Everything is strangely familiar because I've watched the anime to episode 11, and two stories overlap closely. No, I didn't download it. I watched it at a local anime club.
Novel version is a bit more detailed. One would think that one can get more information by seeing and hearing the characters, but reading narrations directly from individual characters' perspectives cannot be beat. And the book has plenty of them. I'm also used to the way each narration starts with the narrator introducing him/herself. It's somewhat crude, but I think it's necessary because there is no set narrator for this novel, unlike, say, Suzumiya Haruhi novel series, which is always narrated by Kyon.
Although a lot of things are made clearer, a lot of new mysteries are introduced also. Based on the length of the anime, I guess we're about half way there.
