Every summer there is at least one truly fantastic chick lit novel that I can't get enough of. In 2009 it was Laura Lipton's The Mating Rituals of the North American WASP. (Particularly funny if one grew up in lower Fairfield County, comme moi.)
In 2010 Alexandra Lebenthal knocked it out of the park with Recessionistas.
This summer I'm up late reading under a mag light thanks to Molly Jong-Fast's The Social Climber Handbook.
There have been plenty of chick lit novels written about the pre- and post financial crisis era, and some of them have actually been good. The trick, however, is to write about the Upper East Side and not turn the characters into cartoons. It takes someone who knows the terrain to do it correctly, and -- as a card-carrying member of the New York Junior League -- I'm amazed at how accurately and nuanced the uptown crowd is portrayed. Everyone is flawed and the plot takes some great turns. This is chick lit done well.
