This page is a log of all past news at the Series Bookcase,
starting December 31, 1998. A news section that features the current news can be found at the Main
Page. The same news is listed here, with most recent news at the top.
January 12, 2006: No updates happened here for the last eight months. I was pretty impressed with myself, but then I remembered that time between 1999 and 2002 when I didn't update for nearly three years. I'd better start slacking harder or I'll never beat that record! So anyway...did you get everything you wanted for Christmas? If not, you should definitely browse the Store section, which has just been overhauled after our meticulous, hand-crafted inventory. Besides finally being spiffed-up like the rest of the site, of special interest are the rare titles added to the Tom Swift Jr. sale area. Also new to this update is the addition to the Links section of links to the excellent Hardy-Boys.com and Bridgeboro.com. Both sites are must visits for fans of the Hardy Boys or the works of Percy Keese Fitzhugh. Until next time, folks... Happy reading!
May 9, 2005: There was a Tom Swift Jr. update scheduled for the end of April meant to complete our Tom Swift Month special, but you may have noticed it never happened. Sadly there was this small matter of college finals falling about the same time, so things just didn't work out. But here's the Tom Swift Jr. update today and you won't mind the wait at all once you see it. In fact, you'll probably wish there had been a longer wait. Not because of the fifth and final wallpaper featuring the title invention from Tom Swift and His Polar-Ray Dynasphere –– that's all well and good. But just wait until you see the newly available Italian edition of Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts! This book has one of the single most hideous covers that I have ever beheld, and that's no exageration. The astounding colors! Tom's horribly disfigured face! The... the freckles! My command of the English language is insufficient to describe the awe and horror with which I regard this edition. In fact, you may not want to look at this cover at all if you're easily disturbed or prone to nightmares. And if you should start tasting metal or seeing spots while viewing this book, please seek medical attention immediately. Good luck, and see you next time!
April 23, 2005: Gee, another week gone and I'm a day late for my update again. I suppose what I meant from the first is that you can expect something new here every Saturday. Yeah. Of course if I say Saturday, then I may not get my updates done until Sunday, and then where will we be? Maybe the best solution is for me to keep shooting for Friday, and you can just show up on Saturday and expect to see an update either way. Does that sound fair? Anyway, you'll find two new Tom Swift Jr. wallpapers today in the Downloads section. Yes you read that correctly, and these are great ones. The first depicts a familiar scene from Tom Swift and His Atomic Earth Blaster in brilliant shades of blue, red, orange, yellow, green, and white. The second is probably my favorite of the lot, and is an alternate version of the cover from Tom Swift and the Cosmic Astronauts. The picture of Tom and Bud in their Space Kite looking down on Earth from the black void of space is pretty dramatic. The Space Kite here is rather different when compared to the original cover, but is immediately recognizable anyway. So there you have it –– this week's update. Late, but brilliant as ever. And our update next Friday is going to be a good one too, so don't forget!
April 15, 2005: Greetings! Today, as promised is another great Tom Swift Jr. desktop wallpaper for you, this one depicting a scene from Tom Swift and His Jetmarine. Like last week's edition this is a nice quality 800 x 600 color image that, while downright spiffy looking, is not necessarily technically faithful to the story. Still, it's very well done and the image of a giant, bulge-eyed octopus attacking a submarine makes for a rather dramatic desktop. All your friends will ask you where you got it, and you'll tell them about the Tom Swift Jr. series, and they'll all become fans and tell all their friends. And then it will just spread from there and people all over the world will start reading Tom Swift Jr. books and there will a new age of enlightenment as people embrace Tom Swift Jr.'s lessons on camaraderie, resourcefulness, optimism, and, um, stilted speech. And then the human race will band together and finally conquer space, and the oceans, and those annoying fast food drive-through microphones that squawk so you can't understand them when you're ordering. And it will be all because you downloaded this one desktop wallpaper, and you'll be a hero to millions of children around the globe and on other planets. Wow. Either that or your friends will just look at you strangely and then try to avoid eye contact. But I think the other scenario is more likely. In any case, come back next Friday for the third image in the series!
April 10, 2005: This week's update is a little late, this being Sunday instead of the proposed Friday. But since there haven't been any complaints yet I'm hoping that means nobody has noticed. In which case I shouldn't have brought attention to the date, and you'll just have to forget you read all this. So to start over, the first Tom Swift addition today is a very nice 800 x 600 resolution rendering of Swift Enterprises, suitable for use as your Windows desktop wallpaper. To be clear, this is an official image from 1966 and not modern fan or concept art. It doesn't come from any of the cover illustrations, yet it is in full color. I'll be interested to hear if anyone recognizes where this artwork originally appeared. The second bonus item to make up for the two-day delay (ack, I'm not supposed to keep mentioning that!) is a page for the Swedish edition of Tom Swift and His Flying Lab, and includes the cover, frontispiece, and the original advertising text. Interestingly this edition merely reproduces the cover from the Tempo paperback (naturally with Swedish titles), and features a Sky Queen that looks like a poor representation of the Space Shuttle as well as a very soulful looking Tom who bears a striking resemblance to Charlie Bucket. I don't know what else to say about this cover except that it was the 1970s and things like this happened all the time. So move that index finger right now and check both of those out. And then check back on Friday...if you dare!
April 1, 2005: As you may remember last April was Tom Swift month here on the site and back then we put up something new almost every day. In the interests of tradition, this April will be our second annual Tom Swift month and you can expect an update every Friday. Beginning, naturally, today. This first installment consists of a much improved list of the foreign editions that were published from 1954-1979, as well as pages for eight new foreign editions complete with covers and (where available) illustrations. There are now fifteen publishers listed and a dozen languages represented. Take a look at the list of books in the series to see everything, and do come again next Friday for an unusual but welcome Tom Swift addition.
February 1, 2005: Happy Groundhog Day Eve! I'm as giddy as a schoolperson in anticipation of tomorrow's festivities and I hope you are too. I plan on waking up early so I can watch PunxsutawneyTM Bob (the enormously talented but lesser known frog) predict the spring's mosquito population. And then of course who can resist watching PunxsutawneyTM Chuck (the adorable and furry woodphil) predict the spring's lumber prices? I guess if I'm feeling up to it, I could also watch PunxsutawneyTM Phil (the slightly less adorable and but no less furry woodchuck) predict the coming of spring, but there's really no point to that. For one thing, we don't have any winter here, so six more weeks of whatever it is we do have isn't going to make much difference. By the way, hasn't anyone in PunxsutawneyTM realized yet that a new pair of bifocals would improve Phil's ability to see his own shadow and therefore take some of the unpredictability out of the event? Since the job obviously doesn't include dental benefits, though, I suppose it wouldn't rate medical benefits either. But when you think of all the joy Phil brings to people, it's heartbreaking that he's in such poverty he can't even afford a new pair of eyeglasses. If anyone wants to donate money for PunxsutawneyTM Phil's bifocals, just send me a check or money order and I'll, um, see that it's used well. Anyway, now that we have all the important stuff out of the way, how about some site news? Well? What, you want me to give you the news? Oh well, there was that little bit about the entire Lone Ranger section being completely and totally overhauled in the most amazing and wonderful manner, but I guess that's about it, really. Sure, there are dozens of foreign editions from such exotic places as Argentina, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, but who cares? Big deal if the section's packed with new photos, illustrations, summaries... Oh, who am I kidding? Get over there and check it out now! You'll be wowed –– hopefully enough to last you into next month when our next installment of wow will appear in these very pages. Don't miss it! Until next time, kids...
January 18, 2005: It's the beginning of a new year again and there are endless possibilities for this one to turn out even better than last year. I know I'm excited about life in general right now, and certainly the prospects for this site in 2005. Right now work is going into updating all of the series featured here in the coming months. For the first fruits of this, visit the Rick Brant section. Among the additions are pages for The Deadly Dutchman and Danger Below! complete with plot summaries, cover photos and frontispiece illustrations, and well over a dozen pages for various foreign editions from Finland, Holland, France, and Norway. Be sure to take a look at the French editions if for no other reason than their great color illustrations. And of course check back in a couple of weeks for more news. I wish you all a great year!
