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Bookwormish, 2nd quarter of 2016
Jul. 2nd, 2016 01:44 pmHi from Berlin! ....or actually, at the moment, from Ghent, Belgium.
(I'm based in Berlin for a month, on a long visit just hanging out and seeing old friends – it's WONDERFUL – but this weekend I decided to spontaneously hop over to Belgium for a few days to see some other friends. I'm also going to meet up with a fandom friend IRL for what I think is only the second time, ever, for me? Yes, I've been shy and slow at making fandom friendships, but I treasure them once I do make them!)
Meanwhile, books! Recommendations and thoughts from my second-quarter-of-the-year reading. Luckily I was clever and drafted most of this post ahead of time, before I set out traveling. :-)
VERY TOP BOOK:
I read a lot of books, and I love a whole lot of what I read, but sometimes this bit where I look back over the last three months to think about what really stood out still takes me by surprise. Out of the 20+ books I read this quarter, it turns out I’m naming this as my favorite:
A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro
My reaction to word of a new Sherlock Holmes adaptation tends to be equal parts “ooh, exciting!” and “…but does the world really need yet another take on Holmes and Watson”?
In the case of Brittany Cavallaro’s “A Study in Charlotte,” emphatically yes.
Teenagers Watson (Jamie, a boy) and Holmes (Charlotte, a girl) are the great-great-something descendants of the famous Holmes and Watson, and are both more than aware of the legacy they carry. They meet at boarding school, first repel each other but then quickly bond, and soon (of course) find themselves solving a murder. This book has everything a YA book should have and more – smart dialogue, engaging characters, a dash of romance, a dash of danger, a very relatable POV character in Jamie, and a very intriguing, brilliant, prickly and entirely feminist Charlotte Holmes. I agree with the reviewer who said, this is the Holmes you didn’t know you were desperately waiting for!
( even more great BOOKS here )
.
(I'm based in Berlin for a month, on a long visit just hanging out and seeing old friends – it's WONDERFUL – but this weekend I decided to spontaneously hop over to Belgium for a few days to see some other friends. I'm also going to meet up with a fandom friend IRL for what I think is only the second time, ever, for me? Yes, I've been shy and slow at making fandom friendships, but I treasure them once I do make them!)
Meanwhile, books! Recommendations and thoughts from my second-quarter-of-the-year reading. Luckily I was clever and drafted most of this post ahead of time, before I set out traveling. :-)
VERY TOP BOOK:
I read a lot of books, and I love a whole lot of what I read, but sometimes this bit where I look back over the last three months to think about what really stood out still takes me by surprise. Out of the 20+ books I read this quarter, it turns out I’m naming this as my favorite:
A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro
My reaction to word of a new Sherlock Holmes adaptation tends to be equal parts “ooh, exciting!” and “…but does the world really need yet another take on Holmes and Watson”?
In the case of Brittany Cavallaro’s “A Study in Charlotte,” emphatically yes.
Teenagers Watson (Jamie, a boy) and Holmes (Charlotte, a girl) are the great-great-something descendants of the famous Holmes and Watson, and are both more than aware of the legacy they carry. They meet at boarding school, first repel each other but then quickly bond, and soon (of course) find themselves solving a murder. This book has everything a YA book should have and more – smart dialogue, engaging characters, a dash of romance, a dash of danger, a very relatable POV character in Jamie, and a very intriguing, brilliant, prickly and entirely feminist Charlotte Holmes. I agree with the reviewer who said, this is the Holmes you didn’t know you were desperately waiting for!
( even more great BOOKS here )
.
