By: Eric Orchard,
on 9/20/2012
By: Jason Boog,
on 8/14/2012
What’s your favorite kind of book? We’ve created a giant flowchart to help you browse the top 50 free eBooks at Project Gutenberg.
Click the image above to see a larger version of the book map. Your choices range from Charles Dickens to Jane Austen, from Sherlock Holmes to needlework. Below, we’ve linked to all 50 free eBooks so you can start downloading right now. The books are available in all major eBook formats.
Follow this link to see an online version of the flowchart, complete with links to the the individual books.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
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By: Anthony Horowitz,
on 8/10/2012
It is November 1890 and London is gripped by a merciless winter. Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are enjoying tea by the fire when an agitated gentleman arrives unannounced at 221b Baker Street. He begs Holmes for help, telling the unnerving story of a scar-faced man with piercing eyes who has stalked him in recent weeks.
Intrigued, Holmes and Watson find themselves swiftly drawn into a series of puzzling and sinister events, stretching from the gas-lit streets of London to the teeming criminal underworld of Boston and the mysterious House of Silk . . .
House of Silk
Reviews
Perfectly paced, entirely unpredictable, edge-of-seat exciting and a total joy from start to
finish – SUNDAY EXPRESS
An exciting, well-crafted novel – SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
It seems improbable, if not impossible, but it s true Holmes is back at his best – INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
There is a suitably baffling mystery and the great detective is on top form. It’s very
good? dare I say as good as the original? – LITERARY REVIEW
THE HOUSE OF SILK is superb - DAILY TELEGRAPH
Enthusiastically replicating the spirit, style, suspense and atmosphere of Conan Doyle’s
stories, this skilfully crafted homage is an irresistible read – THE SUNDAY TIMES
Horowitz has captured Holmes Heaven – THE TIMES
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By: Monica Zepeda,
on 5/27/2012
"Mr. Holmes is kind of hawt." May has been a super busy month, so I haven't been able to get that much reading in. I did finish The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which is remarkable and important and everyone should read it. I started the YA mystery The Little Woods by McCormick Templeman, which has been enjoyable so far. I also started A Study in Scarlet, the first of the Sherlock
As the editor of the U.S. editions of Andrew Lane’s series about Sherlock Holmes’s formative years, I have known for a months what a good read the second book in the series is. Rebel Fire will more than satisfy fans of Death Cloud with a similar blend of action and outlandish plot invention together with echoes and harbingers of many of the qualities that attract detective-story fans to the original “grown up” Sherlock tales.
In the U.K., the book was published as Red Leech, a title quickly explained in the deliciously creepy opening scene. It’s also Mr. Lane’s nod to a passing reference Dr. Watson makes in Conan Doyle’s story from The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Contemplating three thick volumes of case summaries for the year 1894, Watson pauses momentarily to tease us with a seven-word recollection of “the repulsive story of the red leech” before diving into his narration of “The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez.”
Disgusting blood-suckers definitely play a role in the second book but are not the main attraction. For the American audience in particular that would be the plot connections to the Civil War, and the fact that the story involves Sherlock in a kidnapping and chase sequence that carries him all the way from London to New York City and beyond. My colleagues and I felt that a title which suggested these unexpected themes and setting was the ticket.
In Rebel Fire, Andrew Lane has taken the preposterous and made it believable: What if John Wilkes Booth had not been killed at Garrett’s farm days after the assassination in 1865? What if he had escaped to England, and was now, in 1868, being used as a figurehead by a villain with a diabolical plan to resurrect elements of the Confederate Army to stage another uprising—with only a teenage boy from England and his two friends in a position to stop him?
I will let the rave review from The Book Zone (for Boys) take it from here:
“We are now given a chance to get to know [young Sherlock] properly; this is often difficult in a first-in-series book for young readers who demand fast pace and regular action scenes, and so second-in-series books are all the more important when it comes to character development. Andrew Lane certainly rises to this challenge with [Rebel Fire] as we start to observe the genesis of some of the mannerisms and beliefs that are so well known in the full-formed adult version. Some of these moments in the story are very subtle, some are far more obvious, but almost every one I spotted sent a small shiver of delight down my spine . . . Death Cloud was packed full of great action sequences, and the sequel is no different in this respect. Sherlock finds himself escaping from the jaws of certain death time after time as the story progresses, but unlike modern heroes such as Alex Rider he does not have gadgets to help him out of sticky situations, he has to rely purely on his own intelligence and desire to stay alive. He is of course aided in this by his good friends Matty and Virginia, although quite often the final life-saving decisions end up falling to Sherlock as he finds himself having to get all three of them out of perilous situations . . . As in Death Cloud, we see She
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By: Alice,
on 1/30/2012
Sherlock Holmes could figure out almost anything, and had he bothered to discover a longevity pill he would have turned 158 years old on January 6, 2012. Or sometime during this year: Arthur Conan Doyle indicated that Holmes was born in 1854, but never divulged an exact birthday. That feat of deduction was carried out by one of the detective’s innumerable fans, Christopher Morley. Like many of them, he obsessively mined the Holmesian Canon of sixty narratives to establish both the known and unknown facts of this fictional character’s existence.
