One of my favorite Christmas stories is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. My favorite film adaptation is the one with Patrick Stewart as Scrooge. I've been to see the play at the Fox theater in St. Louis a long time ago, and when the girls were babies, I would read them this story for bedtime during the Christmas season.
Four years ago, I noticed that the Google logo said Happy Birthday to Charles Dickens on February 7th, 2012. He would have been 200 years old. An idea popped into my head to read a different Charles Dickens novel, each year, in the month of February in honor of his birthday.
The first book I decided to read was A Tale of Two Cities. I had started this book before but never even got a fourth of the way into it. A friend of mine, who is an English Professor, said that I would really like it if I kept reading it. So, I started over and finished the book. I LOVED IT!!! It is now one of my favorite books! This is a story filled with adventure, romance, and an ending that I didn't see coming. Definitely would recommend reading this book.
The second book I read was Great Expectations. I picked this book because it had been sitting on my shelf for years and never been read. I had heard of the characters from this book, Pip and Miss Havisham, but never ventured to open the book. In fact, I'm pretty sure this book was Harry's and he never turned it in during high school English. Inside the cover, is the name of one of our English teachers. I also liked this book, but not as much as A Tale of Two Cities. I didn't see the ending of this book coming either.
The third book I read last year and it was Oliver Twist. I vaguely remember watching the movie in school. I can't even remember if it was grade school, Jr. high, or high school. I've never seen it performed as a play, but I've heard many people had liked it. I, however, did not like the book. I could not finish this book in the month of February. It took me a couple months after to actually get through it. But, get through it I did. I thought the story long, drawn out, and confusing. Maybe if I ever see it as a play it will shed a new light on the story.
This year I decided to pick a lesser known Charles Dickens book. It is called The Bleak House. Originally this story was published in installments from March 1852 to September 1853. It is said to be one of, if not, THE best novel he has written. We shall see how it fares after I read those 700+ pages.
If you are looking for something new to read, try an old classic. You just might be surprised at the good stuff you have been missing.
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