Sunday, May 29, 2022

Hulu's Hardy Boys and CW's Tom Swift Series

Opinions are mixed on CW's Nancy Drew series that has been in production since 2019.  I like the show, even though it is very different from the books.  Other fans dislike it because of how different it is.

When the Nancy Drew series premiered, fans became quite upset since Nancy had sex in the opening scene.  It didn't help that the show pivoted hard to supernatural almost immediately.  Many fans were quite unhappy.

The new Tom Swift series will premiere on The CW on Tuesday, May 31, at 9/8c.  Like CW's Nancy Drew, CW's Tom Swift will be extremely different from the books.

The summary of the first episode is as follows.

As an exceptionally brilliant inventor with unlimited resources and unimaginable wealth, the devilishly charming TOM SWIFT is a man who many men would kill to be, or be with—a man with the world in the palm of his hand.  But that world gets shaken to its core after the shocking disappearance of his father, thrusting Tom into a breathtaking adventure full of mysterious conspiracies and unexplained phenomena.  On his whirlwind quest to unravel the truth, Tom finds himself fighting to stay one step ahead of an Illuminati-scale cabal hellbent on stopping him.

A number of Tom Swift fans have already indicated their disapproval.  I am not a Tom Swift fan, so I don't have an opinion and don't care one way or the other.  I'm just along for the ride and want to see what happens.  I will be watching the show to see what it is like.  I do expect that Tom Swift will result in very strong reactions similar to what happened when Nancy Drew premiered.  

Reviews of Hulu's Hardy Boys series by fans have been pretty good.  Of the three series, it is the one that is closest to the books.  The main complaint that some fans have is the age difference between Frank and Joe.  That the main complaint is the age difference means that the Hardy Boys show does not upset fans like the Nancy Drew show does.  If the Nancy Drew and Tom Swift series are not to your liking, please give the Hardy Boys series a chance.  I would love to see it come back for a third season.  If you have never subscribed to Hulu, you can get a free trial.


If you do get Hulu, also consider watching Only Murders in the Building.  The series stars Selena Gomez, Martin Short, and Steve Martin.  Actual Hardy Boys books feature prominently in the early episodes of the first season.  The show is worth checking out.


Only Murders in the Building
 will be back for a second season in late June.

Friday, May 27, 2022

Books Listed on eBay and Etsy

I have listed quite a few books in the last couple of weeks on both eBay and Etsy.  

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

As always, I have different books listed on each site.  I never duplicate listings across multiple sites. 

On Etsy, I have listed Nancy Drew in multiple formats including bare tweed, tweed in dust jacket, original text picture covers, and revised text picture covers.  I also have listed Trixie Belden, Three Investigators, Rick Brant, Vicki Barr, and Connie Blair books.  The Three Investigators books listed on Etsy are not musty.

The musty Three Investigators books are on eBay, and I have lowered the prices.  I am hoping that someone who doesn't mind a musty odor as much as I do will end up purchasing the books.  If not, then the books will eventually go to a bulk lot.  

On eBay, I have listed Nancy Drew Files, Nancy Drew library editions, and Hardy Boys Wanderer softcover books.

In the coming days, I will list additional books.

Orders of $35 or more shipping to United States addresses will receive free shipping.  Add the books to your shopping cart and then complete checkout in order for the shipping discount to apply.

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Just 12 More Hardcover Nancy Drew Files Needed

These are my previous posts on this topic.

Nancy Drew Files Hardcover Library Editions
My Progress on My Set of Nancy Drew Files Hardcover Library Editions

I decided around five years ago to build a set of the Nancy Drew Files in hardcover library bindings.  I have made amazing progress.  In my last update, I reported that I was down to needing just 18 titles.

In March, I found a copy of #93 Hotline to Danger.


This month, I spotted a bulk lot of Nancy Drew books that contained high-numbered hardcover Nancy Drew Files, some of which I needed. 

I acquired these books.

 99.  The Cheating Heart
101.  The Picture of Guilt
105.  Stolen Affections
109.  
Love Notes
117.  Skipping a Beat


These purchases bring me down to needing just 12 titles in hardcover.

