When I saw the topic for this week's Top Ten Tuesday list, I was in the middle of a book my 13-year-old daughter recommended to me—Top Ten Clues You're Clueless by Liz Czukas.  The main character is Chloe Novak, an adorkable redhead who gets caught up in a mystery on Christmas Eve at the grocery store where she works.  Since I'd just read two other books about women with auburn hair, it got me thinking about other fictional carrot tops.  Gingers are rare in the real world, so it's kind of funny to realize how often they turn up in literary ones.  I thought it would be a fun subject for this week's list about Top Ten Books Which Feature Characters Who _____ (are musically inclined, have lost someone, have depression, who grow up poor, etc.).

One of the funnest things about fill-in-the-blank lists is that they're all different.  I love to see the variety of answers everyone comes up with.  If you've got a great idea for this week's list, be sure to join in the fun.  All you have to do is click on over to The Broke and the Bookish for instructions.  It's a good time, I promise!

Okay, here we go with Top Ten Books Which Feature Characters Who Are Redheads:


1.  Anne Shirley (Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery)—I'm sure Anne (with an e!) is the first literary redhead who pops into most people's minds.  Her personality matches her fiery locks—she's passionate, stubborn, and quick to lose her temper.  She's also a fun, spunky dreamer who's fiercely devoted to her family and friends.  What's not to love about unforgettable Anne?


2.  Ron Weasley and family (Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling)—Loyal Ron is another beloved redhead, as are all the members of his kind, loving family.


3.  Pippi Longstocking (series by Astrid Lindgren)—I used to love the Pippi books!



4.  Nancy Clancy (Fancy Nancy series by Jane O'Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser)—Ooh la la, it's hard to ignore this little redhead who's enamored of all things glam.


5.  Scarlet Benoit (The Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer)—a "rebooted" Little Red Riding Hood


6.  Clary Fray (The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare)—a kick-butt, demon-fighting red-haired heroine


7.  Amber Sterlington (A Heart Revealed by Josi S. Kilpack)—This Regency romance is all about a beautiful socialite dealing with the sudden, inexplicable loss of her thick auburn locks.


8.  Jacinda (Firelight series by Sophie Jordan)—In her human form, she's a beautiful redhead.  In her true form, she's an even more beautiful dragon.


9.  Gemma Doyle (series by Libba Bray)



10.  Chloe Novak (Top Ten Clues You're Clueless by Liz Csukas)—Lastly, the one who started it all!  Chloe's a fun character.  Her story is predictable, but cute.                  

So, what do you think?  Did I miss anybody?  Who should I add to my list?  I couldn't think of ten, after all, so I cheated a little bit, using this fabulous article from The Huffington Post.  Also, in my Googling of redheaded heroines, I came across a blog devoted to the subject.  Who knew, right?

What did you fill in the blank with this week?  I'd love to see your list.  Leave me a comment and I'll be sure to return the favor.

Happy Top Ten Tuesday!

P.S.  Book images are from Barnes & Noble; others were "borrowed" from around the Internet)

I usually don't post twice in a day, but I actually sorta forgot that it was Tuesday.  Yeah.  Anyway, since it is the third day of the week, that means it's time for my favorite bookish meme, Top Ten Tuesday.  It's hosted by the fine ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish.  This week, our hostesses with the mostesses ask:  What are the Top Ten Books You Liked More/Less Than You Thought You Would?  In the spirit of putting the bad news first, I'm going to start with the latter question.  Here we go:



1.  Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card—I admit I'm kind of a fair weather fan when it comes to OSC.  Some of his books I like, some I don't.  But, everyone (it seems) talks about how amazing Ender's Game is and ... I just don't get it.  Admittedly, I've only read the first third or so, but I've done that at least three times!  The book's so terribly written that I've never been able to get past that point.  Judging from the enthusiastic responses of readers whose opinions I respect, I thought I would love this one.  Yeah, not so much.


2.  Prized by Caragh M. O'Brien—After I read Birthmarked, I went a little fan girl over this author.  Since I loved the first book in the series, I figured I'd adore the second.  Again ... not so much.


3.  Viola in Reel Life and Viola in the Spotlight by Adriana Trigiani—I love Trigiani's adult books, so I thought I'd really get into her YA series.  Nope.  Even after two installments, I'm still very underwhelmed by it.


