Book Sale, eBay Items, and Google Search Problems

In order to try to move some items, I have increased my coupon discount in my Jennifer's Series Books booth.  The coupon can be seen on any item page near the price.  You'll have to go to one of my items to see the discount.  I learned last year never to mention the amount of a temporary discount, because months later, someone expected that discount after reading an old post, even though the sale was long over.

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I have listed a large number of books on eBay.  While many prices stayed the same, others were reduced.  Also, around 40 items are new and were not previously listed elsewhere.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

eBay offered me a "by invitation only" free listing offer in which I could list up to 40,000 fixed-priced items for free and for up to 30 days.  I chose the 30-day duration on all items and was able to get 204 items listed.

This is the first time I've ever taken advantage of the fixed-price free listing offers by listing a large number of items.  I'm trying to simulate what it would be like to have an eBay store to see whether that is a viable option in the future.  Since these listings will be active for one month, I should be able to get a good idea of what it would be like to have an eBay store.

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I am now in another period of reflection with respect to how I sell my books online.  I've done great for 4 1/2 years in my present situation, but I find myself having to re-evaluate whether this will continue to work.  The problem is that my Google exposure has reduced to almost nothing, and this is not due to anything that I can fix on my end. 

This is my Google traffic over the last 4 1/2 years.

What is significant is how bad the Google traffic has been since September 1.  One could be tempted to attribute the drop to the fact that sites had to pay for inclusion in Google's shopping search beginning in September, but the above graph only shows Google's organic search.  This data has nothing to do with the shopping search.

This is out of my control.  My site, this blog, and everything I can control show up well in Google.  I cannot control how well my items show up.  I could leave more and more links everywhere, but something I cannot fix is at play. 

Here's why I know I have a problem.  From May 1 to June 10, I had 281 visits that came through Google.  I am going to spare you the long explanation detailing how the visits break down into who already knew about me and who didn't.  Going by the search terms used, I was able to figure out that no more than 50% of my Google traffic since May 1 can be from people new to me.  The rest of the Google traffic can be attributed to people who already knew about me who used search terms to get at my items quickly.

I decided to compare this to Google visits from three years ago.  In order not to have a huge amount of data to check, I looked only at my Google traffic for February 1, 2010 through March 31, 2010.  I had 874 visits from Google during that time.  Only 101 visits were from people who already knew about me.

Three years ago, 773 out of 874 Google visits brought me new people looking at my items.  Now, only 137 out of 281 Google visits brought me new people, and I am confident that the actual number is lower than that.  Google now hides some data, and remember that I am sparing you a long and boring explanation.

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I also decided that I wanted to have a backup of my items, so I uploaded my items to Addoway.

Jennifer's Series Books on Addoway

There is no coupon code, and I doubt that combined shipping is set up correctly.  I placed the link here to gain Google exposure.  It doesn't hurt to have books listed on several venues.

Nancy Drew #49 The Secret of Mirror Bay

In Nancy Drew #49, The Secret of Mirror Bay, Nancy, Bess, and George travel with Nancy's Aunt Eloise to Mirror Bay to stay at the Bide-A-Wee cabin.  No trip is complete without a mystery, and Mirror Bay has plenty of that.  A mysterious woman can be seen walking on the water on misty mornings.  A strange glowing green man haunts the nearby woods.  Ned, Burt, and Dave also join the girls at Mirror Bay.

The girls arrive in Cooperstown amid chaos.  Five large travel buses are parked alongside the curb, with hundreds of people milling around.  The people paid hundreds of dollars to stay at a resort, but they arrived in Cooperstown to discover that their destination does not exist.  Nancy is spotted by the crowd and accused of being the perpetrator.  The girl responsible for the scam just happens to look just like Nancy.

It turns out that the people responsible for the scam just happen to have their hideout on the nearby mountain.  Exactly why would they scam people and have the fake destination be right where their hideout is?  If they had chosen someplace else, they would have never been caught.  Nancy's mysteries would be so much harder to solve if these villains would quit being so stupid.

