18
Jul
2010
Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
Life seems perfect for Thursday Next. She’s just gotten married to the love of her life, saved the world from Acheron Hades, improved Jane Eyre, and basically ended the Crimean war, which has been going on for about 150 years.
Sure, she’s still stuck in the Literary Detectives, and being hounded by the spec-ops publicity diva. But overall, things are pretty great.
Until, of course, they’re not.
Her husband has been eradicated, and there’s no getting him back unless Thursday plays ball with the Goliath Corporation.
Meanwhile, she finds that there’s much more to hopping into books than she previously thought, and who should help her navigate their worlds than a cadre of fictional characters, namely the Cheshire Cat (though due to a border switch, he’s technically the Unitary Authority of Warrington Cat) and Miss Havisham.
What I love about these books is that there’s so much going on. There’s never a moment’s rest, and while sometimes that doesn’t leave enough time to soak in the character or storylines, somehow it really seems to work here.
And I also think that there’s more laugh out loud moments here. Fforde has been compared to Douglas Adams, but his jokes tend to be fewer, though no less wacky (note the Cheshire cat’s name change mentioned above, for example).
Highly recommended, but read the first one first.
Buy Lost in a Good Book on Amazon
If you like this book/author, you might like:
(my reviews in blue)
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Sense And Sensibility by Jane Austen
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Rant by Chuck Palahniuk
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
Life, the Universe, and Everything by Douglas Adams
So Long and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams
Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens Who Don’t Float by Sarah Schmelling
The Unwritten Vol 1. by Mike Carey and Peter Gross
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession by Allison Hoover Bartlett
An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England by Brock Clarke
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Other works by Jasper Fforde:
The Eyre Affair (A Thursday Next Novel)
The Well of Lost Plots (Thursday Next Series)
Something Rotten (Thursday Next Novels)
Thursday Next: First Among Sequels: A Thursday Next Novel (Thursday Next Novels)
One of Our Thursdays Is Missing: A Novel
The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime
The Fourth Bear: A Nursery Crime
Shades of Grey: A Novel
I have to re-read this series soon. It has been too long since I entered Fforde’s unique world.
I have read The Eyre Affair – twice – but need to continue with the rest of the series. It took a while for the concept to grow on me, but now I truly appreciate Jasper Fforde’s subject matter and writing style.
I’m intrigued now. I’m going to have to check out this series. I had heard the author’s name, but I hadn’t read too much about his books. Great review!
I’m also intrigued. I’ve seen the books a few times on other blogs, but I’m not sure if it was the book for me. Still not sure, but they do sound interesting and unique, so I shoul just give them a try.
I’m on the fifth book in this series and I just love them. Fforde’s sense of humor gets me every time.
I’ve heard so much about Fforde but somehow never got around to actually reading his books. I should definitely go dig a book out.