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Hello, I'm Kerian, and founder of this group. I hope to find other fans of Jasper Fforde's books. I first read a book by Jasper Fforde in September, 2004, this being The Eyre Affair. Late start, I know, but I came across it after reading Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. I'll have you know that I've read all of the author's books so far in both series. Below is how many times I've read each of his books:

Thursday Next series:
The Eyre Affair: 3
Lost in a Good Book: 2
The Well of Lost Plots: 2
Something Rotten: 2

Nursery Crime series:
The Big Over Easy: 2
The Fourth Bear: 1

Okay, not that many, I think, compared to some people, but I do enjoy and love these books. I have a woderful memory, and retract parts of books easily. An English major, I've been crazy to discuss these books with someone, but each time I get someone to read them, they are usually without comment. (However, just last week, someone became so amused that they insisted on reading aloud from The Well of Lost Plots about 'had had' and 'that that'.)

On an ending note, I would like to mention, for those unaware, that the title of Jasper Fforde's next two books are titled on the second to last page of his most recently published book (The Fourth Bear). These are "The War of the Words," to be released July 2007, and "The Last Great Tortoise Race" (no date). However, on Jasper Fforde's website, http://www.jasperfforde.com, he titles "The War of the Words" as "First Among Sequels" (release date varying by country), and even provides us with a summary of the book.

Dang, when I first saw the name of this group I thought it was for discussing Katie Fforde's books LOL. I haven't read Jasper yet, but they're on the TBR list. Maybe I'll come back when I've read a couple.

Sorry, I should have been more specific.

not to worry - Katie writes lightweight romances - enjoyable but not really much to discuss compared to Jasper from what I've heard :)

Hi Kerian -

Thanks for starting the group and for the invite. I'm a huge Jasper Fforde Fan (although I'm a little behind and haven't read The Fourth Bear yet). I picked up The Eyre Affair at a used book store a few years back and was thrilled that I was jumping into an active series with the Thursday Next books and eagerly read every one as they came out. Looking forward to First Among Sequels too but I think I'll reread Thursday's chronicles since I've read The Big Over Easy twice since I finished Something Rotten. What's your favorite Fforde book and/or who are your favorite characters? Thanks again for the group!

elbakerone :)

I tried to pick a favorite book, but I just can't. It's definately a Thursday Next book.

As for characters, I liked Mr. Rochester (though unsatisfied with the incomplete likeness to the original), the Cat, Hamlet, . . . hmm, it's been too long. (Or I read too much to keep them fresh in mind.)

I was amused by Jasper Fforde using Prometheus and Pandora. I only liked Humpty dead. (Really, what choice do we have?) I thought the backcover of The Big Over Easy rather humourous.

Hi, Kerian! I've just joined your Fforde group, the very first group I've joined on LT!

I actually picked up The Eyre Affair shortly after it was published in North America, after reading extremely intriguing and uniformly glowing reviews of it in several completely unrelated magazines - Time, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and, I believe, Harper's. I thought, if so many disparate reviewers adore this book, there might be something to it. And of course, it was love at first belly laugh (which was probably on reading the first page).

I've been a fan of his since then. I was actually pleased when he turned from the Thursday Next series to the Nursery Crimes one, though, because I felt TN needed a bit of a rest; looking forward to the new one in both series now!

As of yet, I've not found a single person who didn't enjoy his books. However, I once had a U.S. Women's Literature instructor who loved Jane Eyre but refused to pick up The Eyre Affair simply because it was written by a man.

Are there any readers of Jasper Fforde who also read books by J.K. Rowling? The reason I ask is because I've noticed there are only two to three days between the release dates of Fforde's First Among Sequels and Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. While I love that both books are coming out, I wish there would be more time between their releases so I could enjoy them better. Some books leave me with a difficultly in picking up another book, and I hate that I'm going to be jumping into Fforde's next book that way. I suppose one could write about books on LB and move on easier, but there's no way I'm going to be responsible for spoiling a newly released book. That's just so low!

Won't effect me - I do read Rowling but I'll wait for the paperback in both cases, I'm sure the books will be further apart by then, and considering I'll re-read the entire lead up series in both cases I'll have quite a gap between owning and reading in any case.

reading_fox:

Are all your books by Jasper Fforde in paperback?

I like keeping a series consistent in whether I own them in hardcover or paperback. I have Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series in paperback, and because I didn't want to wait, I got his Jack Spratt series in hardcover. With his next book, I'm getting it in hardcover, and it'll throw me off.

I try to keep consistent with all authors as much as possible, but it doesn't always work that way. Oh, well. (In the case of Rowling, I couldn't possibly wait for paperback or else greatly risk the chance of having it ruined for me. I have books 1-3 in paperback of both US and UK editions, and books 4-6 of the US edition in hardcover, while waiting for book 4 in the UK edition from BookMooch. Eventually, I'll get the others in hardcover and give my US paperbacks to one of my sisters.)

Yep - Just about everything I own is in paperback, I'll get around to tagging the hardbacks someday - I just don't have space for them and they cost more.

Patience is a virtue. I managed to avoid all spoilers for Ootp till maybe a month before the paperback came out. - and I'm not too fussed, I mean we all know Harry will win, its the how that's important for me, and that's very difficult to spoil.

I hope to do the same this time too - I'll leave certain groups on LT before the 21st July.

I buy used books more frequently than new ones, and the shop I go to has a large section where everything is three dollars and under. (I'm unsure how this converts to currency in the UK.) As I often pick books from there, I'm not choosy about the book being paperback or hardcover at that price.