November 25, 2004: It will be time for Thanksgiving dinner in just a few minutes, but I just wanted to send a quick update before then. First, let me say how thankful I am for the fellow children's book collectors I've met online. The people in this hobby are some of the nicest I know, and it's been a pleasure to correspond with many of you over the years. I'd like to wish every visitor of this site a very happy Thanksgiving, and I hope the rest of your holiday season is everything you could hope for. Well now, as far as updates go you'll notice some big changes in the Connie Blair section today. Besides numerous cosmetic changes, there are now pages for all fifteen Tempo reprints (most with plot summaries), and also sixteen foreign editions that are new to this site. That includes books from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden which are rather rare and new to this site. Enjoy, and do visit again soon!
August 1, 2004: For those of you who dream about Biff Brewster updates, I daresay that dream has come true today. And you'll find the scope startling in proportion. The update, that is, not the dream. Anyway, the American editions are complete now with digitally remastered frontispieces, cover photos and plot summaries for all the titles. Several new Norwegian covers are available, as well as new listings on the List of Books page for the Dutch and Swedish editions, and some cover photos for those too. The most important change, though, is that the About the Series section is now packed with information and photos describing the authors, book formats and foreign editions, a list of important characters, and other information. Chances are you'll find just about anything you want to know about the series right there. Enjoy, and feel free to write with comments or questions. Have a great August, and I'll see you in a few weeks!
July 18, 2004: New pages for seven foreign language Tom Swift Jr. books are now available. Visit the List of Books to see the new additions from Denmark, Finland, France, Holland / Belgium, and Norway. The Danish and Finnish covers have some of the nicest foreign art so far, and the new French edition page has a picture of one of the full-color internals as well. You can also read the original plot descriptions for most of these, but none have been translated into English, so you're on your own. Check them out anyway, and visit again on August 1st when we'll have an enormous Biff Brewster overhaul for you. You'll be amazed to see how much stuff is crammed into the new update!
May 27, 2004: Good news for Chris Cool and Ronnie Clark fans: the excellent web site Luxury Motors has been in the shop for an overhaul, and has just come back looking better than new. Come to think of it, while I know a bunch of Chis Cool fans, I've sadly never met a Ronnie Clark fan. The most simple reason is that Ronnie Clark is the name the Chris Cool series was known by in Sweden, and I just haven't learned to speak Swedish yet. But the point is that among other improvements, you can now see many of the Chris Cool volumes released in France, Denmark, and of course Sweden. You can also read the plot summary or advertising excerpt if you happen to understand those languages, but the books are worth visiting in either case just to see the widely varying cover art styles. So, take a look at the all new 2004 Luxury Motors site, and I'd be pleased to hear from you regardless of which editions you originally read. Have a good weekend!
April 30, 2004: There is a theory going around that if one gave an infinite number of monkeys an infinite number of typewriters, they would eventually produce all the world's great literature. Nobody seems to suggest a method for housing the monkeys, or what brand of typewriter would be best, but it's an intriguing idea. I find myself pondering the possibility that this method was developed in the 1970s and resulted in the manuscript for Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts. I also wonder if I had some monkeys on my staff, would it have taken us fewer weeks to type out these twenty chapters by hand? In any case, this project has ended with the final installment –– Chapter #20 –– being released today. I hope you enjoyed reading the book, and I ask that you send me an e-mail telling me whether you thought this project was worthwhile or not. Even if you're not a Tom Swift Jr. fan, let me know you support the effort, and I may try transcribing other rare series books in the future. And while you're supporting the effort, how about filling out the Survey? You'll have a chance from there to join our mailing list for news about this site, and you'll prove to us somebody out there is actually reading this. Anyway, it's been fun working on the site this month, and I know we'll have a great month of May!
April 29, 2004: Today finds us posting Chapter #19 –– the next to last chapter from Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts. The final illustration from the book shows us they really did get a novelty ice cube, and now it's in a giant martini shaker. The martini shaker is so big it has fish and a couple of fellows in pressure suits in it. No kidding, it's all true! Well, all of it except for the martini shaker. And the ice cube. But the fish are all there, I promise! Anyway, it's amazing to realize this book is almost over. Seems like it's only been 3½ weeks! No, wait a minute. It has only been 3½ weeks. Well, it's been a fun 3½, and I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have. Let me know how you liked this special presentation of Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts, and check back Friday morning for Chapter #20!
April 28, 2004: Only two more to go now that Chapter #18 from Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts is here! Today Tom and Bud narrowly escape certain death at the hands (beaks?) of a ruthless flock of vultures, and then go on to try their hands (mitts?) at ghost rustling. One of the great things about the Tom Swift Jr. books is that you can enjoy fantastical amazing adventures without ever having to leave the comfort of your own home. Why nearly die of thirst in the desert or get knocked unconscious when you can read about someone else doing it for you? You can have all these benefits and more when you buy any of the fine books at our Store. Today we've added dozens of new sale listings to the Tom Swift Jr. section including many of the different versions available for the first 29 volumes. You'll also see various foreign editions for sale including the profusely illustrated German editions, and the French editions with amazing color illustrations. Most books are very reasonably priced, and you're bound to find something you need. Check them out now, and visit tomorrow for the penultimate Chapter #19!
April 27, 2004: Chapter #17, the latest chapter from Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts, is available for reading now. Additionally, you'll find we have fixed up the list of books so all the lists are the same width, and the foreign editions are now organized by country of origin. There are new entries for the Dutch/Belgian editions (of which volume #4 is available), and for the French editions (of which volumes #1, #3, and #9 are available). One of the especially interesting things about the French editions is that they have their own original art in addition to some of the American artwork, and include two full-color illustrations per book. A good example of the color illustrations can be found on the page for the French edition of #3.
April 26, 2004: Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts is up to Chapter #16 now, and you will be happy to hear that the mushrooms do not make their reappearance yet. On the other hand if you have lost interest in everything but mushrooms, then you best check back tomorrow for Chapter #17. Even if you don't like mushrooms and are enjoying the story, or if you like the story and the mushrooms, do read Chapter #17 tomorrow. But Chapter #16 is only for people who don't like mushrooms or don't care about mushrooms. Or people who do like mushrooms but also like the story. Heck, read them both, I don't care.
April 23, 2004: Gee! It's the end of the week already, and there are only five chapters left from Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts. The new Chapter #15 is up now of course, and there are many other improvements to the Tom Swift Jr. section as well. All the pages for the individual books in the series are now complete with fully justified summaries, guaranteed to have fewer horizontal rules, working alt text, and most importantly, low in carbohydrates. Go check them out, and we'll see you back on Monday with Chapter #16!
April 22, 2004: Well, Chapter #14 from Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts is up today, but I can't think of anything to comment on. It is Earth Day, but I don't see what that has to do with Tom Swift Jr. I suppose I could go on and on about how Tom has saved the earth time and again from comets and alien strip miners. But then of course there was that unfortunate Atomic Earth Blaster, the name of which alone is enough to enrage environmental activists. Come to think of it, maybe I better just keep quiet about the whole thing and hope nobody brings up the subject. Um, do visit tomorrow for Chapter #15.
April 21, 2004: Tom Swift and the Village People are back in today's Chapter #13 from Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts. You'll be pleased to see two Bill Dolwick illustrations in this installment of our story. The first looks like Tom and friends have just ordered one of those novelty ice cubes that are really a block of plastic with a fake fly in it, and we can only guess that this one's going into a really big drink. The second picture looks like a pair of Jetsons extras are practicing for an upcoming magic show by making things vanish inside a glass box. I could be wrong, so maybe you better read this one yourself just to make sure. Let me know what you find out, and come back tomorrow for Chapter #14.
April 20, 2004: It's good to be back in the swing of things and updating the contents of Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts on time again. In today's Chapter #12, Tom presents some primitive villagers with the gift of fire, that age old symbol of civilization and life. And this is keen high-tech blue fire too, carried in attractive containers and suitable for burning trash, warming fingers, seeing in the dark, or even romantic dinners. Can't you just feel the love? Oh, and there are more mushrooms. Chapter #13 comes up tomorrow, but you already knew that, right?
