After watching Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law and Rachel McAdams' recent remake of
Sherlock Holmes
, and listening to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
on my iPod before going to London, I had a particular itch to visit 221B Baker Street, where today there is a
Sherlock Holmes Museum. This fit in well with visiting the
British Library and the
Charles Dickens Museum, as there were pretty close to each other in the Bloomsbury and Marylebone sections of London.
It turned out to be what my traveling companion called "the British equivalent of
South of the Border." However, it was a fun, if kitschy place to go. I enjoyed it, though I don't feel like I'll need to go again next time I go back to London.
What was really funny to me is that the museum is a recreation of Sherlock Holmes' house, and when you head up the stairs with your tour group, Dr. Watson greets you in the parlour. What threw me off, as I was expecting an in-character speech about, perhaps, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's life in the neighborhood, the popularity of Sherlock Holmes to this day, and any other historical tidbits about Holmes and Watson (Read: I was expecting to LEARN something). So, when Dr. Watson asked if I wanted to pose for a picture with him, I was completely caught off guard, and didn't even think to hand my camera off to someone else. My friend, though, snapped a picture of Dr. Watson and me, which I don't yet have a copy of. Once I do, I'll be sure to upload it. So, Dr. Watson was simply there for photos and not to answer any questions, which made me chuckle.
After the photos, we were free to roam the two or three floors of the home, set up like Doyle describes in the books. The top floor had mannequins depicting many of the short stories I had read, but they freaked me out a bit and I didn't take any pictures of them. I did, however, get this bust of Sherlock Holmes.
If you're planning to go to London and you love Sherlock Holmes, I would recommend going. If you aren't much of a fan, I'd skip this and go to something that you know you'll love. Anyway, I'm glad I did it, and I'm glad that every time I hear Sherlock Holmes from now on, I'll think of the cute little Dr. Watson who still makes me laugh. After I came back from London, PBS came out with a miniseries of Sherlock Holmes which I've heard great things about. I still haven't gone online to watch, but I hope I will soon.
by Audrey Niffinegger
by Donald McCaig 
by Zora Neale Hurston
by Warren St. John
by Kathryn Stockett
by Jamie Ford
by E.L. Doctorow
by Frances Mayes
by Jeannette Walls
by Tracy Cevalier 
by Terrence Frisby. I plowed right through this book on Christmas Eve (it's only about 200 pages in length). For what was a very scary time for the English (and much of the rest of the world) was an adventurous time for the seven year-old narrator who published this book in the form I read it in 2009. Frisby, a playwright, has worked with the Criterion Theatre (where I saw a play that I'll talk about in a later post). A musical theatre version of his story of the three years he spent in Cornwall was produced in 2004 at Queen's Theatre in London.
, but with a much more positive and adventurous spin. It was almost as if Frisby didn't know the danger his parents were in and thought of his time with Auntie Rose and Uncle Jack as just a fun new chapter in his life. This is a really wonderful tidbit of history told from the perspective of a real person, and better yet, a child. I won't give the book away, but the ending is very satisfying and very sweet.
. He was nice enough to give me a review copy of his book, which I've read. A review is forthcoming in the next few days. 
, while sitting at the bar, came up with the idea for Sherlock Holmes
(seen it) was filmed in part here, and Russell Crowe's A Good Year
was also filmed here (haven't seen it yet).
at Shakepeare's Globe Theatre
. At first we were thinking of spending five pounds on a groundling ticket to get the effect of that; we changed our minds after all the walking we did that day. We paid 20 pounds instead for a front row seat and rented a cushion for the show. I recommend that route.
, and it's by Steve Slaunwhite, Pete Savage and Ed Gandia. Some of the information given is just good business practice, and things I'm already doing. Much more of the book is great ideas of things I haven't yet thought of, and hints on handling all the snags that will eventually come the way of a freelance writer. My list of action items I created for myself from reading this book will take me a while to complete, but promises to be helpful. I'd even recommend that book for most any self-employed entrepreneur, writer or not, because there are plenty of helpful tips on cultivating client relationships, marketing yourself and getting the most bang for your buck out of a host of things.
and An Ideal Husband
. In both cases, these plays were read by a variety of voices, which made them much more entertaining and easier to listen to rather than read. I followed this up last week by watching movie versions of both of these productions, which further helped these plays come to life for me. The casts on both versions I watched were great. The Importance of Being Earnest
featured Colin Firth (one of my favorites - Mr. Darcy, anyone?), Rupert Everett, Reese Witherspoon and Judi Dench. An Ideal Husband
starred Rupert Everett again, Julianne Moore, Cate Blanchett and Minnie Driver. They were both fun to listen to and watch.
, published in 1856. I know enough from my research to know that my relative owned it near the end of his life, as he died from injuries sustained in a Civil War battle in 1864 in either Alabama or Georgia.
by Robert Louis Stevenson. Most of us had never read it before, though we were familiar with the idea of the book. It made for pretty interesting discussion. If you haven't read it, it's short enough to be considered a novella, so it won't take you long to read. Luckily one of our book clubbers had her laptop with her, so we did a few YouTube searches to see what was out there on the book. John Barrymore's movie version from 1920 is available in its entirety. We discovered that a few years ago, David Hasselhoff acted in a Broadway musical based on the book. You can see a clip of him here.
