Lost in a Good Book

By: Jasper Fforde

Narrated by: Emily Gray

Length: 13 hrs

Publisher's Summary

Intrepid literary detective Thursday Next is back in the second installment of Jasper Fforde's one-of-a-kind series. The inventive, exuberant, and totally original literary fun that began with The Eyre Affair continues with Jasper Fforde’s magnificent second adventure starring the resourceful, fearless literary sleuth Thursday Next.

When Landen, the love of her life, is eradicated by the corrupt multinational Goliath Corporation, Thursday must moonlight as a Prose Resource Operative of Jurisfiction—the police force inside books. She is apprenticed to the man-hating Miss Havisham from Dickens’s Great Expectations, who grudgingly shows Thursday the ropes. And she gains just enough skill to get herself in a real mess entering the pages of Poe’s "The Raven".

What she really wants is to get Landen back. But this latest mission is not without further complications.

Along with jumping into the works of Kafka and Austen, and even Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies, Thursday finds herself the target of a series of potentially lethal coincidences, the authenticator of a newly discovered play by the Bard himself, and the only one who can prevent an unidentifiable pink sludge from engulfing all life on Earth.

Delve into Jasper Fforde's literary universe with the other books in his Thursday Next fantasy/detective series.

©2011 Jasper Fforde (P)2011 Penguin Audiobooks

It takes a little while to get lost...

I had a bit of a hard time with the narrative transition. I listened to 'The Eyre Affair' and 'Lost in a Good Book' back to back, I enjoy running to audio books, and had a hard time switching from listening to narrators Susan Duerdan to Emily Gray. Gray tends to make the male characters sound slow and stupid, including Landen and she seems to have a hard time changing characters using the same voices for characters in conversation as well. However, once I was able to move past the quirks of getting used to a new narrator I thoroughly enjoyed the second installment in the 'Thursday Next' series.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Stick with it the second half it better

The Eyre Affair was enjoyable and I was very excited for this book. It was a bit hard to get into and I think part of the reason was I was disappointed Susan Duerden didn't read it. Emily Gray did well with female voices and the dramatization but her male voices were really disappointing. Landon especially was bad, he sounded like he had a really bad cold and was monotone, slower spoken, and overall just bad. The narration did get better as the book goes on and you get used to it

The second half is great fun and reminded me why I liked The Eyre Affair so much. Thursday is now famous and doesn't like it. She is being censored and being pulled into SpecOps politics. This is the first half and is a bit slow but the second half pulls in her father, the possibility of the end of the world, Goliath, and jumping in and out of books. It's fabulous.

This is not something to read when you are looking for something serious or realistic. Read it to have fun and enjoy the literary references. It's not written badly and it leaves you feeling good and laughing. It makes me wish I could have a dodo as a pet.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Great narration

Emily Gray is a wonderful narrator I enjoyed her very much! I do believe you have to be a bibliophile to enjoy these books because if you don’t know the characters from the books it may not make sense but I love all the literary references sometimes I’m not sure who someone is but it makes you want to do research and pick up another book and that is never a bad thing!I did enjoy this one and there are laugh out loud moments.
But I am really curious why the next book in this series the Well of Lost Plots is not available when all the rest of the series is.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

What happened to Landen?

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Pretty good story and full of funny word play.

Would you be willing to try another book from Jasper Fforde? Why or why not?

I will be buying the next in the series.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Emily Gray?

I much preferred Susan Duerdan's narration. Emily Gray's Landen sounded like Winnie the Pooh's Eyeore and she doesn't keep the characters consistent throughout the narration.

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

I fell asleep sometimes...

Sigh...I loved "The Eyre Affair" and eagerly began reading this second book of the series. Unfortunately, it just didn't do it for me. The story, while having bright moments, just was too predictable. The format closely followed that of the first book and what I found to be bright and witty there, became redundant and somewhat tarnished in this story. I must admit to being persnickety about my expectations, so maybe I would be considered harsh in my evaluation, but still...I had planned on reading all the books in the series; instead I struggled to finish this one. I won't be reading the rest.

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

I did get lost and I'm not coming back

One of the best books I have ever read. I can't tell you a best moment because it was the whole book.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Absolutely lovely

I heart the Jasper Ffordeverse--it's engaging, full of TERRIBLE jokes, suspenseful, creative. And Emily Gray is Thursday.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Terrible narrator

I love these stories but this narrator made the male characters sound terrible and grating.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Zany fun with action.

This is crazy fun listening - makes me chuckle and smile. My Rating 4.5.

Thursday Next is a spunky literary detective working for Spec Ops (Special Operations) in an alternate London. Thursday won notoriety in her successful investigation in Book 1, The Eyre Affair, when she took down a prime criminal, Hades. Thursday is dodging the division’s publicist who keeps seeking her presence for promotions.

During an investigation, Thursday is caught in a time slip that involves her with Neanderthals, who have been recreated and trapped as civil slaves. A second loop indicates that Thursday is the target of an assassin. Thursday’s father is fully aware of time jumps and time slips as he was a “Chronoguard” officer who went rogue and lives in an alternate timeline while trying to prove corruption in the system. He is willing to help Thursday but needs her help to prevent the eminent destruction of the world from a strange pink goo.

Meanwhile Thursday is also facing threats from the corrupt corporate giant, Goliath. Goliath’s leader has a step-brother who was trapped by Thursday in Poe’s The Raven. Now the leader has ‘eradicated’ Thursday's husband, Landon. He is blackmailing Thursday to show him how to get into the literary library world to rescue his step brother.

The prior portal to the literary realm was opened by Thursday’s uncle, a prolific inventor. Now it has been closed and Thursday doesn’t realize she can get to the realm without the portal until she is cornered. She finds herself in the world of Dicken’s Great Expectations where she becomes the apprentice to Miss Havisham. She is assigned to help with the internal police force, the Prose Resource Operative of Jurisfiction. During her tasks Thursday ventures into the worlds of Kafka, Jane Austen, and even Beatrix Potter. She makes enemies and friends of the Neanderthals who have been recreated and trapped as civil slaves.

If all of that sounds rather crazy, it is – zany, crazy fun especially for those of us bibliophiles who are familiar with the classic authors and works that make up part of the stories’ adventures. It had been a while since I read The Eyre Affair but I remembered that it was fun listening. As I began this story it took me only a few minutes to remember the characters and get back into the fast-paced, comical stream of Thursday’s world. I love her unique pet, Pickwick, a dodo bird. The author melds literary characters with a rather fantastical world of strange, and sometimes corrupt, police procedures.

I recommend this series to readers who want to enjoy light, fun, literature name-dropping entertainment. I will be picking up Book 3, The Well of Lost Plots: A Thursday Next Novel, for future listening fun.

Audio Notes: Emily Gray does a wonderful job narrating this craziness. Her tone conveys a perfect flighty atmosphere to enhance the characters and dialogue. Although I am sure this is fun in print, for me it is a hoot in audio.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Very British

The second in the Next series is good fun - - and more British than the Queens bloomers. I'm certain I'm missing some of the jokes and many of the asides because I wasn't born in London, but it really doesn't matter. There's more than enough humor left for us upstarts to still have a giggle or two. But, there are more deep concerns and less tidy plot fixes in this book than the last, but knowing you're reading a series helps quell the concerns.

Narrator is great!

3 of 4 people found this review helpful