April 19, 2004: We're a little late today due to an unfortunate Easter candy overdose, but Chapter #11 from Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts is finally up. In this part of the story, Tom acquires something called a Tehuelche, and some stuff happens. But don't take our word for it, just read the darned thing yourself already! And don't forget to check back tomorrow for Chapter 12, because you might forget, and that would just be sad.
April 16, 2004: Well, we've reached the half-way point in Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts. That is to say, Chapter #10 is now available. Now that all your money has gone to pay taxes, it should be a relief for you to read something absolutely free. As you sit in the dark eating leftover Easter candy and wondering where you'll get money with which to buy food for the rest of the month, Tom and Bud will amuse you with their antics. Watch as they let the Galaxy Ghosts slip through their fingers! (Get it? Ghosts? Slip through their fingers? Never mind.) Stare as Tom gives himself electroshock therapy! Such fun! More of the same will be waiting for you Monday morning, so have a good weekend and check back then!
April 15, 2004: The table of contents for Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts has been updated today to include a link to Chapter #9. As promised, Tom and Bud narrowly escape being burnt to death during a snow storm on a mountain in this issue. They also fly to Mars, are pursued by mushrooms, and have many subsequent amusing adventures. Have a happy tax day, and return with us tomorrow for Chapter #10.
April 14, 2004: The table of contents for Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts has been updated today to include a link to Chapter #8. In this chapter Tom and Bud find time for a bit of hiking, mountain climbing, 4-wheeling, and horseback riding in scenic Chile, despite the end of the world being near. I guess it's a good thing they forgot to bring their kayaks and hang gliders or we might never get to the end of this book. Fortunately, Chapter #9 comes up tomorrow, and our lads get a chance to be roasted like marshmallows in Chile, or fried like fritters in space.
April 13, 2004: Come visit the table of contents for Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts, or go straight to Chapter #7. In the current installment, our heroes manage to temporarily fend off the great mushroom onslaught, thanks to Chow and his band of stalwart sous-chefs. With no time to lose, Tom and Bud promptly flee the country with the mushroom menace close behind. Will the Abominable Snowman of the Andes help them stem the tide, or will he join the mighty army of fungus and conquer the earth? Visit again tomorrow for Chapter #8!
April 12, 2004: There are a swell lot of changes to the Tom Swift section today, including justified text for all the books up to volume #24, and the original plot summaries for volumes #6, #11, and #17 provided by reader Tom Ippolito. These have all been spiffed up a little by removing horizontal rules, making most of the frontispiece photos a more uniform width, and the like. Of course we haven't forgotten the most important update, which you can see by checking the table of contents for Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts. In today's Chapter #6, Tom and Bud are overcome by an unstoppable army of mushrooms. They may have been victorious in their previous conflicts with evil scientists, totalitarian states, and space aliens, but this new challenge could well be more than they can handle. Be sure to check back tomorrow for Chapter #7!
April 9, 2004: Visit the table of contents from Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts for today's addition of Chapter 5, in which Tom is kidnapped by an eight-year-old boy. How he escapes and triumphs over this cunning adversary is a heartwarming story of courage and resourcefulness. Have a great Easter weekend, and check back Monday morning for the next chapter!
April 8, 2004: Visit the table of contents from Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts for today's addition of Chapter 4, in which Tom and Bud fly to Chile to meet a rich but honest orange grower. A rich but honest orange grower with a beard and his henchman Burkart. A Chilean named Burkart, you ask? I wonder if our boys know what they're getting into! Probably not, but read Chapter 5 tomorrow to find out just in case.
April 7, 2004: Continuing our clocklike precision and regularity, Chapter 3 from Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts is available today, and you can access the table of contents as always. This chapter contains another thrilling illustration by Bill Dolwick featuring three grim-looking people, one of whom has a beard! And of course you are strongly encouraged to fill out our now working Survey –– you won't regret it!
April 6, 2004: Chapter 2 from Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts is now ready to read online, and the table of contents is available as well. Additionally, the Tom Swift Jr. main page has been spiffed up with new text and full justification, and the first five volumes have been justified also. We'll get to the others shortly but all this typing is giving us callouses on our fingers. You may notice that volume #1 now has a plot summary that was kindly donated by reader Tom Ippolito, and I put up the plot summaries for the German editions of volumes #1 and #2. Remember to check back tomorrow for Chapter 3, and be sure to fill out the now working Survey!
April 5, 2004: In one of our most surprising moves to date, The Series Bookcase has declared April 2004 to be Tom Swift Jr. month. Congress has not gotten back to us on this matter yet, but we're moving right ahead. For festivities, we will be releasing one chapter every Monday through Friday this month from the very rare Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts. The first chapter is already up this morning, and you can also visit the table of contents. Remember to check back tomorrow for chapter 2! And now for even more surprising news: our Survey is working for the first time in four years. Yes, that's right. One of the benefits of moving to this new server, besides all our European letters showing up in Japanese is that we again have access to cgi programs that can do amazing things, such as send us Survey results. But these wonderful programs are just sitting idle until you put them to work. Fill our that Survey now, and bring joy to a little cgi program's life. Thank you.
April 3, 2004: The Tom Corbett section has been worked over again, with remastered frontispieces for volumes #6 & #7, new text on the Main Page, and fully justified text throughout. The biggest news, however, is that there is a brand new Tom Corbett Articles section that contains two fascinating texts. One first appeared in Grosset & Dunlap's "Junior Adventurers Club News" in 1954, and has Tom Corbett describing the series to his readers. The second is a brilliant story by bestselling author Roy Williams that shows just what might have happened when your books were given away when you left for college. Both are required reading, so read. And visit again on Monday for more updates!
March 23, 2004: Fans of the Mercer Boys series finally have a chance to finish off their sets now! We listed the last four books in the series on eBay tonight, and you can see them all by clicking here. Two of the books have their original dust jackets, and three are first editions. It may be a very long time before anyone has these for sale again, so go bid now! In other news, our new server seems to have trouble with some of the symbols on our pages. This has resulted in some of the Norwegian titles being mixed up with Oriental characters, and squares showing up everywhere there's supposed to be a dash. Very odd, not to mention disconcerting. We are working to get it figured out, and should be back to normal soon. And it also appears we were so busy with other news, we forgot to mention that the page for Rick Brant's Science Projects is now up. Go take a look!
March 17, 2004: You may remember last month we told you to expect amazing fabulous surprises for our next update, right? Well, the surprise is here, and is it a doozy! The big new is...our e-mail stopped working for a few days, so we moved to a new server! Woo! This has immense, far-reaching ramifications that will impact every person on the surface of the planet, and possibly some below the surface as well. Therefore, I am commanding people across this nation to wear green today and march in parades. The logo I have selected to symbolize our bold step in changing servers is the clover leaf, and it should be prominently displayed as a token of your esteem for this web site. Bad Irish accents and funny hats are optional. There were also a few updates to the site today. Sure they pale in comparison to the previous news, but I'm sort of obligated to mention them. They include updating this main page with new and fully justified text, with similar changes to the main page of the Rick Brant section. The list of Rick Brant books has also been justified, as have the individual pages for that section, giving them all a nice spiffy look. Let us know what you think, and by all means resend any e-mails from the past week or so. See you again in a few weeks!
February 16, 2004: I hope everyone had as nice a Presidents' Day as we did. Friends and family all gathered around the Presidents' Day tree and sang Hail to the Chief and other favorites, had our traditional Presidents' Day chicken and stuffing feast, and later each of us took turns lighting candles in memory of presidents past and present. Then of course we sat around telling our favorite presidential stories while we opened presents. I got a new pair of socks! Yes, this truly was one of the best Presidents' Days yet, and I'm just looking forward to next year now! In other news, this site just got its first award! We must be doing something right, like submitting ourselves for awards, huh? Don't sit there gawking –– go gaze at its wondrous beauty here! And in even further news, we actually added content today. Any other site would think our award news Presidents' Day greetings were enough, but we were just full of the spirit of giving on this blessed holiday. So, take a look at the Rick Brant section for four entirely new pages featuring Rocket Jumper, the reprint edition of The Deadly Dutchman, and Dutch editions of The Rocket's Shadow and The Lost City, as well as cover photos for volumes #4, #8, and #11. That's all for now, but we have some amazing, staggering, fabulous surprises in store for next time, so check back in March!
