These suggestions are chosen because of upcominganniversaries or events that will or have occurred so far in 2015.
With the return of Sherlock to our screens and especiallythe arch villain in the form of Andrew Scott’s Moriarty, it is an appropriatetime to read the original stories by Arthur Conan Doyle in their entirety. Onceyou’ve finished those you should give the new novels authorised by the ConanDoyle Estate and written by the brilliant Anthony Horowitz a try. The first, The House of Silk is a tribute to theoriginal stories and (although possible inadvertently) touches on a subjectthat is currently very hot in our media and societal consciousness.
The secondbook Moriarty is also well worth aread, but I refuse to reveal any sort of spoiler so you must discover it foryourself.
With lastyear being the centenary anniversary of the beginning of the First World War,we must not forget that it lasted four terrible years and irrevocable changedthe nature of our world. One way of remembering the tragedy of the barbaric waris to read the writings of those who lived through it and in particular thepoets Siegfriend Sassoon and Wilfred Owen.
Last yearsaw the end of The Hobbit trilogy and many said goodbye to the cinematic MiddleEarth. However as another tale that was highly influenced by the author’sexperience in the First World War and the fact that 2015 marks the 60thAnniversary since the final volume of TheLord of the Rings was published in the form of The Return of the King, it is well worth reading the entire novel if you haven’tvisited it already.
And if you have already read it, why not return to it likean old friend knocking on a hobbit’s door?
In otheradaption news, we saw Benedict Cumberbatch pull off a spectacular appearance asAlan Turing in The Imitation Games. With the 70th anniversary of theending of the Second World War approaching, why not read Andrew Hodges’biography on the war hero titled AlanTuring: The Enigma.
The book tells the story of a man who helped crack the GermanEnigma code, was a pioneer that helped create the modern computing and digitalage we have today and was betrayed by a government he helped save from fascism forthe crime of being himself.
Finally torejoice at the news of Stephen Fry’s engagement, why not delve into hisliterature?
He has four bestselling novels: TheStars’ Tennis Balls, Making History, The Hippopotamus and The Liar. Then if you are interested inreading about the life of one of Britain’s national treasures, the have a lookat his biographies: Moab is my Washpot,The Fry Chronicles and More fool me.
