Reading Journal

I finished both Count of Monte Cristo and Circle of Friends within the same week. I really tried to stretch it out because if I finish two books at the same time, that means I'm starting two books at the same time, and that's rough for me. I can handle and almost enjoy picking up a book while I'm in the middle of another one. But that's precisely where I need to be: in the middle of one. Otherwise it's too easy for me to get them confused, even if one is a classic and the other is a short book about management.

Another downfall of finishing them so close together is that it didn't allow me poetry time the way I had intended. So I decided to make my next Old read to be Milton's two epics on Paradise. Technically, it's in the same book that I would hold in my hands, but it's two separate pieces. And they're poems. So it's like reading two poems. Also, I think the content has the potential to be helpful in my personal life during the next few weeks. (!)

I wasn't particularly a fan of the way Monte Cristo ended. Although I do remember finding a couple of passages intriguing and worth sharing. Too bad I left my copy at home. It's a great book, though, and read surprisingly fast considering the heft of the pages and the language. Having a character and alternate name list would have been helpful, though.

Same goes for Circle of Friends. Except I like the ending of that one. It's one of my favorites, actually. It's a pleasant and satisfying ending, but it isn't overdone and truer to life than most novel endings. I really would like to say more about it, but it would involve spoilers. Just know that I'll talk about it with anyone who has read the book. It's just fabulous and I should probably stop building up to more than it actually is.