Novel novels: March 2010

Note: I'm starting to write this series multiple months after I've finished reading the books, so in most cases I don't remember a whole lot. I'll include stuff I remember, including trigger warnings, but I'm not going to remember everything. I hope to rectify this when I catch up and am writing about stuff I just got done reading.

1. Storm Front by Jim Butcher

• 3 stars
• Amusing, most of all for the protagonist's resemblance to the friend who recommended this series to me

2. Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

• 2.5 stars

3. Man Walks into a Room by Nicole Krauss

• 3 stars

4. Come Along With Me by Shirley Jackson

• 3 stars
• Worth reading for the classic short story "The Lottery"

5. The Belgariad by David Eddings

• 3 stars
• Five-book series. Fairly enjoyable at the start, but after a while I got kind of tired of the "lowly Hero finds out He's actually Really Important and also there's a Prophecy about him, gathers a motley band of Followers, becomes some sort of leader/general/king person and doesn't believe in the Prophecy at all but end up following/fulfilling it anyway" thing. I did like many of the characters. I also started reading The Mallorean, but quit partway through.

6. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

• 4 stars
• I liked the humour of this autobiographical graphic novel quite a bit. I usually don't enjoy graphic novels because I tend to just read the words and skip the pictures, but Bechdel's images managed to grab my attention well.

7. A Lifetime of Secrets by Frank Warren

• 3 stars
• A PostSecret book. Not much else to say.

8. Perfect by Natasha Friend

• 2.5 stars
• Basic adolescent-girl-struggling-with-eating-disorder book. Trigger warning, obviously.

9. The Land of the Silver Apples by Nancy Farmer

• 3.5 stars
• I love Nancy Farmer's books and I love Norse mythology. So why did I not absolutely love this book? I really can't remember. It's probably because it wasn't as good as the first book of the series, The Sea of Trolls.

10. The Blue Girl by Charles de Lint

• 3.5 stars
• Charles de Lint is another favourite author and every so often I go on a de Lint kick and emerge three or four books later with a rather glazed expression and seeing fey folk everywhere. I prefer his short story collections, but this young adult book was enjoyable.

11. Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves

• 3 stars
• I liked the travelling-between-permutations-of-possible-worlds storyline. I think I was a bit disappointed by the speeding up of the plot at the end.

12. Behind the Mountains by Edwidge Danticat

• 2.5 stars

14. Grave Peril by Jim Butcher

• 2.5 stars
• After finishing this, I think I finished with Butcher, unless I happen to start hankering for semi-juvenile fantasy dripping with machismo.

Scoring system is as follows:
1 star = hated
1.5 stars = didn't enjoy, but didn't hate
2 stars = didn't enjoy particularly
2.5 stars = enjoyed somewhat
3 stars = enjoyed, but might not read again
3.5 stars = would probably read again
4 stars = would like to own a copy
4.5 stars = would like to own a copy, and would probably read occasionally
5 stars = would like to own a copy, and would probably read often