Looking for some great new reading in 2010? Portrait has you covered! Each week we'll spotlight a new author, either contemporary or classical. So keep your eyes on Portrait!

Writer: Charles Dickens

Genre: Classic Fiction, Gothic Literature, Social Commentary

Online: The home of Charles Dickens was turned into a museum in London and it boasts its own website. The site even has a page of outside links if you want more information on the author or his work.

Work: More than 20 novels including Oliver Twist and A Christmas CarolHe also wrote numerous short stories, plays and essays that saw publication.

Why You Should Read: Even though some of his writing can be difficult to dissect, Charles Dickens wrote brilliantly, and often helped his readers along. His work is known for its detail. He compared people to pieces of furniture, could spend whole pages describing their dress, and gave them names that would help to evoke the attitude the reader was supposed to have in connection with the character. He has also created some of the most memorable characters in all of literary history, at least, so far. Ebenezer Scrooge, Oliver Twist, and David Copperfield all sprang from his imagination.

His novels also provide stark social commentary for the era in which he lived. He painted vivid pictures of life amongst the poor, of unfeeling upper classes, and he took a lot of the inspiration for his characters from his own life. Dickens refused to admit to that while he was alive, afraid that it would lend a social stigma to his family. He may have been willing to criticize the elite in print, but not with his own voice.

When Dickens was originally published, the popular way to get your work in print was as serializations in local newspapers and magazines. Unlike other writers who would complete their stories before they made an attempt to publish, Dickens would write as he published, ending each chapter with a cliffhanger to keep the readers coming back for more. This succession of cliffhangers is one of the things that keeps people reading today.

My Pick: The one book taken on by high school classes all over the place is A Tale of Two Cities which details the French Revolution. It is the most famous of his novels, and is the one novel in the world that has sold the most copies in its original English since its publication (more than 200 million). It really is the quintessential Dickens with it heavy descriptions and social commentary. If you want something a little more familiar, and a little easier to get through A Christmas Carol would probably be a good bet though.