I've been reading some interesting and well-written fantasy fiction lately, featuring strong female characters.

Jan Siegal has written an interesting series featuring a young girl, Fern Capel, who must use her courage and brains as well as her unfolding powers as a witch to save her friends and family from evil. The series:

I. Prospero's Children
II. The Dragon Charmer
III. The Witch Queen

For more information:
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/s/jan-siegel/

Martha Wells writes books that keep you up way past bedtime because you want to know what happens next.
I recommend The Fall of Ile-Rien Series:

Book One: The Wizard Hunters
Book Two: The Ships of Air
Book Three: The Gate of Gods

The heroine, Tremaine, is an unstoppable young lady with acute perceptions and quick reactions. No evil wizard or scheming alien is going to keep her and her friends locked up in a dungeon or marooned on a foreign world.

http://www.marthawells.com/