4.  Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys—This is another one that readers/bloggers adore and recommend like crazy.  While I understand why (it's definitely impactful), the book didn't wow me.  The prose felt cold and distant, which makes sense considering it's about the imprisonment of innocent people, but still ... Sepetys' second book, Out of the Easy, was much more to my liking.  Even though it also dealt with difficult subjects, it was a much warmer, more satisfying novel.


5.  Beauty Queens by Libba Bray—I loved the cover and the premise of this one.  The beginning made me laugh with its quirky, tongue-in-cheek examination of beauty.  However, as the story went on, it got increasingly bawdy and bizarre.  I read it, but found the experience disappointing.

I took another dip into Young Adult fiction this week, reading Libba Bray's first novel, A Great and Terrible Beauty. It's a mesmerizing Gothic suspense tale, chilling, and impossibe to put down once you've started reading.

The story concerns Gemma Doyle, a 16-year-old English girl living in India at the end of the 19th Century. Bored with her dreary life, she longs to escape to England. During an argument with her mother on this very subject, Gemma snaps and flees through a busy Indian marketplace. She is thrilled by her sudden freedom, even though she soon becomes lost. In the midst of this, she succumbs to a troubling vision that shows her mother dead, a black shape looming over her. Gemma awakes only to find that her vision has become fact. Now without a mother, Gemma is shipped off to Spense Academy, an English boarding school. Although she is determined to become a proper lady there, she can't shake the sinister visions. It doesn't help that she's the strange new girl, or that she's become aware of a handsome stranger watching her every move.

Thanks to her discovery of one girl's shocking secret, Gemma suddenly finds herself in the center of Spense's circle of popular girls. To quelch the boredom of school life, they decide to form a secret society, like the one they've read about in an old journal Gemma found. Together, they enter "the realms," a world between worlds where they are free and powerful. The magic seems harmless, until the girls unleash it on their own world. Suddenly, they are in deeper than they ever imagined. As the secrets of "the realms" reveal themelves, Gemma and her friends suddenly realize that they are dealing with a power they not only don't understand, but also can't control. Gemma is stunned to discover her mother's connection to The Order as well as her own.

It's not the strongest plot, but it was compelling enough to keep me reading (and ignoring housework), desperate to find out what happens to Gemma and her friends. I read a review of the book that called the characters "unlikable," an idea with which I agree somewhat. Gemma is a sympathetic protagonist, with enough wit to be an engaging narrator. Felicity, her rich, beautiful friend is complex and unpredictable, making her just as interesting. The rest of the characters are somewhat bland, it's true, but I was willing to read about them just the same. Perhaps the most masterful element of the book is the mood it evokes. From the first page, it's somber and downright creepy. As Gemma travels to and arrives at Spense, the mood darkens even further and never lets up. It's that more than anything that makes this such a chilling novel.

A Great and Terrible Beauty is foremost a horror story, but it's also a commentary on the imprisoning lives of 19th Century women. Gemma and her friends are being groomed to be one thing - marriageable. Their parents use them as pawns to secure wealthy, well-bred futures, seemingly disregarding their daughters' desires. This problem becomes painfully obvious when Gemma's friend, Pippa, becomes unhappily engaged to a man 30+ years her senior, because he is rich enough to save her family from financial ruin. Echoing the feelings of her peers, Gemma says, "We are looking glasses, we girls, existing only to reflect their images back to them as they'd like to be seen. Hollow vessels of girls to be rinsed of our own ambitions, wants, and opinions, just waiting to be filled with the cool, tepid water of gracious compliance." (page 305) This, more than anything else, is what makes "the Realms" so appealing to the girls. While Bray does an excellent job of showing the imprisonment the girls face, I think she errs in not showing ANY examples of happy marriages. The only one that comes close is the union between Gemma's parents. Even that, however, is discredited in this conversation between Gemma and her brother, Tom:

"Mother was Father's equal," I say coolly. "He didn't expect her to walk behind him like some pining imbecile."

Tom's smile falls away. "Exactly. And look where it's gotten us." (page 27)

Still, my only real beef with the novel is that I believe it is too sexually mature for young adult readers. Don't get me wrong, there are no graphic sexual scenes. There is, however, plenty of innuendo, as well as faint lesbian undertones. These, combined with the sinister tone of the whole novel, make it more of an adult book in my mind. I admit it could just be my prudish side coming out, but I don't think I would let my teenager read this book. Despite this, I enjoyed the novel and found that it did what all good books do - it transported me to a world apart from my own.