Books Read (2009)

A complete listing of all books I’ve read in 2009, plus links to any reviews I’ve written for them.

Past: 2008

Reading Challenges: 2009 Pub Challenge COMPLETE! | Arthurian Challenge 2009-2010 COMPLETE! | The Baker Street Challenge | Compass Points Challenge | Countdown 2010 | The Final Frontier Reading Challenge COMPLETE | It’s the End of the World II COMPLETE | Read Your Own Books 2009 Challenge COMPLETE | R.I.P. IV COMPLETE | Seafaring Challenge II COMPLETE | Support Your Local Library Challenge COMPLETE | A Visit to Oz Challenge

January
001: The Secret Adversary – Agatha Christie [rating: 4.5]
002: Partners in Crime – Agatha Christie [rating: 3.5/5]
003: Triskellion – Will Peterson [rating: 4/5]
004: N or M? – Agatha Christie [rating: 3.5/5]
005: The Stars’ Tennis Balls – Stephen Fry [rating: 5/5]
006: The Strange Case of Mortimer Fenley – Louis Tracy [rating: 3.5/5]
007: Super in the City – Daphne Uviller [rating: 3.5/5]
008: Magic or Madness – Justine Larbalestier [rating: 2/5]
009: The Serial Killers Club – Jeff Povey [rating: 4.5/5]
010: Westminster Abby – Micol Ostow [rating: 1.5/5]
011: The Princetta – Anne-Laure Bondoux [rating: 4.5/5]
012: Crooked Little Vein – Warren Ellis [rating: 3.75/5]
013: Vampirates: Demons of the Ocean – Justin Somper [rating: 3.5/5]
014: Midnighters #1: The Secret Hour – Scott Westerfeld [rating: 4/5]
015: Stoneheart – Charlie Fletcher [rating: 4.5/5]
016: School for Scumbags – Danny King [rating: 4/5]
017: SilverFin – Charlie Higson [rating: 3/5]

February
018: Crusader – Edward Bloor [rating: 4/5]
019: Boca Knights – Steven M. Forman [rating: 3.5/5]
020: The Little Sleep – Paul Tremblay [rating: 2/5]
021: Cirque du Freak – Darren Shan [rating: 3.25/5]
022: Arsene Lupin – Maurice Leblanc [rating: 4/5]
023: House of Many Ways – Diana Wynne Jones [rating: 4.75/5]
024: The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn – John Bellairs [rating: 2.5/5]
025: The Sandman #1: Preludes and Nocturnes – Neil Gaiman [rating: 3.5/5] *
026: Witch’s Business – Diana Wynne Jones [rating: 4/5]
027: Stopping For A Spell – Diana Wynne Jones [rating: 3.5/5]
028: Cart and Cwidder – Diana Wynne Jones [rating: 5/5]
029: The Book of Three – Lloyd Alexander [rating: 3/5]
030: The Black Cauldron – Lloyd Alexander [rating: 4.5/5]
031: Poseur – Rachel Maude [rating: 4.75/5]
032: Septimus Heap #1: Magyk – Angie Sage [rating: 4.5/5]
033: The Name of This Book Is Secret – Pseudonymous Bosch [rating: 4/5]
034: Septimus Heap #2: Flyte – Angie Sage [rating: 4/5]
035: Creepers – Keith Gray [rating: 4.5/5]
036: Balefire #1: A Chalice of Wind – Cate Tiernan [rating: 3/5]
037: All-American Girl – Meg Cabot [rating: 4/5]
038: Theater Shoes – Noel Streatfeild [rating: 5/5]
039: The Vanishing Chip – Mark Delaney [rating: 2/5]
040: Anastasia, Absolutely – Lois Lowry [rating: 4.5/5]

