Jane Eyre is the second book on my classic novel reading challenge (where I try and read 100 classic books in three years).

I don’t have the dates recorded of when I started and finished the book, as Kobo doesn’t seem to record those. But I do have the following information – it took me 19.4 hours to read, with an average session time of 24 minutes, reading one page per minute. And I loved every minute.

I suspect that Jane Eyre might be my new favourite book. It’s such a brilliantly told tale of despair and then hope, and then more despair and more hopelessness, and then the promise of better days to come for our long-suffering heroine Jane. It’s definitely a page turner and hard to put down. I realised a big part of why it’s so appealing to read might be something to do with ‘intermittent reward’. Just as things seem to be hopeless for Jane, her circumstances change for the better, and the reader is rewarded for sticking with Jane during her darkest times. But there’s always a catch, so you read on, thinking surely poor Jane is going to get a break now. Much like a gambler thinking they’ll win big on the next bet.

And I’d put my money on Jane coming out a winner. But I won’t say anymore so as not to spoil the book for any new readers. Just read it! It’s beautifully written.