Chick lit—one step above romance novels and one step (OK…maybe a few steps) below Jane Austen on the Ladder of Lit.

I love chick lit, mainly because it gives me great comfort to know that there are people out there whose dating mishaps and embarrassing moments are even worse than mine…even if those people are fictional.

If you have the impression that most chick lit is just about as brainless as a pile of sawdust, well, then you’d be right. The cream of the crop, though, has both good writing and great laughs. Try these awesome titles to start:

First of all, if you’ve never read Bridget Jones’s Diary (check out that bargain price on Amazon), you have committed a serious sin against your sex (and no, seeing the movie does not count). This book is the groundbreaking work of the chick lit genre, and for good reason. Guaranteed to be one of the funniest novels you’ll ever read. Read More »

This is a good one for anyone who’s totally suffered through the stuffy, Britannic eons of fussing and formality in Jane Austen novels, just to get to the juicy parts (ooh, Mr. Darcy): according to British screenwriter Andrew Davies, who is practically single-handedly responsible for the PBS “Masterpiece Theater” genre of television adaptation (i.e. video Cliff’s Notes), Ms. Austen was just as into sex as the rest of us girls.

“Sex,” says Davies, who has adapted, like, every single Jane Austen novel for the silver screen, “is in the air.”

It’s just that in Austen’s time, it was was more about what wasn’t shown, than what was. Read More »