March
041: Hexwood – Diana Wynne Jones [rating: 4/5]
042: Vampire Beach: Bloodlust – Alex Duval [rating: 2/5]
043: Vampire Beach: Initiation – Alex Duval [rating: 2/5]
044: The Teashop Girls – Laura Schaefer [rating: 4/5]
045: Down the Rabbit Hole – Peter Abrahams [rating: 5/5]
046: The Alchemyst – Michael Scott [rating: 3.5/5]
047: Peter and the Starcatchers – Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson [rating: 4/5]
048: Nation – Terry Pratchett [rating: 5/5]
049: The Mysterious Benedict Society – Trenton Lee Stewart [rating: 4/5]
050: Only You Can Save Mankind – Terry Pratchett [rating: 3.5/5]
051: The Lightning Thief – Rick Riordan [rating: 5/5]
052: His Majesty’s Dragon – Naomi Novik [rating: 4.5/5]
053: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – L. Frank Baum [rating: 3.5/5] *
054: The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials #1) – Philip Pullman [rating: 3.5/5]
055: The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials #2) – Philip Pullman [rating: 4.5/5]
056: The Children of Green Knowe (Green Knowe #1) – L.M. Boston [rating: 4/5]
057: The Treasure of Green Knowe Green Knowe #2) – L.M. Boston [rating: 4.5/5]
058: The Sea of Monsters – Rick Riordan [rating: 4.5/5]
059: The Titan’s Curse – Rick Riordan [rating: 3.5/5]
060: The Battle of the Labyrinth – Rick Riordan [rating: 4.5/5]
061: Throne of Jade – Naomi Novik [rating: 4.5/5]
062: Black Powder War – Naomi Novik [rating: 3.5/5]
063: Assassin’s Apprentice – Robin Hobb [rating: 4/5]
064: Blood Engines – T.A. Pratt [rating: 3.5/5]
065. The Journal of Curious Letters (The 13th Reality #1) – James Dashner [rating: 3/5]
066: The Escape From Home (Beyond the Western Sea #1) – Avi [rating: 5/5]

April
067: Empress (Godspeaker #1) – Karen Miller [rating: 4.5/5]
068: Sabriel (Abhorsen #1) – Garth Nix [rating: 4/5]
069: Hal Spacejock – Simon Haynes [rating: 4.5/5]
070: Snake Agent (Detective Inspector Chen #1) – Liz Williams [rating: 4.5/5]
071: Doc Sidhe – Aaron Allston [rating: 3.5/5]
072: Lord Darcy – Randal Garrett [rating: 5/5]
073: Masks: Rise of Heroes – Hayden Thorne [rating: 3.5/5]
074: Masks: Evolution – Hayden Thorne [rating: 3.5/5]
075: The Demon Ororon Vol. 1 [rating: 2/5]
076: Travel Light – Naomi Mitchison [rating: 4/5]
077: Shopaholic & Sister – Sophie Kinsella [rating: 4.5/5]
078: Shopaholic & Baby – Sophie Kinsella [rating: 4.5/5]
079: Can You Keep A Secret? – Sophie Kinsella [rating: 4/5] *
080: Interstellar Patrol – Christopher Anvil [rating: 5/5]
081: Earthseed – Pamela Sargent [rating: 4/5]
082: Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service Vol. 1 [rating: 4.5/5] *
083: Ptolemy’s Gate (Bartimaeus Trilogy #3) – Jonathan Stroud [rating: 3.5/5]

May
084: Only Human – Tom Holt [rating: 4/5]
085: Please Step Back – Ben Greenman [rating: 4.5/5]
086: Less Than Heroes – David Yurkovich [rating: 3/5]
087: The House of Windjammer – V.A. Richardson [rating: 4/5]
088: Revenge of the Witch (The Last Apprentice #1) – Joseph Delaney [rating: 4.5/5]
089: Curse of the Bane (The Last Apprentice #2) – Joseph Delaney [rating: 4/5]
090: Triskellion 2: The Burning – Will Peterson [rating: 4/5]
091: Fire and Hemlock – Diana Wynne Jones [rating: 4/5]
092: The Dealer (CHERUB #2) – Robert Muchamore [rating: 3.5/5]
093: Nothing But the Truth – Avi [rating: 3/5]
094: Charmed Life – Diana Wynne Jones [rating: 4.5/5] *
095: The Lives of Christopher Chant – Diana Wynne Jones [rating: 5/5] *
096: The Ink Drinker – Eric Sanvoisin [rating: 3/5]
097: The Anybodies – N.E. Bode [rating: 4.5/5]
098: My Side of the Mountain – Jean Craighead George [rating: 3.5/5] *
099: The Other Side of the Mountain – Jean Craighead George [rating: 3.5/5]
100: Frightful’s Mountain – Jean Craighead George [rating: 3/5]
101: Gone – Michael Grant [rating: 4.5/5]
102. Well Witched – Frances Hardinge [rating: 4.5/5]
103. A Sorcerer’s Apprentice (From Thief to King #1) – Michael Williams [rating: 3.5/5]
104. The Undomestic Goddess – Sophie Kinsella [rating: 3/5]
105. Merchant of Death (Pendragon #1) – D.J. Hale [rating: 3.5/5]
106. Lake of Skulls (A Knight’s Story #1) – Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell [rating: 3/5]
107. Adam of the Road – Elizabeth Janet Gray [rating: 4.5/5]

