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Re-reading a classic: 1984 in 2020

1984 by George Orwell

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Y’all know the broad strokes of 1984: Big Brother, newspeak, telescreens, doublethink, “We have always been at war with EastAsia.” It’s entered the popular consciousness in a profound way; and for some reason thinkpieces about it have proliferated since 2016.  (I wonder why!  Truly it is a mystery.) So our small book club decided to re-read this one as adults, to see how our reactions to it might have changed, or if it was really all that.  The consensus: it’s a classic for a reason. […]

“I try not to expect people to be who I wish them to be, rather than who they are.” (Bingo #2)

A Conspiracy in Belgravia (Lady Sherlock #2) by Sherry Thomas

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In setting up the prompts for our Sherlock Retellings Book Club I realized one of the parameters I use when deciding if something is a good retelling or remix: a good retelling for its own sake, needs to have enough of the original’s connective tissue without feeling like it’s been made using tracing paper. In the Lady Sherlock series Sherry Thomas split the various characteristics across several characters and I think it worked really well to not have direct analogs for the most part. Its […]

Elementary, My Dear Watson

A Study In Scarlett by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

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A Study in Scarlet, is the first Sherlock Holmes mystery that Doyle wrote. Although I mostly enjoyed it, it’s pretty clear he was just starting this thing out. It’s a little rough in patches. Also, while I read this when I was younger, I had completely forgotten the weird Mormon/Native American Tracker (or is he a white dude adopted by Native Americans? It’s never quite clear.) tangent he goes off on at one point.  The tangent does make me kind of want to ticket of […]

Discussion Topics: A Sherlock Retelling

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Earlier this year we voted on which Classic with many retellings to use for our second and third Book Clubs of 2019. Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet won and now you, dear Cannonballers, are able to choose any updated version of the Sherlock story to discuss with us in two short weeks. It can be a straight modernization, or a graphic novel, possibly even a gender-swapped version set in space, or a work of non-fiction. Whatever your choice, we’ll be back here discussing […]

“We feel the pull in the land of a thousand guilts”

The Little Friend by Donna Tartt

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The Little Friend is not a mystery, despite what the description might lead you to believe. If it falls into any category it would be a coming-of-age story. Harriet Cleve Dufresne, a precocious twelve year old girl takes it upon herself to solve the murder of her older brother Robin, whom she has never met but whose death casts a pall over both her family and the small town she lives in. What begins as an adventure out of one of the many books Harriet […]



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