The Song of the Lioness quartet by Tamora Pierce The Anita Blake or Meredith Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton The Tairen Soul series by C.L. Wilson The Mercedes Thompson series by Patricia Briggs The Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde.
If you can handle non-fantasy, try Janet Evanovich's "Stephanie Plum" series. Stephanie Plum is a new bounty hunter in New York City, tracking down guys who haven't shown up for court in order to collect a finder's fee. She's hilarious and kick@ss and a total heroine.
http://www.amazon.com/One-Money-Stephani... Also, a less well-known book I've read is the Quest series, which features several heroines. http://www.amazon.com/Oracle-Quest-Book-...
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.