Of course, one of the villains dresses up as the strange glowing green man to scare people away from the hideout.  Naturally, Nancy investigates near where he appears and discovers the hideout.  Dear me, these villains are stupid.

On page 64, Bess has been abducted, and a man is dragging her down the mountain.  Nancy and the others chase after them, down the mountain.  Once the man is within sight, Aunt Eloise yells at him to stop.  The man immediately drops Bess and runs down the mountain.

Nancy has one of her moments of sheer genius when she "kept wondering why the man had taken that route."  Um, the man ran down the mountain because he was already being chased down the mountain.  Why would he turn around and run at the young people?  I'm not understanding what was so strange about the direction he took. 

On page 88, Nancy finds some bobby pins up in the middle of the woods that were left behind by the mysterious girl.  Nancy decides to leave the bobby pins, because she believes the girl might come back for them and be captured.  I've always thought of bobby pins as very inexpensive.  Would the girl actually go back for them?  Would she know where she left them?  If I were the girl, I'd forget about them.

The villains have this great hideout up on the mountain.  It is an underground cave.  A wooden trap door is built into the ground, and the villains climb down the ladder into the underground cave.  I've always liked the hideout, but this time when I read the book, I couldn't help but think...  What if it rains?

The cave even has a refrigerator which is powered by energy acquired from fireflies that are kept in the cave.  I have some trouble believing that the villains are able to get enough energy from fireflies to power the refrigerator, but my bigger problem is...  What if it rains?

How do the villains keep the water out of the underground cave?  Or does it never rain on this crazy mountain?

The woman who walks on water cannot swim, so she was using stilts, hoping to feel a large metal box underwater.  This is, of course, stupid.  Later, Nancy and her friends find the box for the woman, and of course the contents are unspoiled by water.  Everyone is so lucky in this book that water never causes them any problems.

I have always enjoyed The Secret of Mirror Bay, and this time was no exception.  The mystery has the usual plot devices that make little sense, but ignoring them, it is a very good story.

Harry Potter, the Hunger Games, and the Problem of Too Much Hype

This post was written months ago and was never finished nor published.  In reading over it tonight, I have decided that it is good enough to publish in the form in which I left it.  My thoughts are a bit more scattered than what I normally publish, but I think the content is still worthwhile.
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After I finished reading the latest book in the Tapestry series, I began to think about the different modern series that I have read and what I think of them.

I read the first four Harry Potter books at about the time that the fourth book was published and volumes five through seven during the following several years as each of those titles were published.  I dearly loved the first four Harry Potter books, but I was somewhat soured on the series due to some dissatisfaction with the final three books.

Part of the problem was the extreme hype surrounding the series.  I hated trying to enjoy something while news reporters who likely had no interest in the series prattled on about various plot details.  It was so annoying.

I recall joining a Yahoo! Group and reading all of the speculation surrounding one of the characters.  I was then greatly annoyed by a Rowling interview in which she effectively shot down the speculation by making a statement about not understanding how people could be drawing certain conclusions.  That effectively ruined it for me.  Sometimes authors need to keep their mouths shut.

The funny thing is... Rowling's comments from that interview were purposefully misleading.  Again, authors need to keep their mouths shut and let their books do the talking.  She ruined it for me.

Furthermore, Rowling's books became wordier and wordier with each new book, and it became apparent that little editing had been done for the last three books.  The fifth book was particularly awful in that at least one-third of the text could have been removed, thus making the book far less boring.  The epilogue at the end of the seventh book was stupid and should not have been included.  It would have been far better to have had more falling action than to have included that nonsense. 

Someday I might read the Harry Potter series again, but it is going to be a long time before I consider doing so.  I have too many bad memories of not enjoying parts of the last three books.  If the books had been carefully edited, that would never have been a problem.  It's a shame, really.

A few years ago, I read the Percy Jackson series.  I remember that I was fully satisfied with the ending of that series, which is better than how Rowling ended her series.  Yes, I will keep going back to that. How a series ends is just as important as the journey.  The series does not have to end happily, but the ending has to be satisfying.  Rowling's series did not end in a satisfying fashion.

