Lizzie Borden Society Forum

Both of my daughters are beginning to fall in love with the Nancy Drew mysteries and I am THRILLED.

I know we have talked about her before... But I just love her and love that Lillie and Torrey do too!

Was it at your suggestion, Audrey, or did they find Nancy by themselves? It must be so wonderful to pass on something like that, mother to daughter(s), and see them get the same thrill from the girl detective. Makes me want to go to the library right now and check out some Nancy Drew books to reread!

I am also a Nancy Drew fan- I collect the original printings of the books.

Another series for young girls is the Betsy-Tacy books by Maude Hart Lovelace. There are about 10 of them in the series. They start with a young girl (Betsy) who meets new neighbors (Tacy) in Mankato, MN. They take the girls through Betsy's wedding and begin the saga at the turn of the century. Actually, they are based on the author's life. They have been around for 60 years at least but I still read them every few years.

Because they are "real life", some of the characters in the books are still alive. The settings in Mankato are still there. The Betsy-Tacy society keeps up 2 of the homes and meets regularly. There web site is www.betsy-tacysociety.org. I would recommend the books to all.

I love reading kids books. Theres no sex and violence like grown up stuff.

I've only read 7 Nancy Drews and my favorites so far are The Bungalow Mystery and The Message in The Hollow Oak. I've heard that The Dana Girls are better, written by the same auther. I never liked The Hardy Boys. There's a fist fight every five pages it seems. It seems they use their fists instead of their brains.

I like the Donna Parker books. There is no real "punch line" at the end just a nice story line. I recently discovered the Kay Tracey series. Trixie Belden is OK. There are a lot of "stand alone" books I like that I wish were expanded into a series, like Miss Hickory.

After taxing my brain with some technical book on stock trading I like to get into bed with a nice kid's book. It's a nice way of unwinding.

-1bigsteve (o:

I know one of the writers of the Nancy Drew books.
She and her husband live here in Saratoga Springs.

I suggested them to the girls. I have the entire set of the Alice Roy books. Alice was what Nancy was called in France. Lillie and Torrey will read them in English.

There are more these days.... many more! Nancy has been updated and goes to college, etc in some of them.

I have read a few of those!

Sam's Club has the books in sets of 5 for $10 and this is how we started their collection. I have purchased them 3 sets so far and they have begun them. They are not super fast readers yet-- but they are reading them in order and pester eachother to finish the 'next one' so that they can begin it!

Just finished Nancy's The Bungalow Mystery and Red Gate Farm and started her The Wooden Lady last night. Next week I start Donna Parker In Cherrydale.

Hey, I'm just a big kid!

-1bigsteve (o:

stuartwsa @ Tue Jan 24, 2006 9:56 am wrote:I know one of the writers of the Nancy Drew books.
She and her husband live here in Saratoga Springs.

Hey Stuart How does it work, with more than one author, do you know?

In my day, they were 50 cents.

Steve... don't read them in airports or other places where you might want to meet women!

I found this:

http://nancy-drew.mysterynet.com/nancyd ... thor.shtml


Tracy...

Tracy: Thanks for the link-- it is absolutely right about the anonymity. But it's a badly kept secret here that the woman I know writes Nancy Drew mysteries. She writes under her own name as well (Nancy Butcher), and as long as she doesn't get any written publicity or try to attach the Nancy Drew name to her other books, it's fine. Everybody knows around here that she writes them. But she was just appointed Deputy Mayor of the city, so I wonder how much time she will have for her day job! :-)

When I was growing up, I couldn't get enough of The Happy Hollisters series. Did anyone else read them?

Audrey @ Sat Jan 28, 2006 10:20 pm wrote:Steve... don't read them in airports or other places where you might want to meet women!

Oh, so thats' why I can't seem to pick up any ladies! Well, now I know. That explains it. Well, next time I'll have to try the Bobbsy Twins and see if that will work. I can hear the kids now, "Hey mister, aren't you a bit old to be reading kid's books? Well, ummm, they belong to my grandkids. Don't lie to me mister. I saw your lips moving."

I can only take about three kids books in a row before I start throwing up. I like the girls mystery series the best. Some of the writing and story line is not too bad. A little hokey but I can live with that. I just wish the editors would replace the words like "Hark", "Hyppers", and "Chums" with words that don't have such a high puke factor as those three. But the action is fast paced without wasted words.

Adult mysteries are about 653 pages long and only 40 pages have anything to do with the story line. The rest is just filler. "The dead body came to rest beneath the red drapes that are actually a shade of crimson made from the bodies of insects from the Nile region of Egypt and the fabric is a tight weave made on a loom popular in the southern area of Africa... 12 pages later... and on the far side of the room is the wood paneling made from Brazilian Walnut that grows in the yada, yada, flap, flap..."

