My Top Ten Bookish Heroines

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme by The Broke and the Bookish. To learn more about this meme click here and you can view their post on this week's theme here.

One of my favourite elements of any book from any genre is a confident, kickass female character, whether they be strong in the physical sense or badasses that won't take no for an answer! Here is my list of my top ten favourite heroines in no particular order:

Rose Hathaway from Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Rose is like the ultimate badass. She doesn't let anyone walk over her and I love her for it.

Hermione Granger from Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

I've already had a peek at a few other bloggers's lists this week and Hermione is a very popular choice for obvious reasons! The sacrifices Hermione makes to keep her friends and family safe are incredibly admirable. I so loved reading about her as I grew up.

Tessa Gray from The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare

Tessa certainly doesn't have a great start in this series but she seems to go from strength to strength afterwards. I also have to make a special mention for Charlotte from this series as well. Cassandra Clare sure knows how to write her heroines!

Margaret Hale from North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

Margaret is so kind and caring and always stands up for what she believes is right, no matter how powerful the opposition is.

Penryn Young from Angelfall by Susan Ee

Even before the whole angel apocalypse situation, Penryn already had a lot on her plate but no matter what comes her way she just gets on and deals with what's in front of her.

Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

It's hard to find anything to dislike about Elizabeth. She's witty, confident in herself, kind and caring. And even though she makes mistakes she's not afraid to own up to them which I really respect her for.

Tessa from Blind Beauty by K.M. Peyton

Although Tessa starts out the book as a rude brat she completely transforms by the end to a strong, confident person and her character is one of the main reasons why I re-read this book at least one a year!

Nasuada from the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini

I don't know if you can get more kickass than this woman. Leading the Varden, fighting battles, winning The Trial of the Long Knives...

Anne Elliot from Persuasion by Jane Austen

Anne is one of my all-time favourite characters because she strikes the perfect between being gentle and strong, proving you don't have to be just one of them!

Catelyn Stark from A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

I have a feeling I'll be the only one that chose Catelyn, haha! Although she could be a bit of annoying at times Catelyn always knew where her priorities lay which I couldn't help admiring her for.

Who would make your list?

Currently reading: Tsarina by J. Nelle Patrick

Currently drinking: Pomegranate Green Tea by Twinings

Review: Girl Online by Zoe Sugg

Title: Girl Online

Author: Zoe Sugg

Series: n/a

Format: Hardback (paid for myself)

Rating: 3/5

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Goodreads description: Penny has a secret. Under the alias GirlOnline, she blogs about school dramas, boys, her mad, whirlwind family - and the panic attacks she's suffered from lately. When things go from bad to worse, her family whisks her away to New York, where she meets the gorgeous, guitar-strumming Noah. Suddenly Penny is falling in love - and capturing every moment of it on her blog. But Noah has a secret too. One that threatens to ruin Penny's cover - and her closest friendship - forever.

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My review: I'd only seen negative reviews of this book before I picked it up so I didn't really have any positive expectations of it, however I was quite pleasantly surprised. Although this isn't the most original book of all time it was a really cute, fluffy and quick read. I really enjoyed the overall story and I felt like I could relate to a lot of the embarrassing, awkward issues that the main character, Penny, dealt with. The book also deals with some more serious issues like online bullying which I was not expecting but it does a pretty good job with them. 

The main issue I had with this book though was that it felt a bit immature at times. Although I'm probably outside the target market for this book (I'm 23) I read a lot of YA and I hardly ever feel like there's actually an age difference between the characters and myself. However I did get that impression with this book. This book also had a serious case of insta-love. While I actually don't mind insta-love as long as its done well, this just felt far too unrealistic for me so I didn't find myself enjoying the relationship between Penny and Noah as much as I should have.

Nonetheless I did enjoy this book overall and I think this would be a perfect read for younger teens. I'm also really hoping that Zoe decides to do another book as I'd like to see her perspective on some perhaps older characters.

Have you read Girl Online? What did you think of it?

Currently reading: Nothing! Finished all my current reads!

Currently drinking: Pineapple & Grapefruit Green Tea by Twinings

Book cover image from Goodreads

January 2015 Book Haul

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
Persuasion by Jane Austen
The Miniaturist (Waterstones exclusive edition) by Jessie Burton

Lorna Doone by R.D. Blackmore
Emma by Alexander McCall Smith

Angelology by Danielle Trussoni

Better late than never, right...? *cough*

As you can see, I've been really good at sticking to my 2015 resolution of buying less books. Heh. I would point out that I only bought most of these as I came across them in charity shops but my February book haul is turning out to be just as bad as this one...

Anyway! I seemed to go a bit classics crazy in January. I'm currently reading Persuasion so I've bought the Penguin Clothbound version to replace my battered reading copy on my bookself. I also picked up The Hound of the Baskervilles to hopefully use in a reading challenge sometime this year as its pretty slim. It's one of those books that I've always been meaning to read as its set near where I live so it would be good to get this one crossed off my TBR soon. I was also excited to come across these near-perfect copies of Emma by Alexander McCall Smith and Lorna Doone by R.D. Blackmore in a charity shop. I believe Emma only came out a couple of months ago, it's a rewrite of Emma by Jane Austen and is set in the 21st century so I'm really looking forward to reading it. Along with Lorna Doone (which has such a pretty cover) I only paid £5 for the both of them! Gotta love charity book shops.

 I also *had* to buy the beautiful Waterstones exlusive edition of The Miniaturist before it sold out. I mean, just how pretty?

Currently reading: Persuasion by Jane Austen

Currently drinking: Pineapple & Grapefruit Green Tea by Twinings