The Definitive List of Chick Lit Classics That Are Still Worth Reading

This is the one that started it all, isn’t it? Bridget Jones's Diary introduced us to foul-mouthed, chain-smoking Bridget Jones and her crazy life. We instantly fell in love. Loosely based on Pride and Prejudice, it had us all wondering: will Bridget ever find her Mr. Darcy?

Before Bridget, there was Savannah, Bernie, Gloria, and Robin. Terry McMillan's Waiting to Exhale focused on these four African-American friends as they made their way through relationships, family, and a little bit of revenge.

What girl wasn't totally, completely in love with The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing? Melissa Bank's novel in short stories about Jane was a funny, clever, and poignant coming-of-age story that left us all breathless.

When Cannie Shapiro opens a popular women's magazine and sees the article "Loving a Larger Woman," she can't help but take notice. When she sees the byline and discovers that it was written by her ex-boyfriend and is all about how loving a larger woman "takes courage," she's utterly humiliated. After all, she's that larger woman. Good in Bed charts Cannie's journey and is a must read for any woman who doesn't fit into a perfect size six.

Breakups are the worst. But what could make a breakup even more horrible? That would be if your husband left you the day after you had your first baby. Marian Keyes's Watermelon tells the story of Claire, who goes back home to Ireland with her baby after her husband walks out. Keyes is a master at creating laugh-out-loud books that handle tough topics.

Jemima J's wants are simple: she wants to be thin, just like the supermodels in the magazines she reads. But she's not. She's 100 pounds overweight. When she meets Brad on the internet, though, she's able to reinvent herself into JJ, who is thin and glamorous and everything Jemima J is not. But what happens with Brad wants to meet in real life?

Rachel was always the good girl. But after an alcohol-fueled birthday party, she finds herself in bed with her best friend's fiancé. Not exactly good-girl behavior. Something Borrowed resonated with so many readers with its honest portrayal of complicated female relationships.

Yes, we were all in love with the show, but the book is quite different in both content and tone. And it's a must read. Based on Bushnell's iconic Sex and the City column for The Observer, it covers everything a single girl in the city needs to know. You'll just have to read the book to find out if Carrie really ends up with Big, after all.

Think your boss is bad? Andrea Sachs has you beat. She moves to the city, landing the job "a million girls would die for," working for the infamous editor of the hottest fashion magazine in the world. The Devil Wears Prada is a dishy roman-à-clef about Weisberger's time working at Vogue for Anna Wintour.

Meet Becky Bloomwood. She has a closet any fashionista would covet. One problem: she can't afford it. As the letters from the bank keep piling up, warning her of the money she owes and the repercusions, Confessions of a Shopaholic gets more and more hilarious as Becky comes up with scheme after scheme to try to get by.

Plum Sykes burst onto the scene with Bergdorf Blondes, a dishy, delicious satire about Park Avenue socialites. Narrated by a "champagne-bubble-about-town," this novel is endlessly funny and just plain old fun.

With the chick lit craze in full swing, publishers took note, creating imprints dedicated solely to these fun stories of single girls in the city. The first book published under the Red Dress Ink imprint, See Jane Date was the story of Jane, who needs to find a date to her cousin's fancy wedding. See Jane go on funny blind dates, deal with crazy wedding planning, and even deal with a high school nemesis at work.

When Nan takes a job as a nanny for a Park Avenue family, she's excited to take care of her charge, a 4-year-old boy named Grayer. But she has no idea what it will be like working for Mrs. X, the demanding Upper East Side mom who pays her salary. Part of the fun of The Nanny Diaries is knowing that authors McLaughlin and Kraus actually worked as nannies on the Upper East Side of New York City. Get ready to dish!

When her boyfriend, Ray, walks out on her, Jane comes up with a theory about men, based on the fact that bulls refuse to mate with an "old cow." (She's the old cow in this scenario.) But when her theory becomes public, will she be prepared for what happens? Animal Husbandry is a smart, laugh-out-loud book for anyone who's ever been dumped. (So, all of us!)

You may know Jill Kargman from her hilarious Bravo show Odd Mom Out, but before she did that, she was writing chick lit, sometimes on her own, sometimes with her friend Carrie Karasyov. Wolves in Chic Clothing is the story of Julia, who catches the eye of Lell Pelham, the heiress to the Pelham's jewelry store fortune (think Tiffany & Co.). When she and her friends take Julia under their collective wing to remake her image, they think it's all in good fun. Soon, Julia's turning heads everywhere, but what happens when it's Lell's husband who's interested?