I’m desparately in need of something good to read in Chinese, but there are a few conditions -
(1) It has to be contemporary.
(2) Preferably about Taiwan, though something ‘fun’ from the Mainland might be OK (i.e. please no my-fucked-life-as-a-Chinese books such as Wild Swans).
(3) My brain is like putty at the moment, and I’ve got no patience for complicated plotlines a-la Hongliu Meng.
(4) Not too much moralizing along the lines of stuff by Yao Hui-ying.
Any thoughts?
Well, it’s hardly about Taiwan, but I’d go with Harry Potter. 
Seriously, if someone can post a list of novels that more or less fit the requirements the OP is setting down, I’d appreciate it too. Or even reasonable non-fiction, you know, sort of interesting mass-market topics (not horoscopes, self-help psychology or the like, though.) A neat re-take on history? Something interesting related to economics for the layman?
I’d recommend anything by Zhang Ailing … she doesn’t write about Taiwan, but she’s an excellent writer (in my opinion).
You could also go visit some university websites that have departments and/or courses in contemporary Taiwanese literature and see what is on the reading lists for the students to read. NTU now has a Graduate Institute of Taiwanese Literature, so you could check that out:
My reading skills aren’t that great, but awhile ago I picked up a book by Ursula LeGuin, translated into Chinese, the EarthSea series. Light, but interesting. perhaps not what you’re looking for. found it at chen-pin (sp?)
A book I’ve read (only in translation) by a contemporary Taiwanese (?? I forget by now, I took this course four years ago) author, Wang, Chen-Ho – English title was “Rose, Rose, I Love You” – it’s about a bunch of prostitutes in Taiwan attempting to be trained to appear cultured so they’ll impress a group of American GIs who are supposed to show up on the island… brief summary at this URL: ebookmall.com/
ebook/133187-ebook.htm. (URL put in directly and split up since I think it was messing with the formatting) Not sure the Chinese title, but it’s hilarious… tho the wordplay might be tough in the original, I’m guessing.
Thanks for the tips people. I’ll let you know what I finally come-up with.
LOL… product of the times, I suppose.
I’ve been reading a few books by ??? (Hou Wenyong); they’re all set in modern-day Taipei (at least the ones I’ve read), all fairly light reading, both in terms of the story and the Chinese level required. I especially recommend his ???, a book of very short stories – it’s nice that you can easily read a few in a single sitting.