Perhaps Holmes didn’t bother to seek the grail of immortality because his creator had already discovered it. Conan Doyle’s sleuth has become one of the most famous fictional characters in literature’s history, and his popularity shows every sign of increasing, Robert Downey, Jr. notwithstanding. Holmes was the first to be the subject of “objective” biographies, complete with footnotes and other scholarly devices, as well as magazines dedicated to establishing that he was factual and Conan Doyle largely irrelevant. (For many years one fan group, the Baker Street Irregulars, identified Conan Doyle as Watson’s literary agent.) Indeed, Holmes was the first “virtual reality” character in Western literature, the model for innumerable other fictional beings and worlds that have transcended the printed page to assume an autonomous life, from The Lord of the Rings to Harry Potter.
But why Holmes? There have been many other fictional characters that have caught the public’s fancy over the course of centuries. None of them, however, commanded such a sustained and growing devotion. Falstaff, Don Quixote, Pamela, Werther, Little Nell, and others have populated the collective memory, but sober biographies of them, and societies devoted to them, are thin on the ground now and were unthinkable before Holmes’s fandom pioneered the phenomenon in the early twentieth century.
It’s a mystery, but a solvable one. We need only follow Holmes’s sage injunction to “eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth.” Here are the relevant factors to consider in the Case of the Cerebral Celebrity:
(1) Holmes and Watson are marvelous characters, and their intimate interactions have made them the ultimate “Buddy” team.
Yes, the two are an interesting spin on the “Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup” approach to literature, which includes such opposing and delectable pairs as Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, Falstaff and Prince Hal, Boswell and Johnson, Pickwick and Sam Weller. But are Holmes and Watson demonstrably superior to their predecessors? Arguably not: all of these pairs are wonderfully unique, and it would be hard to choose among them. The “Hope & Crosby” hypothesis is a necessary but not sufficient cause to explain the Holmes phenomenon.
(2) Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories combine wit, imagination and narrative drive in irresistible short packages; cumulatively, they created a rare series that delights adults and children alike.
Ah, the “nobody-can-eat-just one” hypothesis. Certainly Conan Doyle was a gifted writer, whose creations have outlasted that of many of his contemporaries. But he didn’t pull his punches when he wrote other series characters, such as Brigadier Gerard and Professor Challenger – and few read their tales now. Despite the application of his considerable skills, Conan Doyle’s other works have not captured the popular im
By: Anthony Horowitz,
on 1/10/2012
Anthony discusses writing Sherlock Holmes on the SkyArts Book Show
Sherlock Holmes, House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz is available now!
Anthony Horowitz shares his fascination with legendary characters and talks of his new Sherlock Holmes novel
A writer with more than fifty books under his pen, Anthony Horowitz is one of Britain’s most published authors as well as a successful screenwriter. He is both creator and writer of the ITV series Foyle’s War, Midsomer Murders and Collision.
Born into a wealthy Jewish family, the inception of Anthony’s childhood seemed more promising than that of an average boy. Nevertheless, Horowitz turned out to be an unhappy, obese child who turned to story-telling to entertain himself and his fellow students at boarding school which, he dubbed as a brutal experience. It thus comes as no surprise that his younger years were to stigmatize him and lead to his authoring of many books for children and it is perhaps also the reason why he remains fixated on his primary childhood escape; adventure stories.
Another Horowitz trademark is his obsession with legendary characters. In the late 1980’s he worked with Richard Carpenter on the Robin of Sherwood television series and also novelized three of the episodes.
It wasn’t until the new millennium that Horowitz began his most successful series of novels with the book Stormbreaker, which gave rise to the famous character Alex Rider, a 14-year-old spy. Alex Rider, the movie came out in 2006.
