Tag: Sherlock Holmes

Checked In: A Davenport Public Library Podcast August Recap

- Brittany Leave a comment

Each month, we release a new episode of Checked In: A Davenport Public Library Podcast. In this blog post, I will give you helpful links to area resources, Library resources, and links to the books discussed in our episode!

Nostalgia Reads

We’ve talked a lot about what books we read when we were younger that have stuck with us, but we’re not done with that topic just yet! Below are the titles discussed in the episode!

Stephanie’s Picks:
Amelia’s Notebook by Marissa Moss 
The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney 
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka 
Little House Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder 
Stephanie’s Ponytail by Robert Munsch 

 

Brittany’s Picks
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
There was an old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Pam Adams
Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae

Beth’s Picks
The Baby-Sitters Club by Ann M. Martin
Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

Cancer Support Community Iowa and NW Illinois at Gilda’s Club

Our resource spotlight shines on Gilda’s Club Quad Cities, newly known as Cancer Support Community Iowa and NW Illinois at Gilda’s Club. Since 1998, Gilda’s Club has been a pillar of hope and support for cancer patients and their families. From its beginnings at the Mansion with the Red Door on River Drive to its current locations inside the Genesis Cancer Center, Gilda’s Club Davenport, and the UnityPoint Health – Trinity Cancer Center, Gilda’s Club Moline has continually expanded its services, reaching nearly 4,500 individuals.

Value Line

Value Line is the most trusted and prestigious name in the investment field. For more than 75 years, Value Line has been synonymous with trust, reliability, objectivity, independence, accurate information, and proven performance for investors. Click on the title to learn more about this free resource!

 

Retellings!

Are you a fan of retellings? Here we have gathered a list of classic literature retellings, reimaginings, and remixes. 

Stephanie’s Favorites:
Jane Eyre retelling
   – The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins
King Arthur legend retelling
   –Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
Pride and Prejudice retellings
   –Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin 
   –Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
Romeo & Juliet retelling
   –A Pho Love Story by Loan Le 
Sherlock Holmes retelling
   –A Study in Scarlet Women (book 1 in the Lady Sherlock Series) by Sherry Thomas
Trojan War retelling
   –A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
The Odyssey retelling
   –Circe by Madeline Miller
The Wizard of Oz retelling
   –Wicked by Gregory Maguire 

Brittany’s Favorites:
Arsenic and Old Lace 1944 comedy with Cary Grant
   –Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala
Cinderella
   –Cinder by Marissa Meyer
   –The Cinderella Murder by Mary Higgins Clark
   –An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn
Little Red Riding Hood
   –Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge
Dr. Moreau inspired reads
   –The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepherd
Alice and Wonderland
   –The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
Historical Retellings
   –My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand
Jane Austen
   –Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price
   –Sense and Second Degree Murder by Tirzah Price 

Beth’s Favorites:
Remixes — Classics presented as graphic novels
   –The Alchemist – original by Paulo Coelho; graphic novel by Derek Ruiz
   –Diary of a Young Girl – original by Anne Frank; “Anne Frank’s diary : the graphic adaptation” by Ari Folman
   –The Giver by Lois Lowry ; adapted and illustrated by P. Craig Russell
   –The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood; art and adaptation by Renee Nault
Little House on the Prairie
   –Caroline by Sarah Miller
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
   –The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Bible – Book of Genesis
   –The Red Tent by Anita Diamant 

FRIENDS

August 17th is National Nonprofit Day! Did you know that we have a non-profit group that raises funds and manages an endowment portfolio to support The Library? The FRIENDS of the Davenport Public Library is a 501(c)3 organization powered by members and volunteers that advocates, volunteers, and runs used bookstores in all three locations giving money back to the Library for programming and other services! We are so grateful for their support in enriching the lives of our community! To learn more about the FRIENDS of the Davenport Public Library, click on the title of this section!

Emotional Reads

With the recent box office success of Inside Out 2 and after being inspired by another library, we showcased titles that gave us all of the feels (good and bad!).

