Diamond Fun: World Book Night

World Book Night and our favourite women in literature

Reading transports you to a different world, through the pages of a book you can discover foreign or magical lands, whether you want to escape from reality or learn more about it, reading is yours to do with as you please.

As World Book Night is just around the corner we want you to tell us all about your favourite books, more specifically your favourite female book characters or female writers of all time.

To get you started we've put together five our favourites, let us know yours by tweeting @Diamondforgirls using the hashtag #WorldBookNight.

World Book Night

Tell us your favourite female book characters by tweeting @Diamondforgirls using the hashtag #WorldBookNight.

Katniss Everdeen - The Hunger Games

In a book about a bleak future, the poverty of the districts furthest from the Capital and a brutal annual event in which children are sent to an arena to fight to the death, it's surprising to see a teenage girl as the main character.

Katniss Everdeen is a heroine in the truest sense, not hapless and reliant on a strong male lead to rescue her or carry her to safety, quite the opposite; more often than not she's carrying them.

She volunteers as tribute when her younger sister is selected to compete in the Hunger Games and her fight for survival in the arena is driven forward by her determination to get home to support her family.

Katniss is a girl with grit, determination and the ability to fire a crossbow with frightening accuracy.

Matilda - Matilda

The youngest lady on our list, we love Matilda because she, like us, loves to lose herself in a good book.

Brought up by parents who underestimate her abilities at every turn and assume her to be foolish and idiotic, Matilda finds strength in oppression.

Once she starts school and is faced with the fearsome Ms Trunchbull, Matilda discovers she has the power to move things with her mind, a secret she shares with her teacher and friend Miss Honey.

Matilda's willingness to put others before herself, her thirst for knowledge and her unwavering moral compass earn her a spot in our top five.

Girl reading book

Hermione Grainger - Harry Potter

Wild-haired Hermione first bursts onto the pages of Harry Potter when she introduces herself to Harry and Ron during their first journey on the Hogwarts Express.

She's a know-it-all swot who is leaps-and-bounds ahead of the other pupils in her year despite not coming from a magical background.

The reason we love her is the fact she knows her hardworking ways may damage her chances of being popular but she pushes on regardless. When you think back to your school days and the playground politics don't you just wish you could have owned it like Hermione does?

The most endearing thing about Hermione is her willingness to stand up for her friends and even take the fall for things which aren't strictly her fault.

Lisbeth Salander - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

For anyone who has read the Millennium trilogy you'll know Lisbeth Slander is one tough cookie but certainly not your average female book character.

She had a traumatic childhood and as a result has difficulty forming relationships with others she also happens to be a world class hacker and earns a living doing private detective work.

It's not the way Lisbeth deals with those who have wronged her which makes her a role model, but rather her ability to take care of herself and survive even the most brutal situations.

Caitlin Moran - How to be a Woman

So this is all about the author herself. In How to be a Woman Caitlin Moran lays bare every humiliating, disgusting, horrifying, wonderfully brilliant aspect of womanhood.

From her teenage years as the oldest of eight children in a three-bed council house in Wolverhampton, to her life as a rather successful writer in London and every awkward moment in between.

How to be a Woman is considered a modern day feminist bible and is worth reading whether you're a woman or a man.

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