We've talked about the love of books, books about books, dictionaries of books... what about books in books?

I've just finished reading The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov in which two stories are presented: the main plot and the book written by one of the characters.

Any others out there?

Oh, you must read The Athenian Murders, by José Carlos Somoza. A text is being translated. A second story is being told in the footnotes. Then they seem to merge. It's a fantastic book!

The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas is about a book ... called The End of Mr. Y. I'm pretty sure there are extended excerpts. A great book, even if you're not into fantasy, sci fi, alternate reality fiction or whatever you want to call it.

Message edited by its author, Aug 22, 2009, 2:51pm.

Oh! How could I forget? If on a Winter's Night a Traveler, by Italo Calvino.

Censoring an Iranian Love story contains a love story, the parts that are censored out, and the authors story about writing the story. three for the price of one. Its a good read.

The Mysteries of Udolpho features heavily in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. in non-fiction, Musn't Grumble by Joe Bennett follows the trail of H.V. Morton's In Search of England.

Message edited by its author, Aug 25, 2009, 2:49pm.

The alternate universes encountered in The Number of the Beast by Robert A. Heinlein consist of the favourite books of each of the main characters.

The Book of Sand, if you like your fictional books fantastical.

A Child's Book of True Crime by Chloe Hooper

Babel Tower by A. S. Byatt

Bound for Evil is an anthology wtih 66 stories about books that get their owners or readers into trouble. Hawthorne, Saki, MR James, Fred Chappell, and (obviously) dozens of others. The book is a wonderful physical object, made of fine materials and illustrated throughout. I love it, and am always nudging bookish folks towards it when I can.

Someone must have mentioned, by now, Bradbury's Fahrenheit 450 and its "Book People".

There's a great Rhys Hughes story, "Finding the Book of Sand", in the anthology BOUND FOR EVIL: CURIOUS TALES OF BOOKS GONE BAD. Hughes speculates the consequences of a book story with a touching and memorable ending.

I'm finishing The Killing Circle by Andrew Pyper which includes a story which seeps into "reality", giving the book a mirror-like quality - great trick for a horror story!

The entire Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde. So much books in books, within books, fun stuff.

The Solitaire Mystery by Jostein Gaarder

The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason

The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay

Message edited by its author, Sep 17, 2009, 10:06pm.

Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

When I was a pre-teen I read The Orchids and Gumbo Poker Club over and over again. It was set up as Lizzie McGuire reading it for a school assignment and it ahd her notes in the margins and stuff. It was such a great story and thoughts on it by anotehr pre-teen made it even more compelling.