Something Rotten is only the second book I’ve read by Jasper Fforde. The other was The Big Over Easy, which I liked quite a bit (it was one that I picked up from the ‘3 for the price of 2’ table, where I can invariably find two books that I’ve been wanting to get for ages and can’t for the life of me find a third, so I end up rounding it out with one that I’ve never seen before in my life). It wasn’t, however, in the Thursday Next series, so I lacked a bit — well, all, really — of the context and background of Something Rotten.

That being said, it was a fun and easy read. It’s the kind of book that is best enjoyed, at least for me, by giving up on trying to figure it out and just going with the flow. I’m not sure that I could tell you much about it that would help clarify anything related to plot or structure or characters even now after having read it. But I can say that I enjoyed it and it made me laugh out loud once or twice, which is not as easy for a book to accomplish as you might think.

I’ll request the previous three books from the library, which will allow me to clarify which parts were jokes I just didn’t get and which confused aspects were a result of having read the book out of its sequential order.