I read the Nicholas Flamel series.  I dearly loved reading those books, although the ending was not quite as good as it should have been.  The biggest threats to the twins' survival were killed off way too quickly and easily.  And then the book abruptly ended.  I was left somewhat dissatisfied, but I was not nearly as annoyed as when I finished Harry Potter.

I have read the Hunger Games trilogy.  This is another series that suffered from the hype.  The first book is wonderful.  The second book is nearly as good as the first book.  The third and final book is quite confusing at times, and the lack of proper editing really shows, just like with Harry Potter.  When authors create something that gets hyped, editing is sloppy for the later books, thus creating an inferior final product.

Near the end of the third Hunger Games book, a major character is killed.  The author, for some reason, thought it would be best to mention the character only by a vague passage referring back to an event from an earlier book.  It took me quite a few pages to figure out who had died, and then I was surprised and confused.  I felt like I had somehow missed reading a page or two of text.  I went back and read through the event another one or two times and still was confused.  I could tell by reading the reviews that I was not the only one who didn't get it.  Editing, people... sure, the author is a big-shot after a series gets mega-popular, but the books need editing.

When I finished the Hunger Games trilogy, I was left with a similar letdown feeling to what I felt when I finished Harry Potter.  It should not have to be like this.

Fablehaven is a truly magical and special series which should appeal to the same audience as Harry Potter.  The series has a pretty good following, although not anywhere near the level of Harry Potter.  Even so, the series did take a step down with the fourth and fifth books.  The main problem is that both books have endless fighting and action that never seems to end and are very repetitive.  I am reminded of J.K. Rowling's Ministry of Magic fight scene from her fifth Harry Potter book.  Oh, the horror...

Despite the endless fighting, the Fablehaven series has a very satisfying ending, which of course is more than I can say for Harry Potter.

This brings me back to the Tapestry series, which is what got me to thinking about the rest of these books.  The Tapestry series has such a low number of reviews on Amazon that it is apparent that most people have never heard of it.  Tapestry would appeal to the very same people who enjoyed Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and Fablehaven.

The Tapestry series is not yet finished, so I have no idea whether the series will fall flat as others have done.  What I do know is that each book has been better than the last.  The first book is the weakest of the four books, and the series has gotten better and better with each book.    

The Delirium Trilogy by Lauren Oliver

Earlier this year, I read the Delirium trilogy by Lauren Oliver.  This trilogy is aimed at young adult readers and consists of Delirium, Pandemonium, and Requiem.  The Delirium books are set in the future United States, in which love has been labeled a disease.  Love has been eradicated by forcing everyone to undergo a procedure as a young adult to cure them of amor deliria nervosa.

The first book tells the story of Lena and Hana in the months before their procedures.  Without getting into a lot of spoilers, Lena falls victim to amor deliria nervosa by falling in love with Alex.  In the second book, Lena becomes part of the rebel movement and grows close to Julian, but just as a result of circumstance.  In the third book, the rebel movement gains power, and Lena is in a love triangle of sorts with Alex and Julian.

The first book is quite slow with lots of what, to me, is filler.  Teenage girls might have a different view.  The second book is much more exciting than the first book, and the third book is similar to the second book.

This trilogy is quite good, but the problem is the ending of the third book.  Some say that the third book closes open-ended, but really, the third book just stops during the climax.  Lots of action is happening, then the author goes into some vague flowery prose about walls and tearing them down.  The book ends with the reader left wondering about just about everything.  It is very unsatisfying.

Most any epic story will have at least a partially open-ended conclusion, since the authors typically do not expound in great detail every event that ever happens to the characters.  But this trilogy does not successfully resolve the conflict.  For me, I just can't see how it could possibly work out.  In fact, I could see everyone getting killed one chapter after the book ends.  I suppose they could live happily ever after.  We really don't know.  The author is supposed to give us some idea of how events will unfold.  That's not my job as the reader.  I am not into writing fan fiction.  I am just a reader.

Most readers have the same opinion.  Here is a screen cap from Amazon.

 Look at the two complaints about the ending of Requiem and the rather large number of people who made similar statements.

