Great thread !
(OK, I'll fess up, at one point I was grumbling about OT posts. I'll stop grumbling )

Lee & I are heading off to the used bookstores in Mountain View - that's our idea of a big night out - and I'm bringing a list !

Here are a few of my faves that haven't been mentioned yet:

Rosamunde Pilcher - I especially enjoy Coming Home, that's a big favorite of mine, one of those books that I pull out & re-read at least once a year. I love her characters. The Shell Seekers is really good too. Her most recent book (the name of which I've forgotten) was a big disappointment, but, she's getting on in years.

Tracy Chevalier - she wrote The Girl with the Pearl Earring (I never saw the movie) and I also enjoyed Falling Angels and The Lady and the Unicorn

I think one of my all-time favorite books is Welcome to the World, Baby Girl by Fannie Flagg, who also wrote Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe.