Book Two 2014:

A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

It’s rare enough that I come across a book that demands me to finish it at 1am in the morning when my eyes are bleary and I’ve already read a good 3 hours of it that night and when I know I have to be up at 7am.

This is one of those incredible novels.

Look, I know as an adult reader who has devoured books since he was a kid (and read over 50 of them last year including some classics he got round to for the first time) I *should* have head some Charles Dickens at this stage (we did Hardy for the Leaving, thanks for asking). That I hadn’t up until now is my fault and a wrong I will gladly continue to right.

There were places here that I took whole paragraphs and re-read them aloud to my wife such is the sweep and the beauty of the language. I can see the threads that start here that run through so much literature that has followed right until today.

However, don’t let all that put you off. It’s a ripping story, bordering on beautiful soap opera that compels you to turn pages long after the candle has burned low the clock on my phone tells me it’s one in the morning…