I read this book shortly after it was released and found the reviews to be rather interesting as they came in.  A good many people complained about the ending and gave specific reasons why.  It was apparent they had read the book.  Let's just say that after a few too many complaints, a number of five-star reviews would appear, and those reviews were along the lines of "OMG.  This was the best book EVER!!!"  with no specific information given.  I have heard of fake reviews and paid reviews on Amazon, and this book appears to have a number of them.

The Delirium trilogy is excellent, but just be aware that the author apparently wants us to imagine the ending.

Nancy Drew #48 The Crooked Banister

In Nancy Drew #48, The Crooked Banister, Carson Drew's client, Mrs. Melody, has been swindled by Rawley Banister, who has since disappeared.  Mr. Drew, Mrs. Melody, and Nancy travel to Mountainville.  They become acquainted with Rawley's sister, Mrs. Carrier, who turns out to be an old school friend of Mrs. Melody.  Mrs. Carrier doesn't think Rawley is ever coming back since he sent her the key to his house.  The visitors learn that Rawley calls himself the Crooked Banister. 

On page 11, Mrs. Melody and the Drews return to their hotel to find their rooms on fire.  Mr. Drew had copies of the documents that provide proof against Rawley in his room, and Mrs. Melody had the originals in her room.  How stupid to have both the originals and the copies with them!  And why was it necessary to bring the documents with them?

On page 28, Clyde Mead pushes himself on Nancy.  He reminds me of that pest, Bartescue, from The Haunted Bridge.

On page 71, Nancy suspects that the robot had something to do with the disappearance of Dave and Bess.  It seems to me that turning the robot on, while keeping back at a safe distance, might provide some useful information.  Instead, Nancy locks the robot up in the closet.  Next, the young people wander around trying to figure out what happened.

Nancy discovers a trap door, which cannot be opened.  Finally, four pages later, Nancy decides to get the robot out of the closet and replay the command tape in the robot.  Bingo!  The robot opens the trap door.

The young people discover a drop of six feet to an earthen floor.  On page 76, Nancy and Ned give "sighs of relief.  It was unlikely that Bess and Dave could have been injured by falling through the trap door!"  Apparently, a drop of six feet is nothing.  I disagree.  Bess and Dave easily could have been hurt. 

I notice pointless passages in these later books that seem designed to take up space.  On page 97, Mrs. Carrier asks the girls to guess who visited her.

"Guess who was here this morning?"

"Your brother, Thomas?" Bess questioned.

"No.  Guess again."

"My dad?" Nancy asked.

"No.  Give another guess."

George spoke up.  "Ned and Burt and Dave?"

Mrs. Carrier shook her head and Nancy said, "I give up."

"So do I," said Bess and George.

"Well, you're in for a big surprise.  Mr. Clyde Mead came to call."

Stop!  How about beginning with "You won't believe who visited me!" and then telling them.  Oh, but that would have taken up less space and would have been more to the point.

As I have revisited these books, many of them do not hold up to my past memories.  This story is one that I recall enjoying in the past, but I don't recall having any special feelings about it.  Upon this reading, my liking of the book doubled or tripled.  I love, love, love it!  And I know exactly why I like it so much better. 

This book is just like a Nancy Drew game from Her Interactive.  I have played all 28 of the Nancy Drew games, and the events of this book unfold just like the events of one of the games.  Everything that happens in Rawley's crazy house is just like what would happen in the games.

The Nancy Drew games have plot devices like stairs that play notes of music.  Guess what?  This book has stairs that play notes of music.  Awesome!

This book has lots of things that could have come right out of a Nancy Drew game, including a moat that sometimes catches fire, a drawbridge that disappears, a robot that attacks people, secret rooms, secret passages, a revolving bookcase, paintings covered with poisoned black paint, and hidden money.

The Nancy Drew games always have strange clues in which Nancy is supposed to find some object.  This book also has that.  Nancy finds two such messages, Hunt for the Skeleton's Bracelet and Find the Silver Armor Mask.  This book could have been based on a Nancy Drew game, yet the book came decades before any of the games!  This book delivers!

