Oprah's Next Book Club Pick: Charles Dickens Makes an Appearance

Oprah announced her latest book club pick today: A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens. You read that right - it's not one, or the other, but both. Which explains the hullabaloo when previous announcements stated that the pick weighed 1.9 lbs.

I'm on a mission to read more of the classics, and as a general rule, I think the ~~reading~~ entire population should read more classics. And I think Dickens is absolutely a good place to start. So I suppose I should be on board with the pick, but it still gives my snobbish bookish self a bit of a bother when Oprah gets all professor-y on us and goes classic. Don't worry, though - I'm not so much of a snob as to be unable to recognize the significance of a celebrity throwing her influence behind a book worthy of mass attention, and I'm thankful for it. After all, who am I to question Oprah's motives? And who am I to question readers' motivations for selecting a book? If Oprah gets people reading, more power to her.

What about you? Do you like when Oprah picks classics, as it gets more people reading them? Or do you think classics should be left on dusty library shelves in aging university stacks?

Have you read the books? I read Great Expectations in middle school, and - pure coincidence, I swear - started A Tale of Two Cities for the first time a few days ago. Will you read the books? Will you buy the Oprah edition from Penguin (which, might I add, has a beautiful cover), or will you opt for one of the editions below (the traditional, the funky, and more)?