The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Completed January 1, 2011

Recommended by Rachel

This splendid collection of mysteries carries readers back to a gas-lit era, when literature's greatest detective lived on Baker Street. A dozen of Holmes and Watson's best-known cases includes 'The Speckled Band', 'The Red-Headed League', 'The Five Orange Pips', 'The Copper Beeches', and 'A Scandal in Bohemia.'

Rachel is a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes, so I always wanted to read some to see what the fuss was about. This was the second book I read on my eReader and it was well-worth the time. I have always known who Sherlock Holmes was, of course, but most of the enjoyment can be derived from actually reading the books in the series. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of short stories. Normally I am not a big fan of short stories, but these are more like connected case files. Dr. Watson has married and moved away from Baker Street, but he still makes appearances so he can participate in the cases and record them for posterity.

As many people know, Sherlock Holmes is a character that you will not find anywhere else. He reminds me of Sheldon from the Big Bang Show in the sense that he is a species all of his own. You never know what they are going to do next. Now, Holmes has taken it upon himself to help others, so that is rather different from Sheldon, but they still are rather different than anyone else you see in real life or literature. Over the course of the stories I found myself being drawn into the world of Sherlock Holmes. I was curious how the cases were going to play out and what clues he found during the course of his investigation. It all makes so much sense when he explains things out, but until then you are rather left in the dark. By Watson telling the story you find things out as he does, so you don't have too much information and are not disappointed by the big reveal.

Overall I really enjoyed this collection of short stories. Watson makes for an interesting narrator and Holmes is, and always will be, Holmes. I think I developed a little literary crush on him now and cannot wait to read more books in the series to find out what he is up to next.

The Series:

1. A Study in Scarlet

2. The Sign of Four

3. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

4. Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

5. The Hound of Baskervilles

6. The Valley of Fear

7. The Return of Sherlock Holmes

8. His Last Bow

9. The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes

This book counts for the TwentyEleven Reading Challenge.