Ten Book Characters I'd Want as Best Friends

I'm linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for another Top Ten Tuesday.

This week's topic is book characters we'd love to be besties with. I definitely overthought this one. Do they have to be adult women in the book or can they be children if I would have stayed friends with them since childhood? Is it just enough to admire someone for who they are, or do I have to see qualities that would specifically make them good friends for me? Are they the kind of person who would want to be friends with someone like me? I eventually had to go with a loose definition of badass female characters who don't seem to have any serious issues that would drive a wedge in our friendship.

Here's the very tentative list of ten I came up with!

1. Amina Eapen (from The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing)
In high school a friend wrote a story about the futures of everyone in our friend group and made me a photographer in Seattle based on my dreams at the time, which may be why I resonated with Amina (a photographer in Seattle at the book's open), or maybe I just related to her feelings of re-imagining her past and her relationship with her parents now that she's settled into being an adult. Either way, she seems like a down-to-earth and caring friend to have.

2. Antoinette Conway (from The Trespasser)
I definitely don't think I'm cool enough to be friends with tough-as-nails murder detective Antoinette Conway, but she would clearly be a good friend to have — candid, loyal, smart, quick on her feet.

3. Clare Abshire (from The Time Traveler's Wife)
Clare's relationship with Henry dominates this book so we don't see her have many friends, but her willingness to go with the flow of Henry's time-traveling condition makes it clear she'd be a loyal and understanding friend to anyone who gave her equal respect back.

4. Elizabeth Bennet (from Pride and Prejudice)
Someone recently met me after hearing about me and said they'd imagined me as Elizabeth Bennet — smart, confident, well-read. I don't know about that, but I do think Elizabeth and I could find enough things to talk about, since we're both more interested in ideas than in gossiping about people.

5. Frankie Landau-Banks (from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks)
Yes, Frankie's just a teenager in this book going through some coming-of-age growing pains as she navigates her place in the world, but it's clear she's got a heart for justice and a maturity that would serve her well as an adult. She'd be a good friend to give me a push to make my ideas happen and make the world a better place.

6. Matilda Wormwood (from Matilda)
After the traumas of her childhood and the clever ways she overcame them, I imagine that Matilda grew into a resilient and loving adult. We know that she loves to read, so she and I would have a lot to talk about!

7. Rhonda Kazembe (from the Mysterious Benedict Society series)
I put in an earlier post that I wouldn't mind trading places with Rhonda, but I'd be happy to have her as a friend as well. She's smart but down-to-earth and doesn't seem to mind taking care of Mr. Benedict, her adoptive father, especially when it's in service of saving the world.

8. Robin Ellacott (from the Cormoran Strike series)
When I was young and a huge fan of mysteries, I dreamed of being a private detective. Robin has that dream job! She goes through enough in the line of duty that I don't think I'd actually want her job for myself, but hearing about it would be amazing, and I admire how quick-thinking and brave she is.

9. Tuppence Beresford (from the Tommy and Tuppence series)
Just like Robin, Tuppence investigates crime. She's willing to risk danger to herself to get to the bottom of a mystery but also has a cheerful personality and just likes getting to know other people. She and Tommy have a long, happy marriage, and I'm sure she was a loyal lifelong friend to many as well.

10. Valancy Stirling (from The Blue Castle)
Valancy's learned that there's no point trying to make other people happy, so I could trust her to be honest with me and that if she's my friend it's because she wants to be. She'd be a good friend to sit with in comfortable silence reading books out on the patio in summer or in front of a cozy fire in winter.

Which characters would you want as your besties?

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: The End of Your Life Book Club and The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
Five years ago I was reading: Half of a Yellow Sun and Someone Knows My Name
Ten years ago I was reading: Walden