This year. Horowitz makes a return to his dedication for legendary characters with a new Sherlock Holmes novel, The House of Silk. We can’t wait to read it.
VIDEO: Anthony Horowitz chats about the pressures and pleasures of penning the new Sherlock Holmes
By: Anthony Horowitz,
on 12/16/2011
First of all, apologies to everyone who logs onto my website. I know I appear here far too infrequently. But if you took a quick look at my workload, you’d see that I’ve been horrendously busy this year. Here’s a list of the projects I’m working on right now:
DIRTY GOLD – a new eight-part series for ITV
FOYLE’S WAR – it’s not definite but we may be coming back in 2013 and I’ve already started the research
OBLIVION – the last part of the Power of Five (Gatekeeper) series
TINTIN 2 – the sequel to The Secret of the Unicorn
ARSENE LUPIN – an action film for Warner Brothers
ALEX RIDER – a short story for World Book Day
So although I know I ought to blog more often, sitting down at my computer is a bit of a strain. (Something exploded in my right eye a couple of weeks ago. I saw a doctor…well, I saw a blurry doctor. He says it’ll be fine if I rest a bit. Not easy.)
Anyway, here’s a quick Christmas update of what has been a fantastic year. And there’s a special Christmas present, as usual concealed in the text!
The big thing in 2012 was undoubtedly THE HOUSE OF SILK, my take on Sherlock Holmes. It’s my first successful adult novel – though anyone aged around 13 and over will quite possibly enjoy it. There’s nothing embarrassingly physical in it but it does have what critics might call “an adult theme” and it’s fairly violent. But I think it’s as pacey as an Alex Rider novel with plenty of action so do give it a try.
The reviews for the book were fantastic and for a brief time I was a number one bestselling author in Taiwan, which is certainly a talking point. But if you think I’m giving up writing for teens…no way! I’m about 160,000 words into OBLIVION which is the long-awaited fifth volume in my Power of Five series following RAVEN’S GATE, EVIL STAR, NIGHTRISE and NECROPOLIS.
I think it’s going to be a fantastic book though I should warn you that it has a pretty bleak conclusion…but then (like the title suggests) it is about the end of the wo
Posted on 12/10/2011
By: Anthony Horowitz,
on 12/5/2011
Somehow, though, Anthony Horowitz — well known as the author of the Alex Rider novels for young people and the scriptwriter for a number of British television series (most notably “Foyle’s War”) — managed to free the manuscript a few years in advance of that century mark. All readers and Sherlock Holmes fans will be grateful that he has.
Read the full review by Michael Dirda in the Washington Post
By: Anthony Horowitz,
on 11/24/2011
Orion Books have posted this short excerpt from the audio version of Sherlock Holmes : The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz.
By: Anthony Horowitz,
on 11/8/2011
Anthony’s promotional tour of the US for his new book “The House of Silk” has already begun. Click the link below for details of all reading and signing appearances.
Please make sure to contact each venue directly to confirm the details before travelling to any of the events.
By: Anthony Horowitz,
on 11/8/2011
The book itself is wonderfully written. Horowitz has managed to match Conan Doyle’s gift of prose, tone and pace perfectly. The story-telling is brisk and makes perfect reading for a fan of the original stories and I’ve no doubt that young newcomers, seduced by Horowitz’s Alex Rider creation, will find much to like in the characters of Holmes and Watson.
Read the full article at per alia porci
Buy the House of Silk on Amazon
By: Anthony Horowitz,
on 10/31/2011
“The House of Silk is a must for all fans of Sherlock Holmes. Pitch-perfect characterisation combined with a complex and involving plot leave the reader in no doubt that Holmes – and the spirit of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – are alive and well in the form of Anthony Horowitz. As I mentioned at the start of this review, I have high hopes that this will not be Mr Horowitz’s last foray into the world of Holmes.”
By: Anthony Horowitz,
on 10/31/2011
Within 90 minutes of being asked to write the first official Sherlock Holmes mystery since Conan Doyle, Anthony Horowitz had the plot. DAVID ROBINSON meets a one-man publishing phenomenon
SUPPOSE, for a moment, that you are a writer. A man offers to take you out for lunch to a tapas restaurant in Soho where he promises he has an interesting proposition to put to you.
And he’s right: he does. Over lunch, he reveals that he represents the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle. How would you feel, he asks, about writing the first new Sherlock Holmes novel for almost a century?
