Booking Through Thursday - Female and Male Leads

As I wanted to do last week's meme but haven't been on my blog until yesterday, I am combining the two memes onto one blog: Who is my favourite female lead character? And why? And then today's meme is, of course: Who is my favourite male lead character? And why? So, here goes:

Favourite female lead character:
From my childhood, it would be the two Anne's - Anne Shirley of Green Gables, and Anne Frank, from the Diary of Anne Frank. Of course Anne Frank was real, but this made her diary all the more poignant for me . She was real, and she had lived under extreme circumstances. I was around 12 when I read both books, and they made an indelible impression on me. I had a very eventful childhood, some of which were traumatic events, and both characters inspired me. I would read them each of course for different reasons, but they both gave me the courage to go on, and to not give in to the despair that threatened me as I got older. This sounds very Jane Eyre, I know! But at the time, I was a child, and the events were all out of my control, and I did not know which way to turn, and books saved my life, these two in particular. I even got the idea of writing in my very first journal, given to me when I was 12, the way Anne Frank does in her diary - except I named mine Misty, whereas she called hers Kitty. I knew even at that age that what Anne Frank lived through was much worse than what I had to deal with, and this gave me courage. She has always remained one of my heroines, so even though she is not a fictional character, she is one of the reasons why books are such an important part of my life. As for Anne Shirley, I loved her. She made me laugh, and cry, and I watched her grow up in the 8 novels - the first three especially, and I could never get enough of her high spirits and joy in being alive. Even though she was an orphan, and Marilla hadn't wanted her, she brought joy with her, and she was - and is - irresistible. I loved her completely, and hated Mrs Lynd for her snide comments, and all the girls who made fun of Anne......she introduced me to the idea of kindred spirits, and poetry, and daydreams, and yet she gets into so much mishief! I read this series so many times, growing up. She is so familiar to me, and so much a part of my childhood, Anne of Green Gables.
I do have to confess that my middle name is Anne, and so I did feel a kinship with both of these fictional and real heroines.

As for male leads, I will have to think on this a little more, because no one immediately springs to mind as my favourite male lead. I want to give this some thought, because I think it's interesting to seee who our favourite characters are - not writers, but characters, as adults. For female, most of mine as an adult are mystery detectives (and no, Veronica Mars was never made into a book so I can't add her!!) - V.I Warshawski, Sharon McCone, Anna Lee, Stephanie Plum, Thursday Next, and of course, Lizzie Bennett! I have to say I admire Jane Eyre also, who wouldn't admire her spirit? I think there are too many names here for the special title of favourite, and since I just fell asleep briefly here - I'm fighting the same cold that kept my son out of daycare today - I might not be able to finish this entry properly. I will think on it and deliver an answer tomorrow, and for favourite male lead though I have a much smaller list on this one!! I am considering Mr Darcy however, as one of them!

Canadian Book challenge list posted

I did it! I got 13 books chosen for the Canadian Book Challenge, running from now until July 1 2008.

1. CANADIAN BOOK CHALLENGE Oct 2007 – July 1 2008 (13 books)

- the Penelopiad – Margaret Atwood

- Widdershins – Charles de Lint *

- A Touch of Panic – L.R. Wright

- Emily of New Moon – L.M. Montgomery*

- The Canadian Settler's Guide – Catherine Parr Traill *

- The Writing Life – ed Constance Rooke

- Northern Frights 2 – ed Don Hutchison *

- Bitten – Kelley Armstrong

- Life of Pi – Yann Martel

- A History of Reading – Alberto Manguel

- Still Life – Louise Penny *

- Piece of My Heart – Peter Robinson *

- The End of Elsewhere – Taras Grescoe *

I've been really good, only one book is a reread - Emily of New Moon - the rest are new books to read! I'm actually excited about this list, and with Canadian books it can be hit or miss. Much of Canlit I don't like - my mother read Miriam Toews 'An Complicated Kindness" which she said 'finished like a typical Canadian book'. I have yet to read it, and would have put it on my list but my sister-in-law Kim currently has the book. Most of the authors I have here I love - Charles de Lint is one of my favourited fantasy writers, Margaret Atwood was my adolescent introduction to adult Canadian fiction when I read 'The Edible Woman' while on summer vacation at a cottage, but I don't like all her writing. I love LMM Montgomery and would have put Anne of Green Gables on the list only i discovered I don't own it!!!! Yikes, one of my all-time favourite children's book growing up......I have the other two - Anne of Avonlea and Anne of the Island - in the original covers that I discovered the series in, so I want Anne of GG in that series, and I guess I haven't found a good enough copy yet. It is a good feeling to know that I had to leave some books off the list! Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay, and his Sailing to Sarantium series (I read book one, haven't read book 2 yet).

Of the ones I've chosen, Louise Penny is getting good reviews for her mystery series, of which Still Life is the first one.

I forgot Giles Blount!!!! My mother is buying the latest one for me for Christmas!!! Uh oh, there may be some tinkering with this list, and the 888 challenge, then, since I love Giles Blount! If you haven't read 40 Words for Sorrow (the first one in the series), then I highly, highly recommend it. Wonderful series set in a fictional town in northwestern Ontario.

Dragon Charmer by Jan Siegel.......the Benny Cooperman mysteries.......there were lots more that I would have liked to put on my list. No Logo by Naomie Klein, which I really want to read, but don't own yet, and until my LSS gets a new contract, I can't add too many books I have to buy. There's always the library, but I confess I like to own books. It's one of my few vices, but as my sister Patricia can say, you can get me into a bookstore, but you can't get me out of one!!!! My eldest son used to cry as soon as we crossed the threshold of one, when he was a baby.

So, as dinner calls - our two year old - wants ketchup with his spaghetti! yecch! - I hope you find some new Canadian authors to read from my list. Happy reading!!