RJ - Slayer of Trolls’s Comments

RJ - Slayer of Trolls’s comments from the 2025 Reading Challenge group.

Note: RJ - Slayer of Trolls is not currently a member of this group.

I finished The Adventure of The Engineer Thumb. It started off so well I thought I would really enjoy it but it turned out just OK.

I like that Doyle is trying to make each of these stories unique, instead of the "typical" set up where Holmes is sitting around and someone asks him to solve a mystery. In the case of this story however I think it suffered from being mostly told by the client and Homes didn't have much to do until the end.

Winter wrote: "That would be great Randy! Should I set you up?"

Sure, go right ahead Winter. :-)

I finished #53:


Lost Stars by Claudia Gray
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

And now I'm starting:


Invader by C.J. Cherryh

I finished #52:


The Moving Target by Ross Macdonald
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Now I'm starting:


Personal Injuries by Scott Turow

I read The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle and The Speckled Band and liked them both a lot.

Ashley, I agree with your thoughts on Carbuncle (which is turns out is a type of gem, although the word is more commonly used to describe a cluster of boils). I also enjoyed that the case started in an unusual fashion.

Speckled on the other hand starts like many of Holmes' other cases, with a client coming to Holmes with a problem. But this one has a villain who is not too hard to spot and the crime itself reminded me mildly of some of the real life exploits of a different Holmes, namely H. H. Holmes whose tale was told in The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America.

I finished The Man with the Twisted Lip and I think it's my new favorite story in the collection. The introduction of Holmes and the solving of the mystery were more unusual than most Holmes stories.

I'm in for the read. I read this book a while ago when it first came out and I enjoyed it although I remember it got pretty heavy around the midpoint. For a short book there's a lot of big ideas inside!

Winter, if no one else wants to lead the discussion I can help out.

I finished #51:


The Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I gave up on


VALIS by Philip K. Dick

because I felt like I needed to read more of PKD's books and maybe even a biography before I read this book and its two companions.

I started these books, most of which I should finish this month:


The Moving Target by Ross Macdonald


Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny


The Dog of the South by Charles Portis


The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks

I finished The Five Orange Pips. The revelation of the meaning behind the initials made me laugh but only because (view spoiler)[it was of course the first thought that came to my head when I saw "KKK" (hide spoiler)]. I didn't think the story was one of the better ones in the collection however. It felt anti-climactic.

Ashley wrote: "I just finished The Red Headed League.

[spoilers removed]"

I agree with your spoiler, Ashley. While reading this story I was actually reminded of the Woody Allen movie Small Time Crooks, although that one turns out a lot different than this story did.

I finished The Boscombe Valley Mystery and really enjoyed it. So far I've liked 3 of the first 4 stories. I'm on pace to wrap this one up a little before the end of the month.

How's everyone else doing?

I finished the third story A Case of Identity. This was my least favorite story so far, not only because it was relatively simple but also because it felt so chauvinistic.

Wikipedia has a quote from one Margaret Brown from the Proceedings of the Pacific Northwest Literary Society that sums it up well (spoiler tagged for those who haven't read the story) (view spoiler)["Much as I admire Sherlock Holmes, I am always seized with impotent fury at reading the end of 'A Case of Identity'. What a patronizing arrogance, to decide for her whether or not she could stand hearing the truth! Anyway, he was manifestly unethical to his client. She engaged him to find Hosmer Angel. He found Hosmer Angel. He should have given his client the information she wanted and let her decide what to do with it. ... Anyway, what is this nonsense about the villain being beyond reach of the law? In British law of that time, a man could be sued for breach of promise. Even a bachelor who proposed to a woman with complete sincerity and then changed his mind could be sued. All the more so a married man who went through an elaborate charade and fallaciously courted his own daughter in law! Any half-decent lawyer could have broken him in court. Of course, the young woman might have chosen not to sue him – but Holmes should have left the choice to her. For me, this story is a dark blot on the otherwise admirable career of Sherlock Holmes." (hide spoiler)]

You can read the Wikipedia entry here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Case_...

I finished The Red Headed League and liked it a lot also, although this plot has been used so many times now that I figured it out early on.

So far I like the Holmes short stories better than the novels. They contain about the same amount of mystery but they get to the point much faster.

I finished A Scandal in Bohemia and enjoyed it, especially the character of Irene Adler who was memorably played by Rachel McAdams in the recent Guy Ritchie Holmes movies.

Holmes' cocaine use is again referenced early in the story.

I just finished #50:


Death of a Citizen by Donald Hamilton
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

And now I'm starting


The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

This is the third book in the Sherlock Holmes series, and it is a collection of 12 short stories about the great detective. It's a buddy read for this group for August so feel free to join in!

I am starting this one today. There are 12 short stories so I figure I'll read one every couple days.

The first one is A Scandal in Bohemia.

I finished #49:


The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
Rating: 5 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I set aside


Foundation by Isaac Asimov

...not because I wasn't enjoying it but I was reading it for a group read and was so far behind I decided I'd just read it at a different time.

I started reading:


Death of a Citizen by Donald Hamilton


VALIS by Philip K. Dick


Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft


Fire Watch by Connie Willis

Suki wrote: "From what I remember of what I have read, I think I prefer my Holmes in the short story format."

I'm definitely looking forward to getting to the short stories next month!

Anyone still reading this? Final thoughts anyone? How did you think it stacked up to the first book in the series (A Study in Scarlet)?

I finished four more, bringing me to 48 finished for the year:


The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


IQ by Joe Ide
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


The Winter of Frankie Machine by Don Winslow
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...