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Charles Dickens: The Complete Novels in One Sitting
Celebrate the bicentennial birthday of Charles Dickens with this Miniature Edition packed with witty summaries of the novels of one of history's most beloved storytellers. All fans of great literature can enjoy these perfectly portable renditions of Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities , and all the Dickensian classics. Featuring synopses, character profiles, and illustrations, this mini book brings to life twenty classic tales and the iconic characters that populate the world of Dickens.
248 pages, Hardcover
First published February 7, 2012
6 people are currently reading
96 people want to read
About the author
Joelle Herr
26 books128 followersWhen I'm not committing various sacrilegious acts (literarily speaking) with and to the works of Dickens, Twain, Joyce, Shakespeare, and other greats, I have the best day job in the world--owning and running Her Bookshop, an independent bookstore in East Nashville, Tennessee.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 4, 2015
BookTubeAThon book numero dos!
This is my "read the book you last acquired" challenge - although I also read it in one sitting so might cheat my way out of that one!
A quick and informative read about Dickens novels, their plots and main characters. Perfect to help decide which ones raise which themes etc...
And it is such a cute book, I don't know whether it is the smallness, the cubeness or the cute pictures and washed pages but this book is just so darn cute - definitely going on my Dickens shelf!
This is my "read the book you last acquired" challenge - although I also read it in one sitting so might cheat my way out of that one!
A quick and informative read about Dickens novels, their plots and main characters. Perfect to help decide which ones raise which themes etc...
And it is such a cute book, I don't know whether it is the smallness, the cubeness or the cute pictures and washed pages but this book is just so darn cute - definitely going on my Dickens shelf!
April 26, 2025
This is a truly silly book, and it's a shame, because it has some promise. At the end of the day, its problem is that it takes the quest for brevity to absurd levels. The plots are distilled to mere paragraphs. Novels with dozens of interesting characters are treated as if they have just a handful. There just isn't enough substance here.
I should also point out that a couple of the works don't even include plot summaries, just excerpts. How on earth is that meant to offer an overview of the work?
The only redeeming feature is that the author's actual writing, what little of it there is, is perfectly pleasant. I think she easily could have set out to write a slightly meatier set of synopses and character introductions, and this would have been a much better work for it, and quite handy to someone who wanted to remind themselves of the Dickens plots. Sadly, this version falls short of that, quite badly.
I should also point out that a couple of the works don't even include plot summaries, just excerpts. How on earth is that meant to offer an overview of the work?
The only redeeming feature is that the author's actual writing, what little of it there is, is perfectly pleasant. I think she easily could have set out to write a slightly meatier set of synopses and character introductions, and this would have been a much better work for it, and quite handy to someone who wanted to remind themselves of the Dickens plots. Sadly, this version falls short of that, quite badly.
November 25, 2018
Never have I enjoyed buying a book more than reading it. Until now.
When I saw this tiny thing in the bookstore, I couldn't help but laugh. How, I wondered, could it be possible to get all of these classical novels in such a small format? And so I had to buy it. It is the cutest thing on my bookshelf, and yet it took me exactly five sittings to finish it.
It's a brilliant idea to introduce people to Dicken's work, or else have people remember parts of his favorite pieces without having to go through the whole thing, but still, it brought me more pleasure to buy it than to actually reading. Guess I'm not a fan of classics.
When I saw this tiny thing in the bookstore, I couldn't help but laugh. How, I wondered, could it be possible to get all of these classical novels in such a small format? And so I had to buy it. It is the cutest thing on my bookshelf, and yet it took me exactly five sittings to finish it.
It's a brilliant idea to introduce people to Dicken's work, or else have people remember parts of his favorite pieces without having to go through the whole thing, but still, it brought me more pleasure to buy it than to actually reading. Guess I'm not a fan of classics.
September 21, 2017
Awesome little book (literally, its palm size) that gives an overview of each of Dickens' novels (including the five Christmas novellas), with a short list of main characters and who they are in each story, and a brief summary of the story line, with a few lines taken from it. Good for a quick review for Dickens lovers (here!!), or for someone who has never read Dickens before, to get an idea what its all about. Plus, its just so darn cute, and you can read the whole thing in a short while (as you certainly cannot do with the real books)!
September 19, 2024
I said I would never read another Charles Dixon book but I absolutely enjoyed this book so much even though it’s a small book it packs a lot into it and I enjoyed all the little facts in this book and I am now looking forward to reading more by this author. Even though this is a classic book it’s one of the best ones I have read. The author of this book did a really good job putting this book together and making it so easy to read. Xxx
April 3, 2018
Excellent little book.
July 2, 2020
Great book! Love a little insight in too each story!
Learning a little about the author too! 📚
Interesting short read !!
Learning a little about the author too! 📚
Interesting short read !!
February 5, 2023
But this took me two sittings!!
March 15, 2025
Another from my Running Press Mini's collection, I had thought about waiting until I had read all of Dicken's works before I delved into this little book but I decided to just dive in now.
We get a little introduction to Dickens himself before going into each of his works. A list of characters to start, before then summarising each work with the main plot points. Whilst some may find this to be spoiler-esque, I've found that with classics (for me) actually reading them is the adventure, rather than discovering plot points, and so I was more than happy to be "spoiled" for those of his works I've not yet read.
These collections are always well written, engaging, and (when I've read the books before reading the "one sitting" versions) are a good summary of the books. I adore these little books and will keep on collecting them!
We get a little introduction to Dickens himself before going into each of his works. A list of characters to start, before then summarising each work with the main plot points. Whilst some may find this to be spoiler-esque, I've found that with classics (for me) actually reading them is the adventure, rather than discovering plot points, and so I was more than happy to be "spoiled" for those of his works I've not yet read.
These collections are always well written, engaging, and (when I've read the books before reading the "one sitting" versions) are a good summary of the books. I adore these little books and will keep on collecting them!
August 14, 2016
It SHOULD be short and concise, but since I LOOOOOVE Dickens, it could always be a bit bigger (there's no such thing as too much Dickens). I was given this by my best friend in the world, because she knows I love Dickens so much! If you don't have time to read all of Dickens's novels, please read this :)
August 7, 2021
This mini book is a good way to get to know about the author and his works. I did find some of the plot summaries confusing and due to the amount of books that he did I got mixed up with all the different characters and their stories. I therefore recommend that you read it in a couple of sittings to really appreciate the stories. A good Christmas stocking filler.
July 14, 2014
Great as a reference book but also to see whether it's actually worth reading any of the books.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews