The Word Cloud

I've been saturating myself in chick lit for the past few months to get a good idea of what's being published. So I was wondering which authors you all like, and whether there are any you don't. Do you think some are over-rated. Or under-rated?

Well, who do you like so far?

I haven't read much but I've generally found that after one or two good debuts, a lot of these authors get cliched and go drastically down hill.

I liked:
(1) The first one or two Shopaholic books + Can you keep a secret.
(2) Adele Park's first book 'Playing Away'

I didn't like:
(1) the one book I read by Katie Fjorde

I've read others, but most didn't stick in my mind. I'm interested in 'dark chic lit' - there are some American writers like Beth Henley (a playwrite more than a novelist). I should read more, but frankly, most of the obvious chic-lit books I read the blurbs of just don't interest me.

I'm pretty new to reading chick lit, having read a little a few years ago and then got thoroughly fed up with the sameness of the books. But about four months ago I decided to write a very bright, upbeat chick lit book (something various friends have been telling me to do for years) and realized I needed to immerse myself in the genre. I did it by borrowing every chick lit book I could see in the library, completely at random according to what was in front of me at the time. And I didn't allow myself to give up on any of them, either. I had to read them all, and if I didn't like them I had to read them anyway and work out why I didn't like them.

*the little bunny leaves a chocolate egg*

I really like Meg Cabot's works for older adults. And Marian Keyes. And Rachel Gibson, but her books have more tendency towards romance :)

Katie

Hi everyone I'm new here ;0) I've read all of Jenny Colgan's books which I've thoroughly enjoyed, that said the most recent one Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend didn't go down as well with me. Marian Keyes writes beautifully in my opinion and I've enjoyed all the books that I've read (albeit haven't read them all) and one favourite that I would mention is Watermelon. I've read Carrie Adams "The Stepmother" which I found a lovely read, she has only published/written two, the other being "The Godmother". Jane Green is another but I forget which of hers I read, I'm notoriously bad at remembering half the books I've read let alone the authors name!!! It takes a good chick lit book to keep me entertained until the end, I suppose I like to feel some sort of connection to the characters or situations involved and can agree that a number of authors tend to go down hill after a few books, or that they all seem to be much of the same just with a different cover? At the moment I'm flicking through the books I have just to get a feel for how they begin their stories, in which voice they write and how descriptive the characters may be.

I am new to this site too and I am also fairly new to chick lit. I have been reading a lot of things about it on the internet. There are positive and negative aspects of this genre and I do feel that it is overcriticised in general. After all isn't the point of it just to have a fun, easy, relaxing read?
My favourites authors to date are: Sophie Kinsella, Lisa Jewel and Cecilia Ahern.

I first read Lisa ages ago, a book called Ralph's Party which was very sweet and I kind of lost track of her. But I will surely try to look out more of her books soon. Any suggestions?

Sophie Kinsella's style of writing is so well edited and sharp that you find yourself whizzing through her books at break neck speed. I am a late comer to her Shopaholic books but really love them. I think there's a lot of Rebecca Bloomwood in us.

I moved over to Brazil last December and I live in a small town with only one decent bookshop that sells a cluster of randomly selected English literature at quite high prices. Luckily there is also a very well stocked used bookstore that also has a random selection but at much lower prices. As a result I always stock up on books when I am in London or in Sao Paulo. On my last trip to London in June I got Cecelia Ahern's If yo ucould see me now which came free with Marie Claire. I had already failed to get through the film version of PS I love you which I found dull so I was relcutant to read one of her books. However I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed the sweet tale.

Hallo, Mimi, and welcome to the Cloud.

Hi All,

I've read ALOT of chick lit over the years, but have just been introduced to Paige Toon. I started reading her last novel Chasing Daisy, and couldn't put it down. She has three out at the moment including Lucy in the Sky and Johnny Be Good. Marian Keyes used to be my fav author, but Paige has blown her out of the water for me. If you haven't read any of her books, I would suggest you either beg, borrow or steal one. Her writing is so natural, funny and fluid; she really draws you into falling in love with her characters.

Hi, Since my initial posts in this forum, I've done a lot of chic-lit reading. Unfortunately, it's been a mixed bag, and I'd say about 50% of the time, the characters and stories are so cliche and stereotypical that I end up thinking 'how did this get published'? I tend to like the more serious chic-lit like Marian Keys - I like the way the themes are serious but the writing is still humourous. She's probably my favourite overall, along with Sophie Kinsella who really does have the 'feel good' thing down (as mentioned above). Then there are some others that I have liked to varying degrees. At first, I thought that Wendy Holden wrote in the most stereotypical way imaginable, but somehow, I kept finding her books entertaining. I also read quite a lot of Katie Fford because they had a lot of her books in the library, but I generally found the stories trite and overly posh. Ditto Freya North. I just read my first Lisa Jewell, and I think that I might like her if I can read more. And not sure if it's really chic-lit, but I did really like Joanne Harris up until the last book (Blue-eyed Boy) which I thought was dreadful, and a real example of how if you've got a big name, you can publish just about anything.