And then there is Louis L 'Amoure's grand standing, "The two men stood facing each other and before The Key Lock Man (where do these dorky names come from?) could move, his .45 jumped out of the holster all by itself and sent a speeding bullet on it's way smashing through the other man's eye and blowing out his brains. The man fell to the ground with a guttural (I just hate that over-used, dorky word) sound escaping from his lips reaching for his own .45 with a hand that is already dead. Brains and blood dripped from the tree. The smell of frying bacon floated through the air..."

I can't stand wasted words and violence so I guess it's no wonder I read kid's books.

-1bigsteve (o:

I used to read a lot of suspense/true crime and recently decided that (apart from Lizie and paranormal stuff) I was no longer going to read such 'dark' material. No more of my beloved Patricia Cornwell, who's books seem to get more violent and paranoid as time goes by... No more Dean Koontz, James Patterson or books like them.

Wasted words are perhaps in the mind...or eye of the beholder. Sometimes a long, drawn out, discourse is something I may read through thinking..."blah, blah, blah...what's the point ?", yet sometimes it is those blah blah details that tie the 'story' altogether. Other times...it would seem that short and sweet is truly the best route.


Tracy...

Have you ever seen Dean Koontz's movie Intensity? That was pretty good. I never read his books but that film was OK.

A friend told me about a book by Stephan King about a guy who is into M&M. One day he has his wife chain him to the bed for a flogging, I guess, and then she goes out into the yard for something and drops dead of a heart attack leaving him chained to the bed. Smart boy!

I never could get into those thick books no matter how good the story is. I often wonder if they get paid by the word. Sam Clemens was wordy. Huckleberry Finn was probably the drollest book I ever read. He could take a simple sentence and expand it into a whole paragraph. I liked his droll sense of humor though. He was funny.

-1bigsteve (o:

M&M...as in the candy ? Which King novel is that ?


Tracy...

No it wasn't about candy it was that sex game stuff with the chains and whips and stuff. I don't remember the title but I think it was "Harold" or something like that that. He said it was a funny but sad story. I was floored when I found out that Stephen King wrote Stand By Me. After all the weired stuff he wrote he can change directions and come up with a story like that!

Another author who surprised me was Ray Bradbury. He wrote all that stuff I don't care for but he made a 180 degree turn around and wrote a short story that blew me away. It was printed in Reader's Digest called "I'll Never Forget You." It was part of a collection of stories by Bradbury in something called "Midnight Stories", I think.

It was about a fourteen year old kid with a major crush on his 24 year old teacher. He look's at his teacher as being like "peaches and cream on a hot summer afternoon."

Years later after he is married, he go's back to his old home town to see his teacher. He drags his wife and young son from shop to shop looking for the wear-abouts of his teacher. Finally someone tells him she is dead and buried in the cemetary. As he is dragging his wife toward the cemetary, the towns people look at his wife as being like "peaches and cream on a hot summer afternoon." Here this young guy was chasing after someone he could never have but yet the same qualities he saw in his teacher other people saw in his wife! His wife was the same kind of person his teacher was but he didn't see it. He didn't appreciate what he already had! Like the story of the guy who goes to a distant land looking for a treasure only to return years later, broke and worn out, to find the treasure was in his own backyard!

What a powerfull story from a guy who wrote all those sci-fi books. He nailed that one! Bradbury is A-OK now in my book. I loved that story.

-1bigsteve (o:

S&M and the book was called "gerald's game". The wife was tethered to the bed with leather straps, not the husband, who dies.... They are out in the middle of nowhere.....

I will say that Intensity is one of the best written books I have ever read as far as being able to take you into the story, feeling what the heroine felt, etc.

Right now I am reading Wicked. It is very intense. I am not sure how they got such a happy musical from this book, but they did. Although this book has it's downer moments, I think I will try another book or two by Mr. Maguire.


Tracy...

I'm just finishing "Murder at Smutty Nose and Other Murders" and then it's on to "Studies In Murder", both books by Pearson.

Although it only has a few pages on the Borden murders, I highly recommend the Smutty Nose book as some of the other cases make for fascinating reading.

For those who don't know, Smutty Nose is not smutty nor a nose, but the name of an island off the coast of New Hampshire where two murders occurred.

Audrey @ Sun Jan 29, 2006 9:09 pm wrote:S&M and the book was called "gerald's game". The wife was tethered to the bed with leather straps, not the husband, who dies.... They are out in the middle of nowhere.....

