So, here are the opening lines of the last two books I've read:
"It's been a long time since I've played with dolls. I've never really thought back on my time with plastic humans before, but today, as I was watching a group of gigly young girls browsing Barbies in the Wal-Mart, I remembered that feeling--that strange sexual energy and giddy shame of playing Barbies in my bedroom."
And, then...
"When I was a little girl I used to dress Barbie up without underpants. On the outside, she'd look like the perfect lady. Tasteful plastic heels, tailored suit. But underneath, she was naked."
Isn't that just odd? The first set of lines come from Why Girls are Weird by Pamela Ribon. The second set come from High Five by Janet Evanovich. The books are nothing alike. And, if I hadn't read them back-to-back I probably wouldn't have noticed how they both started with stories about being naughty with Barbie. Life is strange. In fact, the subtitle to Why Girls are Weird is "sometimes life is stranger than you are."
Cue "Twillight Zone" music here.
By the way, I loved Why Girls are Weird (it made me laugh; it made me cry; it was great) and am only through the first two chapters of High Five (the fifth book in the Stephanie Plum series) so have no real opinion on it. I've enjoyed the series, thus far, so will probably enjoy this one as well. It can't hope to be as good as Why Girls are Weird but it'll still be fun.
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