes, I have an ENTIRE post on admirable quirky characters here! […]
I’ve been wanting to read a lot of the books on this list but the only one so far I’ve actually read was ‘Convenience Store Woman’ (I thought it was just okay.) I would say a few of my favorite quirky characters are Christopher from ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,’ Kammie from ‘The Girl in the Well is Me,’ and Sammy from “Tomato Red.’ I’m having a little trouble with sticking with the definition of ‘quirky’ and how messed up/weird a character has to be until ‘quirky’ no longer applies. 😛
Thanks for your comment and recs! I’ll check those out. For me, Quirky has to be interesting and appealing but, you’re right, it’s difficult to pin down an exact definition!
[…] Examples: Eleanor (Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine), Lovejoy ( The Lost For Words Bookshop), Harold (The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry) (find my post about quirky characters living their best lives here) […]
[…] Related: Find an entire post about my favorite quirky characters here. […]
[…] Favorite Quirky Literary Characters […]
[…] of Eudora Honeysett and the time I invested. I love quirky crumugeons, and Eudora will be added to my list of favorites! I love her determination and feistiness, her candor, and her friendship with Rose. I love […]
[…] Characters: I love quirky characters and especially more mature quirky characters! Click here for a list of a few of my favorite quirky characters. Hattie and Harold will definitely have a place on my list! Hattie is grieving the loss of her […]
[…] like these that cause me to realize that the majority of my reading is really intense! I do love Quirky Characters, so mostly quirky characters provide the levity in my reading […]
[…] majority of my reading is really intense! It challenges me to come up with lighter reads. I do love Quirky Characters, so mostly quirky characters provide the levity in my reading […]
Yes, I’ve read almost all of these, and I agree with you. I’d add Ignatius J. Reilly from Confederacy of Dunces and all the characters from the novels and short stories of Katherine Heiny.
Thanks for the recs! I’ll definitely take a look!