Recommend A Good Faeries Book?

I'm looking for a book that is set in some type of magical forest with faeries, although it does not have to be exclusively so. I want something that incites the imagination while taking you from one adventure to the next. I also prefer books with strong female leads. Anyone have any ideas / suggestions?

Moonheart by Charles de Lint, though arguably if what you're looking for is traditional folkloric Celtic fairies, this is not what you're looking for. Worth checking out at any rate.

There's bound to be dozens, though. From what I've heard, Elfland might be worth looking into and, if you don't mind straying from forests into deserts, I'd recommend seeing whether The Wood Wife interests you as well.

*considers* Possibly The King of Elfland's Daughter, but I haven't read that yet. Oh! Wildwood Dancing and Cybele's Secret, definitely! Especially the former of the two fits what you're describing here.

Unfortunately, that's all my brain can come up with at the moment. Hope there's something interesting in there!

It's YA, and they're not...exactly...faerie. But Diana Wynne Jones' Power of Three definitely stretches the mind and imagination, is full of great adventures, and as far as the humans are concerned the main characters are faerie...as far as the main character is concerned, the humans are Giants. It's a lot of fun.

War of the Flowers might fit the bill - not a female lead though.

Not set in a forest, but pretty good and about faeries: Faerie Wars by Herbie Brennan. The main character is male but there is a very strong female "sidekick".

If you're up for another YA, try The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope. It's an interesting portrayal of the faerie folk.

+1 Perilous Gard - the faerie aren't quite standard faerie, again, but an _excellent_ book.

Thanks everyone for the great responses!! All of the books recommended sound fantastic! The only book my local library had on-hand was Faerie Wars, so I'll start with that book and go from there. The rest of the books should arrive at my library by next week.

Thanks again!