Meet Thursday Next. Crimean War veteran, daughter of a rogue ChronoTrigger agent and valuable member of SpecOps 27: Litera Tecs. She spends most of her time settling disputes over the real author of Shakespeare's works and helping her Dad make sure history is still accurate. It's just a normal day at the office when the unthinkable happens. The original manuscript of Martin Chuzzlewit has been stolen by Acheron Hades, one of the worst villains the world has ever seen. He's got a list of demands a mile long and if they're not met he's threatening to go in and kill off Chuzzlewit himself. All of this is definitely more than Thursday bargained for. 
 Having just finished and fallen in love with Jane Eyre. I picked up this book so that my love affair didn't have to end. The Eyre Affair was a nice follow up. Filled with funny references and as the cover says "bibliowit" I found myself laughing and eagerly anticipating what Thursday would do next. With the help of the Prose Portal a number of characters found themselves in the world of books and Fforde used these circumstances to explain certain moments in the book (for example, how Mrs. Rochester actually died). I found these very creative and fun. The book could get quite silly at times and it definitely requires you to suspend your disbelief but it's a entertaining read and one that will keep you laughing right up until the end. 
 My word of warning, however, is if you're not familiar with the stories of some of the classics (Dickens, Shakespeare etc) and in particular the details of Jane Eyre you may not find this book as entertaining. The writing assumes some knowledge of literature, but if you're looking for an excuse to get around to reading Jane Eyre or Martin Chuzzlewit, this is as good as any.