 67.  Nobody's Business
 70.  Cutting Edge
 85.  Sea of Suspicion
 91.  If Looks Could Kill
 92.  My Deadly Valentine
 98.  Island of Secrets
115.  Running into Trouble
118.  Betrayed by Love
120.  Dangerous Loves
122.  Strange Memories
123.  Wicked for the Weekend
124.  Crime at the Chat Cafe

I have been working on the hardcover Nancy Drew Files set for only around five years.  That I am down to needing just 12 books in hardcover astonishes me.  I haven't been trying hard to find them.  I keep my eyes open and check any listings that I spot to see if I need any.  I have not been running searches for individual titles or doing anything special at all.  This set is proving to be much easier to build than my set of hardcover Nancy Drew Digest books.

I had been searching for the Nancy Drew Digest books in hardcover for 16 years before I came down to needing only around a dozen titles.  It took me a full 20 years to finish the set.  It should be noted that I worked very hard on that set, particularly for the last five years that I searched.

It doesn't look like I will need 20 years to build the Nancy Drew Files set in hardcover, since I am already down to needing just 12 titles.  Timing has a lot to do with it.  I think if I would have started looking for the Nancy Drew Files in hardcover some 20 years ago that it would have taken me 20 years to build the set.  The reason is because far more of the books have been discarded by libraries now than had been discarded 20 years ago.  The books are now somewhat easier to find.

I decided soon after I started on the Nancy Drew Files set in hardcover that I was not going to keep my softcover set.  I just don't have room, and the Nancy Drew Files series is not important enough to my collection for me to want to have two sets of the books.

These pictures show my set of Nancy Drew Files books.  Most of the books are now hardcover with 12 books in softcover mixed in.  Click on each image in order to see it clearly.




Saturday, May 21, 2022

The Growing Pains of a Facebook Group

The biggest problem with Facebook groups is that the wrong people join them.  Any group with a name featuring a genre (teen books, series books) is a difficult group to manage due to members' loose interpretation of the group's name.

Groups that have specific names (Stephen King, Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High, etc.) do not have as much of a problem with maintaining their focus.  All members understand the focus, so off-topic posts are kept to a minimum.

In my post from March 8, I explained what I had done to make the focus of the Collecting Vintage Children's Series Books and Vintage Teen Books groups more clear.  My efforts appeared to be working, since membership requests had fallen dramatically.  Now some 2 1/2 months later, I can report that the changes I made continue to greatly suppress the membership requests.  In the Collecting group, membership requests are down by 73.1%.  In the Vintage Teen Books group, membership requests are down by 77.42%. 

While series books and/or vintage teen books are important to the people in our collecting community, they are of little concern to the general public.  It never made sense for 50 to 100 (or more) people to join each group per week.  At least that part of the problem has been solved.  

The Collecting group has been a big problem for years, but it has calmed down and is not as much of a problem as it once was.  We firmly control what we allow to be posted to the group, and we are no longer being harassed by certain manipulative people. 

I wrote in early March that I didn't want the Vintage Teen Books group to follow the same path as the Collecting group.  Sadly, that is exactly what has happened.  The Vintage Teen Books group is now the bigger problem.  The Vintage Teen Books group is now where the Collecting group was around five to six years ago.

The Vintage Teen Books group is at the stage where members criticize the moderator (me) and nitpick everything that the moderator says or does.  Oh, such fun.  This takes a lot out of a person.

I rejected a post in the Vintage Teen Books group, received a rude response, and then posted about it, thinking that I could use the situation as a teaching moment.  That was a big mistake.  Here is the text of my post.

A post featuring books written by Cynthia Voigt and Ellen Conford was submitted to the group yesterday. I was unfamiliar with the books and felt that the covers of some of them were ambiguous as to the age of the characters.

I took the time to look up the books by title and author and found summaries. I do not reject posts without being absolutely certain that some books don't fit. I found that a number of the books did not feature characters in their late teens.

I rejected the post with this reason: "Several of these books do not feature high school or college age teens. For that reason, we must decline the post. Resubmit with only books featuring older teens, and we can approve the post. Thanks!"

