My goodness, this was a marvelous book! As other reviewers have mentioned, I was hesitant at first to tackle a book about the plague. I was so pleasantly surprised upon beginning it, though, that I finished the book in three sittings. Ms. Brooks is a marvelous writer -- her plot and characters are well put together, and the book reads so smoothly it just flies by. I found myself telling others about Year of Wonders, and thinking about it here and there long after I finished. I find that the mark of a good book is how many times it makes me think back and reflect on it, and Year of Wonders is right up there with Captain Corelli's Mandolin in that regard. 
 I won't recount the plot yet again, as amazon and other reviewers have done that admirably, but I will throw a few more compliments Ms. Brooks' way. She does not shy away from the visceral -- the novel feels solid and real, even if sometimes the subject matter turns to somewhat gruesome things. As always with a good historical novel (also see The Dress Lodger by Sheri Holman and A Conspiracy of Paper by David Liss), the read is educational as well as entertaining. I even learned the origin of the phrase "still wet behind the ears," though apparently my coworkers were not as excited as I was about the news when I passed it on. In any case, I recommend Year of Wonders very highly -- it has wonderfully unique characters, an interesting plot, and is a surprisingly easy though dense read.