Lost in a Good Book (Thursday Next, #2)

by Jasper Fforde

book data

8,044 ratings, 4.05 average rating, 648 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		31%
4		45%
3		19%
2		2%
1		0%

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published

January 1st 2003 by Viking (first published 2002)

details

Paperback

characters

Miss Havisham, Thursday Next, Landen Parke-Laine …more

setting

United Kingdom

isbn

0965752615 (isbn13: 9780965752619)

description

The inventive, exuberant, and totally original literary fun that began with The Eyre Affair continues with Jasper Fforde's magnificent second adventur…more

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 10,097)

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May 14, 2009

Jon rated it:

(review of isbn 0142004030)

bookshelves: fantasy, fiction, mystery, read-in-my-40s

Read in July, 2009

recommended to Jon by: Alternative World Book Club Summer Series 2009 Thursday Next

3.5 stars

Thursday Next is happily married, pregnant, still working as a Literary Detective in SO-17 and the toast of the town of Swindon for her work in the case of The Eyre Affair. But all is not cookies and cream for long. Landen is eradicated by Goliath Corporation to blackmail Thursday into retrieving one of their employees incarcerated in Poe's The Raven. And as if that's not enough, her rogue chronoguard father warns Thursday the world will be consumed in pink gooey slime in...more

Like this review? yes (9 people liked it)

1 comment

Mar 05, 2008

Lena rated it:

(review of isbn 0142004030)

bookshelves: fiction

Though I'm not generally a big fan of book series, the Thursday Next books are really growing on me. This second book picks up shortly after The Eyre Affair ended and follows Thursday as she again tangles with Goliath, tries to figure out why she is experiencing life-threatening coincidences, and begins to learn more about the fine art of book-jumping.

Though character development does not seem to be Fforde's priority and the bad guys in particular a little too thinly drawn, the un...more

Like this review? yes (5 people liked it)

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Mar 02, 2009

Judy rated it:

(review of isbn 0142004030)

I'm in love with this series although I apear to be reading them out of order. This is the second in the series, and Thursday Next, who works as a Literary Dtective in Special Ops, has just her ground-breaking work in The Eyre Affair (she ended up changing the ending from Jane moving to India to Jane staying in England and marrying Mr. Rochester). Thursday is the talk of the town and Special Ops Public Relations wants her to do everything from television appearances (highly censored) to a poss...more

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

2 comments

Sep 11, 2008

Sandi rated it:

(review of isbn 0142004030)

bookshelves: 2008, fantasy

Owns a copy — Read in October, 2008

Curses! About 40 pages from the end, I had to run out and get the next book in the Thursday Next series, "Well of Lost Plots." This book doesn't have an ending! Even worse, I got sucked up into it and had to keep going.

"Lost in a Good Book" is the sequel to "The Eyre Affair" starring spec ops officer Thursday Next. To say that Thursday's life is complicated is an understatement. I'm not going to get into the plot or characters of this book. To do...more

Like this review? yes (4 people liked it)

3 comments

Jan 14, 2008

Martine rated it:

(review of isbn 1840328436)

bookshelves: british, humour, modern-fiction, postmodern, science-fiction

Read in December, 2007

The second book in the Thursday Next series provides more literary fun for those who are into that kind of thing.

Thursday's exploits in Jane Eyre have made her a bit of a celebrity, which means she has to make regular appearances on TV. Not everybody likes her, though; a mysterious foe keeps trying to kill her, her husband of one month has been eradicated from history and if that weren't bad enough, her time-travelling father tells her Armageddon is at hand. So not only does Thursda...more

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Sep 05, 2007

Tracey rated it:

(review of isbn 0142004030)

Read in June, 2004

recommends it for: mystery readers may be frustrated, but general bibliophiles should have a rollicking good time

checked out Lost in a Good Book after refreshing my memory of Thursday Next by re-reading The Eyre Affair. [later purchased this]

The second book starts with Thursday as a semi-newlywed, continuing her work with SpecOps 27, the Literary Detectives Division. In between giving unwilling interviews, being harassed by Goliath and determining whether a newly-discovered play really was by Shakespeare, she is introduced to the Department of Jursifiction; run by those in the bookworld to mak...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

2 comments

Mar 12, 2008

Lisa Vegan rated it:

(review of isbn 0142004030)

bookshelves: bookclubs-gr-groups, books-about-books, favorite-time-travel-books, fiction, mystery, novels, reviewed, speculative-fiction

Read in May, 2008

recommends it for: almost everyone I know who enjoys reading

While I didn’t feel quite the same extreme sense of glee about the final parts of the book as I did with the end the first book in the series (The Eyre Affair), the events toward the end of the book were, once again, exceedingly clever. And: I think that I enjoyed this book even more than the first one, which is saying a lot. I’m also thrilled because several people have told me that the next/third book in the series is their favorite so far; I believe that there are 5 now. I’m therefore v...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

2 comments

Nov 24, 2008

Jan rated it:

(review of isbn 0142004030)

Read in December, 2008

recommended to Jan by: Can't remember.
recommends it for: Everyone!

