electronjam is not currently reading any books.
I’m female, from the United States. I’ve been a DailyLit member since December 17, 2007.
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The Count of Monte Cristo - Long but worth it
It took me a year to finish this book – yes, even with dailylit! The beginning was interesting, the ending satisfying, but the middle was full of seemingly unrelated stories. I'm not sure if it’s an artefact of the way I read, but when the Count got to Paris to start his revenge in earnest, I got confused over who was who and which person belonged with which reward/punishment. With the French names, the multiple generations and the addition of people going around with multipleidentities and trying to scam different people, I was just reading along and hoping it would sort itself out. It does. The reader gets to ride along with the sheer audacity of the Count. I believe things would have worked out quite differently for our eponymous character in a modern novel.
While I'm not sure about the book's final message and the slight ambiguity whether we should go out and seek our own revenge or leave it to fate, I did enjoy this book. I'm glad I didn't give up before finishing it.
Emma - Enjoyable classic
I am so glad that I finally understand the joy of reading Austen. When I was younger (and oh so foolish) I tried to read some Austen, but it was so stuffy and pompous that I could not get into it. Thankfully I had my eyes (er, ears?) opened up when hearing the audio version of Pride & Prejudice. She was writing with tongue firmly in cheek!, I now comprehended. The pomposity was part of the joke, the appeal in laughing at the characters, not in agreeing with them. What a revelation.
Emma is an enjoyable read, but it is not up to the same elegance and perfection as the ultimate classic Austens, Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility. However, you will still enjoy the foolish pride and insensibility of the title character, cringe as she puts her foot wrong, and smile at the inevitable conclusions.
How to Live on 24 Hours a Day - Mixed bag
You might expect from the title that this book will be some kind of time management tome, but it is anything but that. The author is intent on making sure that people 'live' rather than merely 'exist'. He proposes just one method for this 'living': to use your time wisely and learn to expand your mind and concentration. Some of his advice may seem archaic, and yet it is still quite relevant today. In this age of mindless entertainment, it may be even more important to make an active decision in how to use your daily allotment of hours.
Around the World in 80 Days - A fun read
I really enjoyed this tale of adventure in a literally globe-trotting journey. It is quite a bit of fun waiting to see if Fogg will remain inperturbable, and how many misadventures poor Passepartout will endure. A classic, and for good reason!