These first few are my guilty pleasure reads! I'm trusting you with this information - don't use it against me, you guys ;) I've linked the covers to Goodreads so you can add the ones you like straight to your TBR!


Who?
Charley Davidson ( - don't you just wish that was your name?), is a PI... and also the grim reaper.
Why read about her?
Because sometimes you need a funny, kind of cheesy paranormal romance with a protagonist who has so much personality. Charley's pretty awesome.





Who?
Mercy Thompson is a mechanic with a history degree. She's also able to change into a coyote at will.
Why read about her?
Mercy is a bit of an unusual main character, and the story's just a really fun urban fantasy. There are vampires, werewolves, gremlins...




Who?
Merit. Grad-student turned vampire.
Why read about her?
Merit is awesome and relatable. And a grad student! Yay for educated protagonists!





Who?
Amelia Cooke, female lobbyist.
Why read about her?
She becomes a lobbyist at the end of the 19th century, and lobbies for the suffragette movement to help pass an amendment granting women the right to vote. Trying to affect politics when you can't even vote is pretty amazing.






Who?
Sonea - born in the slums, she suddenly becomes aware of her powers, and is soon being hunted by the Magicians' Guild.
Why read about her?
I've reread this trilogy so many times since I discovered it in my teens. Sonea is just such an easy character to empathise with, and her journey is pretty amazing.





Who?
Lisbeth Salander. Investigator and hacker extraordinaire.
Why read about her?
Because she's someone you just don't want to mess with. And you'll be pretty interested to see what happens to those who do.






Who?
Tempe Brennan (Yep, the one from Bones), forensic anthropologist who gets so involved in the crimes she investigates that she is pretty much always in danger.
Why read about her?
She's brave and sometimes reckless, but Tempe has a really strong sense of justice and she's just such an interesting character who gets herself into awful situations.




Who?
Irene - a librarian/spy who is sent on assignments to alternate worlds, to look for very specific bits of literature.
Why read about her?
Because she is a librarian and a spy? Is that not enough?? Okay, so she's also always in control, and she's smart, and she works for a library that has access to alternate worlds.





Who?
Holly Sykes, who has a few different jobs during her lifetime but is always amazing.
Why read about her?
After reading the first part of this book, you might be forgiven for thinking Holly is your garden-variety annoying, self-involved teenager. But once you get further into the story, she (grows up and) becomes just about the most kick-ass person you can imagine.


+ honorary mention to Devi from the Kingkiller Chronicle, because she is definitely bad-ass - although a relatively minor character in the books.