Amber Tamblyn

I read this every winter. It has one of the best female protagonists I've ever read in a book. There are very few books I can think of that start out so small and unassuming and end so big and heroic. The lead character goes from being an inquisitive, quiet girl to a violent, powerful force by the end of the book, all while solving a murder that keeps unfolding new twists and turns. This book makes me feel strong. Like I could fight a bad guy on a burning barge then jump into to arctic freezing water to swim to my safety as it explodes. Which she does, in the book.