Last year I made an effort to read one Dickens novel per month -- I made it to June, which was my Little Dorrit month, and then I ran out of Dickens novels under 800+ pages, so that resolution fell apart completely. However, I definitely accomplished my goal, which was just to get better acquainted with an author I had somehow managed to dodge through all of high school and college, and who up to that point I thought I hated. I still don't love Dickens, and some of his books were painful at times, to finish, but I really loved Little Dorrit. Happy endings were had by all the characters I cared about, there was plenty of mystery and suspense and creepy Victorian weirdness, and many moments of comic relief, including one of the best descriptions of the British colonial government and its bureacracy I've ever read. It is definitely an under-appreciated DIckens novel, and if you're feeling lazy, check out the Masterpiece Classic version, starring Clare Foy (Anne Boleyn in Wolf Hall, which speaks to her enormous skill as an actress in that she manages to play both women incredibly well).

The Bookhive List is a weekly recommendation of my all-time favorite, must-read books.