January 26, 2004: Gentle browser, we have a very special treat for you today in the Tom Swift Jr. section. Yes, that's right, we've upgraded the quality of every single frontispiece image we have for viewing there. What do you mean who cares? Don't you understand that each one has been painstakingly reproduced by hand by catholic monks from an authentic old-time monastery high in the Italian mountains, according to the time honored techniques passed down through the ages? Well of course you don't, but they were digitally remastered using the finest in obsolete methods, not to mention raw courage. Raw courage and determination. Raw courage, determination, and a good deal of hand-eye coordination. Yes, we here at the Series Bookcase have a lot of hand-eye coordination because we care. Why do we care? Nobody really knows, but the fact is that we do, so don't press it. The result is that not only are these frontispiece images better quality than before, but they actually take up less space. Smaller file size means faster downloading, and faster downloading means you save more time. That's right, we care and we save you time. And what better use of that time than taking a look at the brand new page for Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts? Not only do we have a picture of the front cover, but we also have a picture of the frontispiece, and you better believe that frontispiece picture is high quality! But that's not all! Sure it might be enough for some other "sites" on the "Internet," but we don't do things by halves here, no sir! You can also read an actual summary of the book! Get to work on that right away, and be sure to check back next May when we have even more astounding sights on our sites! Did I say next May? I meant next month of course. Ha ha, silly typographical errors. Do check back next month –– you won't be sorry! No, really!
November 15, 2003: Since 1947, the Rick Brant series has been one of the finest sets of adventure stories written for young adults. We are happy to announce today our new section devoted to that series, and hope you'll take a look. Also as promised, we now have available the completed About the Series section for Tom Corbett. This is one of the most thorough looks at the characters, locations, and other details of the books, brief biographies of the illustrator and technical adviser, and much more! Finally, you may notice the addition of a handy "buy!" link next to some of the titles on each list of books for the series' we feature. This will take you directly to our corresponding sales list, as well as telling you at a glance which titles we have in stock for that series. Of course, we have many titles from other series, so a look at the Store is always worth the time. This does bring us to the point that Christmas is barely more than a month away, so now is the perfect time to order books as presents, or to have presents ordered on your behalf. It's still early enough for them to go through the mail and arrive in plenty of time for the big day, and we still have a great selection of books in stock. We'll be thrilled to help you with whatever you need, and look forward to making this holiday one of your greatest!
November 1, 2003: Ah, November! Always one of my favorite months of the year. We have a lot of exciting things happening here in the immediate future, beginning with two more series added today: Cherry Ames and Vicki Barr. Those will help represent girls' series on this site, as previously we have had but one. The Vicki Barr section is admittedly light on content at the moment, but hopefully Cherry Ames makes up for that by having cover and frontispiece images for more than 80% of the books in the series, and more besides. In about two weeks, we will unveil a new section devoted to our all-time favorite series here at the Series Bookcase, practically complete information about one of the current featured series, and more great surprises. Earlier than that, we'll be listing more books for sale, including nearly all of the Cherry Ames series with dust jackets. Be sure to check back again soon, and enjoy the fine weather in the meantime!
October 10, 2003: We hope everyone had a wonderful Summer with plenty of time to catch up on reading. We've been keeping busy here, and have a host of new photos and information today. In the Ken Holt section, more than half a dozen photos were added, so now 15 of the 18 covers are on display. The Tom Swift Jr. site now has a summary for volume 8 available, as well as a list of Dutch editions. And we have an entirely new featured series: Steve Knight! One of the lesser known of the WWII air combat series, these are interesting to read nonetheless. At the site, you'll find summaries with cover and frontispiece photos for each book, and an introduction to the reoccurring characters. Also, don't miss another look at our Books For Sale section. We have a huge selection available, and most have been marked down –– some more than 80%! Have fun, and be sure to check back in November when we reveal two new series for the site!
May 21, 2003: At the height of their popularity in the 1950s, many Grosset & Dunlap series were republished overseas. Interestingly, Norway was second only to England in reprints, and most of the series from the time were available there in Norwegian language editions. The publishing house Forlagshuset was the main maker of these, and is still in business today. Among this month's updates are a link to their current web site, the completed list of Biff Brewster books printed there, and a new list of the Tom Corbett Norwegian titles. Many of our other series list the foreign publishers and titles as well. Also this month is a fantastic clearance on our Books For Sale. Nearly half our inventory has been drastically reduced in price –– some books are more than 70% off! Nearly 50 previously unlisted books have been added to the new Miscellaneous section as well, so run there now and pick up some of our staggeringly reasonable deals before they're all gone!
March 20, 2003: The Tom Corbett and Mercer Boys sections have minor updates this week, but the main piece of news is that the About the Series page for Christopher Cool is now finished. You'll find descriptions and illustrations of the main characters, gadgets used in the series, locations, and much more. This is especially exciting as it practically finishes the Christopher Cool section –– there are cover photos and plot summaries of all the volumes in the series, as well as the dates published, and number of pages and chapters. The only things left are information about the author and foreign editions, which I will eventually have.
March 13, 2003: As promised earlier, I am pleased to present the newest addition to this site, Global News –– the Ken Holt section. This series is one of my all time favorites, and The Secret of Skeleton Island was one of the first series books I ever bought myself. Also, in a surprise development, I am proud to bring you our first girls' series to this site, Reid & Renshaw Advertising –– the Connie Blair section. This series has been favorably called the "Ken Holt of girls' series" and seemed a fitting choice to launch on this occasion. While some information is missing for both these sections, you'll find photos of the frontispieces for every book in each series, as well as complete title lists and some information about foreign editions. So enjoy your stay, and check back with us next time when we'll have further developments in the Christopher Cool, Tom Corbett, and Mercer Boys sections!
February 28, 2003: This past week I've been working on the site almost constantly. Every section has been updated to reflect the year 2003, as well as to make sure it works equally well with screen resolutions up to 1024 x 1280. Additionally, Christopher Cool, Tom Corbett, The Mercer Boys, Tom Quest, The Lone Ranger, and Yankee Flier have all had slight to major changes made to them. All have new images and the new easier to read list format on the List of Books pages, most have new logos on the main pages, Tom Quest and The Mercer Boys have new books added for viewing as well as upgraded images for a number of books, and Tom Quest and Tom Swift Jr. even have lighter wallpaper for easier reading! In the Links section I've removed all the non-working links, and added many new ones. In fact, there are now 5 more than when I started, even with many old ones removed! Plus, stay tuned, because next month I will be adding a series that has long been one of my favorites to this site!
February 21, 2003: I trust everyone had a great holiday season, and now that we're well into 2003, I hope you are finding the new year all you wished it would be. In that vein, you'll notice that the Biff Brewster section has been wonderfully redone today. The most obvious thing is the new lighter easier to read with purple color for the background. There are some spiffed up graphics, a new frontispiece for volume #4, and a section for foreign editions. Also today, I put up a new logo on the Tom Swift Jr. section, as well as new summaries for several volumes, and a list of Norwegian titles. And last but certainly not least you may be pleased to note many new series added to our store, including Roy Blakeley, Yankee Flier, and many others.
October 1, 2002: Happy October, everybody! As promised, I'm continuing with updates to the existing pages, specifically Tom Swift Jr. this week. Besides the spiffed up list of titles, you'll find some new information about British, German and Icelandic editions of the books. And for the Lone Ranger, take a look at the new plot summary and cover art from the rare next to last book in the series, The Lone Ranger: Trouble on the Santa Fe.
