As Icky will tell you later, I browbeat and bullied her into reading this book because I knew how perfect it'd be for her. And what do you know? I was right! Without further ado...

 

 

 

Background

 

Quite similar to the phenomenon of writer’s block, there is a thing called reader’s block. The symptoms include not being able to read anything despite a burning desire to do so. Anyway, that was what I was suffering from when like a great friend Midu—my office buddy, an awesome writer, and one of the few cool persons I have in my life right now, suggested (made me read it by force) me a book— The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. Since I had no choice, I started reading it.

 

 

What I Found

 

First thing first, I love classics and guess who else share my passion for them? Thursday Next—the protagonist. What started on the basis of mutual interest proved to be an endless romance. There is every kind of awesomeness hidden or sometimes oozing out of the book. Set in an alternative reality, MS. Next’s world has Literatecs who investigate the literary crimes. Surprisingly, there are a huge number of those committed there as well—finally, the criminals have realized what is truly valuable, even if only in the fictional world, but since fiction is where we dwell, it is all good!

 

 

The Protagonist

 

Thursday Next had been previously involved in Crimea—some kind of world war involving England and Russia. However, she left that behind after her brother dies and she drifts apart from the love of her life over a misunderstanding (you have to read the book to find more about it). Now, she is a litertec and things turn quite interesting when a villain from her past decides to visit her present and meddle with something she prizes the most—books!

Since we are on the topic of past and present—her dad is into timey wimey wibbly wobbly stuff—that explains the daughter’s name. He is quite an intriguing character, who keeps visiting her in his own good time, kind of off his hook but brainy as hell—very Ravenclawish!

 

 

 

The Villain

 

Now Mr. Evil has very clear ideas—loves evil just for the sake of it (money is not bad either). The guy could have done great in his life, had he not favored the dark side so much. However, he still considers himself quite successful. He knows how to do anything, like ANYTHING—can walk through solid materials without being noticed. Interesting, right? He keeps crossing Thursday’s path every now and then.

 

 

 

Other Amazing Stuff

 

Apart from the good versus evil, there are several interesting theories. The best one being—Let’s get inside a book—LITERALLY! This is what actually grabbed my attention, in the world of Thursday Next, you can move inside a book. I find the idea beautiful¬—it is like when you are really into a book, it allows you to enter it, but this time you can make changes as well!!! You meet the characters and alter the story. Amazing, no? I would love to dive and save Severus Snape any day. Will keep him for me, even if it means a life full of potion making—the things we do for love!

Sorry for that moment of self-indulgence!

Coming back to Thursday’s world, she has a genius scientist uncle who invents all kind of amazing stuff and it is his machine that allows you to travel inside a book. Wait, things are going to turn even more exciting—bookworms—actual creatures that feed off prepositions, fuel the machine. I mean how more cool it can get.

 

 

My Verdict

 

There are several other interesting theories to explore in there. I will be leaving those for you to discover on your own. For me, it had all the things I needed but then again, my book agent (read drug dealer) knows me so well. If you are looking for a book suggestion that will just make your day—be friends with Midu and she will provide you with just the right stuff.

 

GR Synopsis

 

Jasper Fforde has done it again in this genre-bending blend of crime fiction, fantasy, and top-drawer literary entertainment. After two rollicking New York Times bestselling adventures through Western literature, resourceful literary detective Thursday Next definitely needs some downtime. And what better place for a respite than in the hidden depths of the Well of Lost Plots, where all unpublished books reside? But peace and quiet remain elusive for Thursday, who soon discovers that the Well is a veritable linguistic free-for-all, where grammasites run rampant, plot devices are hawked on the black market, and lousy books—like the one she has taken up residence in—are scrapped for salvage. To make matters worse, a murderer is stalking the personnel of Jurisfiction and it’s up to Thursday to save the day. A brilliant feat of literary showmanship filled with wit, fantasy, and effervescent originality, this Ffordian tour de force is the most exciting Thursday Next adventure yet.

 

My Comments

 

Technically, this isn't a library languisher since I have already read it but whatever. I just bought it and feel like showing it off. This series is full of quirky characters that I love reading about. The dodo, Pickwick, is my favorite!

 

The Library Languishers Series features a book that languishes in my physical library. The picture quality will always be sucky. Depend on it!

I forgot how much fun this series is! I read The Eyre Affair for the first time about 6 years ago, back before I was really tracking my reading. So, when my book club chose it for our monthly read, I was ecstatic to dive back in!

 

Jasper Fforde is the master of literary humor. His in-jokes are wonderful, and his character names just as good. This book is like a love letter to bookish people everywhere. Especially if you're a fan of the classics. Thursday's world is beautiful chaos. She lives in a Great Britain that is similar to ours, but also filled with all manner of curiosities. Time travel is owned by the government, LiteraTechs exist to protect our written works, and the paranormal has a foothold as well. I love the way Fforde brings all of that to life, and makes it seem utterly plausible.

 

This particular book puts us smack dab in the middle of a high profile heist. Thursday's life is turned upside down when she's asked to track down Archeron Hades, a master villain. I have to say, as much as Hades is a perfect villain, he's also absolutely fascinating! I loved the back and forth between him and Thursday. Both brilliant, both stubborn, both excellent at what they did. In fact, Thursday's relationships throughout the book were my favorite part. She has quite the habit of getting caught up in things that are dangerous.

 

I honestly forgot how much I adore Thursday Next and her wacky version of Great Britain. I'm so glad I had the chance to experience it all over again! I can't wait to read more!

 

Review copy provided by publisher

 

Treasured by Thursday is the final book in the Weekday Brides series from Catherine Bybee. I've enjoyed each and every book in the series to day and was a little bit sad as I read knowing it was the end of the series. I love getting to visit with favorite characters with each new installment of the series, and loved we got to see everyone in Treasured by Thursday.

 

I have to be honest and admit while I really liked Gabi from the very beginning; it took some time for me to warm up to Hunter. I just felt like he was keeping too many secrets from Gabi and he really seemed almost cold when they first met. Luckily, it quickly became apparent that there was so much more to Hunter than what he initially let Gabi see. I really did love watching both Hunter's and Gabi's feelings change the more time they spent together. I liked their chemistry took time to grow, and it felt real to me.

 

I loved once Hunter realized his true feelings for Gabi he became even more protective of her than even her brother. He would do anything to keep her safe, and he proved it over and over again. I also could tell Gabi had real feelings for Hunter when he shared his secret reason for wanting to marry her and she did everything in her power to make everything work out.

 

Treasured by Thursday was a wonderful end to the Weekday Brides series. Readers were treated with appearances by all the other couples in the series. I honestly felt like each of the 7 books in the series were great reads and as a series were even better. 

 

 

Heat: 2.5
What I liked: This is an adorable romance. This is the type of contemporary romance that reminds me why I liked to read contemporary romance. There is some humor, some suspense, some heat, and some great supporting characters. Gabi is one of those characters you just love instantly. Hunter is the guy you hate to love. He is such an egomaniacal jerk in the beginning and you just want Gabi to punch him. However, because the author does an amazing job with character development, you do grow to love him and its genuine.
If you are looking for a contemporary romance with no cheating, or threesomes, or college age angst this is the perfect book. Books like this remind me why I love contemporary romance so much.
This is the first book I have read by Catherine Bybee, so yes you can read it as a stand alone. However, I will be getting every book in the series because I love her writing and plot and characters. Seriously, if you like Nora Roberts, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Julie James, and Rachel Gibson you will love these books.
ARC provided in exchange for an honest review :)