I recently read Shanghai Girls and its sequel, Dreams of Joy, by Lisa See. I was pleasantly surprised--they're excellent. She has a few other books I'm looking forward to reading. Memoirs of a Geisha is another good one in that similar thread (it takes place in Japan, not China, but it's placed in roughly the same time period).
I don't know how you feel about the Harry Potter franchise, but they are hands-down my favorite book series ever. I got into the series in my mid-20's and have gone through the whole thing no fewer than eight times. The first two books are very obviously childrens' books, but they're still appealing, and the topics of each book get continually more mature and grown-up as the characters age.
Julie & Julia is hilarious and inspiring, if you don't mind a few F-bombs (and by "a few" I mean she's pretty foul-mouthed).
If you like chick lit, I think the British authors can't be beat. Jane Green and Sophie Kinsella are my favorites.