If you like reading, you will love Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series. Set in an alternative history of England (and the world in general), where 27 levels of Special-Ops monitor everything and the mega-corporation Goliath is waiting to take over the world, it follows Thursday's adventures as a Litra-Tech apprentice of Miss Havisham of Great Expectations fame.

If you like books, spies and England and fantasy, this is a must read. Be sure to read The Eyre Affair first.

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

1 comment

Dec 28, 2008

Lightreads rated it:

(review of isbn 0142004030)

bookshelves: derivative-fiction, fiction, science-fiction, urban-fantasy

Read in August, 2006

Sequel to The Eyre Affair. Literary Detective Thursday Next is dealing with her sudden fame, pregnancy, the eradication of her husband from the timeline in order to force her to work for megacorp Goliath by going into books, the thing where someone is trying to kill her, her training as a Jurisfiction (hee) agent to ensure the integrity of books, and the impending end of the world.

Weird, fun, metafictional. Thursday slides in and out of books and her brand of reality, and there are s...more

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Sep 17, 2008

Tim rated it:

(review of isbn 0142004030)

bookshelves: fiction

Read in September, 2008

recommends it for: lovers of literary allusion and time travel

Well, as far as I know, this is the first time I've jumped into a series in its second book, and I can't help but think that this hurt me a little. I wasn't aware the extent to which Fforde's world is in an alternate reality, and I'm sure there are several nuances that would have seemed less "hinky" had I allowed him to bring me in at his own pace. The subtleties of SpecOps and the proliferation of self-allusion made book 2 a place that I was slow to warm up to. However, as fellow r...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

3 comments

Sep 07, 2008

Corprew rated it:

(review of isbn 0142004030)

This is a great book and deals with a lot of fiction and metafiction issues skillfully without degenerating into a fourth-wall-breaking wankfest. I highly recommend it for light reading, although it deals with a bunch of theoretically complex issues, it doesn't deal with their complexity, and instead builds itself on the model of a suspense novel.

Fforde's skill at writing makes this a real page-turner.

The only issue with the book is that some of the wordplay is tied to t...more

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Jul 19, 2007

Minh rated it:

(review of isbn 0142004030)

bookshelves: speculativefiction

Read in July, 2007

While I thought the initial Thursday Next novel was a bit too clear cut, Thursday is married and happy and all seems well. Jasper Fford turns this upside down quite nicely by having Landon eradicated, Thursday left alone and pregnant and hiding out in the Fictional world.

Taking away the Landon factor really lets us focus again on Thursday herself which I thought was a really clever move. Once again exploring the world within books the 2nd novel in this series introduces us more clea...more

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Nov 14, 2007

Trouble rated it:

(review of isbn 0142004030)

Read in June, 2006

Jasper Fforde uses sci-fi/fantasy in an unusual way - if you generally don`t enjoy all that "crazy futuristic stuff" or "elves and wizards" stories but are still willing to give something not-entirely-realistic a try, you may enjoy his writing. The pacing tends to be rapid, and there`s enough of everyday reality that those who aren`t hardboiled fantasy fans will be able to hold their own without too much trouble - in most cases.

In this second Thursday Next book, t...more

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Jan 10, 2008

Gail rated it:

(review of isbn 0142004030)

bookshelves: 2008, junk-reads

Read in February, 2008

A small disappointment after "The Eyre Affair". The hook or gimmick, that of an alternative reality where literature has a huge impact on humans' lives, apparently only holds up for one novel. I thought the first book was cute, innovative, and funny. Here the jokes became worn, the hook repetetive, and the characters just boxy and one-noted.
The plot, which apparently is going to go on a la Harry Potter, involves Thursday trying to rescue her loved ones and herself. Just not very...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

1 comment

Dec 23, 2007

Skylar Burris rated it:

