I just received a book that was mailed on Jan25 and declared "lost" on Feb 20. Apparently the book had been inspected. Does it always take this long to inspect a single book? Why should it take so long?

Oh my!... I think they thought part of the inspection was to actually READ the book to the last page.  That does seem extreme... but I haven't yet received anything that was inspected.... sometimes repackaged due to falling apart packaging, but never inspected.

"Apparently the book had been inspected"

How do you know this book has been inspected?  Just curious.   I thought you didn't find that out until the book was delivered.   It does sometimes show that it's been scanned but that has nothing to do with an inspection. 

It should not take that long even with it being inspected. Sounds like it got shipped to the wrong area and then made its way to you.

The book was inside a plastic bag with a sticker saying it had been inspected by the USPS.