January booklist:
The books I reread are in italics.
- Dearly Devoted Dexter – Jeff Lindsay
- Graceling – Kristin Cashore
- BtVS: Spike and Dru: Pretty Maids all in a Row – Christopher Golden
- Bones of Faerie – Janni Lee Simner
- Predators: Pedophiles, Rapists, and other Sex Offenders – Anna Salter
- Confessions of a Demon – S. L. Wright
- The Demon’s Lexicon – Sarah Rees Brennan
- Crash Into Me – Albert Borris
- The Raw Shark Texts – Steven Hall
- Racing the Dark – Alaya Dawn Johnson
- People of the Sky – Clare Bell
- Inferno – Robin Stevenson
My favorites were probably The Demon’s Lexicon, Inferno, Graceling, and The Raw Shark Texts.
The Demon’s Lexicon had interesting worldbuilding, and a very interesting main character. It has a sequel I’m planning on reading, but haven’t found yet.
Inferno was a book I didn’t expect to like all that much, honestly. Reviews I’d read of it made it seem like a book that condemned anarchism, and in the end I picked it up because I’d been wanting to read some lesbian romance. I can’t say all that much specifically without spoilers, but I honestly can’t think of anything wrong with this book – though I have to say that there isn’t really all that much romance in it.
Graceling had a very generic fantasy world, but the main character made up for it. Imagine – a female protagonist that doesn’t want children or a marriage, doesn’t get along with people, and doesn’t change on any of these points! Yeah, Graceling mostly gets this spot for acing Feminism 101 in a way I don’t see often enough, but the system of magic and plot were also quite interesting.
The Raw Shark Texts was a book I’d been very excited about reading for some time. It was recommended to me with a comparison to the House of Leaves, which I never did finish, so I can’t tell you how it holds up on that front, but the whole thing is fascinating. I can’t even think of how to say what I liked about it. *grins*
As for books I didn’t like… People of the Sky disappointed me, honestly. I had loved the other Clare Bell book I read – The Jaguar’s Princess – but this one was… odd. Don’t read it if you’re easily squicked, for one thing. I’m not willing to say it was really a bad book, exactly, just not what I expected. Bones of Faerie was also much too short for the story the author was trying to tell, and the protagonist annoyed me. And Predators… let’s just say I enjoyed it for all the wrong reasons.