The Big Over Easy, a review

It has been a while since I read any Jasper Fforde books, so it was a lot of fun to jump back in with The Big Over Easy. This is a companion series to the Thursday Next novels, but instead we’re following two detectives in the Nursery Crime Division in Reading.

If you want a super quick review of this, then this book is ridiculous, incredibly British, and a lot of fun. Exactly what I expected going into a Fforde book! But let’s look in a little more detail.

Some parts of the mystery within this book were a little too predictable, but I think they’re supposed to be that way because it’s utilised well known (as least in Britain) nursery rhymes and children’s story characters. So we know how the plot is supposed to go already. It’s a lot of fun to have all these aspects, as well as the mystery itself, interplay.

The series is more disconnected from the Thursday Next stories than I had expected, but this is actually a good thing. Especially for new readers. It means that you 100% don’t have to have read the Thursday Next books to start this series, and if you have then there are some minor Easter Eggs for you to enjoy. But nothing that impacts the plot. And we don’t go inside of literature at all in this book, something that I was disappointed with when I first started the book but I really didn’t mind it overall. It’s also set around 15 years after the start of the Next books.

We have another primary character who is female, but I found Mary to be quite different from Thursday (even if they both have stupid names: Mary Mary) and she’s another woman who I don’t hate reading from – high praise for a male author (which is sad lol). I also really enjoyed reading from our other MCs POV – Jack Spratt. He is a down on his luck inspector and I loved seeing how he tackled the case and took input from his team.

On CAWPILE I rated this: Characters: 8, Atmosphere: 8, Writing: 9, Plot: 8, Intrigue: 8, Logic: 8, Enjoyment: 8, giving an overall 8.14 score and a 4.5* rating.

Highlight here for trigger warnings: anxiety, cheating, death, depression, feet (a lot of mentions of feet and feet ailments), gun violence, murder, parent death (off page, in the past), spouse death (off page, in the past), suicide.

I am so glad that I’ve dived back into Fforde’s writing after some time away. And I’ve not actually finished the Thursday Next series (or caught up with it, if the supposed new release in 2023 is to be believed) so I might have to put those on my tbr next!

Have you read anything from Fforde? What do you think of his work? Let me know!

My May tbr

The fact we’re already so far into the year is panicking me a little, but let’s focus on all the books I’m hoping on reading this month!

I’m back on my BookTube Bullshit (TM) this month so if you’d like to see my tbr in video form instead then click below!

To the books!!

First up we have This Vicious Cure by Emily Suvada which is the third book in the This Mortal Coil series. This is all about a disease which causes people to explode, and is set in a world where people can manipulate their DNA. A Sci-Fi YA and I have *adored* the first two books so I’m super excited to delve into this final one!

Rebel Heart by Moira Young means I’m continuing in another series, but this time with the second book in the trilogy of Blood Red Road. Set in a Dystopian future in the continental US and following a young woman who, in the first book, sets out to find her brother after he was kidnapped by the Tonton.

Then I want to read Illumicrate’s book for last month, Portrait of a Thief by Grace D Li which is set around five Chinese American teens/young adults “stealing” back artefacts from Western museums which were originally stolen from China. The concept is amazing and I’m really looking forward to delving in.

For a fun book I’ve went with The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde which is a companion series to Thursday Next and follows nursery rhyme characters inside their book world. British humour at its most ridiculous is what I’m expecting!

Graceling by Kristin Cashore is a “classic” YA fantasy that Kar-ing for Books and Veronica’s Shelf are super excited for me to read, and given that I bought the four books currently out in Feb? Well I felt like I should get going!

My non-fiction pick for the month is Living Planet by David Attenborough which is a republishing (with significant edits apparently) from the original in the 80s. I adore all things Earth Science and Ecology so I am 100% here for this.

I’d love to get to The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde this month. It’s only a short classic and I’ve heard amazing things about Wilde’s writing!

