Top Ten Tuesday (TTT) brought to you by The Broke and the Bookish.

February 7:  Top Ten Books I Wish Had (More/Less) X In Them (the original idea came from Andi who suggested top ten books I wish had more kissing which I thought could be fun but also realize it might not be everyone’s thing! Could also be top ten books I wish had more diversity in them or top ten books I wish had less violence in them or less romance focus in them or top ten books I wish had more dragons in them. IDK! Have some fun with this one!)

I know it’s late, but I’m here! I’m here! Ready with this week’s list!

I have to be honest with you guys. The topic this week really isn’t speaking to me. I’ve tried filling “X” in with serious items and funny items  – including vampires, recipes, Sherlock Holmes, and even talking dogs (a la the Chet and Bernie series) – but to no avail. Because truly, when I enjoy a book, I enjoy it. And books I don’t enjoy, honestly? I probably have forgotten about them to make room in my brain for our basketball practice schedule, or band concerts, or large homework projects due dates, or taking the dog to the vet. (Yes, I am my family’s living scheduler and calendar.) And let’s face it, I don’t really want to highlight books in my TTT that I’m not crazy about anyway.

So…what to do?

Then I realized that the initial inspiration for this topic (more kissing in books) might be timed due to Valentine’s Day coming up next week. (Although next week is the “official” Valentine’s TTT.) I remember we we did a Valentine-themed freebie TTT about this time last year. (Looking back, that was a fun list!) So instead of working with the actual prompt, I’m going to continue last year’s Top Ten Literary Couples in this week’s post. With a little twist…theses are characters who I am glad are NOT together.

Because sometimes being friends works even better.

Top Ten Bookish Friendships

“We’ll be friends forever, won’t we, Pooh?” asked Piglet.
“Even longer,” Pooh answered.

A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

• Inspector Lynley and Barbara Havers – Inspector Lynley Series.
• Harry and Hermione – Harry Potter
• Jo March and Theodore “Laurie” Laurence – Little Women
• Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott – Cormoran Strike Series
• Lin Cinder and Carswell Thorne – Scarlet (Technically this is the Lunar Chronicles, but I’m just finishing up Scarlet, the second book in the series.)
• Kinsey Milhone and (her landlord) Henry Pitts – Kinsey Milhone Series
• Chet (the dog) and Bernie – Chet and Bernie Series
• Theta and Henry – The Diviners
• Flavia de Luce & Inspector Hewitt – Flavia de Luce Series

And my number 10 is a shout out to my girl Veronica Mars and her sidekick/BFF Wallace. Neptune wouldn’t be the same without these two. Be cool, soda pop.

I know, I know. I was pretty terrible at following directions this week. What fun more or less “X” did you decide on? What characters would you add to my “just friends and that’s the way we like it” list? Sound off below, and link up to your own TTT if you’ve got one!