Read the full interview on The Scotsman online
Buy the House of Silk at Amazon
By: Anthony Horowitz,
on 10/6/2011
House of Silk UK Book Cover
Preorder House of Silk from Amazon
By: Anthony Horowitz,
on 10/6/2011
House of Silk UK Book Cover
Preorder House of Silk from Amazon
By: Anthony Horowitz,
on 10/5/2011
To celebrate the upcoming publication of the brand new Sherlock Holmes novel from bestselling author Anthony Horowitz, Orion Books are giving you the chance to win a signed, numbered proof copy of The House of Silk.
Sherlock Holmes - The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz. US Book Cover Image.
Preorder House of Silk from Amazon (UK, US, Canada, France, Germany)
This brand new story, written with the full endorsement of the Conan Doyle Estate, is a brilliant mystery novel, stripped back to the original style of Conan Doyle. Watch the book trailer, featuring the author reading an excerpt.
By: Anthony Horowitz,
on 10/5/2011
To celebrate the upcoming publication of the brand new Sherlock Holmes novel from bestselling author Anthony Horowitz, Orion Books are giving you the chance to win a signed, numbered proof copy of The House of Silk.
Sherlock Holmes - The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz. US Book Cover Image.
Preorder House of Silk from Amazon (UK, US, Canada, France, Germany)
This brand new story, written with the full endorsement of the Conan Doyle Estate, is a brilliant mystery novel, stripped back to the original style of Conan Doyle. Watch the book trailer, featuring the author reading an excerpt.
By: Anthony Horowitz,
on 10/4/2011
‘a brilliant new Sherlock Holmes novel. The tone of voice is pitch perfect, the send of place and time spot on. I dont want to give too much away about the plot but there are clever twist and plenty of trademark Holmesian moments. I thoroughly enjoyed this’
Sue Scholes, Bookseller’s Choice
THE BOOKSELLER
Preorder “House of Silk” now from Amazon
By: Betsy Bird,
on 8/24/2011
The fabulous Colleen Mondor and Jackie Parker-Robinson have come up with a clever notion. Kidlitcon, the yearly conference for bloggers of child and teen literature, fast approacheth and this year, things are getting a bit switched. As Colleen says on her blog, “What we decided was to shift things just a bit, both by moving away from publisher donated ARCs as raffle prizes and also toward a long term partnership with one organization. Ultimately what we came up with made sense in so many ways that in retrospect it was one of the easiest things we decided. I am delighted to announce that KidLit Con is now entering into a partnership with Reading Is Fundamental which we hope will extend for many years into the future and make a powerful difference in the lives of many.” There’s more information to be found here, including info on how to donate to RIF yourself. So far the fund has reached $1,056, which is fantastic though more is needed. And a cheer is going out to Carol Rasco for her mention of me in a recent thank you.
Lois Ehlert ▪ Artist
Jeanne Steig ▪ Angel
Michael di Capua ▪ Mentor
Karen Nelson Hoyle ▪ Bridge
On Thursday, September 22nd the Honors will be at Guastavino’s here in town. The usual auction that takes place at that time is seeing a bit of a shake-up as well. According to the website, “Our fourth annual art auction will feature original works of art donated by some of the industry’s most celebrated artists. This year also offers the opportunity to bid on ‘experiences’ with authors and artists.” If one of those “experiences” can include a chance to go pubbing with Tomi Ungerer I am in! At last year’s event I discovered that I was pregnant mere hours before attending. This year will have to top that, right?
By: admin,
on 4/17/2011
Born and raised in Waterford, Michigan, Ann Margaret Lewis attended Michigan State University, where she received her Bachelor’s degree in English Literature. She began her writing career writing tie-in children’s books and short stories for DC Comics. Before Murder in the Vatican: The Church Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes, she published a second edition of her book, Star Wars: The New Essential Guide to Alien Species, for Random House.
Ann is a classically trained soprano, and has performed around the New York City area. She has many interests from music to art history, to theology and all forms of literature. She is the President of the Catholic Writers Guild, an international organization for Catholic Writers and the coordinator of the Catholic Writers Conference LIVE. After living in New York City for fifteen years, Ann moved to Indianapolis, Indiana with her husband Joseph Lewis and their son, Raymond. Together they enjoy their life in the heartland.
Now for some questions for this author!
First, tell us a bit about Murder in the Vatican!
