The Eyre Affair & the Thursday Next Series

The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde is the first of the Thursday Next novels, and it is the novel I have gifted most to people who teach English. I think it is cleverly written and requires one to be well read and know characters from Austen, Dickens, and also understand theme and motivation behind the characters. It also requires death of the author, and the realization that words have a life of their own.

The five books in the series are not all equal. I enjoyed certain characters more than others. For example, I thought the series was most fleshed out, most round, and most touching in the scenes with her Uncle Mycroft (and the thought of him and Sherlock Holmes interacting was delightful!) I also thought that Something Rotten, was probably the strongest of the books, despite it being the zaniest of them because the theme in the book shows that no matter what, at their core, people have goodness inside of them: poetry can move us to find goodness inside ourselves. Words have the power to move us. Beware: Poetry has power. Despite all of the strong points in book four, the most touching ending was at the end of book three, which was the climax of the series, certainly. Her father, who's name is never, ever revealed, is a well rounded, delightful character only seen for literally flashes of time in the book that don't seem to matter, but they are enough to give us comic relief and insight into who he is and how Thursday feels about him.

My very favorite character is Granny Next, and she comprises the best moments of book four. She's the best parts of the series for me. I adore her and she reminds me much of Granny Weatherwax from Terry Pratchett's works. She's all knowing in blue gingham, and I loved her interaction with Thursday.

I did not enjoy the fifth book in the series. I found myself thinking, this is Thursday's future? Really? Wow. Middle age really does bite. I did love her children, and Landon was fantastic. Polly and her mother were still funny and silly, and I even still loved hating Lola Vavoom. Having read everything else Jasper Fforde had written, I expected to be thrilled to be visiting Thursday and her family again in her First Among Sequels, but I was SO DEPRESSED by her life. Read if you must, but if you want my advice? Imagine that her life stopped when you finish Something Rotten, and leave her when her future was amazing. Jasper Fforde has another book coming out in the Thursday Next series in the next year... I'll be reading it.

Recommend if you like Austen. It has strong language in it (She is a police officer). You should have read the classics. You should also understand literary speak like puns, allusion, etc. Much like Terry Pratchett. Would consider it to be like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Starting the Summer with Sookie Stackhouse

The summer truly got under swing when my sister loaned me all of her friend Hilary's "Sookie Stackhouse" books. These are not Twilight on steroids. Instead, this series, mystery/romance also ties fantasy vampires and fey with werewolves, shape-shifters, and anything else that can go bump-in-the-night. In truly "Harry Potter" fashion, the vampires have come out of their closets and are drinking a synthetic True Blood which allows them a mystical "science fiction" existence, but they really are just blood suckers.

Although the stories and characters are familiar creatures of nightmare, the twists and turns are new and enjoyable. For several books, one wonders why everyone (Bill, Eric, Sam, etc.) likes Sookie and wants her more than anyone else in existence, but the explanation, which was long in coming (book nine!), did make sense and created much of the plot for books nine and ten. Sookie's love interests have made for great reading, and vampires, weyrs, etc, do make for interesting bedfellows!

Not all ten of these books are great reads. None of them are for people under 18, and I am not recommending True Blood on HBO. That's not even SOFT porn. I got more than I bargained for when I attempted to watch part of the show one night! Wow. When I did wikipedia the synopsis of the show, I discovered it didn't follow the plot of the books, either. So two disappointing things, right there. If you choose to read Sookie, keep in mind, it's supermarket romance with fantasy vampires and mystery thrown in. Lots of vampires, sex, and blood. If that's your thing, Sookie is for you.

Recommend if you like Janet Evanovich, Anne Rice, and Nora Roberts.

After the Books of Summer Have Gone...

This summer I've made a goal to read 100 books and then during my initial "Getting to Know You" activity talk about what students read over the summer and give my spiel about critical/casual reading and Lake Powel (Lake Pal). I even have photos of Lake Powell readers to put up on my Eiki to go with it. (If you have a great Lake Pal story, please leave me a comment).

Anyway, I'm making my list, and checking it twice. I'll include the list of stuff I've read so far. Of course, I'm going to leave it in bunches since we've gone half-way through the summer. :o) This is going on my bulletin board with the Amazon.com method of rating. I'll also include "pit-churs" and if you've been in my class, you're all reliving how I pronounce that word, and wishing you could hear me "Say it again, Phipp." You know you are.