Chick Lit

[tinyshoes]

Not to be confused with Jack Chick tracts. . .

I didn't see a thread here, so I thought I'd start one.

This is my guilty pleasure reading right here. Yeah, I said it. At its best, I find the books fun, with characters I can relate to. At its worst, the heroines are ditzy Bridget clones shopping for yet another Prada shoe and obsessing over their weight.

So what are your favorite books in the genre? What are your pet peeves? If you secretly love these books as much as I do, come on out of the literary closet and shout it loud and proud.

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I could have sworn we had one but I can't find it. Alas.

I confess that I enjoy reading chick lit when I need a mental break. Although lately I've grown increasingly bored with the more mindless versions of the genre (like anything by Sophie Kinsella).

Recently I've enjoyed Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld but then I've read her reviews on other books and some interviews with her and she's coming off like an entitled bitch.

I JUST finished The Wonder Spot by Melissa Bank and I love it.

I am looking forward to buying Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner. Anyone read it? It comes out on paperback this week.

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I really wasn't too big of a fan of Prep. I was very excited about reading it, but it left me cold. The protagonist just seemed very unlikable to me. I read Marian Keyes' Sushi for Beginners over the weekend, it was decent, and I absolutely loved Emily Giffin's Something Borrowed and Something Blue.

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I do have a weakness for all things Marian Keyes.

I agree with what you said about Prep but I still enjoyed it. There were many points in the book that I wanted to shake the narrator and scream "TRY! Would you TRY to make friends?!" but I also read it right after reading I Am Charlotte Simmons and it was a pleasant change from that so perhaps it was just the comparison of the two that made me look favorably on Prep.

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I also really like Marion Keyes, although her latest few have been so-so. Rachel's Holiday is my favorite one of hers, and Lucy Sullivan is Gettting Married always makes me smile.
Sophie Kinsella's first two were good, but she's getting a little too repetitious now, I think.
Just Friends by Robyn Sisman is one of my favorites.
Of Emily Griffin's books, I personally liked Something Blue better than Something Borrowed. Darcy was one of those obnoxious characters you love to hate, but who eventually grow on you as the book progresses. And somehow, I didn't like Rachel as much--I started off identifying with her, because of her insecurities, but she got annoying after a while.

[tinyshoes]

Personally, I'm a big fan of Elise Juska. I picked up Getting Over Jack Wagner on a whim, having medium expectations, and wound up loving it to death. I even read it twice. Then once The Hazards of Sleeping Alone came out, I picked it up immediately. Different tone, but I loved that one too. I hope she comes out with another real soon. But not in hardback, because I can't afford that yet.

I'm pretty leery of Anna Maxted now. I loved her first book Getting Over It. She had me laughing in all the right places, crying in all the right places. Witty, clever, the whole nine. Then I picked up Running in Heels. While I still loved her lines and her wit, I found the narrative to be too messy and cluttered. I didn't hate it though. Then I tried Behaving Like Adults, and just couldn't get into it. Needless to say, I won't be picking up her latest.

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Yeah, I'm not a big fan of Anna Maxted, either.

[Maddiemoo]

I heard lots of good stuff about Marian Keyes, so I checked out Angels, and I found it to be pretty meh. Didn't really get what all the fuss was about. I also tried to get through Faking It by Jennifer Weiner, and didn't like that, either. Maybe there's something defective in the Chick Lit part of my brain. I found the Shopaholic books to be pretty good, though I only read the first two, because all that money she was spending was stressing me out.

On the other hand, I adore anything by Meg Cabbott and absolutely loved The Nanny Diaries, though I know that last one isn't a popular opinion. Ah well, I still dug it.

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Faking It is by Jennifer Cruise not Weiner. I'm not a huge Cruise fan either.

I do agree with you about Meg Cabbott though. Her books are just so much fun. And all the characters are really likeable. However, a friend of mine can't get through them at all because of the e-mail/txt message format.

I liked the story of Nanny Diaries but thought it was poorly written. Interesting story but shitty writing quality.

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I really liked Nanny Diaries. I didn't mind that the writing wasn't so great. The sub-par writing really bugged though in Devil Wears Prada. It seemed so cliched and half-assed in parts. I also really didn't understand why she never developed Miranda. She was just a dart board for whiny "Andy" (HAAAATE the name). And the big kiss-off at the end...totally anti-climactic.
I have always been leery of "Chick Lit." I never saw what all the fuss was about Bridget Jones's Diary for instance. I was thinking about trying again, though--maybe that Something Blue book? What's the definitive chick lit title out there?