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Favorite Quirky Literary Characters

June 9, 2019

My Favorite Quirky Literary Characters

Aren’t we all just a bit quirky?!

Favorite Quirky Characters

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.

top ten tuesdayI’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.

Eleanor Oliphant

Ove from A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

5 Stars. No Written Review.

man called ove

Frank from The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce

5 Stars. My Review.

music shop

Loveday from The Lost For Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland

5 Stars. My Review.

The Lost for Words Bookshop

Harold from The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

4.5 Stars. My Review.

Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Susan from The Cactus by Sarah Haywood

4 Stars. My Review.

The Cacrus

Martha from The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick

4 Stars. My Review.

The Library of Lost and Found

Keiko from Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

4 Stars. My Review.

convenience store women

Britt-Marie from Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman

3.5 Stars. (tempted to give this 4 stars) No Written Review

Britt Marie Was Here

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.

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill

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.

The Spies of Shilling Lane

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.

31 comments

  5. 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

    Reply

    • 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!

      Reply

  8. 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

    Reply

  12. 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. 😛

    Reply

    • 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!

      Reply

  20. 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.

    Reply

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