Today that person sent this response: "Posts are being declined because they’re not high school age. Ellen concord and Cynthia voigt are ALL high school. This page blows. Peace."

That person has left the group, which is a shame since they were mistaken.

These are the books that caused the post to be rejected. After the title, I have stated the age or grade of the main characters.

Ellen Conford:  Dreams of Victory (6th grade), Anything for a Friend (age 11); Hail, Hail Camp Timberwood (age 13), And This Is Laura (age 12)

Cynthia Voigt:  Bad Girls (5th grade), Bad Girls in Love (8th grade)

The other books in the post were fine and would have been great for the group.

We cannot approve posts that contain any books with characters who are 13 or younger. If we let the middle-grade books begin to sneak back in, they will take over the group. Thank you for your understanding.

After reading my post, a few people gave their opinion on the rules.  One person wrote that they posted about some of Voigt's middle-grade books in a teen group and that the post was well-received because of how they explained the differences between the teen and middle-grade books.

I replied to the comment as follows.  "When all members understand the group's focus, then this approach works just fine and is certainly what I wish we could do here.  I estimate that this group has between 500 and 1,000 members who don't understand the intent of this group."

Another person told me that some book groups allow off-topic posts that are tied to the main topic and that this works just fine.  This person suggested that we should focus on enjoying the posts and that we shouldn't focus on rules.  They said that focusing on rules takes away the fun, and people get along better when they don't have to worry about rules.

I'd certainly enjoy driving better if I didn't have to stop at any traffic lights.

I replied, "This approach is what I would prefer and wish that we could do here.  Earlier on, I let people post about other books.  The group quickly veered off towards favoring the other books.  We have between 500 and 1,000 members in this group who don't understand this group's focus.  Unfortunately, I have no choice but to enforce the focus, or we will lose the group's focus."

Someone else made this lovely comment:  "Sounds like you have a stick up your ass.  Try to relax and breath.  Life shouldn't be so serious all the time.  These rules are retarded."

Yet another member has had a problem with my use of "vintage" ever since she joined the group, and her complaint came up again via this discussion.  She says that books 20 to 40 years old are not vintage and that the books we discuss in the group are not old enough.  I have explained to her before that vintage means "dating from the past" (Merriam-Webster).  I finally got through to her this time, and she left the group.

And another member really took me to task, relentlessly so.  This person said that the focus of the group is wrong.  (Consider that the focus of any group is what the creator of the group says that it is.  How can it be wrong?)  This person told me that children often read books featuring characters who are older than them.  A child of 10 might read Sweet Valley High.  Therefore, all books that a 10 year old might read should be within the group's focus, according to this person.

I was informed that my definition of high school is wrong.  In some countries, high school starts at an earlier age than what it does in the United States.  Furthermore, my use of high school is apparently confusing since "junior high school" has "high school" as part of the name.

The books we discuss were published in the United States for people who live in the United States.  My definition of high school matches what is in the books featured in the group.  My definition isn't wrong.  However, I now know never to mention high school again.  I must focus on the age of the characters.

I was also told by this person that they would have been hurt and confused by the post rejection, since my response was "nitpicky, impersonal, and unwelcoming."  (It should be noted that the person who is accusing me of being "nitpicky" is doing exactly that to me in this and subsequent comments mentioned below.)

I replied as follows. 

"Much thought goes into everything I do and say.  No matter how I phrase the post rejection, it is simply that: a rejection.  It's going to sting no matter what.  I can't avoid that.

The focus of this group is not based on the age at which the books were read.  That varies from person to person, and it is true that most people read books featuring older characters.

The focus of this group is on books that feature older teenagers, ages 15 to 19."

This person then told me that the post rejection wouldn't sting if my wording were improved.  I was told that my response (see immediately above) ignored most of what they wrote.  Also, I was bragging, making a "false assertion about other people's feelings," and denying "any responsibility for being nicer."

Okay then.  I guess I got told.  

