Frustrated when it comes to training your dodo? Tired of trying to teach her to stand on one leg? Then this is the book for you! Everything you ever wanted to know about training dodos, but were afraid to ask can be found in Lost In a Good Book by Jasper Fforde. The secret can be summed up in one word (marshmallows), but I'd be foolish to tell you that secret here, for then you wouldn't buy the book and contribute to Mr. Fforde's royalty check.

Lost in a Good Book picks up where The Eyre Affair left off. Thursday Next lives an exciting life, wherein her husband is erased from history, the world teeters upon destruction, her mother's garden is destroyed by migrating mammoths, she travels through books with Miss Havisham, nearly loses her head to the Red Queen, and endeavors to teach her pet dodo, Pickwick, to stand on one leg. Will she succeed? Will Pickwick balance upon one leg for a marshmallow? Can the world be saved? How will she get Landen back and exactly whose bun is in her oven? Will Thursday survive her journey into The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies?

Being that we're talking about Thursday Next, one never knows. This heroine is as unpredictable and fun as she was in The Eyre Affair. I liked her even more this time around, and enjoyed seeing flesh added to the bones of her relationship with Landen. Thursday's father is back, in and out of time once more, and this time Thursday gets to jet about with him. Thursday is learning the ropes of Jurisfiction, where she works to keep books on their proper paths. But there are those who would see her fail and will stop at nothing to ensure it. Thursday wants Landen back, but you can't always get what you want.

Lost in a Good Book is absolutely delightful. Fforde flits from reality into fiction and back again with ease. I giggled my way through this one, disappointed that it ended so soon. Who hasn't wanted to literally get lost in a fabulous book? I would love to romp in the gardens with Riki Tiki Tavi, or feel the blowing breath of giants a moment before Don Quixote slays them.

There is the promise that Thursday will return next year in The Well of Lost Plots and I, for one, cannot wait. Fforde wraps Lost in a Good Book neatly, yet leaves enough loose ends to keep me hungry for the third in the series.

In the meantime, I suppose I'll get lost in thursdaynext.com for a while.