SarahJanet's Books

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Ok, I haven't stopped reading (because, you know, I never stop reading), but NaNo has meant that I haven't been keeping up here because everything I write goes into my novel. But I'm falling farther and farther behind so here's a bit of a catch up.

A Series of Unfortunate Events, Books 1-12, by Lemony Snicket

Well, I did something I swore I should really quit doing, and that's read a series before it gets finished. Although I was somewhat underwhelmed by the first couple of Snicket books, I decided I'd read the whole lot of them since they are very quick reads. (I don't know - my logic is weird sometimes.) I think it was book five where I got more interested - the Quagmire triplets were better than the other secondary characters up to that point and I enjoyed the fact that the story became a little more overarching at that point.

I do not, however, think that this series need 13 books, and it sort of annoys me that I can tell he's only writing that many because it's a publishing gold mine. Still, the books are entertaining, and I can definitely understand why kids like them so much. I like how the author has become more than just the narrator (I should say "author", since he is fictitious), and I like that it has become significantly more grey rather than the black and white good vs. evil of the earlier books in the series. I will jump on 13 when it comes out simply because I want to know how it turns out, but I won't be rushing out to buy the series. (At least not for myself - I bought the first one for my nephew.)

They are definitely good if you're not in the mood for heavy reading - I got through all 12 in less than a week and that was with hold lists being a factor. Nice quick read, and entertaining. Maybe not as in-depth as some children's lit, but hey, sometimes you need some light reading.

posted by SarahJanet @ 6:09 PM