It's Not Me, It's You by Mhairi McFarlane (2015)

Perfectly enjoyable chick lit about a thirtyish woman who proposes to her boyfriend, finds out he's seeing someone else, and takes off to London to get away. 

She gets a job with a dodgy PR firm, gets involved with an investigative reporter and is being wooed back by her boyfriend. Much drama and delightful British slang ensues. She also writes a graphic novel, but that feels very much like an afterthought.

The Killer Next Door by Alex Marwood (2014)

The tagline: "How well do you know your neighbours?"

The novel takes place in an apartment building in South London. The tenants, all a bit down on their luck, have a variety of problems, but one of them holds one very nasty secret: he/she is a serial killer. 

Marwood keeps the tension and the suspense at a high level throughout the whole book, even after the killer is unveiled halfway through. The characters are strong, the plot is well done. Quite a bit of suspense, and it dips into horror as well. It's also wonderfully rich in its London setting, and features a fantastic ending.

See also The Wicked Girls. Equally gripping (if a little fat-shaming.)

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (2015)

Getting lots of buzz as this year's Gone Girl, I have to say, it's a pretty darn good thriller. 

Lonely, alcoholic Rachel rides the train every day, pretending to go to the job that she lost. She gazes out the window and into the windows of the houses she passes on her way, making up stories about the people who live there. But one day she sees something very mysterious and gets involved with a murder investigation.

Told by various characters, this was an interesting, well-written, great characterized novel. Plus, and not insignificantly, a fascinating look at alcoholism. Also, the end is so suspenseful that I kept putting it down, not wanting it to be over.

Honeymoon Hotel by Hester Browne (2014)

I love Hester Browne's work. She writes lovely, light, romantic and funny fiction. Her characters are fully developed and her relationships are realistic (and don't focus solely on the romantic ones, but all the relationships in our lives).

Rosie is a wedding coordinator (events manager) at a posh London hotel who organizes her life the way she does weddings. All is well and good until the son of the owners pops back into the picture with his California ways and shakes up her worldview.

Romance, light misunderstandings, work-life balance and professional fulfillment ensue. And romance, too.

Sweetshop of Dreams by Jenny Colgan (2014)

I warn you: I'm about to use the word "sweet" WAY too many times. The word totally looks like gibberish to me now. But it's the perfect word.

Sweetshop of Dreams is a typically charming novel by Colgan, who used to write witty chick lit, but who has now taken to writing sweet (but not sickly sweet) novels set in various sweet locations (cupcake cafes, chocolate shops, and now a sweetshop). 

The story:  Rosie's mother asks her to go and visit her great aunt and sell her defunct sweetshop and pop her into a home. Rosie meets a whole bunch of interesting characters and finds her way to romance (leaving behind her non-committal, mama's boy, but sweet longtime boyfriend, who recovers quickly.) 

Very sweet. Not life-changing but full of wonderful characters, and lots of charming meditations on the emotional, nostalgic response that people have for sweets. As someone who definitely has those, it hit the sweet spot for me. (Hee.)

Love, Nina: A Nanny Writes Home by Nina Stibbe (2014)

In the early 1980s, Nina Stibbe moved to London to work as a nanny to Mary-Kay (MK) Wilmers, deputy editor of the London Review of Books, and her two children with Stephen Frears, Sam and Will. 

Stibbe kept in touch with her sister Victoria back in Leicestershire through letters outlining the events of the household, reproducing hilarious (and eminently quotable) conversations with Sam, Will and MK as well as frequent household visitor Alan Bennett. 

 Along the way, Stibbe is persuaded to attend university and studies English (her observations on literature are a stitch). With an introduction by Nick Hornby, this charming epistolary novel is a treat for anyone who loves dry, British humor and gets a bit starstruck by London literary elite.

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding (2013)

Reading this book was exactly like visiting an old friend.  Bridget is the same darn character we've seen through trials and tribulations and some awfully bad decisions, but she's awfully fun to hang out with.

It was also lovely to catch up with her hilarious friend Tom, note-perfect mess Daniel Cleaver, and her parents as well.  I did miss Shazzer like crazy, and thought there was a bit too much Jude. Very, very fun.

