The Blurb:

Thursday Next definitely needs some downtime. After two rollicking New York Times-bestselling adventures through the Western literary canon, Britain's Prose Resource Operative was literally and literaturally at her wit's end - not to mention pregnant. So what could be more welcome than a restful stint in the Character Exchange Program down in the hidden depths of the Well of Lost Plots?

But a vacation remains elusive. In no time, Thursday discovers that the Well of Lost Plots is a veritable linguistic free-for-all where grammasites run rampant, plot devices are hawked on the black market and lousy books (like the one she has taken up residence in) are scrapped for salvage. To top it off, a murderer is stalking Jurisfiction personnel and nobody is safe, least of all Thursday herself.

Once again, it's up to the ever-resourceful gal detective to track down the killer, save her pulp-novel-slash-temporary abode from being chucked into the Text Sea, and get back to her "real" life with her body (and memory, if it's not too much to ask) intact.

This will be a ring to continue the series with the following participants (once I finish reading it, that is):

tenneh
cyber-librarian
Breeze144 ----> asked to be skipped
Maurean
Dusties
purpleskybaby
TracyR
Cross-patch
molekilby

Very witty - I greatly admire Jasper Fforde's skills with literature. I find these books engrossing, but impossible to explain to people who haven't read them....and really, impossible to make comments on beyond the blurbs. It was fun! I will have the book on its' way to tenneh next week (as the previous one has just been caught, I'll try not to bog tenneh down all at once!)

Off to read Something Rotten and get this series finished!

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent via airmail to tenneh!

Arrived today - I have a couple ahead of it (I'm reading Lost in a Good Book now!)

Great book! It's very different and I really like that. Can't wait to get into the next one!

RELEASE NOTES:

going to cyber-librarian

I received this in the mail yesterday from tenneh in NE ... as part of this bookring. I'm sorry I'm going through a tough reading period. I will do my best to get through these books.

c. 2003 -- 373 pages -- Hardcover -- #3 in Thursday Next series -- Characters and characteristics in literature -- Women detectives - Great Britain -- Books and reading -- Time travel -- Libraries -- #67 on BookCrossing 2008 Favorites list (series)

Back Cover:
1. The Well of Lost Plots - Title and location of next novel in the Thursday Next series of books. An amazing, brilliantly conceived continuation of the adventures of the fearless, resourceful literary detective and Jurisfiction operative.
2. A Thursday Next Novel - See The Eyre Affair and Lost in a Good Book, the first two adventures in the series, both available in paperback from Penguin.
3. Jasper Fforde - Widely considered a genius and a really nice guy. His name is really spelled this way. He worked in film for many years before his first novel was accepted for publication. He's never looked back.
4. Everybody loves Thursday Next and the series! - "Head-spinning narrative agility. His novel is satire, fantasy, literary criticism, thriller, whodunit, game, puzzle, joke, post-modern prank and tilt-a-whirl." (The WA Post) "An analogue of Harry Potter just for adults ... effortlessly readable and unashamedly escapist ... an immensely enjoyable, almost compulsive experience." (the NY Times Book Review) "If Thursday's adventures prove nothing else, it is that reading can be wonderfully exciting, a lot of fun, and a welcome, maybe even necessary, distraction from our quotidian cares." (Philadelphia Inquirer, Editor's Choice)
5. Visit www.thursdaynext.com - Enter Thursday's world. Play games. Win prizes. Talk to Jasper and other fans like yourself!
6. A special bonus chapter included! - Available only in the American edition - 100% free of charge.

UPDATE (1/19/07): Breeze144 has asked to be skipped, since she has her own copy of this book. So I contacted Maurean for her address.

