My Annual Dickens

Last year, having previously read A Tale of Two Cities, I read Great Expectations. It takes a lot of patience to get through Charles Dickens's books (never quit two-thirds of the way through, however much you may be tempted to), but, in the end, they are well worth reading. Having twice enjoyed Dickens's genius, I decided it might be worthwhile to continue reading his works--at the hopefully-not-too-demanding pace of one per year.

As summer rolled around, I began to consider which book of his to read next. I had the impression that A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations are his two best works (or is David Copperfield up there? I don't really know), so I wasn't sure which book to choose. Finally settling on Bleak House--though I myself am not sure why--I ordered it from the library. I had heard that it was lengthy (having been published as a serial), so I should have been warned. Nonetheless, I was not a little perturbed to find it come in at over 850 pages, with type that is none too large. Ask me sometime in the (somewhat distant) future how much I enjoyed it--and whether I ended up doing anything else this summer. Side note: why is it that summer, when no one wants to stay indoors, is the only time of year I have to read for enjoyment?