I don't feel like doing proper book reviews, part deux

These are the books I've read so far that I didn't do 'real' book reviews for. Sometimes* I am lazy.

– The Hunger Games books** (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay) by Suzanne Collins: AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUGGHHHHH. I sort of wanted to make a gif post on my tumblr of how I felt about THG, but that would basically entail all my weeping, mindsplosion and "MY EMOTIONS" gifs, so yeah. 4/5
– The Attolia/Queen's Thief books (The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia, and A Conspiracy of Kings) by Megan Whalen Turner [all from the library]: If you haven't read these, you're missing out. Flawed, real characters; intelligent, unanswered questions; so much badassery; TONS of political intrigue and machinations... I'm not sure why they're considered Young Adult; everyone should read them. They're set in a sort of alternate universe much like medieval/early Renaissance Greece. Fantastic. 4.5/5
– Love Poems (Every Man's Library): such an adorable little red cloth hardcover book, with its own red ribbon bookmark (I love that). Great poems, perfect size. 4/5
– Lyonnesse Abbey by Jill Tattersall: it's a sort of Regency romance/mystery, I think. Too many improper references (minor spoiler: someone in the book has a mistress!) to be a true Second-Generation Austen Book, too tame to be a bodice-ripper (nothing onscreen. Our Heroine will occasionally remember she's doing something Improper For A Young Lady, but it's usually, like, going about with muddy stockings), too obvious of a mystery to be a good mystery novel, etc. It was ok. I put it up on Bookmooch. We're told Tessa is like a tomboy or something, but she acts like every romance novel heroine ever, so. There is swooning, if I remember aright. I'd give it 3/5.
– Wood Nymph Seeks Centaur: A Mythological Dating Guide by Francesca Lia Block [library book]: Oh, man. I saw this while shelving and had to check it out. It's tailor-made for freaks like me who love mythology and personality quizzes. I had so much fun figuring what types everyone (family, friends, favorite TV characters) was.  I'm an Urban Elf/Giantess hybrid, if you're wondering. I loved this both ironically and unironically. 4/5
– The last two Princess Diaries books, since I needed something light and fluffy after The Hunger Games (PD IX: Princess Mia and PD X: Forever Princess) [library books]. I used to be obsessed with these when I was younger, but became irritated with them about the fifth book or so (coincidentally, I think I was about nineteen). Most series go downhill after that. In reading them I was reminded simultaneously of why I liked them (fun, enjoyable characters and their interactions, humor) and why I became impatient (too superficial, and Mia is denser than everybody except for Lyonesse Abbey's Tessa and Bella Swann). I was unprepared for this weird feeling I got when I finished Forever Princess, like a chapter of my life had finished. ~3.7/5
– The Dreamer by Pam Muñoz Ryan and Peter Sís [library book]: I already sort of wrote a review for this. Lovely book, although I'd have liked to know more of what his life was like after childhood. But I suppose that is for another book. Y such huge font, tho? I did like that it was green; Pablo Neruda wrote using ink that color, saying it was the color of hope (that's why that post of mine is in green). The illustrations were very dreamy and nice. The cover was lovely, as was the storytelling, but this wasn't *quite* as wonderful as I hoped/thought it'd be. Still, 4.5/5
– Lady of Palenque, Flower of Bacal (The Royal Diaries) [library book]: I used to inhale these when I was younger. This one I'd been meaning to read because it's about a Mayan princess. Highborn women were sometimes taught to write in that time and often acted as their husbands' scribes. Awesome stuff. I feel an affinity for Mayan and Mesoamerican cultures since I'm Hispanic; I do have some Mexican Indian (probably not the right term but oh well) in my genetic material somewhere, although it doesn't show at all. I'm sure the Lady of Palenque was an interesting person, especially since she could write, but we don't know much about her. This 'diary' was on the boring side and the writing was stilted, although I did like reading about the beliefs, customs and animals (we weren't given nearly enough of those). My name is very close to the pronunciation of a Mayan goddess's name, Ixchel (Lady Rainbow in English). I think it's pronounced 'eesh-chel'. This is the sort of thing that excites me. You can just call me M'lady Rainbow from now on. 3/5
– The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry [library book]: Lois never disappoints, but I enjoyed this book (a sort of satire on Old-Fashioned Books, especially those about Children In Dire Straits, which I usually love) rather less than I thought I would. The oldest boy is a sexist bullying prig and never gets the comeuppance he deserves (is it too much to ask for one oh-snap lecture from Nanny the BAMF? No, I do not think so.). Still, it was wryly funny and had a quip about Peter the Goatherd from Heidi (a childhood favorite) from the prig, no less, that made me laugh for about five minutes straight. I would recommend it but don't expect too much. Oh, Lois's author description of herself as an old woman hunched over a desk muttering to herself about commas sealed the deal: I really do want to be her when I grow up. ~4/5
– The Legend of Holly Claus by Brittany Ryan [library book]: The cover of this has lovely, intricate, glittering old-fashioned paintings, as well as wonderful black and white illustrations, and I love fairy tale and myth reinterpretations, so of course my inner twelve-year-old begged me to read this story about Santa Claus' daughter. It was good but I found the ending rather flat and too easy. I probably would have loved it when I was younger; I'm not sure if I spoiled it for myself by reading the (similarly lovely, from the same illustrator) picture book abrigement. What I liked best was the land of Forever, where the people from legends and myths and fairytales live and Santa Claus is king. I wanted to know more about it, and more about Victorian New York City, but alas. God only knows when authors will stop doing the "angelic, innocent girl and Byronic, brooding hunk drawn to one another" thing; I am mightily sick of it. Still, I liked this book. ~3.9/5

Wow, this was long. I really need to just force myself to write book reviews as I read the books and do one post per book.

*Most of the time.
**I would really like to use 'trilogy' here, but a friend of mine has made me paranoid about using the word wrong. You see, you're not supposed to call The Lord of the Rings books a trilogy because they are all one story cut up into three books because they were published during the wartime when they were rationing paper. This is one of that friend's pet peeves, and since The Hunger Games books are all basically one story cut up into three, similarly, wouldn't it be wrong to use trilogy here too? So I'm afraid to call any group of three books a trilogy for that reason. I have issues.