Book thought

I read this, and enjoyed it, but couldn't help but notice that a) it was written by a man b) it had raves from male authors all over it (Nick Hornby, etc.) c) the cover in question is not particularly sentimental looking d) a brief perusal of reviews indicates it was quite well received - but it read to me exactly like something from Maeve Binchy* or Jennifer Weiner** - both of whom, I feel, get different cover treatments and no praise from laddish writers and are firmly in the chick lit category, not the popular fiction that all people may enjoy category.

* Ok, I've only read one and it was in high school, but I assume there's not that much variation in what she produces.
** I've read at least a couple of hers.

NB: Upon googling further, I see that this is not an original thought.

ALSO: First fail from the Blue Chair, although I think it has more to do w/ the dubious ingredients (commercial strawberries and frost-damaged non-blood oranges; I don't want to talk about why I was working w/ such sub-par stuff; just let me say, NOT MY IDEA) than the recipe - although now that I think of it, I've never achieved much of a set w/ any of their recipes. It doesn't bother me b/c I find runniness more versatile than a super stiff set would be, but might bother people w/ firmer (ha did you see what I did there?) expectations than mine.