Reddit mentions of Middlesex: A Novel

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. It's phenomenomenal.

Middlesex by Jeffrey Euginides won a Pulitzer. It's protagonist is queer - don't want to put a finer point on it than that so I don't give away any plot.

Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg - main character is a butch lesbian in the 1950s.

The Passionate Mistakes and Intricate Corruption of One Girl in America and Valencia both by Michelle Tea.

Beebo Brinker by Ann Bannon is a classic of Lesbian Pulp fiction.

RubyFruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown is another classic.

And as others have mentioned, Sarah Waters (highly recommend Tipping the Velvet), Alison Bechdel, and Jeanette Winterson.

These are not so much popular, light reading books, but they are well written, thoughtful and enjoyable without being too heavy. A good step from the deeper classics but not all the way down.

• The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
  
  
• Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
  
  
• When You Went Away by Michel Baron
  
  
• The Notice by Sean Chandler.
  
  If you're looking for something more mainstream, these popular authors are more Reiner than Zemeckis:
  
  
• Mitch Albom (light hearted and well written inspirational stories)
  
• Jodi Picoult (sometimes dark, but still very popular)
  
• Jill Mansell (light hearted, romantic fluff; a summer beach favourite)
  
• Edward P. Jones (start with The Known World)
  
• James Patterson (mystery, police procedurals, etc...)
  
  and of course,
  
  
• Stephen King, the most prolific and one of the highest selling authors of mystery and horror. Not my thing, but with over 350 million books sold, he has to be doing something right.

[classic choice] (http://www.amazon.com/East-Eden-Penguin-Modern-Classics-ebook/dp/B001BC5HXG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397074271&sr=8-1&keywords=east+of+eden)

[New fiction] (http://www.amazon.com/Middlesex-Novel-Jeffrey-Eugenides-ebook/dp/B002HHPVPS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397074374&sr=8-1&keywords=middlesex)

[Light Nonfiction read] (http://www.amazon.com/Pluto-Files-Americas-Favorite-Planet-ebook/dp/B001NLKXF2/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397074425&sr=1-8&keywords=neil+degrasse+tyson)

[Not light nonfiction read] (http://www.amazon.com/Prize-Winner-Defiance-Ohio-Mother-ebook/dp/B000FC0T18/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397074469&sr=1-1&keywords=prizewinner+of+defiance+ohio)

[Biography. If you love your mom, you'll love this book.] (http://www.amazon.com/Prize-Winner-Defiance-Ohio-Mother-ebook/dp/B000FC0T18/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397074469&sr=1-1&keywords=prizewinner+of+defiance+ohio)

[Audio Book option.] (http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Stephen-King-ebook/dp/B000FC0SIM/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397074772&sr=1-1&keywords=on+writing+stephen+king)

"Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides is by far one of my top five favorite books of all time. It's a novel with some really bizarre themes, but so incredibly compelling. If you've already read it, let me know and I'll find something else!

Edited to add: don't go reading reviews because spoilers. But I will tell you... incest and hermaphrodites and family drama. Yet most of the characters are compelling and likable. Same author who wrote "The Virgin Suicides." Seriously, I've read this book maybe seven or eight times. It is THAT good.