In honor of the new film, and with London fresh in my mind, I decided to pull this classic off the bookshelf.  I started it last year (technically I started it in 1988*), but we’ll still count it towards the 2010 total.

I found it interesting that, for a Sherlock Holmes novel, Dr. Watson was the main character and Holmes himself barely appears, save for brief appearances at the beginning and the end.  Seeing as how this is the only Sherlock Holmes tale I’ve read, however, this may not be an unusual thing.  I did enjoy the trip to 1800s London, and how some of the sights named in the book I had just visited.  Overall, a worthy starting place for this 52 book challenge and, probably, the most “scholarly” choice of the year.

*I was originally supposed to read this for Freshman English back in high school.  I remember renting the movie the night before the test, if not the movie itself.  About half way through the book, I found the small slip of paper I was using as a bookmark, so I guess I never did get through it back then.  Hopefully I passed the test.