Chick Lit

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Any favorites? Anything you plan to use for kindling in your next campfire/encounter with a wood stove?

Great or at least Good for the Beach/Plane:
Househusband by Ad Hudler (moments of literary prowess, some good insights into being the at-home spouse, leads to some interesting conversations at book clubs)
What's A Girl Gotta Do? by Sparkle Hayter (I never would have picked this up if it hadn't been assigned reading but I'm so glad I did)
the Kick Keswick books by Marne Davis Kellogg (I may be rating this a bit high due to state of utter boredom I was in prior to picking it up and needing to escape reality)
The Help by Kathryn Stockett (I may be rating this a bit high due to state of utter boredom I was in prior to picking it up and needing to escape reality)
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig (I may be rating this a bit high due to state of utter boredom I was in prior to picking it up and needing to escape reality)

Forgettable:
The Starter Wife by Gigi Grazer
Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes

The Movie Was Better:
Foxfire by Joyce Carol Oats
Fried Green Tomatoes at The Whistlestop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

Bad:
In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner
Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding

Burn:
The Spa by Fay Weldon (I will never fear cold with this book by my side, excellent firestarter)
Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella (waste of ink and paper, I have absolutely no idea how this ever gained popularity)

If You See Me Reading It, Assume the Bodysnatchers Are Here:
anything by Nicholas Sparks
anything in the Shades of Grey series


Not acknowledged as Chick Lit by Goodreads but I think they fall in that category:
Call the Midwife: A True Story of the East End in the 1950s (file under Great)
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen
The Sea Garden by Sam Llewelyn
The Shunning by Beverly Lewis
The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland
Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier
The Virgin Blue by Tracey Chevalier
Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier (I was trapped with a Tracy Chevalier collection, and I figured they were at least kind of about art)

Question 1:
Can memoirs ever be classified as Chick Lit?

I rarely, if ever, read "chick lit," unless it contains subject matter related to a special interest. I liked "The Memory Keeper's Daughter," because of my special interest in disability issues. I like Joyce Stranger's "The Go-Between" because it was about a Siamese cat, and I am a cat lover.

Chick lit can be very bad or very good. Sometimes editors are lazy.

I like anything by Marian Keyes, particulcarly Rachel's holiday and Watermelon.

I thought the book of Bridget Jones' Diary was quite funny. The movie was bloody awful though.

I'm not a fan of chick lit myself, but I read a lot of books, and a few of those have been chick lit. It can happen accidentally, when I run out of books, and the person I'm with has one of these. It can happen out of desperation at an airport or hospital. It can happen when all my female friends recommend it or enough people have given it a good review and/or maybe there's a movie I'm subjected to first and I want to see how the two compare. It's hardly my first choice, but sometimes it's better than nothing and sometimes it's even surprisingly good. I figured this would be a good place to warn against the worst of it and share the surprisingly good stuff, etc.

BetwixtBetween,

You are a lot like me. I don't read typical women's magazines unless I'm at the doctor's office or the hairdresser and I just need to sit down and read something completely escapist. I have, however, read some good articles on autism and other favorite topics.