Throwback Thursday: Nancy Drew Mysteries

Throwback Thursday is a new feature at Reading Lark. We'll still be doing some Book Boyfriend posts and Book BFF posts on Thursdays as well, but the larks wanted a little variety on Thursdays. Throwback Thursday will allow us to celebrate some of the reads we loved way back when. . .

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories

By: Carolyn Keene

First Book Published:  1930

Now...I'm going waaaaaay back here!  Even before Judy Blume's beloved novels became a part of my youth, Nancy Drew Mystery Stories was the first book series I ever read and followed, and perhaps served as my first officially collected set of books.  I had ALL the hardcovers for probably the first 30 books in the series.  But sadly, my mom likely donated them after I left home.  *cries*

I didn't realize until much later that the 'author', Carolyn Keene, was a pseudonym for a number of authors who wrote the nearly 200 installments over the last 80 years.  They've been rewritten and updated a number of times over the years as well.

I remember thinking as I plowed through those books when I was probably 10 years old, that Nancy had THE most interesting life ever.  Through my eyes as a child, I thought she was brilliant and resourceful, and I fantasized about having a life just like Nancy's.  She seemed fearless in creepy situations which made me wish I could be brave and keep a level head...just like her.  She was everything I wanted to be.

I will always have fond memories of the many hours I spent in my room reading these books and how it perhaps served as a precursor for my passion for books and amazing stories present day.

Summary from Goodreads of The Secret of the Old Clock (Book 1): 

In this first of the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, Nancy, unaided, seeks to find a missing will. Her search not only tests her keen mind but also leads her into a thrilling adventure. This volume presents the original, 1930 version of the story. In 1959 the story was rewritten and condensed and this original version went out of print.