I will say that Intensity is one of the best written books I have ever read as far as being able to take you into the story, feeling what the heroine felt, etc.

I have the book Gerald's Game myself. I'm a big fan of Stephen King. The thing I like about Stephen King is he can be kind of versatile when he chooses. He can write stories like The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me, Apt Pupil, Delorous Claibourne, or he can write really gross and gruesome horror stories, and he does them all equally well.

Right now I'm reading A Trial of Witches: A Seventeenth Century Witchcraft Prosecution by Gilbert Geis and Ivan Bunn. I'm about half way through it now, but I will probably finish it up within the next day. It's very interesting, and I can't put it down for long.

Audrey @ Sun Jan 29, 2006 6:09 pm wrote:S&M and the book was called "gerald's game". The wife was tethered to the bed with leather straps, not the husband, who dies.... They are out in the middle of nowhere.....

I will say that Intensity is one of the best written books I have ever read as far as being able to take you into the story, feeling what the heroine felt, etc.

S&M, M&M, whatever. I never read Intensity but did you see the movie? That poor girl went through quite a bit. It was a good one. You ought to rent it. Get some popcorn and coke.

-1bigsteve (o:

I looked for Intensity on Amazon.com to get a synopsis of the story, the readers reviews, and get an idea of what the price was like. I'm going to check the bookstore and see if they have a copy. It sounds like something I would enjoy reading.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/055358 ... e&n=283155

Allen @ Mon Jan 30, 2006 8:33 am wrote:I looked for Intensity on Amazon.com to get a synopsis of the story, the readers reviews, and get an idea of what the price was like. I'm going to check the bookstore and see if they have a copy. It sounds like something I would enjoy reading.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/055358 ... e&n=283155

When you finish with the book, Allen, rent the movie and see what you think. I liked it. The lead actor was very believeable. Well worth seeing. Don't forget the popcorn.

-1bigsteve (o:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118350/


Tracy...

The movie, Intensity, stresses me out. I found it uncomfortable to watch.

As for Nancy Drew books, I have 40+ up in my attic. I believe they were $1.00 to $1.25 when they were being given to me.

I even have a couple of the titles in different versions, because they used to rewrite the stories using the same titles every so many years.

One point that really provoked me was Nancy's friend, George, a girl. In one of the "newer" Nancy Drew's from the 1960, one of the Carolyn Keene's called her Georgia through the entire book. They needed a little proof-reading of the many Carolyn Keene's.

I also have some Happy Hollisters and the Cherry Ames series.

When I was growing up my favorite series of books was the Laura Ingalls Wilder series of books dealing with her childhood. My favorite was always On The Banks of Plum Creek . I loved those books, and I have to admit, I still like to reread them every now and then.

I had never heard of The Happy Hollisters untill about three years ago. I see Cherry Ames now and then. Are these two any good, Cynthia?

One thing I notice in the Nancy Drew books is that Nancy seems to have a set of standards that she never breaks such as always keeping her word and being somewhere on time and being reliable. I think those are good qualities to have in a kids book. She always seems to be organized. I like that. Many of those Drew books were re-written to reflect the times. Mildred Wirt wrote some and also authored many other kids books.

My sister loves the Little House on The Prairie series. I didn't like them myself but I had Laura's auto-bio that I gave to her, so she was thrilled. Michael Landon's character always seemed to be weeping about something and that is what turned me off. Life must have been incredibly tough in those days. If I had been a kid when they came out I might feel different. I'll have to buy the books and give them a try.

I grew up watching horror films so Intensity did not bother me but it was suspenseful.

I recently bought the complete set (7) of the Donna Parker books, all in mint condition. I'm going to have fun reading those.

-1bigsteve (o:

Allen @ Mon Jan 30, 2006 10:33 am wrote:I looked for Intensity on Amazon.com to get a synopsis of the story, the readers reviews, and get an idea of what the price was like. I'm going to check the bookstore and see if they have a copy. It sounds like something I would enjoy reading.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/055358 ... e&n=283155

It is a good read...... I think you would enjoy it.

PM or Emai me your address and you can have my (paperback) copy for free.... I will never read it again and I like to give books to someone who I know will enjoy it.

Cherry Ames was my nurse heroine, with her dark curls and rosy cheeks and great jobs. I have wanted to be a nurse since forever.

"Clara Barton, Founder of the American Red Cross" was one of the first nurse books I read, even before reading about Florence Nightingale.

An older book, even in my childhood, "Nancy Naylor, Navy Nurse" was a real popular read with me and my girlfriends. She got to be a nurse, experienced "real" danger, and met a thousand sailors looking for a date.