  Brittany  Beth  Stephanie 
Joy  Anything by Emily Henry   Dozens of Doughnuts by Carrie Finison Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater 
Sadness  Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls  Burial Rites by Hannah Kent 
Anger  Normal People by Sally Rooney Maus by Art Spegelman   Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall, illustrated by Hugo Martinez 
Disgust  A Simple Favor by Darcey Bell American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis  Sugar Falls: A Residential School Story by David Alexander Robertson 
Fear  Room by Emma Donoghue Devil in the White City by Erik Larson  American Predator by Maureen Callahan 
Envy  The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren Anything by Mindy Kaling  Soulmate Equation & The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren
Embarrassment  The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro Really Good Actually by Monica Heisey  Hello Stranger by Katherine Center 
Ennui  Last One Home by Debbie Macomber Blankets by Craig Thompson  The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Anxiety  Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson  Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter 
Nostalgia  A Nice Place on the North Side by George F. Will Landline by Rainbow Rowell  Throwback by Maurene Goo 

 

What Our Hosts Read In June

Beth’s Reads:
Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba

Stephanie’s Reads:
Lethal Licorice by (Book 2 in Amish Candy Shop Mystery Series) by Amanda Flower 
The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods
The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center
Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Solomon
The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller
The Red Harvest: A Novel of the Terror Famine in Soviet Ukraine by Michael Cherkas

Brittany’s Reads:
Bear with Me Now by Katie Shepard
Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis

If you would like to listen to our episode, it can be found wherever you get your podcasts. If you prefer listening on the web, it can be found here!

We love hearing from our listeners, please feel free to comment on this blog post, on our socials, or email us at checked.in@davenportlibrary.com.

Shadows Over Baker Street: A Holmes Meets Lovecraft Collection

- Callen Leave a comment

I’ve been on a kick of discovering older books recently, and really enjoyed the classic Shadows Over Baker Street from 2003, edited by Michael Reeves and John Pelan. It’s a collection of short stories from a number of fantastic authors including Neil Gaiman and Billy Martin (writing at the time as Poppy Z Brite). The stories feature characters from Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes universe, set in a world of HP Lovecraft’s monsters. The notoriously logical Holmes faces mysteries without rational explanation, tied to eldritch beings and their fanatical human worshippers.

The benefits of a short story collection are many. For one thing, the short form keeps the book readable and fast-paced; in this case there was still some feeling of repetitiveness by the end of the book, but it still held your interest as it moved through various vignettes. Because in this format, each story can take a different approach, timeframe, and set of characters, which lets the reader discover not only more of Lovecraft’s plots and characters but also more of Holmes’ cases and adventures. While many of the stories do rely on a Watson-and-Holmes-at-Baker-Street structure, a good number find Holmes in different places, with different narrators or helpers. In one case, Holmes doesn’t appear at all, and the story connects to him through Irene Adler (Tiger! Tiger! by Elizabeth Bear). The overall effect is of a somehow cozy journey into the terrifying and impossible adventures of yesteryear, like ghost stories told by the fire. If you like Sherlock Holmes, HP Lovecraft, or similar universes like Doctor Who, this is a great book to curl up with as the nights start to get colder and spookier.

However, if you’re looking for something slightly more recent but with the same vibe/premise, I’m planning to try 2019’s The Affair of the Mysterious Letter by Alexis Hall, which is also a Sherlock Holmes retelling set in an alternative universe, with plenty of monsters and action, but with all of Alexis Hall’s charm, humor, and LGBTQIA diversity.

What’s YOUR favorite Sherlock Holmes read?

Cozy Mystery Reads: Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery series by Vicki Delany

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Vicki Delany is a crime writer. She has written more than forty books, ranging from cozies, Gothic thrillers, police procedurals, historical fiction, to novellas to help with adult literacy. Delany is currently writing four cozy mystery series: the Tea by the Sea mysteries, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series, the Catskill Resort mysteries, and the Lighthouse Library series (as pen name Eva Gates). Her previous works include The Year Round Christmas series, Constable Molly Smith series, Klondike Mystery series, Ray Robertson series, Ashley Grant Mystery series, and several stand alone titles.

Vicki Delany is considered one of Canada’s most prolific crime writers. She is also a national bestseller in the US. Delany is a past president of the Crime Writers of Canada as well as the co-founder and organizer of the Women Killing It Crime Writing Festival.  Her work has been nominated for the Derringer, the Bony Blithe, the Ontario Library Association Golden Oak, and the Arthur Ellis Awards. Vicki was the recipient of the 2019 Derrick Murdoch Award for contributions to Canadian crime writing. She lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada.

Delany’s Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery series caught my eye on the new shelves, so I decided to give it a try. I enjoy the original Sherlock Holmes novels written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, so I wanted to see how Delany tackled this popular fandom. Elementary, She Read is the first book in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery series.