September 23, 2002: After nearly 35 months, I'm finally back to updating this site! Over the last three years I've had a number of major events, as well as everyday things that have kept me from working on series book information. While I can't predict major events for the future, I do intend to make time otherwise to update things more often. For the remainder of this year, I will be going through each section to add photos and information for those books I've newly acquired, change the list of books to a more pleasing format, and change background colors or text colors where needed to make the pages easier to read. I've already finished the Lone Ranger and Tom Quest sections with this update, so you can see what will be happening to the other sections over the next few months. Of special interest regarding those two, you'll find pictures of rare foreign language editions that are new to this site, and the Lone Ranger section now has the frontispieces from the last three hard to find volumes. On another note, while I get e-mail all through the week, my schedule usually doesn't leave time to reply until the weekend. I very much welcome e-mails with comments, questions and the like, but please don't be discouraged if a reply is not sent right away –– just hang on and you'll get one soon. In any event, stay tuned for more news, and have a great remainder of the month!
August 15, 1999: Red Flight, our Yankee Flier section, has been updated again, and is now complete for the time being. All titles are available for viewing, including the hard to find final book in the series. Come take a look for yourself! Something else we're proud to announce: our limited edition Rick Brant symbol lapel pins are now on sale. Get a $5.00 discount for filling out our Survey!
July 17, 1999: Updates have been few this month, but rest assured that within the next few weeks we will be releasing some interesting new series sections including some of the excellent Grosset & Dunlap WWII aviation series. Be sure to watch for these new sections appearing late this month! As always, we very much appreciate your comments and suggestions, and if you're interested in receiving a monthly list of updates on this site, general news from this site, a list of series books for sale, or all of the above, the best way to sign up is to take our Survey and check those options at the end. We look forward to hearing from you!
May 8, 1999: On March 18, we received a lightning strike that melted most of the computer that was used to work on this site. Fortunately, we were able to have most of the data taken from what was left of the hard drive, but it has taken this long to get everything working on a different computer. Today we're uploading quite a few updates, including our new section for the Mercer Boys, a link to David Baumann's X Bar X Boys site, and also some improvements so that this site works equally well for 640 x 480 or 800 x 600 screens.
March 12, 1999: I've just returned from a trip through Missouri and Arkansas, and I had the wonderful good fortune to meet with Peter Harkins on the 9th. We met for breakfast and talked about his work with Rick Brant and Biff Brewster as well as other topics. I have wanted to meet Peter Harkins ever since I first started reading the Rick Brant series, and now that I've had the chance, I can honestly say it will remain one of my fondest memories. Mr. Harkins is one of the nicest and certainly most interesting people you can imagine. I'll be posting more details about the meeting as well as pictures of Mr. Harkins at a later date.
January 30, 1999: The Austin Book & Paper Show is held this last weekend in January here in Austin, Texas. I usually attend both events each year, one in January and one in September. It's enjoyable to see the same friends and dealers each time (and of course the selection of books), but today there seemed to be less of interest to series book collectors than usual. I would like to talk to other series book collectors who attend this show, so please write if you had the chance to come this weekend.
December 31, 1998: The Series Bookcase premiered today on our new domain name, series.net. Those of you who remember visiting us while we were still on Geocities will notice the new format, and quite a few new sections as well as a great many updates to the existing pages. Please take a moment to see what's new, and do come back later for more updates!
January 12, 2006: No updates happened here for the last eight months. I was pretty impressed with myself, but then I remembered that time between 1999 and 2002 when I didn't update for nearly three years. I'd better start slacking harder or I'll never beat that record! So anyway...did you get everything you wanted for Christmas? If not, you should definitely browse the Store section, which has just been overhauled after our meticulous, hand-crafted inventory. Besides finally being spiffed-up like the rest of the site, of special interest are the rare titles added to the Tom Swift Jr. sale area. Also new to this update is the addition to the Links section of links to the excellent Hardy-Boys.com and Bridgeboro.com. Both sites are must visits for fans of the Hardy Boys or the works of Percy Keese Fitzhugh. Until next time, folks... Happy reading!
May 9, 2005: There was a Tom Swift Jr. update scheduled for the end of April meant to complete our Tom Swift Month special, but you may have noticed it never happened. Sadly there was this small matter of college finals falling about the same time, so things just didn't work out. But here's the Tom Swift Jr. update today and you won't mind the wait at all once you see it. In fact, you'll probably wish there had been a longer wait. Not because of the fifth and final wallpaper featuring the title invention from Tom Swift and His Polar-Ray Dynasphere –– that's all well and good. But just wait until you see the newly available Italian edition of Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts! This book has one of the single most hideous covers that I have ever beheld, and that's no exageration. The astounding colors! Tom's horribly disfigured face! The... the freckles! My command of the English language is insufficient to describe the awe and horror with which I regard this edition. In fact, you may not want to look at this cover at all if you're easily disturbed or prone to nightmares. And if you should start tasting metal or seeing spots while viewing this book, please seek medical attention immediately. Good luck, and see you next time!
April 23, 2005: Gee, another week gone and I'm a day late for my update again. I suppose what I meant from the first is that you can expect something new here every Saturday. Yeah. Of course if I say Saturday, then I may not get my updates done until Sunday, and then where will we be? Maybe the best solution is for me to keep shooting for Friday, and you can just show up on Saturday and expect to see an update either way. Does that sound fair? Anyway, you'll find two new Tom Swift Jr. wallpapers today in the Downloads section. Yes you read that correctly, and these are great ones. The first depicts a familiar scene from Tom Swift and His Atomic Earth Blaster in brilliant shades of blue, red, orange, yellow, green, and white. The second is probably my favorite of the lot, and is an alternate version of the cover from Tom Swift and the Cosmic Astronauts. The picture of Tom and Bud in their Space Kite looking down on Earth from the black void of space is pretty dramatic. The Space Kite here is rather different when compared to the original cover, but is immediately recognizable anyway. So there you have it –– this week's update. Late, but brilliant as ever. And our update next Friday is going to be a good one too, so don't forget!
April 15, 2005: Greetings! Today, as promised is another great Tom Swift Jr. desktop wallpaper for you, this one depicting a scene from Tom Swift and His Jetmarine. Like last week's edition this is a nice quality 800 x 600 color image that, while downright spiffy looking, is not necessarily technically faithful to the story. Still, it's very well done and the image of a giant, bulge-eyed octopus attacking a submarine makes for a rather dramatic desktop. All your friends will ask you where you got it, and you'll tell them about the Tom Swift Jr. series, and they'll all become fans and tell all their friends. And then it will just spread from there and people all over the world will start reading Tom Swift Jr. books and there will a new age of enlightenment as people embrace Tom Swift Jr.'s lessons on camaraderie, resourcefulness, optimism, and, um, stilted speech. And then the human race will band together and finally conquer space, and the oceans, and those annoying fast food drive-through microphones that squawk so you can't understand them when you're ordering. And it will be all because you downloaded this one desktop wallpaper, and you'll be a hero to millions of children around the globe and on other planets. Wow. Either that or your friends will just look at you strangely and then try to avoid eye contact. But I think the other scenario is more likely. In any case, come back next Friday for the third image in the series!
April 10, 2005: This week's update is a little late, this being Sunday instead of the proposed Friday. But since there haven't been any complaints yet I'm hoping that means nobody has noticed. In which case I shouldn't have brought attention to the date, and you'll just have to forget you read all this. So to start over, the first Tom Swift addition today is a very nice 800 x 600 resolution rendering of Swift Enterprises, suitable for use as your Windows desktop wallpaper. To be clear, this is an official image from 1966 and not modern fan or concept art. It doesn't come from any of the cover illustrations, yet it is in full color. I'll be interested to hear if anyone recognizes where this artwork originally appeared. The second bonus item to make up for the two-day delay (ack, I'm not supposed to keep mentioning that!) is a page for the Swedish edition of Tom Swift and His Flying Lab, and includes the cover, frontispiece, and the original advertising text. Interestingly this edition merely reproduces the cover from the Tempo paperback (naturally with Swedish titles), and features a Sky Queen that looks like a poor representation of the Space Shuttle as well as a very soulful looking Tom who bears a striking resemblance to Charlie Bucket. I don't know what else to say about this cover except that it was the 1970s and things like this happened all the time. So move that index finger right now and check both of those out. And then check back on Friday...if you dare!
