Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It’s all about love of lists, love of literature and bringing bookish people together.
This one is kinda hard I feel. I guess I usually focus on all the character traits that annoy me rather than the positive ones! Here goes in no particular order.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Don’t forget to link your own TTT as well so I can check it out!
1. Gruffness
I love a gruff male lead. I’ve probably said this before but it’s a trait that almost always instantly drags me into caring about a character and wanting to know what going on behind all the quiet looks.
Some of my favourite books with gruff characters:





2. Drive
Characters that work hard always have my vote. This is even the case with characters that aren’t disadvantaged, any that have drive professionally and personally are usually winners.
Some of my favourite books with driven characters:




3. Charm
Good old fashioned charm always sucks me in. This can be cute, cheeky or downright cocky but it pretty much always makes for fun!
Some of my favourite books with charming characters:






4. Selflessness
This is a trait I’d love to see more in myself and always endears characters to me. It can come in big life changes or small day to day actions, i’ll take it.
Some of my favourite books with selfless characters:





5. Wacky weirdness
There are some characters that are just all over the place. They’re weird and wonderful and I live for it. I especially love the internal monologues and rambling tangents kind of weird.
Some of my favourite books with wacky characters:






6. Nerdy/Geeky/Intelligent
Characters that are too smart or too nerdy for their own good are the best. I really relate to the nerdiness and I usually learn something new from these characters.
Some of my favourite books with nerdy characters:




7. Bitchy
Bitchy characters can be heaps of fun. Sometimes it’s hiding something underneath or just characters on the side, but good side characters can make a story.
Some of my favourite books with bitchy characters:





8. Brave
Sometimes it’s just amazing reading about characters that do things you’re not sure you ever could. It’s fun to feel brave for a while by association!
Some of my favourite books with brave characters:






9. Shy/Unsure
The quiet ones can usually do big things. I really enjoy reading quieter or unsure characters come out of their shell.
Some of my favourite books with shy characters:





10. Ambitious
A good ambitious character, hero or villain with some grey morals in there is a great mix. Finding yourself aligned with otherwise unlikeable people is one of my favourite things.
Some of my favourite books with ambitious characters:




YES to Gruffness ❤ I absolutely adore the way Mariana Zapata writes her male lead characters!! What a great post ❤ Jen
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Thanks Jen! Yes she is a queen of the gruff/strong and silent types. She just does it so well, especially since we never get her Male POVs!
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Ooh yes, LOVE this list! Gruffness and the nerd factor are such wins for me 😍
My TTT post
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Nerd factor is the best, just speaks to me so easily haha!
Loved your list too as per usual 🥰
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This is such a great list 👍👍👍
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Thanks Sahi! I really had to think about it haha!
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Haha I totally understand… I could only come up with five traits for my post 😂😂😂
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Great choices! Love most of those as well! The gruffy ones especially! 👍
My TTT
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The gruff ones are just so endearing!
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I love your list! I was also struggling to come up with my TTT traits, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what draws you to a character sometimes. I’ll be checking out some of your recs!
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I know, it was so hard! I ended up filtering my goodreads by rating and trying to categorise the character traits that kept coming up. Figured I’d share my favourites since that’s how I came to this list 😹
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I wish I had thought of doing that, it sounds so helpful! I’ll probably steal that trick for future lists 😂
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It’s helped me many a time!
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Great list! Amazing characters make for a wonderful reading experience!
https://readingladies.com/2019/10/07/ttt-traits-that-help-me-fall-in-love-with-characters/
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They can really make or break a book! Loved your list too 😌
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Selflessness is a wonderful thing to read about.
My TTT.
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Charm, great choice
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sometimes I forget how much I love bitchy characters, especially when they’re also ambitious! :’) what a great list!! 💗
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Thanks! Yes a well done bitchy character is fantastic! Not petty, just blunt and owning it 😂
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Drive and gruffness are wonderful traits. I love them too! Great list!
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Thankyouuu
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Holy Moly. Your list looks like a combo of my favorite books and my wish list. This is an amazing post!
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