I've noticed that the best way for me to get inspired is to get invested in a really good story. And it's pretty well known that reading helps with your writing. I have been having trouble finding books that I can stay interested in the whole way through.
I really like sad stories and the fantasy genre. But I will read pretty much anything (the only thing I don't enjoy reading is erotica-no offense to any erotica writers on here.) I don't like when stories are very cliche, or when female characters are just used as plot devices.
I look forward to reading the books you guys suggest. Thanks! :-)
You’d like The Lunar Chronicles. There’s a TON of female characters, and there’s all types of girls.!
I think you would like Keeper of the Lost Cities.
The His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman is one of my favourites, so I'd definitely recommend that if you haven't picked it up yet. (If only someone competent could do the moves /sigh)
Other than that, you could try Sabriel (Garth Nix), Ashes of the Elements (Alys Clare, and a murder mystery in a fantasy setting), The Thief Lord (Cornelia Funke), or The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom, and something I'd recommend everyone to read). Happy reading!
The Secret Series by Pseudonymous Bosch is a comedy/adventure/fantasy, but it’s for middle schoolers. The House of Scorpions is also a really good sci-fi.
My favorite books are The Secret History by Donna Tartt, 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, and A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. All amazingly well-written with fantastic stories and plots. However, they are mature and have graphic content, so if you are young and/or affected by some graphic (violent/sexual) content, please tread with caution.
My favorite YA series is the Raven Cycle!! If you haven't read it, you need to! Really great, interesting, kinda prose-y, magical writing with an amazing plot and cast of characters.
Anything by Michael Crichton.
The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis is an amazing book, I loved and it's quite sad and the female main character is very well written. You should give it a try.
Another great one is Daughters of Time by Mary Hoffman it's a collection of short-ish stories all based around female warriors/leaders. It's really good. It has Queen Boudicca, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Lady Jane Grey… it's one of my favourites.
Looking for Alaska by John Green has an amazing female lead in the first part and is the first to ever make me cry. It's not a long read either.
His Dark Materials is an amazing trilogy with an amazing female lead, it's an incredible mix of sci-fi, dystopian and fantasy, I could not put it down.
@@jynandor I've read that series, it's easily in my top fifteen book series I've every read.
I love the suggestions! Thanks so much you guys, I'll add all of these to my reading list.
Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton is good one. Oh, and The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason.
Diana Wynne Jones is one of my favourite authors. She wrote fantasy, both YA and adult, with very strong characters and well-constructed plots. She had a knack for weaving mytholgy and folklore into her work - for example, 'Dogsbody' features the Wild Hunt - it was my introduction to that particular legend, which has fascinated me ever since. Good ones to start with would be 'Howl's Moving Castle', 'The Homeward Bounders' or 'A Tale of Time City'. She wrote more than 40 books, standalones and several series, so there's plenty to choose from.
Rick Riordan's works, especially Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard. And Uglies, not a lot of people have heard of that.
Rick Riordan's works, especially Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard. And Uglies, not a lot of people have heard of that.
I have read Uglies! It had some interesting ideas, but I just couldn't take to the main character. She came across as staying around 12, mentally, for the entire series. (Nothing wrong with being 12, she just didn't seem to mature as she got older).
The Queen's Thief series. Fantastic. Get past the first book, which isn't as good, but the second and third books are so amazing I'm still jealous.
And OH MY GOSH @Bluecrow213 one of my favorite series' of all time is the Howl's Moving Castle series! I read them all twice in the past six months.
@Bluecrow213 Yessssss, someone else who has actually read them! Yeah, the MC is a little bit too flat, age-wise. But I absolutely adore the concepts of everything, and I could really see society going that way in 40+ years
Caraval by Stephanie Garber is a fantastic story with great imagery and a strong female lead and anything by John Green is always incredibly sad, since you like those books maybe look into them.
The red queen and anything written by Brandon Mull
The Warriors series by Erin Hunter and the Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz >w<
