For me there’s something wonderful about the physicality of a paper book.

Perhaps it’s because of fond memories of childhood Christmas’ and treasured hardbacks given as gifts. Or perhaps it’s because from the moment I could read a book I’ve always had at least one on the go at any time. I just can’t imagine not having a current book (and a long list of ‘to reads’).

So, that said, you can imagine how excited I was to visit the book maze installation at Royal Festival Hall, London, a couple of weeks ago.

The maze was made up of Braille books and second-hand paperbacks and hardbacks of all genres from crime to self-help via chick lit, academic textbooks and romance – to name a few!

As I navigated the passages between the walls of books, I spotted novels by authors I love and authors I’d love to read.  In fact, I could have read them right there because the maze was designed to be interactive: see a book that interests you, pick it up and start reading … wonderful.

When finally, after flicking through many books along the way, I reached the end I was delighted to find stories about one of my favourite characters, written by the author that first got me interested in the crime thriller genre, displayed on the final twist of the book wall. It was a hardback copy of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Study in Scarlet and Hound of the Baskervilles.

And so, in the end (and the beginning for me) there was Sherlock.

Related articles

• Book Maze at Royal Festival Hall (littlelondonobservationist.wordpress.com)
• Parting Shot: BBC’s ‘Sherlock’ Gets Manga Adaptation (comicsalliance.com)
• [A Victorian Celebration] Sherlock Holmes – A Study in Scarlet (bacaklasik.wordpress.com)
• A Maze of Books for the Cultural Olympiad (books-on-books.com)
• Sherlock Season 3 Episodes Revealed (tor.com)
• SHERLOCK Creators Tease Three Key Words for Season 3; Set to Debut Fall 2013 (collider.com)
• Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes and Devon, A Complete Tour Guide – A New Book of Key Sites that Inspired Sherlock Holmes (uk.prweb.com)