I finished reading this today. Another enjoyable Thursday Next adventure. I was surprised at the amount of books mentioned that I have read. It helps to get all the inside jokes when you have already read the other books. It makes me want to read the few mentioned that are still on my TBR pile. I like all the storylines going on at once ... such as the romance between Lola and Randolph. I agree what Fforde has done in this series is very hard to explain to those who haven't read it. I like both endings to the book (chapter 34 and 34a). (page 362) "Who did kill Godot?" and (page 373) "Landen would have been proud of me."

POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT:
There's many great quotes in this book ... but this particular one made me laugh out loud. I think people will find it amusing who haven't even read the book. (page 354) "To avoid a repeat of this near disaster, the Council of Genres took the only course of action open to them to ensure TGC would be too inefficient and unimaginative to pose a threat. They appointed a committee to run it."

RELEASE NOTES:

I'm mailing this today to Maurean in FL ... as part of this bookring.

DC #0306-1070-0000-8356-1020

Arrived safely in Florida. I'm just finishing up my current read, then I will start on this straight away. Can't wait to see what Thursday's up to next! Thanks for sharing this, ajsmom.

I just love this series; each installment I find better than the last. Fforde's ability to take the reader (or, Outlander, if you prefer) 'into' this world of books is honed perfectly, to where even the made-up words are commonplace. Case in point, the following quote (I *luv* this!):

"Books may look like nothing more than words on a page, but they are actually an infinitely complex imaginotransference technology that translates odd, inky squiggles into pictures inside your head. Vast storycode engines at Text Grand Central throughput the images to the readers as they scan the text in the Outland." (pg. 48).

Thanks so much for sharing this, ajsmom, and as I have received Dusties addy, I will send it along on my next PO run. *mailed 2/15

Arrived safe and sound! I had just started a new book last night but will put it down and read this one first since I was only a couple pages into it and it hasn't had a chance to grab me to hard yet. Will journal here again shortly. Thanks Ajsmom for starting this ring.

Great Book!
Going off to purpleskybaby have Pmed for her addy.

I loved this so much, I read a library copy ao I didn't hold up the SR bookring too much as that got to me 1st. I loved miss havisham and Bradshaw. Jasper FForde is amazing :-) PMing TracyR for her address now

on its way to tracyR sorry for the delay!

Returned from honeymoon to find this and 3 other bookring books waiting for me. I will try to get through it as soon as i can. Thanks for sending it to me.

This is the 3rd in the Thursday Next series that i have read and to be honest, i am still not really enjoying them.
Thank you for including me in this ring though and i will get this sent on asap.

I'm so pleased this has arrived, so that I can continue with the series. Thank you, everybody.

I still love this series of books, although I had to concentrate harder this time - too many tangents for my little brain. I loved Lola and Randolph; they need their own series.

I have an address for molekilby so I shall go to the post tomorrow.

This arrived today. I have a couple before getting to this, but it should be on it's way within a month. Thanks Cross-patch for sending and ajsmom for sharing.

I finished this book on Monday, but was reminded that I hadn't put a review on the site, so here goes.

This was my favourite so far of the Thursday Next series. I think it suited me and my sense of humour down to the ground. So much so, during the time I was reading the book a colleague in the office described some individuals as a hardy bunch, and I immediately thought of a group of generics from a crowd scene in "Mayor Of Casterbridge". Fforde really does have a fantastic imagination as the plots just seem to hold together so well.

I have Something Rotten sitting on my shelf, I'll read it soon (I'm sure). Thanks ajsmom for sharing this with me and it will be posted right back at you over the weekend.

The book has made it home! Thanks, everyone, for taking such good care of it and keep your eyes open for more Jasper Fforde.

Handed to Canadateagirl at the first ever Prince George BC meetup!

This just made my day, thank you!!

I read Lost in a Good Book followed quickly by this one. What fun! I was grateful to have the book :) I am releasing this book on the book exchange shelf in the graduate lounge as I figure there will be other bookish type folk about there. If it does not move in a couple of months I will try to find it a more suitable home :) Bon Voyage!


Edit: Looks as though this book has found a home! (March 13, 2011)