This Week in Chick Lit

~ By Melina Kantor

Hello Chick Lit Fans!

Happy Friday! We hope it’s been a good week.

Speaking of how the week’s been, I couldn’t help but notice that the topic of chick lit’s been making the papers. And I thought some of the articles might be fun to discuss.

For example, there’s the article from dealbreaker.com about a bank CEO’s wife who describes her husband’s love of of chick lit. Apparently, CEO Peter Sands reads chick lit and watches romantic comedies with his three daughters to unwind after a long day.

Then, there’s the article in The Globe and Mail about how the members of a male only book club that turned to Nora Roberts novels in order to become better men. How did that start? One of the members wanted to propose to his girlfriend, and figured, “If the perfect man exists, he resides in chick lit. . .” So he and his groomsmen decided to explore the romance / chick lit genre.

Bachelors, beware. We single girls find this brilliant!

Also from the Globe and Mail is an article about Nancy Trejos, a personal finance columnist for The Washington Post, and how she used her knowledge of finance in her first novel Hot (Broke) Messes: How to Have Your Latte and Drink it Too.

Trejos describes the novel as “Bridget Jones meets Suze Orman.” Who knew that “personal finance chick lit” was a growing trend? Even Harlequin seems to be picking up on it.

The point of all of these articles? Chick lit actually does have substance and absolutely does apply to real life. And the genre may be changing, but it’s SO not dead.

Readers: What do you think of all this? Can chick lit really teach women about finance? Can chick and romance teach men about relationships? Hmm.

And if you’ve found any interesting articles about chick lit, be sure to tell us!

Melina writes contemporary women’s fiction with a pinch of oregano and a dash of chutzpah. By day, she is an elementary school computer teacher. You can visit her at http://melinakantor.com.