Wild and Wicked Things by Francesca May came in my Goldsboro box and I like to try and read those and keep on top of them so I’m definitely diving into this one. All I know about it is that it’s a Historical Fantasy set during the 1920s!

And last but never least, my audiobook for the month is The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein, and yes it’s shameful I’ve not read it yet. There’s a free audiobook available on Spotify and I’m really excited to delve into this beloved fantasy world!

And that’s it! Just a short tbr this month as I get back into the swing of things. Have you read any of these? Tell me what you thought of them! And have you picked out your May TBR? Let me know what you’re excited to read this month!!

Goodreads Monday #2

Goodreads Monday is hosted by Lauren’s Page Turners and all you need to do is show off a book from your TBR that you’re excited to read!

The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde

I’ve listened to the first five books in the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde and absolutely loved them! This is a tangent series, set in the world of fairy tales, and I just had to pick it up and see if I like other works by Fforde! I 100% recommend the Thursday Next series if you like books about books and fantasy worlds, and for this book? Check out the synopsis below!:

Dead bodies never look like this.

It’s Easter in Reading – a bad time for eggs – and the shattered, tuxedo-clad corpse of local businessman Humpty Stuyvesant Van Dumpty III has been found lying beneath a wall in a shabby part of town. Humpty was one of life’s good guys – so who would want him knocked off? And is it a coincidence that his ex-wife has just met with a sticky end down at the local biscuit factory?

A hardened cop on the mean streets of the Thames Valley’s most dangerous precinct, DI Jack Spratt has seen it all, and something tells him this is going to be a tough case to crack…

This tag is just reminding me of the potentially amazing books I have on my tbr that I need to get to!!

My audiobook go to

Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series is one of the only audiobooks I enjoy. I intend to attempt to change that over time, but the second book in the series was the first audiobook I had finished since Harry Potter (narrated by Steven Fry of course) and I have gotten very used to the style. This book is #5 in the series, and First Among Sequels is the first book in a second “series” in this world, I’ve seen many complaints about the fact that this series was continued on when it should have been left at 4 books but personally I really enjoyed this and I’m looking forward to listening to the next two books.

If you’re familiar with the series, you’ll know all about Thursday and her very weird life. In this book, there has been a big jump in time from book 4 and we now follow a 50+ y/o Thursday as she works, raises children and tries not to get caught doing certain jobs by her lovely husband Landen.

I always love all the references to other literature and the wild and wacky utilisations Fforde makes use of. If you want an insane read where nothing seems to make sense, and some people’s favourite character is a dodo (she doesn’t do much, she’s just a dodo, but fight me she’s great), then definitely pick up the first book in this series!

Too Bloody Busy

So… I did read books in March. I read 4 books, but I honestly have not had the time to write reviews for them. Not even little ones (apart from one… but that was sent promotionally sooo)

Yeah basically my life is a mess rn, I had two presentations in 7 days which both were marked and counted for part of my masters and one presentation also had a poster with it which required modelling of lava flows and I had maaannyy late nights. Luckily my assignment that was due tomorrow has been pushed back by a month cause of Brexit mucking everything up royally, meaning I can actually take a few days to breath, relax and maybe even try and read.

But onto the books I read, no pretty pictures this month:

• First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde. I listened to this on audiobook and these books are always so much fun! I’ll be sad when I reach the end of this series
• Spare and Found Parts by Sarah Maria Griffin. I’m so happy that I’ve finally read this beautiful work of literature, I 100% recommend if you’re a human being
• The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman. Another book I recommend if you’re a human, actually have a full review of this one so check it out here!
• The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom. Last book of the month, enjoyable and a quick read. Glad I picked it up.

 

I’m not making any concrete plans for April, but I am attempting the magical readathon and trying to do my O.W.L.’s so fingers crossed for that. I also have loads of assignments due at the end of April but maybe if I manage to keep track of my time I can be less stressed and keep on top of things? (That’ll never happen but I can still dream!!)

