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LEGO and Barnes & Noble have just put out word about the first collaboration between the two brands: this Sherlock Holmes Book Nook. Featuring characters such as Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Watson, Irene Adler, and more, and displaying a buildable facade of Sherlock's famous apartment at 221B Baker Street, the product is was made available for preorder only hours ago. And naturally, I put in an expense request to my employers.

Yet somehow, it was not immediately apparent to them how this set would assist me in my adult job, despite the fact that it is labelled as being for ages 18+ directly on the front of the box. So with that in mind, I've compiled my reasons that this brilliant new product is something that my employers should absolutely pay for, and if you'll indulge me for a moment, I'd like to share them with you now.

Barnes & Noble's Sherlock Holmes LEGO set is a bookend, which helps me organize my many files

I am a writer by trade, and as you know by watching any countless number of completely accurate movies, that means I am constantly hunched over a typewriter, smoking two cigarettes at any given time, and of course, absolutely drowning in stuffed manilla envelopes. If only I had some way of keeping those many papers on a far away bookshelf, perhaps a sturdy structure that would support their number and keep them from scattering all over the ground.

Just kidding, I of course do know of exactly that kind of product, and it's the one you see directly above these paragraphs. As is appropriate for a LEGO and Barnes & Noble collab, the Sherlock Holmes Book Nook can displayed folded out to reveal a 221B Baker Street diorama, or collapsed to make for a bookshelf statement. And as the name implies, one can still get a window into the Conan Doyle-inspired scene even as the 

While we're speaking of inspiration...

The Professor Moriarty minifigure inspires me to be the best version of myself

I've written for this website before about how much I love every iteration of James Moriarty. However, there is something so delightful when a storyteller decides to go full vaudeville villain in portraying Sherlock Holmes's nemesis - and the top hat, monocle, and cape included on this little minifig (the first official Moriarty LEGO minifigure in history, to my knowledge) does exactly that.

So I figure, hey, if this little guy can rule the London Underground in an outfit that come straight off of a Loonry Tune, well then I can be my best self too, can't I? Hell, an outfit like that shows that you've decided to invest in yourself, and I think that's an important attitude to bring to the workplace. And speaking of attitudes I'm bringing to the office...

If you do not let me expense the Sherlock Holmes LEGOs, I will quit

Honestly, I should have probably led with this one, but yeah, the biggest reason that the Sherlock Holmes Book Nook will assist me at my job is that, if I don't get it, I will quit. And quitting, studies have proven time and again, is one of the biggest things getting in the way of doing well at your job, directly after A.) coworkers that you don't care for and B.) Microsoft Teams. 

Now, if you are my employers and reading this right now, I do want to say that there is plenty of time left to realize what a necessary purchase this LEGO set is in the cause of advance both my personal growth and this company itself. The Sherlock Holmes Book Nook doesn't start shipping until June 1, 2025, giving you plenty of time to consider my proposal. Hell, that even gives LEGO and Barnes and Noble more time to announce more exciting collaborations, like a Book Nook inspired by the likes of Frankenstein, or even Dracula.

Which, um, I should also probably be able to expense.

The LEGO & Barnes & Noble Sherlock Holmes Book Nook is available to preorder now.

Just like yourself, the Popverse staff spends a whole lot of time with our respective noses in respective books. It's why we've come up with stuff like:

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...and a whole lot more. Join our metaphorical library, won't you? There are no late fees and you can be as loud as you want, so long as the people you live with are OK with it.