Why would someone think it worthwhile to try to make a moderator change how they phrase a post rejection?  The advice was not helpful in the slightest.  I have no idea how I can make sure that a post rejection doesn't offend the recipient.  

I can tell you what I do know.  As moderators continue to have members that break rules, question the rules, send insults, and nitpick, they become increasingly impersonal and unwelcoming.  They care less and less what members think and sometimes end up hating their own groups. 

I do still care, but I don't care as much as I once did.  I don't hate my groups, but I sometimes don't like them.

I cannot worry about how every single person will feel in every single situation.  I cannot carry the weight of the world on my shoulders. 

Yet some people expect me to do exactly that.

My least favorite activity as group moderator is having to reject posts that are off-topic or break group rules.  How dare someone try to put a guilt trip on me for how I rejected a post when I already find post rejection to be very unpleasant.  So now I find post rejection even more unpleasant than I did a few weeks ago.  How dare they do that to me.

I decided to end the discussion in the Vintage Teen Books group since it was going in a bad direction.  I removed the comments that I felt were attempting to undermine me and then closed commenting on the post.  I felt vaguely uneasy afterwards and remain a bit so.  That's the best I can do at describing it.  

I feel uneasy because most people in groups lurk and do not comment.  Since a number of people came forth on this post to criticize my actions in some fashion, I feel like many other people must feel the same way.  I feel like many members must think something is wrong with me.

I understand that the real problem is that these people think that children's, middle-grade, and teen books are all the same.  This was caused by a reference book and a prominent Facebook group lumping them together as if one genre. 

A 10-year-old girl who is beginning to like boys is not at all the same as a sixteen-year-old girl in a relationship.  I am not interested in the trials and tribulations of a 10-year-old girl.  I only wish to see the books featuring older teens.  

There is nothing wrong with that.  Hundreds of people joined the group thinking that all children's books are teen books.  I can't do anything about that, but I will not approve posts outside of what I envisioned for the group.  I hope in time that more of the people who don't like the focus will leave the group, even if they fling insults at me while leaving.  The group will be better once fewer people in the group are mistaken about the focus.

I wanted to prevent the Vintage Teen Books group from taking the same trajectory as the Collecting Vintage Children's Books group.  The Collecting group was fine at first, then more people joined.  In time, people began taking the group off-topic.  I redirected them, and people voiced their disapproval.  

That's where we are right now in the Vintage Teen Books group.  It has taken the same path as the Collecting group, with increasing problems.  However, the Vintage Teen Books group should stabilize faster than the Collecting group did, since I will stand firm in my vision for the group and will not allow myself to be manipulated like I was in the Collecting group.  

In the Collecting group, we have had lingering problems due to manipulation by a few members.  We have moved past that, for the most part.  The Collecting group is doing overall okay, even though we continue to have to decline quite a few posts and will always have a few people being difficult.

The Vintage Teen Books group will eventually reach a point where it also will be overall okay, but the process will likely take another year or so.

Wednesday, May 18, 2022

The Latest Tom Swift and My Ongoing Problem with Books

I am requiring myself to write a review of every book that I read.  This is the only reason why I wrote this post.  In the end, it turned out okay.

Tom and his friends are excited to be spending their spring break out at Lake Carlopa, where they’ll be camping and testing inventions to clean up the shores as part of a service project sponsored by Swift Enterprises.  Rock star of the engineering world Jonathan J. Jefferson is even set to make an appearance as part of the event.  Tom’s also really looking forward to using the trip as an opportunity to test out his most ambitious creation yet—a two-man submarine!  Lake Carlopa is a haven for scuba divers because of its clear waters, and it will be the perfect place for the sub’s maiden voyage.

But when a scuba diving team shows up at the campsite and seems to be there for more than just pleasure diving, Tom and his friends wonder what they’re really up to.  Are the divers using the exhibition as cover for something more sinister?

This book does not have a next title listed.  The most recent Nancy Drew Diaries and Hardy Boys Adventures books do list the next title.  It sounds like the Tom Swift series might have ended with this title.  Speculation abounds that Simon and Schuster could be planning a relaunch to tie in with the new Tom Swift television series.  Or it could be that sales of the Tom Swift Inventors' Academy books just have been that bad.

