Oh, and I finished reading all the books except for #5 I believe. I skimmed through it very quickly and didn't really absorb much of the story line. I know I've missed some points because there are things mentioned in the short stories that I have no idea where they came from. Likewise, I've listened to the first CD Drama now (first novel storyline) and so now the head has no clear idea of what's said where and how (anime, CD, and novel are all in a swirl).
One of the things I've noticed with the anime is that it tries to put a bit too much in sometimes from the original novel. Not that this is necessarily bad, but for people who haven't read the novel it leaves some major question marks floating over the head - at least it does for me. Likewise, some of the changes in story for the anime... *shrug* While I like the anime's feel and style, I like the novel better for storyline development.
Also, since for the anime, I don't have the written script, there's definitely a high probability I'm going to muck something up. I've noticed it with the Ayu translations where there are some mistakes based on same sound different word. Since I've now read the novels I know what meaning was intended for certain lines, but if I hadn't... Add to that some unusual words, some really strange names / titles, and general oddity, things do get strange.
In any case, at the rate I've been going, hopefully I'll finish the last 2.5 eps in time for... ep 8? >_<;; It should be fun to watch this next ep. Especially since Ro Ensei gets introduced. I'm not sure if we'll meet Kou (yellow) Kijin (eccentric person) next ep. He's in the opening credits IIRC though so definitely soon. ^___^