Believe me, my mom likes her "fluff" too
But she has loved the Kite Runner and less-fluffier bestsellers too (most of which she has gotten passed on by me, hence the desire to share).
I keep looking at the reviews for "The Shack" and avoided for the same reason...likewise not a fan of most Oprah recommendations.
I will say that of the books that were on my Amazon wishlist that haven't been converted to Kindle are historical-based or non-fiction novels that don't make the NYT bestsellers list...read some excellent ones and that is the biggest gap in my reading since going electronic.