Thank you for putting up with me while I’ve been so MIA everywhere. The books I review will be less frequently posted soon as I run out of my backlogged reviews, but I promise to keep trying to post things. I just need to prioritise my masters’ rn. If you’ve got any questions about anything please do ask in the comments!

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, a review

I’m not going to lie to you guys, this book was purely a cover buy. But not the usual “this cover is so pretty and I need it” sort of cover buy, but more of a “what the actual f*ck is in this book if that’s the cover and blurb?” kinda buy. I saw it when volunteering in a British Heart Foundation charity shop (they put me in charge of the books, it was great!) and just had to buy it for myself.

I found this book to be so much fun! The whole world in here is juuust a little bit different than ours (and it’s also set back in the 1980s, but it’s still different to our 80s), but similar enough that you feel immersed almost straight away. I loved all the different aspects like the dodo’s and the different government departments.

Thursday is a worker for the literary department and has to deal with books every day (dream job or what), and some odd things start happening (odder than the pet dodo, that’s pretty normal here). Literature is taken very, very seriously in this world, Baconians try to convince the world that Francis Bacon wrote Shakespeare, there are riots between Surrealists and Impressionists and during all this, Hades’, our villain, is targetting Jane Eyre and steals her out of her novel. Here is where Thursday Next comes in as a special operative within the literary department. With the help of her uncle and his inventions, she goes into the novel to rescue Jane and to try and restore Bronte’s book. There are so many other things going on within this book, which link into future books and future events (so much complex work done by Fforde).

A knowledge of classical fiction can be handy when reading this, I don’t know too much so I think I’ve missed out on quite a few of the inside jokes that Fforde has put into this work, but the only negative about that is that it’s adding to my tbr with all these great or well known classics! And it doesn’t take away from the story if you don’t know these pieces. It’s definitely a really fun piece and since reading this I’ve listened to the next three books on audiobook and I have been very invested and interested in the events. The series is broken up in two sectors so I’ve taken a break now I’ve finished part one, but I’m really looking forward to getting into part two and I recommend these books! Definitely give them a go if you like wacky, weird, action-packed books with links to classic literature!

March Wrap Up 2018

I am disappointed with how much I read this month, but I shouldn’t be! This was the second to last month where I’ll be working on my dissertation and therefore I couldn’t justify spending too much time leisure reading.

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For those who don’t know, a dissertation is the end project of a degree in the UK. The degrees usually last three years, and most people start at 18 (it’s like our version of the US’ college) and this final paper is worth a huge amount of our grade. The word count varies between 8000 and 11000 and it is really daunting!

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Despite the pressure and the work, I did manage 6 books! For the books that had to be ‘represented’ in the photo, Coffin, Scarcely Used was an eARC from NetGalley, The Call was borrowed from someone who lives in my apartment complex, and Something Rotten was an audiobook.

Books and their Ratings

1. Coffin, Scarcely Used by Colin Watson ***
2. The Call by Peadar O’Guilin ****
3. Inspector Chopra and the Million Dollar Motor Car by Vaseem Khan ****
4. Macbeth by William Shakespeare ****
5. Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde ****
6. Boy Snow Bird by Helen Oyeyemi ***.5

Sadly no 5 star reads this month but some got pretty close! The Call is one that I immensely enjoyed and I will 100% be carrying on with the series. I also really enjoyed Something Rotten and felt that this first section of the series was wrapped up really well, so well in fact that I’m tempted not to carry on with the rest! I don’t want to ruin it! Boy Snow Bird would’ve had a higher rating if it wasn’t for the incredibly… weird… ending and the odd choices Oyeyemi made, which explains the 3.5*s I gave it.

Overall, not my best reading month but I’m glad I managed to keep reading some stuff throughout the month and it’s a huge increase to where I was this time last year and I was barely even reading 2 years ago after a 5-year reading slump! So a vast improvement and I’m really enjoying myself to boot!