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Booking It



This post could also be entitled: A Day Late and A Dollar Short. You’ll soon see why.

Last night at Union Jack’s: Watson's Tin Box of Ellicott City, Maryland, a scion society of the Baker Street Irregulars, held their monthly meeting to explore and enjoy the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Well, not just any of his works, but specifically the cases of the great detective Sherlock Holmes. 

In all my years in Howard County I had never heard of them. Have you? The Baltimore Sun had. I discovered they did a lovely write up (with photographs) in 2019. 

Watson’s Tin Box gets its name from a section of the tale, The Problem of Thor Bridge:



The group, founded by Steve Clarkson and Paul Churchill, held their first meeting in 1990. They meet monthly at Union Jack’s for dinner, presentations, discussions, and even a quiz of their vast Sherlockian knowledge. (Or would it be Holmesian?)

So, you’ve already missed this month’s gathering but do not despair. Upcoming dates are set and the topics are as follows:

• July 21, 2025 @ 7:00 p.m.: "Final Problem" from The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.

• August 18, 2025 @ 7:00 p.m.: "Empty House" from The Return of Sherlock Holmes.

• September 15, 2025 @ 7:00 p.m.: "Golden Pince-Nez" from The Return of Sherlock Holmes.

*****

On June 15 the Friends and Foundation of Howard County Library System opened registration for their first ever Battle of the Books open to adults. You can read more about it here. On June 16th they announced that registration for all three dates was sold out. Wow, that was fast. They are taking names for a waitlist, so, in case you had your heart set on participating - - there may still be a chance. 

The event is a fundraiser for the library and is patterned after the well-known kids version, affectionately known around town as BOB. I have sentimental memories of former HoCoTimes journalist Sara Toth actually live-tweeting BOB back when Twitter was a legitimate social media platform and the HoCoTimes really had local journalists.




In case you’re wondering, costumes are encouraged but not required. (Group costumes figure heavily in the youth version.) 

The Caroll County Library system has held “Battle of the Books: After Hours” for the last three years and our local library has taken some pointers from them on how to structure this new event. The funds raised will support programs like author events, the summer reading program, Project Literacy graduation and next year’s youth Battle of the Books.

So, again: here’s a cool thing and, oops! You missed it. Some days are like that. It looks like the early bird gets the book.

In closing, here’s something just for fun:

Books are like eggs. Handle with care!

This post on Bluesky inspired quite a few imaginative responses:

  • Books are like eggs, no use until you crack ‘em open
  • Excited to see what hatches in the stacks
  • I can't purchase fewer than 6 of them at a time?
  • Wonderfully made and nourishing
  • That reminds me, I need to start making myself some scrambled books for breakfast every morning...
How would you finish that phrase?



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