Books to Read: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by A Conan Doyle (Great Illustrated Classics edition)

*First of all, Watson doesn't really do anything. They should rename this book to the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and his Servant who is supposed to be his partner, but Sherlock just takes all of the spotlight.

I absolutely love this book. I enjoyed reading the mysteries and I'm looking forward to reading more of A Conan Doyle's works in the near future. However, I am here to recommend to you a certain edition of Sherlock Holmes. Read the title.

I love Great Illustrated Classics, and I'm repeating myself when I say that it makes it much less intimidating to read classics. Because as soon as the word "classics" is said, I immediately think about fancy shmancy, high-class things. But when I think "picture book" I think of youth and things requiring little brain power. Combine the two, and you get a tolerable way to read boring literature.

My opinion on Great Illustrated Classics drew me towards this book, which is why I recommend Great Illustrated Classics in general. But you can't miss this one. This is a combination of three of, in my opinion, the greatest Sherlock Holmes mysteries. You have the Red-Headed League, The Copper Beeches, and The Speckled Band. So, you take amazing mysteries that keep you captivated and you add pictures. It's amazing.

Now let's talk about the actual literature.

1. The Red-Headed League. It's about a man who goes to (basically) a job interview where only red-headed people will even be considered for the job. He's hired, and has to rewrite encyclopedias all day every day. Naturally, he gets suspicious when he's told he is no longer needed out of the blue one day. And this all leads back to the young man he hired to work at his store . . .
2. The Copper Beeches. A woman is given lots of money to work at this amazing mansion. However, the people she works for have some weird requests. For one thing, she has to cut her hair. She also has to wear a certain dress, she cannot enter one of the rooms of the house, and she has to wave away this man who seemingly waits for her outside of the house.
3. The Speckled Band. This one is my favorite. It's about a girl who lives in a mansion with her father who is a little abusive and likes to train dangerous animals. One night, her sister dies and says it was the speckled band. You know, because nobody ever makes any freaking sense when they lay on their death beds.

Highly recommend this edition of Sherlock Holmes. I would say that I recommend this mainly to my younger audience, or teenage audience, or to anyone who has not delved much into the mystery genre. Always be willing to try something new when you're reading.