(review of isbn 0142004030)

bookshelves: fantasy, mystery

Although some of the novelty of Thursday Next's world has worn off by the time the reader reaches this sequel to The Eyre Affair, Fforde adds enough new treats to keep the book feeling almost as fresh as its prequel. The humour is as sharp as ever; indeed, Lost in a Good Book may be even funnier than Fforde's previous novel. The book is an easy read and is just fun. It narrates every bibliophile's childlike fantasy--the idea of being able to travel through books. There was one flaw in the wo...more

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Apr 14, 2007

Anna rated it:

(review of isbn 0142004030)

Read in April, 2007

recommends it for: everyone

Oh, this is brilliant! Much better than book 1, ( The Eyre Affair), this is nerdy, imaginative and completely insane. There wasn't a chapter that didn't make me giggle, and there wasn't a single person who understood when I tried to explain what was so funny. Fforde knows his stuff, and, being done with awkward character intro, lets the wacky loose. It's a fast, easy read that despite that leaves quite an impression. The only minus is a complete lack of plot resolution, we have to wait for the n...more

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Mar 28, 2009

Breann Thompson rated it:

(review of isbn 0142004030)

Read in March, 2009

I dove into this book without having read its predecessor and, although there were times I found myself mildly confused, it's not impossible to do.

The plot is well developed and builds itself upon the intriguing idea (logically presented in the first book) that the characters of the world's written works (both beloved and loathed) lead lives within and betwen their bound homes in "The Great Library." Our protagonist, Thursday Next, works for a branch of the government devo...more

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Dec 02, 2009

Leslie rated it:

(review of isbn 0142004030)

bookshelves: british, englishgeeklit, fantasy, fiction, own

Read in November, 2009

After her husband's eradication, Thursday Next decides to take up an apprenticeship with Ms. Havisham (from Great Expectations) and live in an unpublished novel in the Well of Lost Plots until she gives birth. As she learns the ropes of Jurisfiction duty, she discovers that someone is trying to kill her, that a icky pink substance is going to destroy the (real) world in a month's time, the book she's currently living in will most likely be torn apart for scrap if it doesn't get more interesting...more

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Nov 10, 2009

Annette rated it:

(review of isbn 0142004030)

bookshelves: mystery, sci-fi

Read in October, 2009

I jumped into the middle of this series when I found the audio recording of this book on the shelf at the library without the prequel "The Eyre Affair."
For the most part it's an enjoyable and engaging read. It, like all of Fforde's books, is filled - perhaps overfilled - not only with puns but also with allusions to literature of all sorts. A trully erudite reader would probably get more out of it than I did, although I could smile at much of it. Listening to it on tape is n...more I jumped into the middle of this series when I found the audio recording of this book on the shelf at the library without the prequel "The Eyre Affair."
For the most part it's an enjoyable and engaging read. It, like all of Fforde's books, is filled - perhaps overfilled - not only with puns but also with allusions to literature of all sorts. A trully erudite reader would probably get more out of it than I did, although I could smile at much of it. Listening to it on tape is not the best way to catch all of this humor, either, I must admit!
A few criticisms, though. First, the narrator on the recording had a tendency to "over-emote." She'd read certain bits of dialog in a surprised, sharp, frustrated, or other tone that was not necessarily in the text. In other words, the text might have read "muttered," "mumbled," or even "apologized," but the narrator's tone was none of the above. I had to remind myself not to hold the author accountable for the reader's lapses. That said, I think that modifiers such as "muttered" were overused. :} Second, despite the fact that in addition to the many other issues in the main character's life her time-travelling father has certain knowledge that the world is about to end next week, Thursday spends surprisingly little time worrying about this. In fact, on the day of the cataclysm she sleeps in and then spends some hours in her flat trying to decide where to go. In several other instances, how she chooses to spend her time seems out of touch with the reality she is apparently living and one gets the impression that the author really wants to write about, say, zombies, Sense and Sensibility, neanderthals, or the behavior of book lovers at a going-out-of-business sale, whether or not it really makes any sense for his character to be spending her time in these pursuits.

But, it was fun and imaginative, even if the "rules" of his alternate worlds are not entirely clear. I do plan to pick up the first and third entries in the series - probably even in order. But I think I'll read instead of listen. (less)

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Oct 23, 2009

Sarah Finley rated it:

(review of isbn 0142004030)

Read in September, 2009

Lost in a Good Book - what a title. Would I have been in such a situation! Sadly, I was not, and I really hated this book to begin with. Half a star rating at best. In fact, the only reason I finished it was so that I could give it a bad review. By the end, I was able to stomach it, which isn't much for praise.

I haven't much patience with books that try to be clever, and this book is dripping with unsupportable pretentiousness. For a long time, I thought the main character was ...more

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