These books are now way too science-heavy for my enjoyment.  I do realize that's the point, but that doesn't change how I feel.  I found the book to be mostly uninteresting until I reached around halfway through the book.  From that point on, I found the book to be enjoyable.

Not enough people in the collecting community are reading and saying anything about these books for me to know how much of my reaction is just me.  I assume that I am the problem.  I know that at least one other person continues to enjoy the Tom Swift books.  For a time, I thought that the Tom Swift books were the strongest of the remaining Stratemeyer series currently in print.

I don't know what people think of the Hardy Boys Adventures books at this point.  They now bore me, and I can no longer stand the first-person narrative.  I did at one time think that the Hardy Boys Adventures books were the best.

I currently like the Nancy Drew Diaries books the best, when I did think that they were the worst.  The writing of the Nancy Drew Diaries books has changed for the better.  Since my natural inclination is to like Nancy Drew the best, it is logical that I am now responding to them the best. 

That may be what changed.  Nancy Drew improved, so I no longer like the others.  However, I do feel that the Hardy Boys Adventures books have become more boring.  I do think there is a difference.  It may not be much, but I think it's there.  

I no longer find the Tom Swift books to be fun.  Is it me, or are the books less fun?  I'm not sure.

I did so enjoy the Drina books, which I finished reading right before reading this Tom Swift book.  I find that when I finish something really good that I struggle with what I read next.  These modern books fall flat compared to them, so that may be my main problem.  Regardless, I continue to struggle with reading most books.  

Each time the Nancy Drew Diaries, Hardy Boys Adventures, and Tom Swift Inventors' Academy books are mentioned on Facebook, someone asks about them.  

Are the books good?

Are the books worth reading?

I can't answer those questions for you.  I can say what I think, but what I think does not apply to you.

You must decide for yourself whether you might enjoy the books.

My opinion of the Stratemeyer triumvirate has shifted from what it once was, and I do feel that most of it is me.  Other people aren't struggling with the Hardy Boys and Tom Swift books like I am.  My opinion is no more valid than that of anyone else.  

The best way to know if you would like a book is to start reading it.  Sites like Amazon typically have a free sample of the beginning of books.  If the book is in a library, then check it out so that you can try it.  I can't tell you if you would like the book.

Sunday, May 15, 2022

The Silent Message by Afton Huff

The Silent Message was published by Steck-Vaughn in 1970.  The book was written by Afton Huff.

Heather Carter, a vivacious teen-ager, plans to spend her vacation at Thistle Trace Ranch visiting her cousin, Jinks MacDonnald.  It is Heather's first trip to the ranch since the operation that restored part of her hearing, and she is looking forward to a lazy, fun-filled summer.

But when Heather arrives at the MacDonnalds', she finds her other cousin Jasper, a scientist, has disappeared and is suspected of taking important research papers from a secret government project.

Heather and Jinks believe Jasper will try to get in touch with them, and they watch for signs that might explain the puzzling events that occur.

A message finally is found, a silent one that Jasper had cleverly concealed.  The girls follow clues in the message, finding danger and spine-tingling excitement—and eventually Jasper himself.  But it is not until the determined girls exhaust every effort in clearing Jasper from a possible charge of subversion that the mystery is fully explained.

The above summary is from the publisher.

I found this book at the library book sale.  The library sale often has books by Oklahoma authors, and the books tend to be scarce.  This book is both.

The author made me care, almost immediately.  That's more important than anything.  The story is intriguing, for several reasons which I won't mention. 

The front cover of the book has Morse code on it!  I found a table of Morse code symbols and deciphered it.  The code says what I expected it would probably say.  So neat!

The culprit is predictable.  I guessed fairly early in the story, but that is often the case.  Since I had already guessed, I was a bit nervous when Heather and Jinks choose to trust this person.  I knew that was a mistake.

This is a very good book.

Saturday, May 7, 2022

More Work Done on Blog Tags

Since my post from Thursday, I have worked more on blog tags.  I created additional new tags so that I could combine other tags and further reduce the number of posts grouped under the tags that I have used the most often.

