Sherlock Holmes : The Case of the Avid Holmesian

Look what arrived in the mail today...

Now I have the complete novels and stories of Sherlock Holmes! Which is excellent, because I only have ten cases left from The Return of Sherlock Holmes and then I'm finished with volume one. Then on to Hound of the Baskervilles, The Valley of Fear, His Last Bow, and The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes.

Why yes... that is a TARDIS on my bookmark!

In order to cope with the heartbreaking finale of BBC's Sherlock series two ("The Reichenbach Fall"-- based on "The Final Problem"), I've nicknamed volume one "Watson," and volume two: "Sherlock." Just so they can be reunited already. I also may need to reread "The Adventure of Empty House."




My favorite stories so far:

• The Sign of Four
• A Scandal in Bohemia - "To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman."
• The Adventure of the Speckled Band - the first I ever read.
• The Yellow Face - "'Watson,' said he, 'if it should ever strike you that I am getting a little overconfident in my powers, or giving less pains to a case than it deserves, kindly whisper "Norbury" in my ear, and I shall by infinitely obliged to you.'"
• The Crooked Man
• The Final Problem - "...whom I shall ever regard as the best and the wisest man whom I have ever known."
• The Adventure of the Empty House - "In some manner he had learned of my own sad bereavement, and his sympathy was show in his manner rather than his words. 'Work is the best antidote to sorrow, my dear Watson,' said he; 'and I have a piece of work for us both tonight which, if we can bring it to a successful conclusion, will in itself justify a man's life on this planet.'"
• The Adventure of the Dancing Men

Of course, there are many more to read. I think I may be getting better at working out the many mysteries. Or at least, perhaps a little faster than our dear Dr. Watson. 

On a lovely side note, my used copy of volume two came with this note in the cover. How marvelous.

"Here, though the world explode, these two survive, / And it is always eighteen ninety-five."

From A Study in Sherlock