Most of these higher-numbered Nancy Drew books are wholly implausible with events that make little sense.  While on the surface this book seems crazy, it is fully plausible.

By everyone's description of Rawley, we know that he has mental problems of some nature.  People who suffer from mental illness do strange things.  Rawley's crazy house is exactly the sort of place that could be created by an insane or eccentric person.  Putting poisoned black paint on his relatives' portraits?  Sure!  Having a robot that attacks people?  Makes perfect sense!

I also like that Rawley never appears in the story.  This is also similar to the games, which often feature characters mentioned by name only or heard only during phone calls.

Nancy receives a warning phone call from a man claiming to be Thomas Banister, Rawley's brother.  Since Thomas did not make the call, we can conclude that Rawley must have been the caller.  However, we really do not know.  Anyone could have made that call, which adds to the mystery.  Rawley comes across as sinister and mysterious since he is never present.  Rawley's absence makes him larger than life.

An important point brought up in this book is that family members get blamed when a relative does something bad.  Mrs. Carrier and Thomas Banister are deeply embarrassed and upset about what their brother has done.  They are harassed by Rawley's victims.

I have seen over and over that when someone commits a crime, the family is unjustly blamed.  I see it in online comments in news stories about people who have committed crimes.  Many people blame the family, asking why they didn't stop the person.  They blame the parents, the spouse, the children.  People are responsible for their own actions, not for the actions of all of their relatives.  When a family member commits a crime, the family is not to blame.

I like everything about this book.

Nancy Drew #47 The Mysterious Mannequin

In Nancy Drew #47, The Mysterious Mannequin, Carson Drew receives a Turkish rug in the mail.  Mr. Drew suspects that a past Turkish client, Farouk Tahmasp, might be responsible.  Farouk was accused of smuggling rugs into the country and hired Mr. Drew to represent him.  Farouk disappeared before the case went to trial.

Nancy deduces that the rug has a hidden message from Farouk, so Mr. Drew assigns her the task of finding it.  Nancy spots a message asking Mr. Drew to find Farouk's mannequin and bring it to him.  Nancy recalls that Farouk ran a rug shop years ago and that he had a mannequin in the window.  She begins searching for the mannequin.

The message in the rug reminds me of The Clue in the Old Album, which also had a message hidden in a rug. 

On page 38, Nancy dives into a river to save a boy.  The owner of a nearby restaurant dries Nancy's clothes, and then the girls head on their way.  Shortly after leaving, Nancy decides to call on the realtor who owns the property that Farouk leased for his rug shop.

The man on duty is described as a "smart-alecky young man" who smirks at Nancy.  The man is rude, and Nancy dislikes him.  The entire time I read this passage, I kept thinking about how Nancy had just gone swimming in a river.  I doubt that her hair looked that great.  Nothing is ever mentioned about Nancy's appearance, so the reader has to assume that she looks well-groomed.  Regardless, I couldn't help but I wonder how Nancy's hair would have looked.  The man could have been smirking about Nancy's hair.

We have a rather convenient coincidence on page 64.  Nancy has just chased after a man who drops his wallet.  She finds a letter inside, and the letter is written in Greek.  When the police arrive, one of them is conveniently of Greek descent and can read the letter.  My exact reaction as I read the scene was, "Give me a break!"

We have another convenient coincidence on page 81.  Nancy and her friends are checking a mannequin that is in a hotel to see whether it could have come from Farouk's shop.  The mannequin has nothing to do with Farouk, but while Nancy is in the lobby, she spots a pile of magazines.  One of the magazines has an article about Turkish rugs.  It gets better.  The article about Turkish rugs contains a picture of Farouk's mannequin.  What are the chances?!  Of all the rug shops in America, one with a picture of Farouk's mannequin is randomly on a table in a random hotel more than two years after Farouk's shop closed.  Wow!

Every Nancy Drew book has to have at least one extremely stupid remark.  Nancy returns home to discover that the Turkish rug is downstairs instead of hidden in Nancy's closet.  On page 114, Nancy makes her insightful remark.

Prepare yourself.

