Welcome to Litsy!

While I really enjoyed Jamie Loftus's Raw Dog, the history of hot dogs, June's pick has to be Jasper Fforde's delightful story of anthropomorphic rabbits. It's funny, its sweet, it's a sly comment on social biases, there's even some romance. This is also one of my top ten books of 2023.
#12booksof2023 @Andrew65

1. Any readathons I come across. I'm 12 books behind on my StoryGraph challenge of 150 for the year.
2. The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde. Clever, funny, sad and heart-warming.
3. Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke. It's not a horrible book, just the one I liked least in June. I've read worse this year.
Thank you for the tag @Eggs #wonderouswednesday

57/150 Much like Fforde's Shades of Grey, I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy this at first, but soon found myself loving the story and the characters. Fforde has the knack for taking the most ludicrous situations, giant amorphous talking rabbits, and making it both plausible and realistic. Also, any book that does a take off on the famous chalice scene from The Court Jester, is aces with me. 5 🌟 I highly recommend it.

“…which meant each of the county‘s twelve libraries could be open for precisely six minutes every two weeks… Using a mixture of careful planning, swiftness of foot, a robust understanding of the Dewey Decimal Book Categorisation System and with strict adherence to procedure, we could facilitate a fortnight‘s worth of returns, loans, reserves and extensions in the three hundred and sixty seconds available to us. It was known… as a Buchblitz.”

I love how Fforde uses the absurd to mirror our own society back to us. Finding this in equal parts hilarious and horrifying. The humour makes the points of violence all the more shocking.

I cannot wait to discuss this with my book club!

The premise- a bunch of rabbits anthropomorphize and try to integrate into UK society, but of course, prejudice is a thing! It‘s light hearted, but still shows the dangers of not accepting people

The witty writing/humor reminded me of Douglas Adams. The satire/comments on society reminded my of Chuck Palahniuk. And the animals pointing out human problems reminded me of Animal Farm/Bojack Horseman

In the world of The Constant Rabbit, a mysterious event in the 1960s caused a select few animals to anthropomorphize, growing in size and developing the ability to learn and speak human languages. Decades later, the Rabbit population has grown considerably and discrimination against them is rampant. Clever, inventive, and at times quite dark, this satirical tale of human xenophobia was a quick and memorable read.

I love Fforde's footnotes.

Am enjoying reading this - the first chapter was a blast. Spotted this graffiti in Bristol yesterday.

Book mail (clashing horribly with the rug).

I found the first half-ish of the book confusing. I ended up enjoying the second half, though, once I figured out what was going on. For the first bit of the book, I kept thinking – ok, Fforde is way too smart for me because this is over my head. I did like the second half-ish, though. Cont in comments...

This man is brilliant. I'm not going to even try explaining any of it. I found the ending completely unexpected. It was both happy and sad if that makes any sense. And part of it was also very satisfying. Excellent writing and a very timely commentary on humanity and politics. I loved it.

I'm watching The Carol Burnett Show and Tim Conway is playing a lawyer who happens to be a rabbit. I thought it was funny considering the book I'm currently reading. I love this show though not all the skits have aged well. My favorite part is when they are laughing for real. Usually because of Tim's, most times off script, antics.

Thank goodness for inter-library loan. Perfect for when you want to read a specific book but just can't buy them all.

A really great piece of satire... looking at Brexit, xenophobia, and anti-immigrant views via the absurd notion that rabbits become anthropomorphised in a random event! I always enjoy Jasper Fforde‘s works, and this one didn‘t disappoint!

#doublespin done for May 🙌

#TBRPile 📚 “Somebody once said that the library is actually the dominant life form on the planet. Humans simply exist as the reproductive means to achieve more libraries.”

How appropriate that this book arrived in my Libby app on Easter 🐰

It was kind of a given that I would love this one as Fforde is one of my fave authors but it‘s a very good standalone story that allows the reader to really see the absurdity of prejudice and racism through an equally absurd scenario. It does have Fforde‘s trademark sense of humor so if you haven‘t meshed with him in the past, you might not now. But this is such a topical subject that I think it‘s worth a try for any reader.

Fforde is creative & satirical.

I loved this. It's a book about racism with anthropomorphized rabbits as the victims and it felt very George Orwell to me but it's being compared to Watership Down which I haven't read. I love this author and I love satire so this was just totally my happy place.

#BookSpinBingo square 8
@TheAromaofBooks

It is time, yet again, to settle down with a book by my very favorite author. 🐰

I haven't read a Jasper Fforde novel for ages. I love how he takes an out there idea (like human-sized, walking, talking rabbits) and grounds it by using perfectly relatable characters. I find myself suspending all reason and just going with the flow. So much do I found myself worrying about what was going to happen to my favourite characters, which included rabbits.

Well written and very descriptive. A great read.

I loved The Eyre Affair and was really excited for this based on the blurb, but I kept waiting for a twist or curveball that would allow it to transcend basic, surface-level satire, and it never came. Some nice moments, and certainly creative, but not a home run for me.

