Chick lit gets a bad rap. Yes, there are books with ridiculous plots and atrocious writing, but as author Michele Gorman points out that's true of any genre.
You never know when you're going to find quality writing slapped between a pink cover and purple font, so tell us your favorite chick-lit find and why.
Source: Flickr User kpishdadi
With Eat, Pray, Love coming to the big screen this August, divorce porn (also known as little-did-I-know lit) may finally replace the single-and-hating-it chick-lit genre that Bridget Jones's Diary made so popular 10 years ago.
An Elle article blames — what else? — the economy. But considering divorce rates dip during a recession (to the point where a London law firm sold divorce vouchers last Christmas), it probably has more to do with the uptick of divorce tales published after Eat, Pray, Love's success than an economic downturn.
Maybe it's cyclical? The single women who devoured Bridget Jones books in 1998 are now a decade into marriage, weary — and wary — of monogamy. Whether they're getting, wanting, or fearing a divorce, reading about other another woman's life-affirming d-day is, well, porn.
But as Elle points out, Elizabeth Gilbert and three of her divorce disciples chose to give love a second chance and enter relationships. Sounds like the love-begins-at-40 genre is next!
As far as I knew, literary characters already came in all different shapes and sizes, but apparently there's a "publishing phenomenon" sweeping America like a fad diet: curvy chick lit characters who fully accept their weight.
The UK Guardian explains that average-sized women want to relate to the heroines they read about — and they don't want the stories to be all about dieting. Titles that fit under the "big chit lit" umbrella include The Wife's Tale, a book about a woman who turns her life around (not by losing weight!) after her universe shrunk "to a well-worn path from the bedroom to the refrigerator," and Last-Minute Proposal, the story of cake-baker Tilly and the man who loves her cozy curves.
Do you think books like these will help women love their bodies more? (And if you're looking for books of any genre to add to your reading list, check out our list of November must reads.)
