I read Charmed Life first. And, though I did not read the books as a child, I read them more or less as they were published when I was in my late teens and early twenties. I never liked Lives as much as CL, perhaps for the reasons you mentioned: CL had a certain cosiness that I enjoyed, and Lives had that hard edge that made me a little uncomfortable. But I look forward to reading more of these posts - anything about DWJ is a good thing!