5.0
adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Most casual readers don't need to read Alice in Wonderland, but if you're a scholar of children's literature, literary history, or 19th-20th century cultural history, this classic is a must. It's often cited as a milestone -- encompassing fantasy, nonsense, and a realistic child in ways that previous children's literature did not. On top of that, it was fun for me to dig into the many allusions Carroll makes to other texts and ideas of his time, and the Oxford edition provides annotations that help explain them.