Day 390 Top Ten Tuesday - Fathers Day Freebie

Top Ten Tuesday

The ladies at The Broke and the Bookish have been compiling this list each week for quite a while.  It was one of my favorites when I was reading, reading, and reading.
I tried to continue posting after my mom was diagnosed with Leukemia, but I just couldn't have fun with it.
I've missed the Top Ten Tuesday countdown and am glad to be back :)

This week, the topic is Dads...a freebie of sorts about Dads.  My first 8 dads are dads from fiction that I connected with...Dads that I think are pretty special.
I've tried to explain why I think these dads are special too.
The last two dads are real life dads.
And the best dads in the whole wide world.

1.   Atticus Finch - I am fully expecting to see Atticus on a lot of the other bloggers' lists... To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Atticus is a dad who appreciates his daughter...who learns as much from her as he teaches her...a dad who lives the same law he practices...

talks the talk and walks the walk if you will.

2.  James Potter - Harry's dad...what better example of a father than one who is willing to risk everything for his child.

Everything.

3  Bob Cratchit - A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

The portrait of Bob Cratchit holding Tiny Tim on his shoulders is pretty recognizable to even those who've never read the book.

I like this picture of Bob actually better.

Bob had a house full of children.

More than he could afford.

He worked for a grumpy old man who didn't pay him fare wages and wouldn't even heat the office enough. 

The longsuffering Bob Cratchit left his soul sucking office everyday to go home to his family.

When he arrived home, his face completely changed...the warmth, the love, the positivity...making the best of what they had...and seeing the happiness in even things that seemed dismal. 

That's a father.

4  Robert Quimby - Ramona's Dad - Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary
I really could see myself in Ramona when I was a kid her age.  Her parents were a lot like mine too, especially her dad. Ramona wasn't a girly girl and just wanted to find her way...she wanted to be sure of herself even if she didn't like the same things her mother and Beezus liked.
Her dad encouraged and accepted her to be exactly like she was...
even though she sometimes wanted to be like him :)  

5.  Pa Ingalls - Laura's dad - Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Pa was the guy you wanted with you in a hurricane, a snowstorm, a prairie fire, or moving day.  Pa found food when it was scarce or went without himself when there wasn't enough.  To top it off, this superman played the fiddle at night to entertain his family.
Wow.

6  The Book Thief - Hans Huberman - He took someone else's child into his home and raised her like his own.  He teaches her love in the face of unimaginable hate and evil.  He teaches her survival...both physical and emotional.
I sobbed while I read this book...ugly cry sobbing too.
I haven't seen the movie either...I just can't bring myself to do it.

7.  Colonel March - Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
He's not with them much.
But we know a lot about him simply because of how strong the women in his life were.
They treasured him and hung on his every word...they make sacrifice after sacrifice the cause he so desperately believed in.
And they grow up to make their own lives their own individual ways with his blessing.
*I realize this is a romanticized vision of Colonel March given the very different perspective we read about in Gwendolyn Brooks novel March, but the romanticized version is the only one I had for most of my life...so I'm sticking to that father for Father's Day.

8.  Dexter Morgan - the Dexter series by Jeff Lindsay...yeah, yeah, I know. He's a serial killer.
But, he's a dad too.  And a good one.  Nobody's going to hurt his kids.
Little Harrison is his lifeline.  He'll live and continue to do life in order to be there for Harrison the way his adopted dad was for him.

9.  Reading The Incredible Journey with my dad...this is a childhood memory that I carry with me.  I can still see us sitting on my bed.
Me, hanging on every word.
One chapter a night...except for the chapter that ends with the cat floating down the river stuck on a log.
We read two chapters that night ;)

10.  My husband...the father of our three daughters.
Ed is a lot like Mr. March...in their younger days he was gone a lot...but he loved his girls and they knew it.
He hasn't always been a reader but in the last 20 years, he's started reading a lot.  He reads some history, particularly Mississippi history, sports, and crime thrillers such as Lee Child, Greg Isles, Vince Flynn, and Michael Connelly, etc.  He's not as fanatical about his books as I am...when he's done reading with most of them, out the door they go.  He does have some keepers though.  We have a John Grisham collection that is his and a good many coaching bios.
His office is in the library on our campus so he gets to the library more than I do :)
I try to get him a book at gift giving times when one pops up that I think he would enjoy...this is my this year's Father's Day pick for him:

Y'all, overwhelmingly the reviewers wrote that it didn't matter what side of politics you are on...the stories in this collection showcase the integrity, sacrifice, and perseverance of American military personnel...survival at its best...overcoming adversity...
I think he'll like it :)