April 1, 2005: As you may remember last April was Tom Swift month here on the site and back then we put up something new almost every day. In the interests of tradition, this April will be our second annual Tom Swift month and you can expect an update every Friday. Beginning, naturally, today. This first installment consists of a much improved list of the foreign editions that were published from 1954-1979, as well as pages for eight new foreign editions complete with covers and (where available) illustrations. There are now fifteen publishers listed and a dozen languages represented. Take a look at the list of books in the series to see everything, and do come again next Friday for an unusual but welcome Tom Swift addition.
February 1, 2005: Happy Groundhog Day Eve! I'm as giddy as a schoolperson in anticipation of tomorrow's festivities and I hope you are too. I plan on waking up early so I can watch PunxsutawneyTM Bob (the enormously talented but lesser known frog) predict the spring's mosquito population. And then of course who can resist watching PunxsutawneyTM Chuck (the adorable and furry woodphil) predict the spring's lumber prices? I guess if I'm feeling up to it, I could also watch PunxsutawneyTM Phil (the slightly less adorable and but no less furry woodchuck) predict the coming of spring, but there's really no point to that. For one thing, we don't have any winter here, so six more weeks of whatever it is we do have isn't going to make much difference. By the way, hasn't anyone in PunxsutawneyTM realized yet that a new pair of bifocals would improve Phil's ability to see his own shadow and therefore take some of the unpredictability out of the event? Since the job obviously doesn't include dental benefits, though, I suppose it wouldn't rate medical benefits either. But when you think of all the joy Phil brings to people, it's heartbreaking that he's in such poverty he can't even afford a new pair of eyeglasses. If anyone wants to donate money for PunxsutawneyTM Phil's bifocals, just send me a check or money order and I'll, um, see that it's used well. Anyway, now that we have all the important stuff out of the way, how about some site news? Well? What, you want me to give you the news? Oh well, there was that little bit about the entire Lone Ranger section being completely and totally overhauled in the most amazing and wonderful manner, but I guess that's about it, really. Sure, there are dozens of foreign editions from such exotic places as Argentina, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, but who cares? Big deal if the section's packed with new photos, illustrations, summaries... Oh, who am I kidding? Get over there and check it out now! You'll be wowed –– hopefully enough to last you into next month when our next installment of wow will appear in these very pages. Don't miss it! Until next time, kids...
January 18, 2005: It's the beginning of a new year again and there are endless possibilities for this one to turn out even better than last year. I know I'm excited about life in general right now, and certainly the prospects for this site in 2005. Right now work is going into updating all of the series featured here in the coming months. For the first fruits of this, visit the Rick Brant section. Among the additions are pages for The Deadly Dutchman and Danger Below! complete with plot summaries, cover photos and frontispiece illustrations, and well over a dozen pages for various foreign editions from Finland, Holland, France, and Norway. Be sure to take a look at the French editions if for no other reason than their great color illustrations. And of course check back in a couple of weeks for more news. I wish you all a great year!
November 25, 2004: It will be time for Thanksgiving dinner in just a few minutes, but I just wanted to send a quick update before then. First, let me say how thankful I am for the fellow children's book collectors I've met online. The people in this hobby are some of the nicest I know, and it's been a pleasure to correspond with many of you over the years. I'd like to wish every visitor of this site a very happy Thanksgiving, and I hope the rest of your holiday season is everything you could hope for. Well now, as far as updates go you'll notice some big changes in the Connie Blair section today. Besides numerous cosmetic changes, there are now pages for all fifteen Tempo reprints (most with plot summaries), and also sixteen foreign editions that are new to this site. That includes books from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden which are rather rare and new to this site. Enjoy, and do visit again soon!
August 1, 2004: For those of you who dream about Biff Brewster updates, I daresay that dream has come true today. And you'll find the scope startling in proportion. The update, that is, not the dream. Anyway, the American editions are complete now with digitally remastered frontispieces, cover photos and plot summaries for all the titles. Several new Norwegian covers are available, as well as new listings on the List of Books page for the Dutch and Swedish editions, and some cover photos for those too. The most important change, though, is that the About the Series section is now packed with information and photos describing the authors, book formats and foreign editions, a list of important characters, and other information. Chances are you'll find just about anything you want to know about the series right there. Enjoy, and feel free to write with comments or questions. Have a great August, and I'll see you in a few weeks!
July 18, 2004: New pages for seven foreign language Tom Swift Jr. books are now available. Visit the List of Books to see the new additions from Denmark, Finland, France, Holland / Belgium, and Norway. The Danish and Finnish covers have some of the nicest foreign art so far, and the new French edition page has a picture of one of the full-color internals as well. You can also read the original plot descriptions for most of these, but none have been translated into English, so you're on your own. Check them out anyway, and visit again on August 1st when we'll have an enormous Biff Brewster overhaul for you. You'll be amazed to see how much stuff is crammed into the new update!
May 27, 2004: Good news for Chris Cool and Ronnie Clark fans: the excellent web site Luxury Motors has been in the shop for an overhaul, and has just come back looking better than new. Come to think of it, while I know a bunch of Chis Cool fans, I've sadly never met a Ronnie Clark fan. The most simple reason is that Ronnie Clark is the name the Chris Cool series was known by in Sweden, and I just haven't learned to speak Swedish yet. But the point is that among other improvements, you can now see many of the Chris Cool volumes released in France, Denmark, and of course Sweden. You can also read the plot summary or advertising excerpt if you happen to understand those languages, but the books are worth visiting in either case just to see the widely varying cover art styles. So, take a look at the all new 2004 Luxury Motors site, and I'd be pleased to hear from you regardless of which editions you originally read. Have a good weekend!
April 30, 2004: There is a theory going around that if one gave an infinite number of monkeys an infinite number of typewriters, they would eventually produce all the world's great literature. Nobody seems to suggest a method for housing the monkeys, or what brand of typewriter would be best, but it's an intriguing idea. I find myself pondering the possibility that this method was developed in the 1970s and resulted in the manuscript for Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts. I also wonder if I had some monkeys on my staff, would it have taken us fewer weeks to type out these twenty chapters by hand? In any case, this project has ended with the final installment –– Chapter #20 –– being released today. I hope you enjoyed reading the book, and I ask that you send me an e-mail telling me whether you thought this project was worthwhile or not. Even if you're not a Tom Swift Jr. fan, let me know you support the effort, and I may try transcribing other rare series books in the future. And while you're supporting the effort, how about filling out the Survey? You'll have a chance from there to join our mailing list for news about this site, and you'll prove to us somebody out there is actually reading this. Anyway, it's been fun working on the site this month, and I know we'll have a great month of May!
April 29, 2004: Today finds us posting Chapter #19 –– the next to last chapter from Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts. The final illustration from the book shows us they really did get a novelty ice cube, and now it's in a giant martini shaker. The martini shaker is so big it has fish and a couple of fellows in pressure suits in it. No kidding, it's all true! Well, all of it except for the martini shaker. And the ice cube. But the fish are all there, I promise! Anyway, it's amazing to realize this book is almost over. Seems like it's only been 3½ weeks! No, wait a minute. It has only been 3½ weeks. Well, it's been a fun 3½, and I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have. Let me know how you liked this special presentation of Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts, and check back Friday morning for Chapter #20!
April 28, 2004: Only two more to go now that Chapter #18 from Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts is here! Today Tom and Bud narrowly escape certain death at the hands (beaks?) of a ruthless flock of vultures, and then go on to try their hands (mitts?) at ghost rustling. One of the great things about the Tom Swift Jr. books is that you can enjoy fantastical amazing adventures without ever having to leave the comfort of your own home. Why nearly die of thirst in the desert or get knocked unconscious when you can read about someone else doing it for you? You can have all these benefits and more when you buy any of the fine books at our Store. Today we've added dozens of new sale listings to the Tom Swift Jr. section including many of the different versions available for the first 29 volumes. You'll also see various foreign editions for sale including the profusely illustrated German editions, and the French editions with amazing color illustrations. Most books are very reasonably priced, and you're bound to find something you need. Check them out now, and visit tomorrow for the penultimate Chapter #19!
