Read: Jean M. Auel - The Valley of Horses

Like, 'Clan of the Cave Bear', this one is a good book too. In re-reading it, I think it's the best-suited of the series to the author's writing style. With the main character, Ayla, alone for much of the book it's heavily plot-based, with some really great inventions and discoveries. There's minimal character interaction - the other main character, Jondalar, is on a journey for most of the book, so secondary characters pass in and out of the story quickly, minimizing any opportunity for the annoyingly repetitive characterization that mars her later work in the series. Now that I've satisfied myself that the early books really were quite enjoyable, I think I'm done re-reading - no need to rehash the plot of the next two, where we'll get bogged down again in the characters' interactions.