can anyone reccomend a good chick lit book please?

I like Lauren Weisberger's books - she wrote The Devil Wears Prada and Everyone Worth Knowing. She has a new book out called Chasing Harry Winston that I've just bought for my holidays.

Also love Nancy Mitford, but her books are of an age. The Thorn Birds, Gone with the Wind and Valley of the Dolls also all brilliant.

I enjoy Cathy Kelly Jill Mansell and Katie FForde,,,,,,,,,,

Definitely recommend Phillipa Gregory's Tudor series.

What about Nancy E Turner - These is My Words? Fictional diary of pioneers in Arizona, an easy reading, love story with great description of the Old West. Have read it several times!

I'd forgotten about Catherine Alliott...I love her!

And I think it's Katy Fforde (two ff's in the surname) who's easy to read, but fforumulaic!

Can't be doing with book-snobbery, reading should be for fun, and each to their own!

"The Shell Seekers" by Rosamund Pilcher - my favourite book, its fab!!
Like Cathy Kelly and Catherine Alliott aswell, "Rosie Meadows Regrets" creased me up, easy, frothy, perfect for holidays!

I love the way all anti-chick lit people on this thread have used the phrase oxymoron for good chick lit. I'm surprised you've all had time to read so many books that you can dismiss the whole genre....but at least you all cribbed from the same 'anti-chick lit' dictionary for your summations. Good for you!

I always hated all things 'romance' oriented and I tire easily of the formulaic novels (I've read 2 or 3 by an author in the past, can't remember her name, and she's just swapped big country house for little revamped cottage; deserted wife for feisty young architect with unrequited love; you get the gist...not dreadfully satisfying and not amongst my recommendations). But the brain moves down a gear occasionally and you just want fluff...so the following are amongst my fave fluffy books:-

I can highly recommend Jennifer Weiner, in her shoes (there was a film with Cameron Diaz which was quite good, but not as good as the book) and Good in Bed was superb too. I love Marian Keyes (not used as doorstops in our house) and a woman called Elizabeth Buchan writes beautiful books about women, definitely not chick lit, but beautiful snapshots of women and relationships (Revenge of a Middle Aged Woman a particular fave of mine).

I have recently read Bitten by Kelley Armstrong, a werewolf chick lit book (sounds repulsive, but is well written and appeals to my middle aged chick lit/teenaged scifantasy background) and lastly, my fave book of the year (so far...and one of the best books I've read for a long time) the 13th Tale by Diane Setterfield, not chick lit by a long chalk, but the most readable book I've picked up in yonks. I'd say it's perfect for hols and would offer to lend it to you, but I've already passed it on.

I also read the Friday Night Knitting Club and loved it. Easy readers for me have also included the Alexander McCall Smith books, particularly the Lady Detective Agency novels and the Isabel Dalhousie books.

Hope you manage to find the perfect read for you for your hols...enjoy.

I've just finished reading 'Having a lovely time' by Jenny Eclair and really enjoyed it-I like reading her observations!

but i don't read knit-lit for the well-rounded characters, more as a relaxing slice out of my own chaotic life!

Divas Don't Knit is about the right balance of reality and fantasy for me - some stuff obviously isn't real but main character's not rich or perfect

Casbie, I have the book you mentioned out from the library, I'm reading Divas Don't Knit at the moment, it's great fun - looking forward to sequel in pb in August.

Think Marian Keyes is good - though long!!, read her after a Lisa Jewell and definately much better quality! Have gone off the gene a bit. There are sooo many copy books around. Have read some Mike Gayle & agree, but one book was enough - all the same. Slummy Mummy I found hilarious although it had the things in it that really annoy me about chick lit in general ie - the authors seem to be writing about themselves, for each other. All the heroines work in tv, media, publishing. pr, usually in some trendy part of London, are all obsessed by shoes & labels that I have never heard of!
I just wish a heroine would have a normal job and life that I could relate to a bit more - mind you I suppose that would be a bit boring!
For funny book along man-chick-lit lines try 'Things My Girlfriend and I have Argued About'. Tony Parsons is quite good too.

Funnily enough, I can read unrealistic books about heroines getting off with gorgeous men that I am unlikely ever to get a sniff of, without caring. the spell was just broken by the idyllic description of life as a single parent, lol.

I got turned off reading books about single mothers, after I read the Playground Mafia. The heroine has a cute little old cottage (oh dear, its smaller than her rich married friends' houses!), is subsidized by regularly paid maintenance from her ex, and is a freelance, part time, graphologist who works at hours that suit herself.
It is SO unlike reality, I got jealous just reading it!!

talking Knit-lit (can this be a new genre?) this is a really touching story about a single mum running a wool shop:

www.amazon.co.uk/Friday-Night-Knitting-Club/dp/0425219097/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books &qid=1211455373&sr=8-1

really have not read anything else this past week (and i usually have 2 or 3 books on the go!).

I think I quite enjoyed one of Ctherine Alliotts, but didnt enjoy another one. They are supremely forgettable.

Louise Bagshawe has written some entertaining chicklit books, the later ones are better.

Hello Just want to second gummybears - Catherine Alliot is the bets chick lit writer around and her characters arn't skinny models either.

Any of the Catherine Alliot books. Fantastic. They are def chick lit but very well written so you dont guess the ending in the first chapter.

Divas Don't Knit by Gil McNeil - I've recently taken up knitting and this title just caught my eye and made me laugh - I'm reading it at the moment. The character has to start a new life as a single mum with sons aged 5 and 6 and she takes over the family knitting shop.

Rowan Coleman is fun and has written two chicklit books about women taking on motherhood and Julie Highmore was my favourite new to me light fiction discovery of last year.

Talking of Jane Austen derivatives in chicklit, Melissa Nathan wrote two quite good ones - Pride Prejudice and Jasmin Field has been retitled, Persuading Annie.

I've just read Jennifer Weiner's Little Earthquakes. The design certainly thinks it's chicklit, but it's more, chicklit heroines become mummies. A good read.

There is a lot of very very bad chicklit out there. But the "good" ones are worth knowing about if you need to get your word fix but aren't up to anything challenging just now.

I'm sure I've seen Chris Manby's The Matchbreaker referred to as "good chicklit" somewhere recently (maybe on here??).

The Penguin blog had a post on guilty pleasures recently.

seashells, I dont particularly rate any of the ones you mentioned. Cant stand Shopaholic, she really gets up my nose! Sophie Kinsella's non-shopaholic books are better.

Try Rachels Holiday

Girls Guide... is brilliant! My favourite book. Thought the Wonder Spot was a bit of an inferiour rehash, tbh, but GG is amazing.

Don't worry - I don't buy any books that have metallic lettering or endorsements from Daily Mail reviewers .