What a great thread! I am also a huge fan of chick lit, and am excited to share - and receive! - some great books and author recommendations. I am actually in Chick Lit book club, and so far it's had a bunch of winners.
If you like Emily Giffin, you definitely want to read Sophie Kinsella. The Shopaholic series is fairly strong (I like the first 2 books,
Confessions of a Shopaholic and
Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, best), or also check out
Can You Keep A Secret?. It's one of her stand alone novels and is really good.
I also second Marian Keyes - my book club's selection this month is
Rachel's Holiday by Keyes, and it's hysterical. I'm about halfway through it, and am finding it a light and fun read.
For guilty pleasures - Jackie Collins'
Poor Little Bitch Girl. I have never read Jackie Collins, and this book was so trashy, I kind of felt bad for reading it (but not really. Ha.) It's all Hollywood and sex and drugs and prostitutes and murder mystery, so super fun. Apparently this is the newest entry in Collins' Lucky Santangelo series, so I'm now tempted to go back and read from the beginning.
Did you read the sequel to Giffin's Something Borrowed -
Something Blue? I enjoyed it more than Something Borrowed, mainly because I had a moral issue with the protagonist's actions in 'Borrowed, whereas I fully loved Something Blue...
Other favorite authors in the genre include Jane Green, Johanna Edwards, Jen Lancaster (who I consider creative nonfiction, but wonderful). If you're of the school of thought that chick lit can be a beach read but involve more heavy/substantial topics, check out Jodi Piccoult and Dorothy Koomson whom I include in the category...