Suggestions For My Dear Readers & Two New Blog Features

[This post is part of The Case of the Lady Slipper Stalker.]

It strikes me, Dear Readers, that many of you (young and old alike) would find it helpful if I recommended a list of Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for you to read. 

Please note that for each title I recommend, I will first link to a free online version of the text and then to a free online audio version. If there is only one link for a title, that's because the text version is accompanied by a built-in audio option. 

If you wish to know to how Dr John Watson and Mr Sherlock Holmes meet, you can read Chapters 1 & 2 of A Study in Scarlet, one of Doyle's four Holmes novels. 

From The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Doyle's first collection of Holmes stories, I recommend the following short stories:  "A Scandal in Bohemia," "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle," 
and "The Adventure of the Speckled Band."

From The Return of Sherlock Holmes, another collection of Holmes stories, I suggest "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons" and "The Adventure of the Dancing Men." (This last story will have some bearing on Part Five of The Case of the Lady Slipper Stalker, which is coming soon...)

Especially for English 12 students, I provide links to The Hound of the Baskervilles, another (short) novel about Holmes.  And perhaps everybody should read this very interesting article...

Some years ago, I wrote a couple of mini-parodies of Sherlock Holmes stories as grammar exercises for my students--they should be warned that I might assign them at some point; thus, I include them below...


Before I conclude this post, Dear Readers, let me direct your attention to two new blog features in the sidebar to the right: I have added a Poll, where you may cast your vote (until 11/3/14) for your favorite suspect. You may also send me a clue or a confession by using the message form directly beneath the Poll.  Please do make use of these new tools! (Note: If the Poll is not visible, switch your WiFi to an unsecured network, refresh the page, and try again.) 

Keep in mind that you can subscribe to this blog in two ways:  via email, using the "Follow by Email" gadget near the bottom of the sidebar, and via feed reader, if you use the "Subscribe to My Blog" gadget which is also near the bottom of the sidebar. If you do this, you'll never miss a post!