A Christmas Carol is one of my all-time favourite stories (from the films, that is, as this is the first Dickens book I’ve ever read!) so I thought it was high time I gave the book a go.

It didn’t disappoint. The story is so wonderful - so clever and the prose is excellent. I’ve heard people say that Dickens is too ‘wordy. Well, I don’t know whether it’s just that this book is so short, or that I’m so familiar with the story that I didn’t notice, but I didn’t find it rambling at all.

Having now read the book, I think the truest adaptation I’ve seen is the one with Patrick Stewart as Scrooge, although the Alistair Sim one is probably my favourite. The Albert Finney musical one is great too!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will make a point of reading it again another Christmas. There are a couple of hardbacked versions - one illustrated by Quentin Blake - that I have my eye on now!

I’m definitely going to try some more Dickens after reading this!