Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Seven top literary oddballs

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog Nicole Hill tagged seven favorite literary oddballs, including:
Luna Lovegood

In the course of the Harry Potter series, Luna Lovegood, that delightful loon, transforms from comedic relief to quirky heroine faster than you can say “Crumple-Horned Snorkacks.” When she dons her Spectrespecs, it might seem as if she’s infested with fuzzy-braining wrackspurts, but the girl has great Quidditch commentary (the cloud was interestingly shaped!), and without her, Harry might still be stumbling about looking for that diadem. Basically, she’s the coolest girl at Hogwarts—oh, look, a Blibbering Humdinger!
Read about another entry on the list.

Albus Dumbledore is one of Rachel Thompson's ten greatest deaths in fiction.

Hermione Granger is among Nicole Hill's nine best witches in literature and Melissa Albert's top six distractible book lovers in pop culture.

Dolores Umbridge is among Melissa Albert's six more notorious teachers in fiction, Emerald Fennell's top ten villainesses in literature, and Derek Landy's top 10 villains in children's books. The Burrow is one of Elizabeth Wilhide's nine most memorable manors in literature.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban appears on Amanda Yesilbas and Katharine Trendacosta's list ot twenty great insults from science fiction & fantasy and Charlie Jane Anders's list of the ten greatest prison breaks in science fiction and fantasy.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone also appears on John Mullan's lists of ten of the best owls in literature, ten of the best scars in fiction and ten of the best motorbikes in literature, and Katharine Trendacosta and Charlie Jane Anders's list of the ten greatest personality tests in sci-fi & fantasy, Charlie Higson's top 10 list of fantasy books for children, Justin Scroggie's top ten list of books with secret signs as well as Charlie Jane Anders and Michael Ann Dobbs's list of well-known and beloved science fiction and fantasy novels that publishers didn't want to touch. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire made John Mullan's list of ten best graveyard scenes in fiction.

The Harry Potter books made Melissa Albert's list of more than eight top fictional misfits, Cressida Cowell's list of ten notable mythical creatures, and Alison Flood's list of the top 10 most frequently stolen books.

--Marshal Zeringue