I'm linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for another Top Ten Tuesday.
It's a freebie week! A while back there was a topic of single-word titles, and I realized a lot of the one-word titles were names, so I decided to save those for a separate post. I decided to limit it to books where the name is a female character.
1. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
Binti is the first of the Himba people accepted to Oomza University, and she must travel among the stars to reach it. But an alien race is looking for revenge on Oomza — will she be caught in the middle?
2. Emma by Jane Austen
Emma Woodhouse imagines herself to have great, benevolent control over the lives of those around her, whether serving as a matchmaker or trying to refine the manners of her lower-class friend, Harriet Smith. But things begin to unravel quickly as she suspects romantic feelings that are not actually there, encourages feelings on one side that are not actually reciprocated, and is completely ignorant of feelings that do exist.
3. George by Alex Gino
Ten-year-old George knows she's a girl, but that's not what people see when they look at her. When her teacher says she can't try out for the part of Charlotte in the class play, Charlotte's Web, because she's not a girl, she hatches a plan to show everyone who she really is.
4. Heidi by Johanna Spyri
Heidi goes to live in the Alps with her grandfather, and her positivity and optimism brighten the lives of those around her. The book is a bit simplistic and prescriptively religious, but Heidi is an endearing character.
5. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Lolita is the victim of a single-minded child molester in this classic book that is hard to read for its subject matter and yet endures because of its incredibly beautiful language. Nabokov forces the reader through the cognitive dissonance of being verbally entranced by a despicable narrator.
6. Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards
Mandy's life as an orphan isn't all sunshine and rainbows, but she manages to find her own special project that allows her to feel pride and independence and eventually leads her to build connections with others.
7. Matilda by Roald Dahl
Matilda goes from a neglectful family to a school with an abusive headmistress. Rather than allowing these experiences to break her, she channels her frustration into power and ingenuity, finding clever ways to get back at those who have hurt her and others.
8. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
I got this on audio recently so I can finally reread it, like I've been saying I want to for years! Rebecca is our narrator's husband's deceased first wife, and somehow she still has a hold over the household...
9. Ruby by Cynthia Bond
Ruby has been worn down by a lifetime of neglect and abuse. To be honest, I had mixed feelings about this book, as the storytelling and the writing are very good, but I was continually tripped up by what felt like unnecessary supernatural elements and excessive, sometimes gratuitous abuse and violence, mostly sexual.
10. Sadie by Courtney Summers
I just reread this for book club, a year after I first read it, and I loved it even more. Sadie is on the hunt for her sister's killer, and her story alternates with a true crime podcast that's following her trail after she herself goes missing.
Which books have you read that would fit this theme?
Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: The Horse and His Boy and Imperium
Five years ago I was reading: Dangerous Girls, Brown Girl Dreaming, The Princess Bride, and Nervous Conditions
Ten years ago I was reading: Angela's Ashes
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