All I have to say is that FINALLY I am done with this book. And, in a nick of time too since our book club meeting is tomorrow evening. I have to say that I really did not like this book. I found it extremely hard to read, not engaging, and did not put me in the holiday spirit at all. I basically had to make a deal with myself these last couple of days to read 25 pages of night to finish. Unfortunately, I kept falling asleep which meant that I just slammed through the last 50 pages during naptime today! For some reason, I found the timeline of this book hard to follow as well as difficult to keep track of the different people involved. I also did not find Dickens to be a likable man; he was completely full of himself, his capability, and his self-worth. I wonder what the child Dickens would have thought of the man Dickens. I surmise that he wouldn't like him very much at all. Oh well, at least I kept my promise (for the most part, as I couldn't stay with Kingsolver's Animal Vegetable Miracle either) to read all of the book club selections. I made it through this year...on to next year!