Great Expectations
By Charles Dickens

This book meant a lot to me when I first read it at 14, and it was the beginning of my love for Dickens. The characters are so well drawn: The convict is hideous; with Dickens's description, you can almost smell him. To me, Estella is a girl who's kept under glass. We're all products of our upbringing, and hers was certainly oppressive, but I could never forgive how selfish she was. I recently reread the book with my daughter, and this time around I realized that the one thing you can't be with someone you love is selfish.