The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Even though I generally don't like alternate universe fiction and dislike Jane Eyre, I enjoyed this book a lot. It's a quirky, fast-moving, fun adventure in a well-developed and creatively constructed alternate universe. It's a real treat for anyone who loves 19th century fiction (as well as most other classics, really), since it takes place in a universe where people are obsessed with books and their characters. It was really hilarious in parts, and so much fun to read. I've always thought that the bit in Jane Eyre where Jane just randomly hears Rochester's voice calling to her was stupid, and this novel provides a great explanation for it. It's got quite a bit of lovely postmodern mixing of stories and realities, and general shuffling of narratives, which was really delightful. It's also fairly madcap, as people go diving through time distortions and enter books through weird portals. And one of the villains gets imprisoned forever in a book of Poe's poetry. I may have liked it if the style was a bit denser, it felt too easy to read, but it was great fun, and I'll definitely be back for more of the Thursday Next (main character) novels.