Shades of Grey

Shades of Grey, by Jasper Fforde, is a great read. I picked it up on a blog recommendation from Patrick Rothfuss with no prior knowledge about the plot or the author.

It turns out it's set in a far future utopia where everything is not as it seems. The mysteries of this world unfold with the story. It's at times both disturbing and very, very funny. Here's one of my favorite passages, the kind that found me laughing out loud as I read:

"And we have a ninety-thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle for rainy afternoons."

"But someone lost the picture," grumbled Yewberry, "and there's a lot of sky."

"Challenging, we call that, Mr. Yewberry," remarked deMauve.

Challenging, indeed. Believe me - there are more chuckles where that came from.