"But how did he know where we had hidden the rug?"

Oh, dear.

Nancy, I thought you were better than that!  All the man had to do was search the house!  He didn't have to know where the rug was hidden!  You were gone for a long time with Ned and even had lunch while you were away.  The man had lots of time to search the house!

On page 129, Nancy and Aisha go for a drive.  We know from a later passage that Nancy learned what happened to the mannequin during that drive.  On page 175, Aisha states that Nancy "figured it out some time ago and spoke to me about it one day when we went for a drive.  I admitted she was right and asked that she keep the secret until we had Farouk's permission to reveal it."  Nancy definitely learned the solution to the mystery on page 129.

This makes Nancy's question to Haw-Haw on page 137 rather strange.  Nancy asks Haw-Haw, "Have you any idea where Farouk put the mannequin when he left?"  Nancy has already gone for the drive with Aisha on page 129, so she already knows what happened to the mannequin.  She has no reason to ask Haw-Haw about it.  The reader doesn't know at this point, so nothing seems strange.  But after reading the entire book, the sequence of events is off.  Nancy's drive with Aisha should have been between pages 137 and 175 instead of before page 137.

The Mysterious Mannequin is an enjoyable mystery.  I found very little wrong with it, and the story holds together well upon multiple readings.  While the book does have some amazing coincidences, it is not stupid like many of the higher-numbered Nancy Drew books.

Series Book Questions Winter 2013

I have rewritten the questions in order not to quote directly from private messages.

What would be the total price including shipping for one copy of each of your Nancy Drew Applewood editions?

I get this type of question at least once or twice per year.  I strongly suspect that what the prospective buyer wishes to know is not what the question appears to ask.  These questions seldom, if ever, result in a sale. 

The buyer appears to want to know what the total would be for a number of books including shipping.  The question is strange since all the buyer needs to do is add the books to the shopping cart, which will total the cost of the books.  Upon entering a zip code, the buyer will also see the shipping charge in the shopping cart as well.  So why ask this question?

I believe that what the buyer means to ask is how good of a deal I will give them if they purchase a bunch of books.  They want a steep discount, but they don't come out and say it.  Don't play word games; say what you mean.  I am probably not going to give a steep discount or any discount beyond the 12% off coupon, but at least be open about what you really want.

One time several years ago, I couldn't help myself and politely replied that the buyer could add the prices of the books together and then add $3.95 plus $0.40 for each additional book.  This most recent time, I told the buyer about my 12% off coupon code that can be seen on all item pages.  I told the buyer that the discount would be quite nice if the coupon were applied.  I also mentioned the combined shipping of $3.95 plus $0.40 for each additional books.  Not surprisingly, I never heard back.

Do you combine shipping?  If so, how much do you charge?

I get this question at least once every couple of months.  Some buyers don't know where the information can be found, so they ask.  I have noticed that, similar to the previous question, only a small percent of these people ever make a purchase, probably around 33% of them.

I received this question around six weeks ago on eBay.  I replied that I do combine shipping and gave the amount for each additional book.  The buyer never made a purchase.  On eBay, I am not surprised when buyers ask about combined shipping.  eBay, in its quest to make it harder and harder for buyers to find information, forces buyers to click on a tab to view the combined shipping rates.

Most sellers price Nancy Drew picture cover editions way too high.  The prices are too high for books that were printed in great quantity.  I have collected boys' series books for years, and I am finding that everything is different for girls' series books.  The boys' series books sell for much lower prices, while the sellers of girls' series books practice price gouging.  Can you recommend sellers who can help me build a set of picture cover books in uniform condition at a reasonable price?

I included this question for two reasons: to answer the question and to address the issue of price gouging.

To answer the question asked, I suggested that the buyer check eBay and look for sets of books coming out of estates.  Often, those sets are in superior condition and sell for lower prices. 

I focus primarily on girls' series books, so I am not as aware of pricing of boys' books.  I have observed that Hardy Boys prices tend to be much lower than Nancy Drew prices.  If this buyer has been buying Hardy Boys picture cover books, then he would have quite a shock when trying to acquire Nancy Drew picture cover books.