Meet Me At the Cupcake Cafe by Jenny Colgan (2013)

Back in the days when I couldn't pass up a British chick lit title, Jenny Colgan was one of my very favorite authors.  She'd been a bit off my radar for a few years, though apparently she'd kept writing--including a Doctor Who novelization, interestingly enough.

I happened upon her new title in our catalog and requested it for old times' sake.  Like the heroines of her books, Colgan has grown up.  It's just lovely to read a good, dishy novel about a woman in her thirties.

Issy Randal gets laid off from her office job, gets ditched by her ex-boss/secret lover, and decides to use her severance money to open a cupcake cafe in her charming neighborhood of Stoke Newington.  Issy loves to bake and was taught by her grandfather, who is growing senile in a nearby care facility.  Recipes sent to her by her grandfather are interspersed through the book (and look quite tempting). 

Colgan's great gift is her characterizations--every character is drawn beautifully, from her bossy nurse roommate Helena to her employee, single mother Pearl, to her baker grandfather and everyone in between.  And the inevitable romantic interest?  Surprisingly imperfect.  Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe is lightly and dryly funny, while at the same time very heartfelt and moving.  Just lovely. 

I've recommended this to tons of people, and I hate that the title sounds so twee.  It's much more substantial than it sounds, although it really is .... delicious.

The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James (2012)

This is a lovely ghost story/love story/historical novel.

Sarah Piper is a lonely soul, working in London in the years after the first World War when she gets an unexpected assignment from her temporary agency--to assist an author and ghost hunter. They travel to a small village to track down the ghost of Maddy Clare and both love and mystery ensues.

The haunting itself is quite dark and violent and she writes quite unsparingly about the emotionally turbulent years after the war.  The story is excellent and the romance is lovely. Fun fact for Downton Abbey fans: the ghost hunter Alastair is a dead ringer for Matthew Crawley and if you squint a bit, his assistant Matthew could be mistaken for a slightly more broken Mr. Bates.

Quite lovely.

Charlotte Street by Danny Wallace (2011)

Jason Priestley (not that Jason Priestley) is a little lost. He's writing for a free newspaper, living with a friend above a shop and dealing with his ex getting on with her life. He helps a girl on the street with her packages and ends up with her disposable camera and tries to solve the mystery of who she is through the pictures. 

The word stalking is used in the description but it's not quite like that.  The plot itself is quite lovely and complex and it has vivid characters--even the most minor characters are fully drawn and memorable.  This book is also filled with great self-deprecating humor like this:

"The girl with the quiff and the bottle of something blue was standing before us, staring. She had a burly friend in a denim miniskirt either side. Oh, God, I thought. There are three of them. And three of us. What if they bully us into relationships?"  (p. 118)

Priestley also spends a fair amount of time contemplating the I Saw You columns in newspapers.  I loved this lovely line: "These small moments, never said out loud, as formed and perfect as sweet little haikus, romance and longing carved out in the dust of a grubby city." (p. 144)

If you loved the quirky humor, the romance from a man's POV, and the vivid London setting of One Day by David Nicholls, you'll love this book as well. 

To the Moon and Back by Jill Mansell (2011)

Oh, I just adore Jill Mansell. She's my favorite writer of the moment. I love her complex, realistic characters, her complicated family and romantic relationships, and her light and dry humor. And I adore the British setting--with just enough realistic details to make me all nostalgic for London. Sigh!

Oh, did you want to know what this book was about? Here you go: 

Ellie lost her husband tragically and suddenly a year ago. Tony, her handsome, actor father-in-law convinces her to move into his lovely flat in Primrose Hill. Ellie makes friends with her kooky neighbor Roo, and gets a job as an assistant to the handsome investor Zack. She starts to date her late husband's best friend and things ensue. With Mansell, though, it's really about the charm of the writing and the characters more than any plot details. Plus, I think Jill Mansell writes people falling in love better than anyone else I've ever read. Lovely!

