Charles Dickens Month -- Post the First

Last night, once the baby was in bed, I made a large mug of hot cocoa and listened to the wind whipping the tree branches outside.  I scooped up the cat and made for my Comfy Spot on the sofa.  I thought that the cold wintery night would be PERFECT for finishing the last 30 pages of The Night Circus.  I settled in and then looked at my books stack.  Oh.  Right.  There, beneath The Night Circus, Our Mutual Friend was waiting patiently.  Waiting as he has been for the past five years that he has lived on my TBR shelf.  I love Charles Dickens, but I have to be "in the mood" and I really wanted to finish my current book. 

I did the Responsible Thing and put The Night Circus back on the table and picked up Our Mutual Friend.  "After all," I said to the cat, "I can't host a Dickens month and then cease participating."  I decided to give myself thirty minutes.  Thirty minutes of large Victorian novel and THEN I could go back to reading a delicious tale concerning a magical circus. 

I set a timer on my phone, cracked open Our Mutual Friend and read:

"In these times of ours, though concerning the exact year there is no need to be precise, a boat of dirty and disreputable appearance, with two figures in it, floated on the Thames, between Southwark Bridge which is of iron, and London Bridge which is of stone, as an autumn evening was closing in." 

I was hooked.... I read and read and read.  I shut off the timer to squeeze in a few more pages and before I knew it an hour had passed.

I'm less than 50 pages in (teeny print and I'm a slow reader), but already my mind is turning over the story.  I've been introduced to a bevy of  characters and I haven't really read enough to truly know how all the stories are linked.  I will say that this book, like many of Dickens's novels, is about money.  In fact, it is reminding me of Little Dorrit which I read last year and adored.  I hope to plunge deeper into the novel this week and write more on the plot and characters next Tuesday. 

 I can't wait to hear about what you all are reading (or watching or listening) concerning Charles Dickens. 


Okay, now a bit of housekeeping:

Originally I said that everyone should post about Dickens every Tuesday up to and including February 7th.  I now realize that this is kinda silly.  I know that people have schedules and plans and lives.  So instead I propose that you can write a post concerning Dickens whenever you jolly well feel like it and then simply leave a comment on my most current Dickens post with a link to your Dickens post. However, the cut off for posting for giveaway purposes will be 11:59pm on Tuesday, February 2nd. I will be posting every Tuesday.  Does that work for everyone?  I believe we have close to 30 people participating.  Yay! 

Alright folks, leave your URLs in the Comments section and I'll do my best to visit your posts by the end of the week.  Happy Reading!