Just finished listening to B. J. Harris narrate The Moonstone.

The plot isn’t exactly rollicking, but I enjoyed the shifting narrators and in many paces Harris’s characterization of the fussy servant Betteredge made me laugh out loud.

I really enjoy The Classic Tales Podcast, wherein Harris narrates about an hour of literature — a short story or part of a novel, or very rarely some poetry — each week, for free. His voice talent is excellent, and his story of posting a couple podcasts to iTunes on a lark — and then realizing that Apple featured them prominently in iTunes — is pretty much anyone’s long-tail internet fantasy.

I was looking for something to buy in order to show my support for the free podcast. I’m still waiting for his upcoming Sherlock Holmes collection. Not sure yet whether I’m ready for something as substantial as The Man in the Iron Mask or The Eclipse of the Crescent Moon.

I enjoyed Treasure Island (my previous purchase), so I was thinking of Kidnapped, but instead I opted for…

A heartless convict. The devil’s fairy godmother. A beautiful girl with eyes of stone. A spectral benefactor. These and many others shape the fortunes of young Pip, as he is transformed from a blacksmith’s apprentice to a young gentleman with Great Expectations.

via Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens — The Classic Tales Online Store.