June
108. Behind the Curtain (Echo Falls #2) – Peter Abrahams [rating: 4.5/5]
109. Magic Kingdom For Sale– Sold! (Landover #1) – Terry Brooks [rating: 4/5]
110. Eon: Dragoneye Reborn (Eon #1) – Alison Goodman [rating: 3.5/5]
111. The Demon and the City (Detective Inspector Chen #2) – Liz Williams [rating: 4/5]
112. Fly By Night – Frances Hardinge [rating: 4.5/5]
113. Eastern Standard Tribe – Cory Doctorow [rating: 3.5/5]
114. The Demon’s Lexicon – Sarah Rees Brennan [rating: 4/5]
115. Heroes of the Valley – Jonathan Stroud [rating: 4.5/5]
116. The Last Days – Scott Westerfeld [rating: 4/5]
117. The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl – Barry Lyga [rating: 3.5/5]
118. Flygirl – Sherri L. Smith [rating: 4/5]
119. Night of the Soul Stealer (The Last Apprentice #3) – Joseph Delaney [rating: 3.5/5]
120. Watermelon – Marian Keyes [rating: 4/5]
121. Monster – Walter Dean Myers [rating: 4.5/5]
122. Where I’d Like to Be – Frances O’Roark Dowell [rating: 3.5/5]
123. The Buried Pyramid – Jane Lindskold [rating: 4/5]
124. Once Bitten, Twice Shy (Jaz Parks #1) – Jennifer Rardin [rating: 3.5/5]
125. Dead Until Dark (Southern Vampire Mysteries #1) – Charlaine Harris [rating: 4/5]
126. Living Dead in Dallas (SVM #2) – Charlaine Harris [rating: 4.5/5]
127. Club Dead (SVM #3) – Charlaine Harris [rating: 3.5/5]
128. Dead to the World (SVM #4) – Charlaine Harris [rating: 4.5/5]
129. Dead as a Doornail (SVM #5) – Charlaine Harris [rating: 4/5]
130. Definitely Dead (SVM #6) – Charlaine Harris [rating: 4/5]
131. The Princess Diaries (Princess Diaries #1) – Meg Cabot [rating: 3.5/5]
132. Princess in the Spotlight (Princess Diaries #2) – Meg Cabot [rating: 3.5/5]
133. Princess in Love (Princess Diaries #3) – Meg Cabot [rating: 3.5/5]
134. All Together Dead (SVM #7) – Charlaine Harris [rating: 4/5]
135. From Dead to Worse (SVM #8) – Charlaine Harris [rating: 3.5/5]
136. Dead and Gone (SVM #9) – Charlain Harris [rating: 3/5]
137. Not A Girl Detective – Susan Kandel [rating: 3.5/5]
138. Shakespeare’s Landlord (Lily Bard #1) – Charlaine Harris [rating: 3/5]
139. There Will Be Dragons – John Ringo [rating: 4/5]
140. For Love of Mother-Not – Alan Dean Foster [rating: 3.5/5]

