Sherlock Holmes Chronology

I decided it was time for me to read more Sherlock Holmes. I took my double copy of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes/The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes and began reading. But wait...it says Watson is married! When did Watson get married? Hmm...perhaps I need to read these in order. So I went onto my handy dandy Wikipedia and looked up the canon.

The order in which the Sherlock Holmes Canon was published:

A Study in Scarlet (novel)

The Sign of the Four (novel)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (collection of short stories)

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (collection of short stories)

The Hound of the Baskervilles (novel)

The Return of Sherlock Holmes (collection of short stories)

The Valley of Fear (novel)

His Last Bow (collection of short stories)

The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (collection of short stories)

I'd already read A Study in Scarlet a few years ago, but I'd forgotten most of it so I read it again. I then read The Sign of the Four, but I read in a footnote that it took place seven years after A Study in Scarlet. Seven years? What happened in those seven years? A lot happened, actually. The Valley of Fear and parts of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. And the short stories within The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes weren't even sorted according to chronology. It gets more complex: Some of the short stories take place early in Holmes and Watson's career but were only written by Watson later. So what order do I read them in? I don't want spoilers. I don't want to know Watson is married before I've heard the story of how he met his bride. * It's the more complex version of Narnia: Do I start with The Magician's Nephew or The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe?

The order you would read them if you were to do them by chronology of the characters' lives rather than chronology of publishing:

A Study in Scarlet

Parts of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

The Valley of Fear

Parts of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

The Sign of Four

Part of His Last Bow

Part of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

Parts of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Part of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

Parts of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

The Hound of the Baskervilles

Parts of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Part of His Last Bow

Part of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

Parts of The Return of Sherlock Holmes

Part of His Last Bow

Parts of The Return of Sherlock Holmes

Parts of The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes

The list goes on as we sort out 19 more short stories, but I'm done figuring it out and typing it up. I'll also include the list of the novels and short stories in chronological order, but not today. I'm going to try finding a compromise between publishing order and chronological order. I'll let you know how it goes, and hopefully at the end I can posit a good order to read them in that is not too taxing on your library account.

*Sorry for any of you who didn't know Watson was married and hate spoilers.