On the quirky fictional side I've enjoyed reading Alice Hoffman and Ellen Gilchrist.
John Grisham has some good suspenseful court/law related dramas. Of course to me the books were better than the movies.
I enjoy reading a classic every now and then such as Anna Karenina and Wuthering Hights.
For downright fun Jill Browne the author of the Sweet Potato Queens (about Southern women we all know) is hilarious!
How's that for a variety of chick lit???