Bridget Jones's Diary – Helen Fielding

So I've finally got around to reading this – years after seeing the film. It's so famous I can't say much about it, except that bits of it were laugh-out-loud funny and I really enjoyed it.

I remember when this came out. Everyone was reading it (I lived in London on the time and you would see it every time you got on the tube) and everyone was imitating it. I think part of why it was such a hit – other than it simply being funny – was because there is so much truth in it. Bridget sums up real experiences. As I remember it, too, this book created and defined the genre of chic-lit. I wonder if that's true?

It was difficult reading this after seeing the film. For a start, the characters I remembered I saw as they were cast – except for Bridget, for some reason. And I felt like I knew what was coming – even through I couldn't remember much of the film and the book was different anyway. But brilliant anyway.