Does anyone remember Candy Kane by Janet Lambert? I remember her see the boy she likes take his shirt off, and she thought he was so white that his chest resembled the underbelly of a frog. Gosh, I remember when this passed for sexual undercurrent.

I haven't heard of Janet Lambert, Nancy Naylor or Candy Kane. I've got Jinny Gorden and Kay Tracey. They're pretty good. Have you ever read the Romona Quimby books? I knew a neighbor girl just like her!

What I don't like are the old Whitman books using stories around real life people like, "Patty Duke and The Mystery Mansion" or "Annette Funicello and The Desert Inn Mystery" or "Janet Lennon at Camp Calamity." Too hokey for me. I saw Janet and her sisters in concert just before her Dad was murdered. Beautiful voices!

-1bigsteve (o:

theebmonique @ Mon Jan 30, 2006 3:34 pm wrote:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118350/


Tracy...

That's the one. John C. McGinley did a good job of playing the creep. I've seen him in other roles and he is completly different.

If you guys want to see a real creeper get "Road Games" with Stacy Keach. It is an underated film but it will get under your skin. Grant Page plays the creep in this one. I love that scene where Keach gets into the back of his 18 wheeler to count the number of slabs of beef he has hanging up and realizes he has... Well, I just love that film! Don't forget the popcorn.

-1bigsteve (o:

I remember the Ramona books. They were by Beverly Cleary, I think. I enjoyed those, along with the Encyclopedia Brown mysteries, and the Henry Reed series.

I think I remember Ramona... Weren't they all title Ramona the Something.. ie- brave, etc?

I also loved Pippi Longstonking.

We have Road Games on videotape duped from it's second showing on TV way long ago.

For some reason it reminds me of Duel- Spielberg's first movie (also duped from TV way long ago).

Both intense and creepy.

I only read Nancy Drew and Bobsey Twins, mentioned here.

Other than those I read our mom's 1880's book collections for children. My 2 favorite single books were Clematis and The Little Lame Prince. They were not American series (not series at all) so I doubt anyone knows of them.

We also had an unlimited quantity of comic books based on Literary stories for children. Did anyone have those? Like Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe- comics like that.

Audrey @ Wed Feb 01, 2006 6:53 pm wrote:I think I remember Ramona... Weren't they all title Ramona the Something.. ie- brave, etc?

I also loved Pippi Longstonking.

I think they are "Ramona The Pest", Ramona The Brave", Ramona Quimby Age 8", "Ramona Forever", "Beezus And Ramona", "Ramona And Her Father", "Ramona And Her Mother", "Ramona's World", and maybe others I don't remember. Ramona The Pest was my favorite.

My sister flipped over Pippi Longstocking. I saw the series and movies made from the series (Inger Neilsen) when they were released in America. I love that scene when Pippi is picking her nose and some rich elegant lady say's, "Pippi, ladies don't pick their nose like that!" and Pippi say's, "Well then, how do ladies pick their noses?" That was a classic. I got all three books.

-1bigsteve (o:

I love Duel! That was a good film. I see "The Little Lame Prince" now and then. I don't remember that comic series. I read "Helen's Babies" and liked it. I have a gold edition of "Oliver Twist" with an inscription in pencil from a teacher to a student dated 1888. Pre Lizzie! The font is so small it takes 10 minutes to read 1 page.

I love those old classics. Like an old favorite blanket.

-1bigsteve (o:

I don't remember the Whitman series with Patty Duke, etc., but I inherited some from an older cousin with titles from the forties:

Bonita Granville and the Mystery of Star Island, by Kathryn Heisenfelt, 1942
Ann Sheridan and the Sign of the Sphinx, by Kathryn Heisenfelt, 1943
Jane Withers and the Swamp Wizard, by Kathryn Heisenfelt, 1944

http://www.series-books.com/whitman/whitman.html

and some strange titles about campfire girls and Betty Boop.

I didn't realize the Whitman series went back to the fourties. I like their '50's stuff best, Ginny Gorden, Donna Parker, etc. I think they only did one with Patty Duke but not sure. I loved her TV show.

-1bigsteve (o:

Isn't it lovely that when discussing books with people who love to read as adults-- it almost always started young...

I remember Trixie Beldon!
This is really reaching far back.

Does anyone remember the Judy Bolton series? I used to love them much better than Nancy Drew because there was a running story throughout her books about her family and friends.

What do you mean "remember", Kat? Hey I'm still into Trixie Beldon but only a few books so far (I'm a late bloomer on her books).