The Nancy Drew picture cover editions are currently in high demand.  I have raised my prices due to the extreme demand on certain books.  I have had certain cover art variants sell consistently within 24 to 48 hours of listing the book until I began raising the prices.  Even then, those same books are hard to keep in stock and tend to sell within a few weeks.  I will not sell a book for $4 when people are willing to pay $10 to $15 for it, even if Farah's Guide says that the book is worth $4.  The book is worth $10 to $15 if that is what buyers are willing to pay.

The picture cover books are worth more than the dust-jacketed editions, in the current market.  Most Nancy Drew books in dust jacket sell for below the Farah's Guide values.  Most Nancy Drew books in picture cover editions sell for above the Farah's Guide values.  Anyone who is currently building a set of the Nancy Drew picture cover editions will have to pay a lot for certain books due to the demand.

I mentioned this topic on my Facebook page, and some good points were brought up.  One person stated that women tend to be more nostalgic than men and are more likely to purchase books for children and grandchildren.  That could be a reason why the girls' books are in higher demand. 

I wonder about crossover interest.  A number of men collect the girls' series books.  Are there as many women collecting boys' books as men collecting girls' books?  If not, then that could be why the boys' books sell for lower prices.  I collect most all girls' series books, but I only collect some boys' books.  Most boys' books are not that interesting to me.  I like the way the girls' books are written better.

Some recent auctions for Argentine editions of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books were quite interesting, because the Hardy Boys books went unsold, while each Nancy Drew auction had a bidding war.  The Argentine editions are very hard to find.

Click on the image to see a larger version.  These auction results provide evidence that currently, people are more interested in girls' books than in boys' books.

Nancy Drew #46 The Invisible Intruder

In Nancy Drew #46, The Invisible Intruder, Nancy is invited by Helen Corning Archer and her husband, Jim, to go on a ghost hunting trip with them and three other married couples.  Nancy was invited because Helen and the other couples decided that they needed a sleuth with them to help solve the mysteries.  Bess, George, Ned, Burt, and Dave are invited to go as well.  This means that a total of 14 people will go on the ghost hunting trip.

Their first stop will be Pine Grove Camp on Lake Sevanee, where a self-propelling canoe appears on the lake.  The second location is Madam Tarantella's prophecy hut.  People hear thunder during séances, although no storms are in the area.  The third visit will be to the Red Barn Guesthouse, where at night, a phantom horse appears with its ghost rider chasing after it.  Fourth, the ghost hunters will stop at a mountaintop inn that was once an old fort.  People often see the ghosts of prisoners.  The final stop will be at the home of a skull and shell collector which has an "invisible intruder" visit each night.

This is an interesting mystery that would have been even better if all of the extra couples had not been invited.  They have no purpose, other than cluttering up the setting.  In fact, every single mysterious event is witnessed by Nancy's core group of six.  Occasionally, one or more of the other couples are present, but typically, Nancy's core group of six gets all the action.  It gets funny as this happens over and over throughout the book. Here are a couple of examples.

On page 9, Ned suggests that "he and Nancy, Bess, George, Burt, and Dave go swimming off the dock of Pine Grove Camp."  Soon after the young people begin swimming, the ghost canoe appears.  At supper, the other couples hear about the excitement.

Later in the story, the ghost hunters arrive at the Red Barn Guesthouse.  Right after the group arrives, a banging sound comes from the attic.  Rather than have 14 people go up to the attic, everyone agrees that only Nancy's group will go.  It seems that Helen and Jim miscalculated by having Nancy and her friends along.  They wanted Nancy to help them.  Instead, Nancy gets all of the excitement, and the other couples have no part in the mystery.

This book opens like so many other Nancy Drew books:  Nancy gets warned by the villains!  On page 3, Nancy receives a warning by phone.  I thought it was strange that the villains already knew Nancy would be on the case.  Nancy thinks it is strange as well, but then she decides that someone must have been near the fence while she was discussing the ghost hunting trip with her father in the backyard.  That makes sense, but then... how did the villains know that they needed to be eavesdropping on Nancy?

