I'm re-reading Bridget Jones's Diary right now, and it definitely stands up to the test of time. It is just as funny as it was nearly 20 years ago . . . and I have to say, I understand it much better now that I am in my thirties.

One thing I am grateful for, however, is how the trope of the overbearing, out-of-touch mother has sort of disappeared from the chick-lit genre. Bridget's mom is hysterical, but IRL none of my friends who are single ever get set up by their moms, and most of the moms I know just want their adult daughters to feel loved, supported, and happy.

I thought the mom in Love by the Book, another of our landmark women's fiction titles, was much more realistic!