Things I Read 'N' Things I Thought

In 2009 I read 41 books (that I recall, I think I got them all). 59% new, 41% rereads. I enjoy attempting extremely abbreviated reviews. GO!

1. A History of Violence by John Wagner and Vince Locke. - Yes please.
   
2. Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell - Woman obsessed with Presidential assassinations. I learned a lot and wanted to listen to the Sondheim musical Assassins
   
3. Coraline by Neil Gaiman - Precious AND creepy.
   
4. Darkfall by Dean Koontz - Blah.
   
5. Desperation by Stephen King - Lovelovelove. 3 millionth re-reading.
   
6. Don't Look Now by Daphne du Maurier - Contains short story that movie The Birds was based on. Story infinitely creepier and more depressing than movie. Spent days thinking of bird contingency plans.
   
7. East by Edith Pattou - East of the Sun, West of the Moon/Cupid & Psyche/Beauty & the Beast. Lovely.
   
8. Ghost Story by Peter Straub - Old men fighting mysterious forces. It was alright.
   
9. Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner - Girly fiction. Pleasant.
   
10. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling - Yeeeeeeah.
    
11. Hunting & Gathering by Anna Gavalda. - Quiet, French, and somehow wonderful.
    
12. It by Stephen King - JOYSPLOSION!
    
13. Jane-Emily by Patricia Clapp - Very proper and low-key olde tyme haunting.
    
14. Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw - Dude.
    
15. Little Sister by Kara Dalkey - 12th c. Japanese non-in-your-face girl power + mythology. Huzzah!!!
    
16. Marching Powder by Thomas McFadden and Rusty Young. - Makes you want to visit Bolivian prison and yet never, ever go there.
    
17. Monster Island by David Wellington. - Zombies. But, meh.
    
18. Nurture Shock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman - I'm afraid to raise children, what if I fail?
    
19. Ophelia by Lisa Klein - Hamlet from her perspective. Surprisingly un-obnoxious YA fiction. Thumbs up.
    
20. Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman - A safety blanket book. I guess that this was my 7th reading. I will eat her words (in the best, most delicious way possible - so good).
    
21. Relentless by Dean Koontz - Like hundreds of pages of exposition with a crap ending and lots of unexplained shit. Don't bother.
    
22. Scott Pilgrm (Vols. 1-5) by Bryan Lee O'Malley - READ THESE NOW OR WEEP WITH REGRET! (May as well read them before the movie comes out - Edgar Wright + Michael Cera? Woot).
    
23. Seven Tears Into the Sea by Terri Farley - Shockingly dull for a selkie tale - in a bland, forgetful sort of way.
    
24. Sin City (Vols. 1-4) by Frank Miller - Revel in black & white, hardboiled awesomeness.
    
25. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury - One of the best dads ever; one of the creepiest witches ever.
    
26. Spindle's End by Robin McKinley - Glorious, hilarious, well-detailed, wildly original retelling of Sleeping Beauty.
    
27. The All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor - Jewish family in World War I-ish New York. Makes me want to dust the parlor, cook Sabbath dinner, go to the library and buy penny candy.
    
28. The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly - Guh.Lor.I.Ous. Glorious. GuhlooOOOoorious!
    
29. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - Boy raised by ghosts, vampire, werewolf. English. Perfect.
    
30. The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman - Not mad about the story but I want to live inside of Hoffman's prose.
    
31. The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker - Biggest blah disappointment of the year.
    
32. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold - Apparently I'd forgotten all but the first 10-15% of the book. 'Sokay, that's best part anyway.
    
33. The Pirates! In an Adventure with Ahab by Gideon Defoe - Pure, pitch perfect ludicrous hilariosity.
    
34. The Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce - I much prefer The Immortals series
    
35. The Walking Dead (Vols. 1-9) by Robert Kirkman, et al. - Human drama with a zombie backdrop. SO. KICKASS. If you can handle a story that gets more and more balls out crazy by the volume.
    
36. Til We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis - Beauty.
    
37. Under the Dome by Stephen King - Read in about 3 days. I do believe I enjoyed it!
    
38. Unveiled by Francine Rivers - I can't even remember which woman in the lineage of Jesus this was about. Not Mary and not Ruth.
    
39. White Oleander by Janet Fitch - Almost over the top in its plot points, but so well-written with such lovely, fitting, true-feeling turns of phrase.
    
40. Y: The Last Man (Vols. 1-10) by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra - YEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!!!!!!!!!