July
141: Her Wiccan, Wiccan Ways – Traci Hall [rating: 3.5/5]
142: Nevermore (Supernatural #1) – Keith R.A. DeCandido [rating: 2.5/5]
143. 9Tail Fox – Jon Courtenay Grimwood [rating: 3/5]
144. Crocodile on the Sandbank (Amelia Peabody #1) – Elizabeth Peters [rating: 4.5/5]
145. Curse of the Pharaohs (Amelia Peabody #2) – Elizabeth Peters [rating: 4/5]
146. The Mummy Case (Amelia Peabody #3) – Elizabeth Peters [rating: 4.5/5]
147. Lion In the Valley (Amelia Peabody #4) – Elizabeth Peters [rating: 3.5/5]
148. A Total Waste of Makeup – Kim Gruenenfelder [rating: 3/5]
149. East Coast Rising Vol. 1 – Becky Cloonan [rating: 3.5/5]
150. I’s Vol. 1 – Masakazu Katsura [rating: 2/5]
151. Beyond Heaving Bosoms – Candy Tan & Sarah Wendell [rating: 4/5]
152. Sushi For Beginners – Marian Keyes [rating: 4/5]
153. Million Dollar Baby – Amy Patricia Meade [rating: 2.5/5]
154. The Deeds of the Disturber (Amelia Peabody #5) – Elizabeth Peters [rating: 4.5/5]
155. Whose Body? – Dorothy L. Sayers [rating: 3/5]
156. Last Chance Saloon – Marian Keyes [rating: 3.5/5]
157. The Other Side of the Story – Marian Keyes [rating: 4/5]

August
158. Thank You For Smoking – Christopher Buckley [rating: 3.5/5]
159. Unexpected Magic – Diana Wynne Jones [rating: 5/5]
160. Eighth Grade Bites – Heather Brewer [rating: 3/5]
161. Time Switch – Matt Chamings [rating: 3.5/5]
162. The Diamond of Drury Lane (Cat Royal #1) – Julia Golding [rating: 4.5/5]
163. Cat Among the Pigeons (Cat Royal #2) – Julia Golding [rating: 4.5/5]
164. Swallows and Amazons (Swallows & Amazons #1) – Arthur Ransome [rating: 4.5/5]
165. Swallowdale (S&A #2) – Arthur Ransome [rating: 4.5/5]
166. Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone: The Entomological Tales of Augustus T. Percival – Dene Low [rating: 3.5/5]
167. Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City – Kirsten Miller [rating: 4.5/5]
168. Peter Duck (S&A #3) – Arthur Ransome [rating: 4.5/5]
169. Tanglewreck – Jeanette Winterson [rating: 4/5]
170. The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp – Rick Yancey [rating: 3.5/5]
171. March Upcountry – David Weber & John Ringo [rating: 4.5/5]

September
172. Winter Holiday (S&A #4) – Arthur Ransome [rating: 4.5/5]
173. Coot Club (S&A #5) – Arthur Ransome [rating: 4/5]
174. Andromeda Klein – Frank Portman [rating: 4.5/5]
175. Power of Three – Diana Wynne Jones [rating: 5/5]
176. So Below: Key to the City – Matt Whyman [rating: 3/5]
177. King Dork – Frank Portman [rating: 3.5/5]
178. The Ghost Writer – John Harwood [rating: 4/5]
179. The Uninvited – Tim Wynne-Jones [rating: 4/5]
180. Faerie Wars – Herbie Brennan [rating: 4.5/5]
181. Feathers – Jacqueline Woodson [rating: 5/5]
182. The House You Pass on Your Way – Jacqueline Woodson [rating: 4/5]
183. George’s Marvelous Medicine – Roald Dahl [rating: 4/5]
184. Going Solo – Roald Dahl [rating: 5/5]
185. Freedom & Necessity – Emma Bull and Steven Brust [rating: 4.5/5]
186. The Eagle of the Ninth – Rosemary Sutcliff [rating: 3.5/5]
187. Horns & Wrinkles – Joseph Helgerson [rating: 3/5]
188. Savvy – Ingrid Law [rating: 4/5]
189. The Lantern Bearers – Rosemary Sutcliff [rating: 4/5]
190. Pigeon Post (S&A #6) – Arthur Ransome [rating: 3.5/5]
191. We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea (S&A #7) – Arthur Ransome [rating: 3.5/5]
192. Roman Folly – Alice-Leone Moats [rating: 3.5/5]
193. Secret Water (S&A #8) – Arthur Ransome [rating: 4.5/5]
194. The Girl Who Owned a City – O.T. Nelson [rating: 1.5/5]
195. Foundation – Isaac Asimov [rating: 3.5/5]

