The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

I have come to the conclusion of this magnificent series. It was a marvelous ride, and one that I will be taking again in the future. This will be on my to reread list.

That being said, I feel that this may have been one of the weaker books in the series. Although there were some note worthy stories in this one, as well as some interesting facts revealed throughout, I just felt that Doyle was tiring of his characters at this point and it had started to show through his writing.

There are a few cases in this book that are narrated by Sherlock Holmes himself. All other cases have been narrated by Dr. John Watson up until this point, so I found it to be both refreshing and a interesting prospective to see the case through his own eyes.

My Rating : ****

Would You Rather?

Would You Rather #1

Read only trilogies, or read only stand alone books?

This is a difficult one for me. I have my favorite trilogy series that I would hate to let go of, but at the same time I have more favorites that are stand alone books. I feel that in the end I would have a wider selection of reading material if choosing the latter. I would mourn The Lord of the Rings.

Would You Rather #2

Read only books written by female authors, or read only books written by male authors?

Honestly, because I read mostly classics I feel that I would choose male authors over female authors. Female authors weren't as common as male authors in this time period, and I feel that I would, once again, have a wider range of selection. I adore Jane Austin, The Bronte sisters, and Lousia May Alcott as authors, so I would be saddened to never read them again however.

Would You Rather #3

Read your top 20 books over and over again, or never read the same book twice?

This is also difficult, since I do reread a lot of my favorite books multiple times, but in the end I think that I would choose never reading the same book twice. I would become extremely bored rereading the same books over and over again, and although I love returning to my favorite book worlds, I think that I would rather venture into new unexplored book worlds.

Would You Rather #4

Read only your favorite genre, or read everything but?

My favorite genre would have to be adult fiction, closely followed by fantasy and science fiction (the classics, not the modern works). I feel that reading everything but adult fiction would greatly limit my reading material, so as much as I would hate to give up the rest, I may have to go with reading only my favorite genre ...

Would You Rather #5

Read only physical books, or only Kindles?

Ha! This is a easy one. Physical books.

Would You Rather #6
Read only hardcovers, or read only paperbacks?

Another easy one. I prefer to, both read, and own hardcovers.

Speed Reading

Are you a speed reader?

While I don't consider myself as being a speed reader, I would say that I am probably slightly above average in the reading category.

I often find that I slow myself down while reading, in order to fully absorb the material that I am reading. I would rather that a book stay with me, then read more books that I am unable to recall the details of. At least that is my feeling when reading the classics. They should be looked upon as a work of art, and not something that should be rushed, or hurried through.

This is a fun test to see where you are at in your reading speed. I don't know how accurate it actually is : Reading Speed Test

Loaning out books

Do you loan out books from your personal library? If so, why? If not, why not?

I do not. I always hear people say that books are meant to be read, and enjoyed, and therefore shared. That's great for them, but not my books. The simple truth of it, is that people just aren't going to take as good of care of something that is not theirs (They may not even take care of things that are theirs). You are either never going to see that book again, or it is going to come back to you with some sign of wear and tear, minor or major. Maybe you aren't as anal about your books, as I am about mine, but even I myself try to handle my collection as gently as I can. I will remove dust jackets on older books when reading, to protect the fragile dust jacket from tearing while being handled. When reading my few paperbacks I try to keep the spine from cracking (one of the many reasons that I do not like paperbacks). And I will never lay one of my open books face down to mark my place. That is one of the quickest ways to break the spine.

You basically have to go through a whole interview process before being allowed to take one of my books out of my library, and even then you will be severely limited in what I will let you actually borrow. My mom has borrowed books from me before, and I do get them back in the same condition as when they left here (although I think that she is afraid to borrow books from me). Sadly I have not loaned out any books to my book loving older sister, due to the fact that she has little tykes. They don't understand that auntie Rachel has issues, and would be hurt and confused by the fact that I wasn't thrilled by the custom drawing that they did in my book for me.

Call me the scrooge of the book world.

My April 2015 Book Haul

 "The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame. I purchased this 1960 edition through Half Price Books for $3.99 - Although I already own this title in my library, I couldn't resist this copy. The illustrations are gorgeous. The end papers consist of a beautiful, and detailed, colored map, while there are also many colored, and black and white illustrations throughout the book.

The rest of my book haul took place at Barnes and Noble. These are the Barnes and Noble collectible leather bound editions. While I normally collect these a few at a time, I became anxious that they may soon be out of print like many others now are, so I decided to purchase these certain ones while they are still available.

                                                   

Hans Christian Anderson "Classic Fairy Tales". Purple leather bounded with beautiful gold gilded artwork on the front cover, spine, and back cover. Gold gilded pages, and a silk-bookmark. Picture on the right is the front and back end papers, and there are also many illustrations throughout the book.

 "Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales" by the Brothers Grimm. Green leather bounded with beautiful gold gilded artwork on the front cover, spine, and back cover. Gold gilded pages, and a silk-bookmark. Picture seen slightly above is the front and back end papers, and there are also many illustrations throughout the book.

"Fairy Tales from around the World" by Andrew Lang. Red leather bounded with beautiful illustrations on the front cover, spine, and back cover. Gold gilded pages, and a silk-bookmark. Beautiful illustrations throughout the book.

"Bulfinch's Mythology" by Thomas Bulfinich. Black leather bounded with gold gilded illustrations on the front cover, the spine, and the back cover. Gold gilded pages, and a silk-bookmark. The below left picture is the front and back end papers. The below right picture is one of the absolutely gorgeous illustrations that this book contains.

 "Aesop's Illustrated Fables" by Aesop. Blue leather bounded with gorgeous illustrations on the front cover, the spine, and the back cover. Gold gilded pages, and a silk-bookmark. Some of the loveliest and most plentiful illustrations are found in this book.

"Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy. White leather bounded with pretty designs on the front cover, spine, and back cover. Gold gilded pages, and a silk-bookmark. No illustrations, but still a beautiful book.                                                               

This will likely be my last book haul for the month of April. To say that I went past my book budget this month is a understatement. Stay tuned as a updated Shelfie will be posted as soon as I rearrange and organize my bookshelves to accommodate my new books.