This story is full of the stupidity that is present in all of the higher-numbered Nancy Drew books.  On page 14, the couples are gathered around the fireplace when the front door opens and a large gust of air enters, scattering papers and sparks everywhere.  The couples chase after a man who has a large bellows under his arm.  This just seems stupid, kind of like when a man strapped peacock feet to his shoes in The Hidden Window Mystery.

On page 34, Ned is captured underwater by a huge octopus.  Seriously.  It turns out that the villain was carrying a rubber octopus and somehow managed to drag Ned away underwater while at the same time dragging the rubber octopus along as well.  Another theory given by the young people is that the man may have been inside the rubber octopus.  Um, okay. Wouldn't he have had trouble swimming?

On page 46, Mrs. Tarpey tells the young people about the theft of a shell collection and how many of the shells are valuable.  She then recites a bunch of historic information about specific rare shells.  I am surprised that Mrs. Tarpey knows all of this and can recite it perfectly for Nancy and her friends.

I don't understand why the thunder at the medium's hut is considered ghostly.  Had Nancy and her friends ever heard of a tape recorder or record player? 

On page 60, Bess is told by the medium that she will soon apply for a license for her own wedding.  Bess begins crying as though this is the worst news ever.  She is very concerned because Dave has to finish college first.  Well, Bess, if you are that upset about the idea of marriage, just dump Dave and then you won't have to worry about messing up his future plans.  

On page 69, Nancy finds a telegram in with Madame Tarantella's papers.  The telegram reads, "RARE.  MEDIUM.  WELL DONE."  Nancy deduces that the message is a code.  She thinks that "medium" means Madame Tarantella, that she did a "rare" bit of work, and that her work was "well done."

I have a better idea.  LAME.  IDIOTIC.  STUPID.  Really, did someone watch too many stupid cartoons and then create these plots?

On page 74, an attorney named Mr. Kittredge comes for Madame Tarantella's papers.  Helen shows Nancy a shell that she found that might have come out of Madame Tarantella's box.  Mr. Kittredge just happens to know all about the shell and tells the girls its nickname and scientific name.  He tells them where the shell can be found and about its value.  How convenient that everyone Nancy meets knows all about shells!

On page 98, Ned calls Nancy to tell her about his abduction and everything that has happened.  It is not until page 107 after several more events that Ned finally tells Nancy about a piece of paper he found in the kidnappers' car.  The paper said, "Force sale red barn."  I find it odd that Ned left out that one important piece of information until later.

The ghost hunters take turns watching for the phantom horse overnight.  Do you want to guess when the horse finally appears?  While Nancy's group is watching!  I am so shocked! 

On page 169, Nancy, Ned, Helen, and Jim are locked inside a cage with the skeleton of a dinosaur.  Ned escapes, and Nancy devises a plan to trick the villain.  She has Helen and Jim hide behind the skeleton.  Jim ducks out and back behind the skeleton.  He takes off his coat, messes up his hair, and appears briefly as Ned.  The villain falls for it.  This just proves how stupid all of these villains are.

Shells are mentioned all through the story.  The final stop at the skull and shell collector is mentioned at the start of the story, but Nancy never thinks about that as they find shells everywhere they go. Really, Nancy, shells are everywhere.  Think, girl!

But then... why exactly do the villains carry shells with them and accidentally drop them everywhere?  Oh, I know... it is a way of giving Nancy a trail of clues, except she never ties that trail to the skull and shell collector's house.  

The Invisible Intruder has a lot of problems, but I have always enjoyed it.  I like the idea of journeying from one haunted place to another in order to discover the source of the various haunts.  The book has some obvious flaws, but they have never prevented me from enjoying the story.  Far too many people go on the ghost hunting trip, and nearly everything of interest occurs whenever Nancy's core group of six is present.  The story would have been better if Jim and Helen were the only couple in addition to Nancy's group.  The remaining couples are hardly ever mentioned, so their presence just adds unnecessary clutter to the story.  Take out the other couples and make some of the events less stupid, and The Invisible Intruder could have been an outstanding Nancy Drew mystery.