The Motor Girls on a Tour

By Margaret Penrose. (Margaret Penrose was the pseudonym used by Lilian C. Garis)
Again I tried my luck with an audio book from the Motor Girls Series by Margaret Penrose.
The lack lustre voice no longer bothers me as I find myself concentrating on the world of Cora Kimball, her brother Jack, and their friends.
This is the second Motor Girls book I have read and this book talks about "The Motor Girls Club."

Cora's best friends are twins Bess and Belle Robinson which are described as opposites which would make them fraternal twins and are two of the girls in the Motor Girls club.
Cora's car is nicknamed the Whirlwind, The twins car is called the Flyaway and another of their friends car is called "The Turtle."

In this story the girls are involved in a mystery linked to a small disabled girl who is asking people to sign a "promise book." The promise is to keep an eye out for a desk that she believes holds a family will that will help her family.

Again the story is dated by the cars being such new inventions but the story behind it is good if you can overlook / or enjoy it from a historical perspective. Must say I love the social norms of the time and the delicacies of the feisty main character.

The Motor Girls

I finished The Motor Girls Audio book I was listening to. The annoying voice didn't bother me after a while though I was reminded of it when my husband got in the car and started making all the same complaints about the voice that I had.
This would have to be the most dated book I have written to date. (Hey it's a story about this wonderful new invention - the car - I suppose it is to be expected.
The girls wear Motor outfits to go out driving in and every second chapter seemed to be a street car race (not really something you would concentrate on in a book for young people on these days.)
I enjoyed the audio book enough to download the next, and enjoyed the first book I have read in this series.

Nancy Drew The Secret of the Old Clock

The first book written in the ever popular Nancy Drew Series I got through this book at a relatively fast pace.
Nancy was solo in this story (no George or Bess in sight) with the story concentrating on the relationship between Nancy and her father, lawyer Carson Drew.
(I read a re- edition meaning there were changes to Nancy's character and to the story in the rewrite.)
The Topham sisters become great snobby rivals and antagonists to Nancy's character.
Nancy is portrayed as a popular girl although only one friend (Helen) is really mentioned and she enters the story to sell tickets to a charity event to Nancy.
I enjoyed the story and it encouraged me to continue to read the series in order. To see the development in Nancy's character early on in the series.
Like Trixie Belden, Nancy doesn't really age during the series which I know will erk me after a while as I really like the character / relationship development that happens from a character developing in age during a series.

Nancy Drew Convention

I am currently considering attending the Nancy Drew / Hardy Boys Convention next year in Florida.

I loved my last trip to Florida so this is a great addition to a return trip there.

I have read a few Nancy Drew books so I may need to put a few more up the top of my priority reading list.

The Motor Girls by Margaret Penrose

Internet Audio Book
I have had to do a lot of long distance driving for work lately and I decided that an audio book would be great to listen to instead of the radio for a change.

After doing a number of searches for free audio books I decided to start with The Motor Girls.

So far first chapter down.

My initial impressions are:

1) I wish the person reading the book wasn't so mono tone!! I mean she reads a sentence about saying something with a laugh and a smile and there wasn't that sound of even a smile in her voice

2) I wish that the reader didn't pause in the wrong places the way she does which makes it harder to comprehend what has been said.

That said I have surviived the first chapter and I am willing to see how I go with further ones. Which is just as well as I have another long drive ahead this week.

Brains Benton The Case Of The Counterfeit Coin (1960)

Now I would have to admit from the outset that I find it a lot easier and more enjoyable usually to read girl mystery series books. That said I really liked this book.

The story is told first hand, taking place after the mystery has happened by Jimmy Carson (given the alias name of Operative 3) who is the sidekick of "Barclay" Brains Benton. Together they attend school and run the Benton and Carson International Detective Agency.

I have enjoyed the fast pace, the fact that the school genius is also a baseball pitching star ( a bit out of the standard). I have also liked the fact that the person telling the story isn't the main character but his sidekick. It shows that he can idolise the points of the main character while showing his own flaws. 

I managed to read 2 other books whilst still reading this book. It interested me enough to keep reading but not enough to make it a priority. I out that down to 2 possible reasons. 1) It didn't have a major female character I could relate to. 2) the ending I felt was drawn out, the pair new the bad guys, knew how they did things but the story still made excuses to keep going. In some ways it seemed like they had to get to their word quota.

Kat Tracey The Message in the Sand Dunes

This Kay Tracey book was written by by Mildred A. Wirt Benson under the pen name of Frances K. Judd.

Half way through reading this book I thought that it was not as full of coincidences like the last one I read and therefore the story flowed well and Kay came across more as a detective.

Even though the story in part was about finding buried treasure the premise of the story wasn't as far fetched as some previous Kay Tracey's I have read.

Really enjoyed the holiday at the beach aspect and having new characters as apposed to the old school rivalry.