I just got done reading several series of books by Tamora Pierce: Song of the Lioness(4 books), The Immortals(4 books), Protector of the Small(4 books), and Tricksters(2 books). These books all contain the same basic character. A young female who has an extraordinary talent that slowly developes throughout the series.
(Allana, Lioness) is a girl who wishes to become a knight. This is a male only class though, so she dons a disguise and the story is fairly predictable throughout.
(Daine, Immortals) is a girl who can speak to animals, called Wild Magic. Her power grows through the books and this was the best of the 4 series.
(Keladry, Protector) is almost like a rewrite of the Lioness series. The main difference is that while Allana was a solo-knight, Keladry is part of a squad and eventually has commander type status.
(Aly, Tricksters) is a spy. She gets kidnapped and once free becomes a tool for a god, Kyprios, and helps him to regain power through her skills.
All of these books are decent reads. Immortals was best, followed by Lioness, Trickster, and Protector. Protector rates lowest only because most of the first two books have very little differences from Lioness. A great thing about this series is that previous heroines have cameo roles throughout the following series. These books would be ideal for any young teenage girls that you might have lying around.
I'm trying to read a series by Kate Forsythe next but it's really going slow so far. If it doesn't pick up real soon I may have to bail. It's called Witches of Eileanan and so far it's dull as lead.
Oops, I've also read Buzz Bissinger's Three Nights in August. This is about what goes on behind the scenes during a baseball season. It follows St. Louis Cardinal's manager Tony Larussa, showing all the decisions that get made during a game, how different players are dealt with, etc. It's a very good read if you are a fan of baseball. It's almost mandatory reading if you're a diehard Cardinals fan, as I am