Welcome to our first #CannonBookClub of 2020 – a return trip to Station Eleven. When MsWas and I discussed revisiting our first book club book six months ago we couldn’t have known what the state of the world would be when we got to March. COVID-19 is very different than the Georgian Flu, but it certainly gave us a new lens through which to view Emily St. John Mandel’s book. On to the boilerplate: ground rules remain the same as they always have. For those […]
“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
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 […]
Discussion Topics: A Sherlock Retelling
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 […]
“It’s quite exciting,” said Sherlock Holmes, with a yawn.” (CBR11 Bingo)
A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
A Scandal in Bohemia by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
My previous Sherlock experiences have all centered around visual adaptations, starting with The Great Mouse Detective (1986), but #CannonBookClub is always pushing me to read new to me things. My mind’s eye had a very specific versions of Holmes and Watson cobbled together over many incarnations Watson, to me, is an intelligent everyman who is aware of the things he does not know – as well as being a man of responsibility and duty. Sherlock is a bit testy, has a bit of tunnel vision […]
Book Club Discussion Post: A Study in Scarlet
Are you ready to talk about the world of Sherlock Holmes and the first novel length work he was featured in, A Study in Scarlet? Then you have found your way to the right place! For those of you who might be joining in for #CannonBookClub for the first time (hello new friends!) all are welcome. The topics are numbered, and we ask that you refer to them below by that number to help people find the conversation topics they are looking for. If […]