These are the latest new tags:

Bad Selling Practices
Book Care
Book Pricing Conflict
Bookplates and Inscriptions
Collector Conflict
General Children's Books 1900s-1920s
General Children's Books 1930s-1950s
General Children's Books 1960s-1970s
General Children's Books 1980s-1990s
General Children's Books 2000s
Harriet Adams
Judy Bolton Reviews
Printing Flaws
Series Book Questions
Social Media
Trixie Belden Reviews
Young Adult 2000-present

I had quite a few tags that contained links to just one or two posts.  Most of those tags were for reviews, so I grouped those reviews together in the "General Children's Books" tags.  I then found that I had way too many books in the "General Children's Books 2000s" tag, so I removed the young adult books and placed them under "Young Adult 2000-present."

I grouped two different sets of "question and answer" posts under "Series Book Questions."  Most of the questions were scattered throughout the blog under various tags.  I have tried to locate all of them so that they are all in the same place.  These are posts that I have sometimes tried to find but couldn't.  I have hopefully located all of them.  If I have missed any, then it should just be one or two of them.

Even though I have reached a stopping point, I am not completely satisfied with the tag situation.  I still have too many posts grouped under "eBay Commentary," but 135 posts is an improvement over 163 posts.  My "Nancy Drew" tag is now down to 53 posts, which is no longer that bad.  Most of my Nancy Drew content is now grouped under the more specific Nancy Drew tags.

This is now much better organized for me.  I should have a greater chance of finding certain older posts when someone asks me a question.  Hopefully the tags will be helpful to everyone else.

Friday, May 6, 2022

Popularity of Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew

This is an old post from 2008.  I made it private a long time ago because it upset some Trixie Belden fans.  I edited the beginning of the post so as to avoid that happening again.  Here is the post mostly as it was written.

-------------------------------------------------

There are some Nancy Drew fans who do not like Trixie Belden just as there are some fans of Trixie Belden who do not like Nancy Drew. Nothing is wrong with a person liking one series exclusively. We have to accept the fact that some people will not like some of the series books that are important to us, and there is nothing we can do about it.

In particular, the people we know personally outside of the internet are not likely to enjoy the same books we do. Not all books appeal to everybody, no matter how good they are.

I have always gotten the idea that there are some Trixie Belden fans who feel like there is some type of competition between Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew. A few years ago when the Trixie Belden books were reissued by Random House, I recall a Trixie Belden fan making a comment about how happy she was about the reprints and that "if only Nancy Drew would just go away." I'm sure I don't have the exact quote, but that is the general idea.

I am not sure why someone would be happier if Nancy Drew went out of print. It actually is beneficial to series book collectors that as many of the older series remain in print as is possible. Each older series that is in print makes it less likely that our favorite series books will be forgotten.

It is good that Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys remain in print, that the entire Judy Bolton series is being reprinted, and that the Cherry Ames books have been reprinted. The more books that are in print, the more likely that there will be new fans of the other older series books which are now nearly forgotten.

In a Trixie Belden discussion forum, one post is about Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden.  All of the people there like Trixie Belden, and most of them like Trixie Belden better than Nancy Drew. After all, the comments are on a Trixie Belden fan site. There are a number of comments in which people admit that they did enjoy reading Nancy Drew.

I have had a poll about Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew running for the last few months, and it has now ended. I created the poll to see whether I was right in my belief that fans of Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden are not as polarized as some people think. The results came out just as I expected.

Far more people like both series than just one of the two series. There are a number of people who only like Nancy Drew, while there are others who only like Trixie Belden. This is to be expected, but those people are greatly outnumbered by the people who like both series equally or who like both series but one series slightly more. I have long suspected that many Trixie Belden fans do not realize just how many people like both series a lot.

Out of 90 votes:

21 people like only Nancy Drew — 23.3 %
10 people like only Trixie Belden — 11.1 %
21 people like both series but Nancy Drew better — 23.3 %
19 people like both series but Trixie Belden better — 21.1 %
19 people like both series equally — 21.1 %

It is not surprising that more people selected only Nancy Drew than only Trixie Belden. Nancy Drew has been in print longer and has been printed in far higher quantities. On any given day on eBay, far more Nancy Drew books are up for sale than Trixie Belden books. The Nancy Drew books are more abundant, so more people are fans of Nancy Drew.