Gemma Doyle has returned to West London from England to help manage her Great Uncle Arthur’s Sherlock Holmes Bookshop & Emporium. When Gemma finds an incredibly rare and valuable magazine that contains the first Sherlock Holmes story hidden on one of the store’s bookshelves, she is immediately concerned. You see, Gemma is highly perceptive and knows her entire store’s inventory off the top of her head. Gemma and her friend Jayne, who runs Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room, begin searching for answers. What they find instead is a dead body. Gemma is the police’s first suspect, which confounds her. She begins her investigation and what she finds leads her into a confusing world full of people with concealed motives and greed. Add in a second murder scene and Gemma and Jayne must search for any clues to clear their names.

This title can be found in the following format:

A list of the books in this series can be found at the end of this blog. Many of these titles can be found in another format: large print.

Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery series

  1. Elementary, She Read (2017)
  2. Body on Baker Street (2017)
  3. The Cat of the Baskervilles (2018)
  4. A Scandal in Scarlet (2018)
  5. There’s a Murder Afoot (2020)
  6. A Curious Incident (2021)
  7. A Three Book Problem (2022)

Enola Holmes: Page and Screen

- Callen Leave a comment

If watching Stranger Things made you a fan of  Millie Bobby Brown, if you love rebellious female heroines, or if you devour all things Sherlock Holmes, then Enola Holmes may be the character for you. A film adaptation centered on Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes’ younger sister is now available on Netflix, so there’s no better time to discover the mystery book series by Nancy Springer.

The series is six books in all, starting with The Case of the Missing Marquess, first published in 2006. As in the recent film, the book’s action starts when Enola discovers her mother is missing. It’s up to her to travel to London and find her, while solving a few other mysteries and avoiding her older brothers at the same time.

I am excited about this series and its film adaptation for a number of reasons. Nancy Springer wrote some of my most favorite books when I was younger, full of fascinating, sympathetic characters, plenty of action and humor, and covering a wide range of genres and situations. Secondly, I am a self-confessed Anglophile, and I love the Sherlock Holmes character and universe. Throw in a spunky, clever, determined heroine, and I am 100% on board. The fact that the Enola character is played in the film by Millie Bobby Brown, whom I love in Stranger Things, is just a bonus. If you like mysteries, historical fiction, and comparing books to their film adaptations, I definitely recommend you check out the Enola Holmes series by Nancy Springer.

Sherlock, Season One

- Ann 1 Comment

Sherlock Holmes comes to the 21st century in the new BBC series Sherlock. Consulted reluctantly by the police, Holmes is brilliant, sarcastic and socially awkward. Watson, a military doctor that has just returned from Afghanistan after being wounded, is not the bumbling fool so often portrayed in film but is an equal partner in the detective work and also serves as a moral compass for Holmes.

The familiar framework remains, just tweaked in places for the modern setting. Thus, the deerstalker becomes a scarf, Watson keeps a blog rather than a journal, London atmosphere comes from a skyline that includes the Millenium Wheel and the Gherkin building rather than foggy, cobblestone streets and Holmes finds his informants among the homeless rather than street children. What doesn’t change, however, is the brilliant Holmes – socially misfit, actively disliked by many, hyper intelligent.

As you would expect from the BBC, the production values are excellent. Filming on location in London lends authentic atmosphere; the writing is sharp and witty with many homages to the Arthur Conan Doyle originals; and the acting is outstanding. The only negative? There are only three episodes. However, the series proved to be so popular in England that they are currently filming three more episodes – watch for them on PBS in the fall.

Whether you’re new to Sherlock Holmes, or longtime fan you’re sure to enjoy this fun new series.

If You Like Sherlock Holmes…

- Lynn Leave a comment

We have a display for you! At both Main Street and Fairmount Street libraries, we have mysteries and DVDs of Sherlock Holmes spinoffs.

The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie King  is the first in a series featuring a feminist Mary Russell. A teenager at the time, she meets the great Holmes  while she is wandering the Sussex countryside. Holmes mentors Mary as they investigate the kidnapping of an American senator’s daughter. The World WarI era , an Oxford setting – where Mary is a student, and the evolving relationship in which Holmes mentors his young protegee are all strong points of the novel.

The Italian Secretary by Caleb Carr is a humorous paranormal twist on the Holmes canon. The setting is a ghostly Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh,Scotland. Watson and Holmes are called in by Sherlock’s brother to investigate murders that Mycroft fears may threaten Queen Victoria. The author of The Alienist “reflects a deep knowledge and understanding of Holmesiana.” Publisher’s Weekly