Since it seems I've been moving between reviewing specific books and talking about broader topics, I figure I'll stick with my pattern and tackle a broader topic of my interest with this post. What topic is this, you might ask? Well, chick lit of course. "Chick lit", in case you're unaware, is usually "fluffy", romantic, sometimes hilarious literature whose target audience is, you guessed it, women - it's basically the literary version of a rom-com, or "chick flick." It seems to me that most readers who proclaim to be "serious" academics and therefore read books of only the highest literary merit give "chick lit" a somewhat negative connotation. While I most definitely agree that books that fall under the "chick lit" umbrella are not on the same level as Jane Eyre or The Catcher in the Rye, I don't necessarily think there's anything wrong with chick lit.
See, in my opinion, chick lit is the chocolate of literature. You've got your classics, your meat and potatoes, the stuff that gives you some intellectual nutrition to make you grow up a big, strong reader. But sometimes you need a break from the heavier stuff; you need to indulge every once in a while. That's where your chocolate mousse (or other various form of dessert) comes in; it's light, it's delicious, and while it may not necessarily be healthy, it won't make you fat if you consume it in moderation. I would never make the argument that chick lit is anything extremely profound or intellectual, but I will definitely say that chick lit can be fun, if done well. I personally love Meg Cabot, Sophie Kinsella (for some of that British humour), and Janet Evanovich - all three of these women know how to write a damn funny book.
As an English Major at a respected university, I read a lot of classics, a lot of British literature, a lot of poetry, a lot of literature intended to make you think. In fact, not only do I read it, I spend hours upon hours analyzing and re-analyzing the meaning behind it. This isn't to say I don't love doing what I do - it's just that sometimes my brain needs a break. I have personally found that indulging in a little thoughtlessness via works by any of the three authors I mentioned above is a really great way to refresh my mind so I can bite into a book with a little more meat on its bones.