Combining all of the results in which people indicated liking both series, the results stand as follows:

21 people like only Nancy Drew — 23.3%
10 people like only Trixie Belden — 11.1 %
59 people like both series — 65.6%

Approximately two-thirds of the respondents like both series. The data can be analyzed in other ways, but what is apparent is that most people like both series. Trixie Belden fans can be pleased that Trixie Belden is popular among series book fans.

Thursday, May 5, 2022

Blog Settings and Tag Update

For years, I have been frustrated by the inability to search this blog effectively.  The blog has a search bar in it, and I also have a search bar in the blog editor.  Neither one works very well.  Blogger's search is the worst search tool that I have ever used, and that's saying something.  It is extremely ironic that search engine Google owns Blogger.  

Last night someone asked why the Applewood Nancy Drew editions are selling at such high prices.  I have written about the Applewood editions in several posts.  I wanted to find one and link to it.  No matter what logical search terms I used (like "Applewood" paired with "Nancy Drew"), I could not locate any of my old posts on the subject via Blogger's search.  What an epic fail, Google.

I have too many blog posts to find the posts without spending a large amount of time reading through old posts.  I didn't know what the titles were to the old posts about the Applewood books.  Besides, I suffered through two power outages last night.  Each power outage was approximately 1 1/2 hours long, staggered a few hours apart.  It was extremely annoying.  In between outages, I typed out a short response about why some people pay so much for the Applewood editions.  

Today I mulled over the blog situation and finally decided to do something about it.  While Blogger's search bar simply cannot search the blog, the tags work quite well.  I used the "Nancy Drew" tag to pull up the nearly 200 posts with that tag. I created new tags as I thought of appropriate ones and changed the tags on many posts from "Nancy Drew" to more specific tags like "Nancy Drew Formats" and "Nancy Drew International Editions."

As I went through the posts, I began to spot my Applewood posts and tagged them as "Nancy Drew Applewood."  At least now I can find them.

My new Nancy Drew tags are indicated within boxes in the following image.  You will have to click on the image in order to see it more clearly.


My original Nancy Drew tag now has just 64 posts, which is much more manageable. 

I found some of my posts today that I hadn't seen in years due to my inability to locate them.  I added some posts to the "Nancy Drew 1930A-1 Old Clock" tag that I had missed years ago when I created that tag.

I have labeled this post as "Social Media," and I plan to change the tags on old posts that are about this blog, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to the "Social Media" tag.  I also need to divide the posts under some of the other tags, like Judy Bolton, into multiple tags to make those topics easier to navigate.

I have been annoyed for years that my tags don't display in the mobile version of Blogger.  Actually, I thought that there was a way to see them but there isn't.  One can change to the web version, but I don't think most people will do that unless they know what they can't see in the mobile version.  The blog is impossible to navigate in the mobile version.

I tried to find a way to override the setting so that tags would show in the mobile version.  Some sites claim that can be done, but their methods don't work.  Finally, I went into the blog settings and disabled the mobile version. I never should have listened when Google/Blogger insisted that blogs needed to change to the mobile version. Sure, let's make the blog impossible to navigate.  That's certainly better for everyone.  

I regret if this change is causing mobile users any distress.  I want the tags to be visible no matter how people come to this blog.  I moved the tags higher on up on the page on the right side so that they can be found easily, and they now show in mobile, even though the text is a bit small.

I don't use mobile for websites except occasionally.  When I'm not on a desktop computer or laptop, I'm on an iPad.  I checked the blog with my phone after I disabled the mobile version.  If I turn my phone sideways, I can read the posts.  Again, I am sorry if this is an inconvenience, but I haven't spent thousands of hours over the last decade writing all of these posts just so that people who use mobile devices will never know what is here.  That is unacceptable to me, and I should not have put up with the tags being missing for so many years.