There really is no one else like Fforde out there. Every book is just such an engaging believable experience even though it‘s always weird and surreal as fuck. It‘s so nice to read something that‘s a legitimate escape from reality.

You know it‘s a good day when your hold on the new Fforde novel comes available. He‘s one of my absolute favourites.

Just what I expect from Fforde—funny, absurd, and satirical, with both likeable & ridiculous characters in abundance. The setup: ~50 years ago an Anthropomorphising Event transformed some rabbits to human size & human intelligence. As you can imagine, the Rabbit population has grown in size & decreased in popularity. There are some wonderfully cutting parallels to current racism & xenophobia. Overall a pick, though the ending was a bit lacking.

Progress so far in the #votedearlyreadathon:
🐇Finished The Constant Rabbit (fun and absurd with a healthy dose of cutting satire)
🐍Making progress in Freshwater (fascinating and a bit heavy)
🥕Keeping up with Anne for #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead (a delight!)
🤔Thinking about mixing it up with Moon Over Soho for a change of pace

🎃 Happy Halloween, everyone! 🎃

“The way we see it, London is just one massive money-laundering scheme attached to an impressive public transport system and a few museums, of which even the most honest has more stolen goods than a lock-up garage in Worcester rented by a guy I know called Chalky.”

😂🤣 A friend in England once referred to the British Museum as “an active crime scene”—and it‘s not far from the truth.

Between the news, the election, local wildfires, and my brother in the hospital for COVID, it has been A WEEK. And it‘s Wednesday. So I‘m glad for the #votedearlyreadathon and am planning to bury my sorrows in novels. Above is what‘s in my pile. I‘m planning to finish Constant Rabbit & Freshwater, keep up with my daily Anne for my #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead, and at least dip into Moon Over Soho & Deadly Education. Thanks for hosting, @howjessreads !

Social/political commentary exactly as you would expect from Jasper Fforde: funny, pointed, and bizarre.

https://www.luulit.com/product/the-constant-rabbit-a-novel-audible-audiobook-una...

(New Release)

A new stand-alone novel from the New York Times best-selling author of Early Riser and the Thursday Next series

England, 2022. There are 1.2 million human-size rabbits living in the UK. They can walk, talk, drive cars, and they like to read Voltaire, the result of an Inexplicable Anthropomorphizing Event 55 years before...

#TBRtemptation post 1! Just released! This one‘s been classified as fantasy, sci fi, dystopia, humor, & absurdist. Then again, it *is* Jasper Fforde 😆. An event occurs that anthropomorphizes (such a tongue-twisting word 🤪) some rabbits who then go on to making themselves...prolific, as rabbits are wont to do. In the UK, an anti-rabbit political party starts up and one small village deals head-on with them. Intriguing. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎

This is Jasper Fforde's response to the political and social moment, and as I saw him say somewhere (instagram? his website?), it's not subtle. But it's also absolutely Jasper Fforde. It's absurd, it's funny and he's managed to make a world where there are 6 foot anthropomorphised rabitts (and a few other species) seem absolutely real and plausible. It'll make you think as well as make you laugh, and it is utterly mad at times.

Bk7 of my #JulyBookHaul is a signed copy of Jasper Fforde‘s new novel. In a world where rabbits are the new minority, Peter Knox lives in a small country village where things are peaceful. Until Doc & Constance Rabbit move next door, upsetting the local members of the Anti-Rabbit party who start a campaign to have them moved on. Peters forced to choose between his village and his new neighbors who just want to live in peace. Sounds intriguing🐰

Jasper, Jasper, Jasper....the things your brain comes up with. I mean who else is going to do an alternative history social commentary satire with life-sized anthropomorphized rabbits?
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Fforde has an uncanny way of building multi-layered worlds that still feel recognizable as our own. It's a primary reason why he's one of my favorite authors. And I will always always pick up anything he writes. Just a brilliant read!

Yay! New book alert.

I might have bought myself an actual (signed) copy...

Another tour de force from Jasper Fforde.
Brilliant political satire set in a slightly absurd alternate reality that is not so different from our own.

I am so excited #NetGalley have approved me for #TheConstantRabbit

I‘m a bit conflicted.

The concept‘s so original (a Britain where anthropomorphised rabbits live alongside humans, and face considerable speciesism), and I did laugh at a lot of his quips and puns. But I kind of wanted to see this world as part of a sketch show or something, rather than a novel...

This dropped through my door yesterday. It‘s a bit of a tonic in these lockdown days.

Rabbits become anthropomorphised and chaos and typical (negative) human reactions ensure. This inspired the same feelings as the last few Ffordes I've read, initial delight at his inventiveness, wordplay and wit followed by dwindling interest. Sometimes he gets too caught up in his own cleverness, the plot felt glacial and I wasn't engaged with the characters. It could have been an excellent novella but the length diminished its impact.

This seems like the perfect time for some wacky Ffordian escapism #arc

This has made my week: I‘ve got an e-advance of the new Jasper Fforde!