Blackout and All Clear by Connie Willis (2010)

A total case of the right novel at the right time, these two novels appeared on a friend's best of 2011 list, and the subject coincided with a post-trip obsession with fiction set in London, with a particular emphasis on the Blitz. In the first, Blackout, historians from the year 2060 are routinely sent back through time to witness and report upon various major historical events, safe in the knowledge that they cannot change the events in the past. Historians Polly, Merope and Michael are throughly immersed in their visit to the London of the Blitz, surviving bombings, evacuations, and major battles until they realize they may not be able to get back to their time. At 500+ pages, it's a substantial read, albeit a little repetitive. The portrayal of life in London during the Blitz, however, is fascinating, as are her characters. Which led me to immediately pick up the sequel.

All Clear is an excellent sequel. Where the other novel meandered a bit and set up the situation a bit too fully, this novel starts off with a bang and keeps going. Having gotten to know the characters over 1100+ pages (in the two novels), I found it incredibly gratifying to have this concluded so beautifully. Gently in many ways, but beautifully. Subtly romantic and so wonderfully evocative of what is must have been like living in London during World War II. A delight.  (See also her wonderful collection of Christmas short stories: Miracle and other Christmas Stories.)

I Did (But I Wouldn't Now) by Cara Lockwood (2006)

Chick lit about a woman who married a musician (who turned into a rock star) and as she gets a divorce, hides out with her good friend in London. Let's see: Good, handsome, funny, smart, blah blah friend. Hmm. Predictable, but still fun thanks to the delightfully bitter heroine.

The Little Lady Agency by Hester Browne (2005)

British novel about a slightly posh, unemployable girl who sets up her own temp agency for the purpose of providing fake girlfriends, help for men who need help (hair, clothing, etc.), sort of a "posh Mary Poppins in silk stockings."  Delightful and funny.  Followed by a couple of sequels.

The Queen and I by Sue Townsend (2002)

What happens when the royal family is voted out of power and goes on the dole? Hilarity ensues.  Hilarious and affectionate novel by the author of the Adrian Mole diaries.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson (1938)

Adorable old British book about a governess who ends up being befriended by a young and beautiful starlet/singer. And happens to have some very exciting adventures along the way.  Sparkly, witty and so charming.  Also made into a charming movie starring Frances McDormand.

Alison Lurie - Adored Author

I adore Alison Lurie. She takes what could be the dryest subjects--like Truth and Consequences, about an academic administrator and her injured but philandering professor husband--and makes them fascinating with her strong characters and her excellent insights into relationships and character.  Foreign Affairs is about a fifty-four year old English professor traveling to London to study children's playground rhymes.  Lurie is a master of social comedy, and her books have a very Austen feel.  Vinnie Miner is such a complex and fascinating character, and I adore all of her insights into life as a older, unmarried woman.   See also Women and Ghosts, a collection of vivid, spooky tales, each featuring a woman and a ghost. And Don’t Tell the Grown-ups:  The Subversive Nature of Children’s Literature-you’ll never look at Peter Pan or Kate Greenaway the same way again.

Imagined London by Anna Quindlen (2004)

Subtitled A Tour of the World's Greatest Fictional City, this is a great little book about London as seen through its fictional denizens as well as its real-life ones. Quindlen didn't go to London until she was in her forties, and this book explores what she expected to find from all the literature she'd read set in London, as well as what she actually found when she got there.  Great fun, Quindlen. Now write one about New York City!

Hotel Babylon by Anonymous and Imogen Edwards-Jones (2004)

A frothy, soapy, behind-the-scenes biography of a five-star British hotel, framed over the span of 24 hours. Very inside and gossipy. Great fun.  Adapted as an equally fun television series.  

Followed by a number of other ______ Babylon titles by Edwards-Jones, but none as fun as this one.

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding (1996)

Chick keeps diary of alcohol use, weight gain, workplace drama, and romantic troubles. Loosely based on Pride & Prejudice. The book that started it all. Utterly hilarious and utterly re-readable. 

Followed by Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, based this time (even more loosely) on Austen's Persuasion. Noteworthy for the utterly hilarious scene in which Bridget Jones interviews the actor Colin Firth about his role as Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice.