Ginger, maybe Amanda Quick? I loved those romances at that age. I admit I can't remember how explicit her sex stuff is. Jude Deveraux has some period ones too that are really good, but again, same caveat regarding the sex.

I loved Kavalier and Clay for it's use of language. I think Chabon has a wonderful knack for picking the right evocative words, that other writers might not choose in the same circumstance.

Kavalier and Clay is one of those books that I couldn't wait to get home from work so I could read more and find out what happened next. And the man does things with the English language that are supernatural in their brilliance.

I love it. (Though the Antarctica section could have been 2 chapters, and I would have been a lot happier.)

I thought of Amanda Quick, but her stuff is explicit enough that I would've felt the need to hide it from my mother at that age.

I forgot that Aristoi was WJW. We just finished a game based on Hardwired, and I'd forgotten how much I liked that book. Need to read more of this author.

I thought of Amanda Quick, but her stuff is explicit enough that I would've felt the need to hide it from my mother at that age.

Huh.

At that age, I think I was sharing them with my mother. (As in, she was borrowing them without permission, because it is my mother, and she does that with my books, the twerp.)

They are pretty explicit, though.

Any other mother, I'd probably have hidden them from. It's just that I happen to have one who spams me with blue jokes.

Re: Discworld

Have to agree with the Jingo love. Love re-reading it now, as it parallels events in our world, though the book pre-dates them.

And this is the book, for me, that shows Vetinari has a soul. He knows the price of what he does, completely.

"We're just bought and sold, aren't we?"

"...Men marched to war. And men marched back. Think of all the glorious battles they never had to fight. But you say 'bought and sold'? Perhaps. But not, I think, unwisely spent.

Veni, Vici...Vetinari."

I love how Vimes has come to appreciate Vetinari. Vetinari's always appreciated Vimes.

I love how Vimes has come to appreciate Vetinari. Vetinari's always appreciated Vimes.

True, but in Vimes' defense, it's very hard to trust and/or appreciate someone who you can't see approaching you. Doubly hard for a copper.

Yeah, my mom gave me VC Andrews in middle school, and shared all my romance novels in high school (and still now, but I'm a little older) so I'm not a good judge of what books one would hide from parents/grandparents.

Your MOM gave you V. C. Andrews??

I mean, if could be weirder; it could be your brother giving you those books; but sheesh.

The funny part is that after Andrews died, the books written in her name didn't stop with the incest fetish. You would think it was just the author beating her personal horse, but apparently it's a whole niche market.