April 27, 2004: Chapter #17, the latest chapter from Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts, is available for reading now. Additionally, you'll find we have fixed up the list of books so all the lists are the same width, and the foreign editions are now organized by country of origin. There are new entries for the Dutch/Belgian editions (of which volume #4 is available), and for the French editions (of which volumes #1, #3, and #9 are available). One of the especially interesting things about the French editions is that they have their own original art in addition to some of the American artwork, and include two full-color illustrations per book. A good example of the color illustrations can be found on the page for the French edition of #3.
April 26, 2004: Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts is up to Chapter #16 now, and you will be happy to hear that the mushrooms do not make their reappearance yet. On the other hand if you have lost interest in everything but mushrooms, then you best check back tomorrow for Chapter #17. Even if you don't like mushrooms and are enjoying the story, or if you like the story and the mushrooms, do read Chapter #17 tomorrow. But Chapter #16 is only for people who don't like mushrooms or don't care about mushrooms. Or people who do like mushrooms but also like the story. Heck, read them both, I don't care.
April 23, 2004: Gee! It's the end of the week already, and there are only five chapters left from Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts. The new Chapter #15 is up now of course, and there are many other improvements to the Tom Swift Jr. section as well. All the pages for the individual books in the series are now complete with fully justified summaries, guaranteed to have fewer horizontal rules, working alt text, and most importantly, low in carbohydrates. Go check them out, and we'll see you back on Monday with Chapter #16!
April 22, 2004: Well, Chapter #14 from Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts is up today, but I can't think of anything to comment on. It is Earth Day, but I don't see what that has to do with Tom Swift Jr. I suppose I could go on and on about how Tom has saved the earth time and again from comets and alien strip miners. But then of course there was that unfortunate Atomic Earth Blaster, the name of which alone is enough to enrage environmental activists. Come to think of it, maybe I better just keep quiet about the whole thing and hope nobody brings up the subject. Um, do visit tomorrow for Chapter #15.
April 21, 2004: Tom Swift and the Village People are back in today's Chapter #13 from Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts. You'll be pleased to see two Bill Dolwick illustrations in this installment of our story. The first looks like Tom and friends have just ordered one of those novelty ice cubes that are really a block of plastic with a fake fly in it, and we can only guess that this one's going into a really big drink. The second picture looks like a pair of Jetsons extras are practicing for an upcoming magic show by making things vanish inside a glass box. I could be wrong, so maybe you better read this one yourself just to make sure. Let me know what you find out, and come back tomorrow for Chapter #14.
April 20, 2004: It's good to be back in the swing of things and updating the contents of Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts on time again. In today's Chapter #12, Tom presents some primitive villagers with the gift of fire, that age old symbol of civilization and life. And this is keen high-tech blue fire too, carried in attractive containers and suitable for burning trash, warming fingers, seeing in the dark, or even romantic dinners. Can't you just feel the love? Oh, and there are more mushrooms. Chapter #13 comes up tomorrow, but you already knew that, right?
April 19, 2004: We're a little late today due to an unfortunate Easter candy overdose, but Chapter #11 from Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts is finally up. In this part of the story, Tom acquires something called a Tehuelche, and some stuff happens. But don't take our word for it, just read the darned thing yourself already! And don't forget to check back tomorrow for Chapter 12, because you might forget, and that would just be sad.
April 16, 2004: Well, we've reached the half-way point in Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts. That is to say, Chapter #10 is now available. Now that all your money has gone to pay taxes, it should be a relief for you to read something absolutely free. As you sit in the dark eating leftover Easter candy and wondering where you'll get money with which to buy food for the rest of the month, Tom and Bud will amuse you with their antics. Watch as they let the Galaxy Ghosts slip through their fingers! (Get it? Ghosts? Slip through their fingers? Never mind.) Stare as Tom gives himself electroshock therapy! Such fun! More of the same will be waiting for you Monday morning, so have a good weekend and check back then!
April 15, 2004: The table of contents for Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts has been updated today to include a link to Chapter #9. As promised, Tom and Bud narrowly escape being burnt to death during a snow storm on a mountain in this issue. They also fly to Mars, are pursued by mushrooms, and have many subsequent amusing adventures. Have a happy tax day, and return with us tomorrow for Chapter #10.
April 14, 2004: The table of contents for Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts has been updated today to include a link to Chapter #8. In this chapter Tom and Bud find time for a bit of hiking, mountain climbing, 4-wheeling, and horseback riding in scenic Chile, despite the end of the world being near. I guess it's a good thing they forgot to bring their kayaks and hang gliders or we might never get to the end of this book. Fortunately, Chapter #9 comes up tomorrow, and our lads get a chance to be roasted like marshmallows in Chile, or fried like fritters in space.
April 13, 2004: Come visit the table of contents for Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts, or go straight to Chapter #7. In the current installment, our heroes manage to temporarily fend off the great mushroom onslaught, thanks to Chow and his band of stalwart sous-chefs. With no time to lose, Tom and Bud promptly flee the country with the mushroom menace close behind. Will the Abominable Snowman of the Andes help them stem the tide, or will he join the mighty army of fungus and conquer the earth? Visit again tomorrow for Chapter #8!
April 12, 2004: There are a swell lot of changes to the Tom Swift section today, including justified text for all the books up to volume #24, and the original plot summaries for volumes #6, #11, and #17 provided by reader Tom Ippolito. These have all been spiffed up a little by removing horizontal rules, making most of the frontispiece photos a more uniform width, and the like. Of course we haven't forgotten the most important update, which you can see by checking the table of contents for Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts. In today's Chapter #6, Tom and Bud are overcome by an unstoppable army of mushrooms. They may have been victorious in their previous conflicts with evil scientists, totalitarian states, and space aliens, but this new challenge could well be more than they can handle. Be sure to check back tomorrow for Chapter #7!
April 9, 2004: Visit the table of contents from Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts for today's addition of Chapter 5, in which Tom is kidnapped by an eight-year-old boy. How he escapes and triumphs over this cunning adversary is a heartwarming story of courage and resourcefulness. Have a great Easter weekend, and check back Monday morning for the next chapter!
April 8, 2004: Visit the table of contents from Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts for today's addition of Chapter 4, in which Tom and Bud fly to Chile to meet a rich but honest orange grower. A rich but honest orange grower with a beard and his henchman Burkart. A Chilean named Burkart, you ask? I wonder if our boys know what they're getting into! Probably not, but read Chapter 5 tomorrow to find out just in case.
April 7, 2004: Continuing our clocklike precision and regularity, Chapter 3 from Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts is available today, and you can access the table of contents as always. This chapter contains another thrilling illustration by Bill Dolwick featuring three grim-looking people, one of whom has a beard! And of course you are strongly encouraged to fill out our now working Survey –– you won't regret it!
April 6, 2004: Chapter 2 from Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts is now ready to read online, and the table of contents is available as well. Additionally, the Tom Swift Jr. main page has been spiffed up with new text and full justification, and the first five volumes have been justified also. We'll get to the others shortly but all this typing is giving us callouses on our fingers. You may notice that volume #1 now has a plot summary that was kindly donated by reader Tom Ippolito, and I put up the plot summaries for the German editions of volumes #1 and #2. Remember to check back tomorrow for Chapter 3, and be sure to fill out the now working Survey!
April 5, 2004: In one of our most surprising moves to date, The Series Bookcase has declared April 2004 to be Tom Swift Jr. month. Congress has not gotten back to us on this matter yet, but we're moving right ahead. For festivities, we will be releasing one chapter every Monday through Friday this month from the very rare Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts. The first chapter is already up this morning, and you can also visit the table of contents. Remember to check back tomorrow for chapter 2! And now for even more surprising news: our Survey is working for the first time in four years. Yes, that's right. One of the benefits of moving to this new server, besides all our European letters showing up in Japanese is that we again have access to cgi programs that can do amazing things, such as send us Survey results. But these wonderful programs are just sitting idle until you put them to work. Fill our that Survey now, and bring joy to a little cgi program's life. Thank you.