That's amazing for you having being able to go that long before Ootp was spoiled for you. I got mine delivered in hardcover the first morning it was available, but since I'd brought the newspaper in for my grandmother, a headline ruined a major event for me. This summer, it's "sorry, Grandma, no can do!" I agree that he will win, but simply question whether winning comes at the price of dying.

This group, too? Unfortunately, I can't speak for the future actions of others. As for myself, I plan to wait until the paperback release before posting about "First Among Sequels." I know too well the wait for paperbacks by this author. Also, I figure more people will be getting his paperback than hardcover.

I just love this link that Jasper Fforde has on his website.

http://www.jasperfforde.com/games/bosscoming.html

Completely agree with you on this one Kerian! It's going to be a tough few days...

#15 mle_c:
You going to be reading both the next HP and Fforde's next book this summer?

Most definitely! Can't wait for both of them...
Do you know what the release date of the next ffabulous Fforde will be?
Oh & I really love his website. It is a major distraction!

#17 mle_c:

If you're in the US, the date's been changed from the 23rd to the 19th of July. Otherwise, I don't know offhand. It's definitely posted in this group, though!

Won't that be something? Two great books back-to-back. (Hehe, it's almost like the tv advertising, but I know some of us don't have tvs.)

Well I'm in Oz so I wonder how that changes things? HP at least is globally the 21st - which means you're going to be v v busy on the 19th & 20th of July. Unless of course you hold back to read HP & then read TN at your leisure?

Well I'm in Oz so I wonder how that changes things? HP at least is globally the 21st - which means you're going to be v v busy on the 19th & 20th of July. Unless of course you hold back to read HP & then read TN at your leisure?

You're in Oz? First thing I thought you meant was a Maguire book, or is that an abbreviation for a place I can't look up in my dictionary of imaginary places? (I really do have one of those! :)

Yes, I will be very, very busy from the nineteenth till the twenty-third, as I'll spend all those days with my nose in a book. I never spend more than two days in an HP book over a release weekend - don't want them to be spoiled for me! Also, I will be reading Fforde's book first. I can't just stare at the book (I'll buy it the day it's released) and not read it, knowing I have it and desperately want to read it. I'm just not always strong enough for that. :) Another reason for reading the TN book first is that I'll be taking summer final exams the following week, and only read textbooks as a rule to myself during that time.

Well, I finally finished reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, so I now feel I can start reading The Eyre Affair, which I've been looking forward to for AGES now (I actually bought it with birthday money last September, would you believe?!). I'm literally rubbing my hands together in glee here!

Hehe. I hope you enjoy it! :)

Edited: I should really stop typing at night - so many errors!

I read the scene where Thursday goes to see Richard III performed in the style of The Rocky Horror Show. OMG! How FUNNY is that scene!?! I would love to see it performed that way - LOL! I am LOVING this book so much and will definitely be reading the rest of the Thursday Next series...

#24 Kell:
I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the book! FForde is without a doubt my favorite author.

How fun, a Jasper Fforde group. I don't personally know anyone who's read the Thursday Next series (though I've been recommending the books to friends and family as I read them), so I was please to find this... I just discovered the series myself a few months ago (I'm on book #3 now) and am having such fun! The best part of having discovered them only recently is that I can read a whole bunch in a row without having to wait for the next release.

I wasn't aware of another Fforde series. How does it compare?

Welcome, annehoehman!

Better news for you yet, is that there will be a fifth book next month, in hardcover. :) In my library, I've rated Fforde's other series (Jack Spratt Nursery Crime series) with four stars, while I rate his 'Thursday Next' series with five stars. That said, I enjoy his original series better than the second one, but both are good. As someone who reads classic books and doesn't have children (it has been years since I read some of the nursery books to my kid sister), I find the 'Thursday Next' series easier to relate to, as crazy as those books may seem. I love the humor Fforde uses, which you can find just as much, I believe, in the Jack Spratt Nursery Crime series. I hope you enjoy that series as well, which is definitely worth pursuing. :)

Well, having read the two Nursery Crimes books and the first Thursday Next book, I've just ordered Lost in a Good Book, The Well of Lost Plots and Something Rotten from Amazon, as I had £15 of vouchers to spend (so I'm getting them and only having to pay £1.68, which is a MAJOR bargain by anyone's standards!).

Am now rubbing my hands together in glee at the thought of getting my mitts on 'em!

I'm going to Swindon for a week next Wednesday, so I'm taking Lost in a Good Book with me - it seems appropriate - LOL!

I only wish we were flying on Thursday so I could say, "I'm going to Swindon Thursday Next"...

#29 Kell:
Sounds like you're going to have an exciting trip. :)

Well, as I'm going to Swindon, where there's nothing to do but LEAVE Swindon, I'm guessing I'll have plenty of reading time! LOL!

If you get the chance listen to BBC7, Mitch Bend of The Now Show has a funny song about Swindon - City of Tomorrow.

Just found this group and was sad to see it was not very current. So I'll share my close encounter of the Fforde kind. Jasper Fforde was in Brookline MA last summer to promote 1st among Sequels. The Brookline Booksmith sponsored the world's smallest parade (and shortest) The parade consisted of a trumpet, a sign and Jasper, giving his best regal wave to the baffled traffic gridlocked as the parade crossed the street to the theater where he spoke. Hard to believe, he's even funnier in person. Insight I most enjoyed: his own teenaged son was the inspiration for Thursday's. I managed to get into a fenderbender on my way to the event but made in time for all the fun.

I heard there wasn't any new Fforde coming out this summer? Must I reread? Fforde books have been a summer staple for me since The Eyre Affair.

The next Fforde book is Shades of Gray and will be coming out July 2009. If you want to know more about the book go to Jasperfforde.com It is a Science Fiction story that doesn't take place in the book world of Thursday Next or the Nursery Crime world.