5 Fictional Characters Who Used Books To Solve All Their Problems

These fictional bookworms have proven time and time again that reading can, in fact, save your butt.

Hermione Granger, Harry Potter series

Right, like the Queen of Book Smarts would ever NOT be on this list. This intelligent lady studies hard and puts her knowledge to good use in every Harry Potter book. Really, it’s thanks to Voldemort. If he wasn’t around to put the trio’s lives in danger, Hermione’s biggest challenges would have been the O.W.L.s and the N.E.W.T.s. 

Memorable Books 
Hogwarts: A History 
Spellman’s Syllabary 
The Tales of Beedle the Bard 

Klaus Baudelaire, A Series of Unfortunate Events 

Lemony Snicket is forever a genius for giving us the Series of Unfortunate Events books. Among his many lessons (like never eat before swimming in a leech-infested lake because those suckers will destroy you), he taught us the importance of reading via the middle Baudelaire bookworm, Klaus. In addition to having read more books than probably any of us ever, Klaus can remember everything he reads, speaks multiple languages, and can spew out the definition of any word like a pro.

Memorable Books 
The Water Cycle, Volume 196

Meggie Folchart, Inkheart series

To be fair, Meggie’s problems aren’t only solved by books, they’re also created by them. When Meggie is little, her father Mo reads some dangerous characters out of a book called Inkheart while simultaneously sucking his wife into the pages. Meggie has to figure out how to return the antagonist, Capricorn, back into the pages of the book before he kidnaps Mo. That’s the danger that comes with the ability to read characters to life. (Also let’s be real, we can’t be the only ones who had a massive crush on Dustfinger.)

Memorable Books
Inkheart 

Quentin Jacobsen, Paper Towns

When is Quentin ever seen without his copy of Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman? Might as well have it superglued to his hand—maybe Ben can help him with that. Q’s quest to find Margo is so interwoven with Leaves of Grass that it becomes somewhat of a treasure map itself. So he takes the whole “books solving your problems” thing very, very literally.

Memorable Books
Leaves of Grass
Moby Dick

Tyrion Lannister, A Song of Ice and Fire series

No specific book solves Tyrion’s problems, but being well read saves him every time. Seriously, who else can triumph over enemies without having to raise a sword? Tyrion shows us that the greatest weapon you can carry is knowledge. We can see the results of Tyrion’s book smarts every time he’s backed into a corner.

Memorable Quote 
“My mind is my weapon. My brother has his sword, King Robert has his warhammer and I have my mind…and a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone if it is to keep its edge. That’s why I read so much, Jon Snow.”

Who are your favorite bookish book characters we left off this list? Let us know at @QuirkBooks!