Anybody like Dr. Suese? Green Eggs and Ham was my favorite. That crazy art work tickled me pink. A railroad track running across the top of a tree and being tied down with string? A tiny house from the outside in Cat In The Hat but the house is huge on the inside with long hallways that can't possibly fit into that tiny house? Everything in those books is out of kilter, nothing is square and plumb. And how about that thick blue water in Fox In Sox? No matter what dangers the car or train is facing the driver and passengers always have a smile on their faces or their eyes are closed or both. I love it!

What would we do if we couldn't remember our childhood? I take mine along with me no matter where I go...

-1bigsteve (o:

Angel @ Thu Feb 02, 2006 5:42 am wrote:Does anyone remember the Judy Bolton series? I used to love them much better than Nancy Drew because there was a running story throughout her books about her family and friends.

I see Judy Bolton now and then Angel but I've never read any (yet). I like a story line running through the books too which is probably why I like Donna Parker. Nancy Drew just seems to mention the last mystery Nancy worked on and the next mystery she will be working on to keep the readers (us kids) connected with the order in which the books are published and to keep us coming back for more. There is the usual brief info on "who-is-who" in each book but other than that there isn't much in the way of "connect-the-dots." I never know what season of the year it is. Summer heat wave one day and a major blizzard the next.

I don't have any intention yet of reading the "New" Nancy Drew books. Any good? I can't seem to get into the way kids books are usually written now days. There is often some twisted opinion(s) of the author that is being woven through the story and passed off as "fact" or normal teenage hangups become the basic story itself. I can just see "Nancy's First Date" or "Nancy Gets A Pimple" (Dear Abby, what should I do?) type of thing. I like the older style much better. Clean without the usual "who is the father of my child?" toilet talk.

I'm tempted to read the Kim Aldrich series of mysterys. There's only four but I heard the writing is more for young adults than kids. They might be over my head.

-1bigsteve (o:

In the fourth grade I found a copy of Mommie Dearest and read it. I didn't understand some of it, but the book still fascinated me. I read it over and over. I can remember going to my mom and asking her what "ch-aus" (chaos) was. This word is found many times in the book. I've kept a copy of the book ever since. I have read both covers off the first copy over the years and picked another one up at a flea market. I think this is where my interest in the actors of the '30's and '40's first started. I think it just blossomed from there. My mother didn't know I was reading the book, I didn't know if she would allow me to read it or not, so I kept it hidden in my room and read it there. Then I actually saw the movie which explained some of the things I didn't understand in the book.

Right now I've picked up a copy of Intensity, and a copy of Devil in the White City which is about H.H. Holmes and the 1893 Worlds Fair. I'm trying to decide which to read first.

If you're looking for a swing vote to influence your decision -- I haven't read Intensity -- but I can highly recommend Devil in the White City. Time-wise, its proximity to the case makes it extremely relevant to Bordenites ... and Larson is an excellent writer.

Other favorite childhood books, but not in series.

Secret Garden
A Little Princess
The Sherwood Ring
The Prisoner of Zenda

When I worked in publishing, I developed a love of Shel Silverstein, especially Where the Sidewalk Ends

Also, Tunes for a Small Harmonica by Barbara Wersba

and

Beauty: A retelling of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley

I missed The Cat in the Hat craze as a kid, but I fell in love with The Lorax which was required reading in my political geography course because of its strong environmental message. I've given many copies as gifts.

Allen--I found a copy of Erskine Caldwell's God's Little Acre in the attic and read it when I was about 7. Supposedly, it passed as a sexy book in the late 30s and early 40s, but as a kid, I didn't think much of it. I also found Henry Miller pretty dull and repetitive. As I got older, I figured he was banned in so many places, not because the books were "dirty", but because they were so badly written.

diana @ Thu Feb 02, 2006 1:47 pm wrote:If you're looking for a swing vote to influence your decision -- I haven't read Intensity -- but I can highly recommend Devil in the White City. Time-wise, its proximity to the case makes it extremely relevant to Bordenites ... and Larson is an excellent writer.

Thanks diana, you convinced me to to read Devil in the White City first. I have to say that so far I'm very glad I did.

As a little kid I use to enjoy reading the Encyclopidia Brown books. I don't even know who the author is/was. As a teenager I loved Little Women by Alcott, The Anne Of Green Gable books by Montgomery. I also really loved Gone With The Wind by Mitchell.

I still like reading books for kids. Last month I read the first two books in the Chronicles Of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis and enjoyed them. I also liked Artemis Fowl by Irish writer Eoin Colfer. The next book I want to read is Al Capone Does My Shirts by Choldenko. I read the reviews and it sounds pretty good.


For adults who would like a little bit of a Lizzie connection try reading Harvard's Secret Court by William Wright. There are two guys from Fall Rivers in that book.