October
196. The Summerfolk – Doris Burn [rating: 5/5]
197. Foundation and Empire – Isaac Asimov [rating: 4/5]
198. Tunnels – Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams [rating: 2.5/5]
199. Second Foundation – Isaac Asimov [rating: 3.5/5]
200. Foundation’s Edge – Isaac Asimov [rating: 3.5/5]
201. Boneshaker - Cherie Priest [rating: 4/5]
202. The Silver Branch – Rosemary Sutcliff [rating: 3.5/5]
203. The Feng Shui Detective’s Casebook – Nury Vittachi [rating: 4/5]
204. The Monstrumologist – Rick Yancey [rating: 5/5]
205. Leviathan – Scott Westerfeld [rating: 5/5]
206. Candle Man, Book One: The Society of Unrelenting Vigilance – Glenn Dakin [rating: 3/5]
207. Physik (Septimus Heap #3) – Angie Sage [rating: 3/5]
208. Queste (Septimus Heap #4) – Angie Sage [rating: 3.5/5]
209. Syren (Septimus Heap #5) – Angie Sage [rating: 4/5]
210. The Big Six (S&A #9) – Arthur Ransome [rating: 4.5/5]
211. Twenties Girl – Sophie Kinsella [rating: 4/5]
212. Little Lord Fauntleroy – Frances Hodgson Burnett [rating: 3/5]
213. The Ghost and Mrs McClure – Alice Kimberly [rating: 3/5]
214. The Boggart – Susan Cooper [rating: 3/5]
215. A College of Magics – Caroline Stevermer [rating: 4/5]
216. The Chocolate Cat Caper – JoAnna Carl [rating: 2.5/5]
217. Missee Lee (S&A #10) – Arthur Ransome [rating: 4/5]
218. The Seeing Stone (Arthur Trilogy #1) – Kevin Crossley-Holland [rating: 4.5/5]
219. At the Crossing Places (Arthur Trilogy #2) – Kevin Crossley-Holland [rating: 4/5]
220. King of the Middle March (Arthur Trilogy #3) – Kevin Crossley-Holland [rating: 4.5/5]
221. The Naming (Pellinor #1) – Alison Croggon [rating: 4.5/5]

November
222. The Magician’s Elephant – Kate Dicamillo [rating: 4/5]
223. The Winter King – Bernard Cornwell [rating: 4.5/5]
224. Master and Commander – Patrick O’Brian [rating: 3/5]
225. The Picts and the Martyrs – Arthur Ransome [rating: 4/5]
226. The Light Princess and other stories – George MacDonald [rating: 3.5/5]
227. Castle Waiting – Linda Medley [rating: 4.5/5]
228. The Riddle (Pellinor #2) – Alison Croggon [rating: 4/5]
229. The Taker and the Keeper – Wim Coleman & Pat Perrin [rating: 4/5]
230. Mercury Falls – Robert Kroese [rating: 4/5]
231. The Magicians – Lev Grossman [rating: 3/5]
232. Montmorency – Eleanor Updike [rating: 2.5/5]
233. Hood (King Raven #1) – Stephen R. Lawhead [rating: 3/5]
234. The Mark of Zorro – Johnston McCulley [rating: 4/5]
235. Poison – Chris Wooding [rating: 3.5/5]
236. The Lost City of Z – David Grann [rating: 4/5]
237. The House of Power (Atherton #1) – Patrick Carman [rating: 4.5/5]

December
238. East by Edith Pattou [rating: 4.5/5]
239. The Mystery of the Third Lucretia – Susan Runholt [3.5/5]
240. Ozma of Oz – L. Frank Baum [3.5/5] *
241. The Rose & the Beast – Francesca Lia Block [rating: 3/5]
242. Princess Ben – Catherine Murdock [rating: 3.5/5]
243. The Broken Teaglass – Emily Arsenault [rating: 4/5]
244. Ash - Malinda Lo [rating: 3.5/5]
245. Kissing the Witch – Emma Donoghue [rating: 3.5/5]
246. The Commitments – Roddy Doyle [rating: 4/5]
247. The Tale of Despereaux – Kate DiCamillo [rating: 4/5]
248. The Snapper – Roddy Doyle [rating: 4/5]
249. The Van – Roddy Doyle [rating: 4/5]
250. The Queen of Babble – Meg Cabot [rating: 3.5/5]