A few faves:
The God in Flight
The Poisonwood Bible
The Bean Trees
the Plum series by Janet Evanovich
the Southern Sisters series by Anne George
anything by John Grisham
Dragonsong, etc. by Anne McCaffrey
I Will Fear No Evil by Robert Heinlein
Cold Sassy Tree
The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
The House of God
When God Was a Woman
Fast Food Nation
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
anything by Jonathan or Faye Kellerman
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich

(and Caren, Jessica's all-time favorite is Watership Down )