Ann: I have a tagline I like to use that also appears in the trailer: “A sudden death in the Vatican. An international incident over stolen artifacts. A priest’s wrongful imprisonment for murder.” But really, Murder in the Vatican is a collection of three stories (novellas) that tell “untold tales” from the Sherlock Holmes canon. “Untold tales” are stories that Watson mentions, but never gives us the details. With this book, Watson alluded to three Church-related cases, two of which deal directly with the Pope of his time, Pope Leo XIII. “The Vatican Cameos” is mentioned in The Hound of the Baskervilles, “The Case of Cardinal Tosca” is mentioned in “The Adventure of Black Peter,” and “The Second Coptic Patriarch” is mentioned in “The Retired Colourman.” So fans of the original stories can go back and find those references if they are so inclined.
Has anyone ever tried this sort of story before?
A: “Pastiche” writing, or writing Holmes stories in imitation of Conan Doyle’s style, has been done by many authors. Nicholas Meyer, Isaac Asimov and even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s own son Adrian have given it a try. There are literally thousands of these kinds of stories published. (Curious folks and find an exhaustive database of Holmes-related fiction here: http://www.michael-procter.com/holmes/_index.html .) Many of these are takes on “untold tales” and all three of these very church mysteries have been tackled by other authors independently. But no one has written all three of the church mysteries mentioned in the original stories and collected them together in one volume.
It’s obvious that you imitate Doyle’s voice in this book (it wouldn’t be a Holmes story otherwise), but you also write in the voice of the Pope. What did you do to create a “voice” for someone who really existed?
A: You mean Holmes isn’t real? {Big cheesy grin} Seriously, though, Pope Leo was a writer himself, in fact one of the most prolific popes in history. So I read his writing—encyclicals mainly.
By: Anthony Horowitz,
on 4/12/2011
New Sherlock Holmes novel by Anthony Horowitz out in November
The House of Silk, written as tribute to Arthur Conan Doyle 81 years after his death, is narrated in first-person by Watson.
The answer, Watson, is elementary. The reason Sherlock Holmes’ latest adventure, The House of Silk, is only being published 81 years after the death of his creator Arthur Conan Doyle, and 106 years after his final story about the tenant of 221B Baker Street, is that the story was simply too shocking to reveal until now.
The news in January that Anthony Horowitz – better known as a children’s author – had been commissioned to write a new Sherlock Holmes novel, was itself a literary sensation. The book, his publishers promise, is “stunning”, and the title has just been revealed for the first time.
Read more of this article at The Guardian
Sherlock Holmes: The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz. November 2011
Preorder “The House of Silk” at Amazon UK
http://amzn.to/houseofsilk
By: Anthony Horowitz,
on 4/6/2011
Anthony was on BBC Radio’s Five Live show today with Richard Bacon. Topics discussed included: Midsomer Murders, Stormbreaker the movie and the possibility of sequels, Scorpia Rising – the final Alex Rider book, a new TV series penned by Anthony and the forthcoming Sherlock Holmes novel.
Please note this recording contains a news broadcast.
By: Anthony Horowitz,
on 4/6/2011
Anthony was on BBC Radio’s Five Live show today with Richard Bacon. Topics discussed included: Midsomer Murders, Stormbreaker the movie and the possibility of sequels, Scorpia Rising – the final Alex Rider book, a new TV series penned by Anthony and the forthcoming Sherlock Holmes novel.
Please note this recording contains a news broadcast.
As a fan of the Holmes I was really excited to see post. I really love the piece and I am looking forward to seeing it colored, although I am really liking it in the black and white. It looks like you used the likeness of Jeremy Brett as your Holmes and you captured it marvelously while keeping to your own unique style. Also, I followed the link you provided to the site "The Artwork of Deduction" which is super cool, but and after looking over the works I really think yours is among the best (I still like the others though)
Thanks Scholle! I based this Holmes mainly on Paget's drawings but tried to make him a bit less attractive and suave, which is something Doyle took issue with in Paget's art.
Awesome.
Eric now that you mention it... I can see the resemblance to Paget's Holmes. If you get some time check out Frederic Dorr Steele. He is probably my favorite illustrator of the Sherlock Holmes series.
Thanks PMcC!
Wow Scholle! Thanks for bringing Steele to my attention, amazing work!
No Problem, glad you like his work. I think he is an under appreciated artists. His pen and ink work has so much feeling behind it.
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