Showing posts with label Hot Reads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hot Reads. Show all posts

Monday, May 6, 2013

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes


I must say that I was pleasantly surprised with my experience reading these tales. I knew absolutely nothing about Sherlock Holmes going into reading this collection. At first when I started reading, I was a little confused by the format, having at first expected a novel. It didn't help that I was reading on my Iphone and didn't have a sense at most points of how far into the book I was. But the stories I was reading were pretty interesting and what I loved most of all, surprising. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was clearly a clever writer who had a remarkable ability to guide his reader through his stories at his own pace. He never accidentally lets a clue slip so the reader can easily guess as to who committed what crime and why. And considering the sheer amount of these stories, it is remarkable that he was able to create such a variety of scenarios with which to entertain the public.

Upon finishing this set of tales, I wanted to find out which exactly of the Sherlock tales I had read so far and how many others were left. I knew there were others, I had heard of the Hound of Baskervilles but I wasn't sure of the amount of additional titles. Now let me just say, clear and organized information about Sherlock Holmes is not easy to come by. Which to be fair to those who attempt to explain Sherlock Holmes, the problem is most of the stories are short tales that were released over time in a variety of publications that were then later complied into the volumes with the titles most people are more familiar with. These short stories were broken up with intermittent longer novels about the great detective. From my own detective work this is the overall breakdown and chronology of the tales:

Complete Sherlock Holmes. (source http://www.sherlockian.net/canon/index.html)

A Study in Scarlet (novel, 1887)

The Sign of the Four (novel, 1890)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes


The Return of Sherlock Holmes

The Valley of Fear (novel, 1914-15)

His Last Bow

The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes

Sunday, May 5, 2013

New York Times Bestsellers

So here is the latest from the New York Times on what the latest top sellers are:

THIS WEEK  LAST WEEKHARDCOVER FICTIONWEEKS
ON LIST
1THE HIT, by David Baldacci. (Grand Central.) The government hitman Will Robie uncovers a serious threat as he attempts to take out a fellow assassin who has gone rogue. 1
21WHISKEY BEACH, by Nora Roberts. (Putnam.) A former criminal attorney who has been acquitted of his wife’s murder retreats to his family home on a New England cliff. 2
3FLY AWAY, by Kristin Hannah. (St. Martin's.) A woman must deal with her personal issues before she can keep her promise to help the family of her deceased friend.1
4PARIS, by Edward Rutherfurd. (Doubleday.) Characters real and imaginary in the City of Light.1
53LIFE AFTER LIFE, by Kate Atkinson. (Little, Brown.) A woman appears in different versions of the same events, centered on World War II. 4
6WEDDING NIGHT, by Sophie Kinsella. (Dial.) A woman tries to break up her sister’s impulsive marriage.1
72DADDY'S GONE A HUNTING, by Mary Higgins Clark. (Simon & Schuster.) Two sisters are threatened by a dark secret from their family's past.3
84GONE GIRL, by Gillian Flynn. (Crown.) A woman disappears on her fifth anniversary; is her husband a killer?47
96THE BURGESS BOYS, by Elizabeth Strout. (Random House.) Two brothers, both lawyers, come together in a small Maine town to defend their troubled nephew. 5

10THE MYSTERY WOMAN, by Amanda Quick. (Putnam.) The second book of a new Victorian paranormal series, Ladies of Lantern Street, by Jayne Ann Krentz, writing pseudonymously. 

Now, what looks interesting to is Paris, Life after Life, and the Burgess Boys (which I keep hearing about and still haven't read) because they seem different than anything else that I have read.  Any votes or opinions from the public?

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Hot Reads from the Daily Beast

Here is this week's hot reads from The Daily Beast's Book Beast.  This list looks diverse enough to stand out from the big bestseller lists so if you are looking for something just a little off the beaten path.

Ape House by Sara Gruen














The Company Town by Hardy Green














The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson














In the Shadow of Freedom by Tchicaya Missamou
















Portobello by Ruth Rendell