April 3, 2004: The Tom Corbett section has been worked over again, with remastered frontispieces for volumes #6 & #7, new text on the Main Page, and fully justified text throughout. The biggest news, however, is that there is a brand new Tom Corbett Articles section that contains two fascinating texts. One first appeared in Grosset & Dunlap's "Junior Adventurers Club News" in 1954, and has Tom Corbett describing the series to his readers. The second is a brilliant story by bestselling author Roy Williams that shows just what might have happened when your books were given away when you left for college. Both are required reading, so read. And visit again on Monday for more updates!
March 23, 2004: Fans of the Mercer Boys series finally have a chance to finish off their sets now! We listed the last four books in the series on eBay tonight, and you can see them all by clicking here. Two of the books have their original dust jackets, and three are first editions. It may be a very long time before anyone has these for sale again, so go bid now! In other news, our new server seems to have trouble with some of the symbols on our pages. This has resulted in some of the Norwegian titles being mixed up with Oriental characters, and squares showing up everywhere there's supposed to be a dash. Very odd, not to mention disconcerting. We are working to get it figured out, and should be back to normal soon. And it also appears we were so busy with other news, we forgot to mention that the page for Rick Brant's Science Projects is now up. Go take a look!
March 17, 2004: You may remember last month we told you to expect amazing fabulous surprises for our next update, right? Well, the surprise is here, and is it a doozy! The big new is...our e-mail stopped working for a few days, so we moved to a new server! Woo! This has immense, far-reaching ramifications that will impact every person on the surface of the planet, and possibly some below the surface as well. Therefore, I am commanding people across this nation to wear green today and march in parades. The logo I have selected to symbolize our bold step in changing servers is the clover leaf, and it should be prominently displayed as a token of your esteem for this web site. Bad Irish accents and funny hats are optional. There were also a few updates to the site today. Sure they pale in comparison to the previous news, but I'm sort of obligated to mention them. They include updating this main page with new and fully justified text, with similar changes to the main page of the Rick Brant section. The list of Rick Brant books has also been justified, as have the individual pages for that section, giving them all a nice spiffy look. Let us know what you think, and by all means resend any e-mails from the past week or so. See you again in a few weeks!
February 16, 2004: I hope everyone had as nice a Presidents' Day as we did. Friends and family all gathered around the Presidents' Day tree and sang Hail to the Chief and other favorites, had our traditional Presidents' Day chicken and stuffing feast, and later each of us took turns lighting candles in memory of presidents past and present. Then of course we sat around telling our favorite presidential stories while we opened presents. I got a new pair of socks! Yes, this truly was one of the best Presidents' Days yet, and I'm just looking forward to next year now! In other news, this site just got its first award! We must be doing something right, like submitting ourselves for awards, huh? Don't sit there gawking –– go gaze at its wondrous beauty here! And in even further news, we actually added content today. Any other site would think our award news Presidents' Day greetings were enough, but we were just full of the spirit of giving on this blessed holiday. So, take a look at the Rick Brant section for four entirely new pages featuring Rocket Jumper, the reprint edition of The Deadly Dutchman, and Dutch editions of The Rocket's Shadow and The Lost City, as well as cover photos for volumes #4, #8, and #11. That's all for now, but we have some amazing, staggering, fabulous surprises in store for next time, so check back in March!
January 26, 2004: Gentle browser, we have a very special treat for you today in the Tom Swift Jr. section. Yes, that's right, we've upgraded the quality of every single frontispiece image we have for viewing there. What do you mean who cares? Don't you understand that each one has been painstakingly reproduced by hand by catholic monks from an authentic old-time monastery high in the Italian mountains, according to the time honored techniques passed down through the ages? Well of course you don't, but they were digitally remastered using the finest in obsolete methods, not to mention raw courage. Raw courage and determination. Raw courage, determination, and a good deal of hand-eye coordination. Yes, we here at the Series Bookcase have a lot of hand-eye coordination because we care. Why do we care? Nobody really knows, but the fact is that we do, so don't press it. The result is that not only are these frontispiece images better quality than before, but they actually take up less space. Smaller file size means faster downloading, and faster downloading means you save more time. That's right, we care and we save you time. And what better use of that time than taking a look at the brand new page for Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts? Not only do we have a picture of the front cover, but we also have a picture of the frontispiece, and you better believe that frontispiece picture is high quality! But that's not all! Sure it might be enough for some other "sites" on the "Internet," but we don't do things by halves here, no sir! You can also read an actual summary of the book! Get to work on that right away, and be sure to check back next May when we have even more astounding sights on our sites! Did I say next May? I meant next month of course. Ha ha, silly typographical errors. Do check back next month –– you won't be sorry! No, really!
November 15, 2003: Since 1947, the Rick Brant series has been one of the finest sets of adventure stories written for young adults. We are happy to announce today our new section devoted to that series, and hope you'll take a look. Also as promised, we now have available the completed About the Series section for Tom Corbett. This is one of the most thorough looks at the characters, locations, and other details of the books, brief biographies of the illustrator and technical adviser, and much more! Finally, you may notice the addition of a handy "buy!" link next to some of the titles on each list of books for the series' we feature. This will take you directly to our corresponding sales list, as well as telling you at a glance which titles we have in stock for that series. Of course, we have many titles from other series, so a look at the Store is always worth the time. This does bring us to the point that Christmas is barely more than a month away, so now is the perfect time to order books as presents, or to have presents ordered on your behalf. It's still early enough for them to go through the mail and arrive in plenty of time for the big day, and we still have a great selection of books in stock. We'll be thrilled to help you with whatever you need, and look forward to making this holiday one of your greatest!
November 1, 2003: Ah, November! Always one of my favorite months of the year. We have a lot of exciting things happening here in the immediate future, beginning with two more series added today: Cherry Ames and Vicki Barr. Those will help represent girls' series on this site, as previously we have had but one. The Vicki Barr section is admittedly light on content at the moment, but hopefully Cherry Ames makes up for that by having cover and frontispiece images for more than 80% of the books in the series, and more besides. In about two weeks, we will unveil a new section devoted to our all-time favorite series here at the Series Bookcase, practically complete information about one of the current featured series, and more great surprises. Earlier than that, we'll be listing more books for sale, including nearly all of the Cherry Ames series with dust jackets. Be sure to check back again soon, and enjoy the fine weather in the meantime!
October 10, 2003: We hope everyone had a wonderful Summer with plenty of time to catch up on reading. We've been keeping busy here, and have a host of new photos and information today. In the Ken Holt section, more than half a dozen photos were added, so now 15 of the 18 covers are on display. The Tom Swift Jr. site now has a summary for volume 8 available, as well as a list of Dutch editions. And we have an entirely new featured series: Steve Knight! One of the lesser known of the WWII air combat series, these are interesting to read nonetheless. At the site, you'll find summaries with cover and frontispiece photos for each book, and an introduction to the reoccurring characters. Also, don't miss another look at our Books For Sale section. We have a huge selection available, and most have been marked down –– some more than 80%! Have fun, and be sure to check back in November when we reveal two new series for the site!
May 21, 2003: At the height of their popularity in the 1950s, many Grosset & Dunlap series were republished overseas. Interestingly, Norway was second only to England in reprints, and most of the series from the time were available there in Norwegian language editions. The publishing house Forlagshuset was the main maker of these, and is still in business today. Among this month's updates are a link to their current web site, the completed list of Biff Brewster books printed there, and a new list of the Tom Corbett Norwegian titles. Many of our other series list the foreign publishers and titles as well. Also this month is a fantastic clearance on our Books For Sale. Nearly half our inventory has been drastically reduced in price –– some books are more than 70% off! Nearly 50 previously unlisted books have been added to the new Miscellaneous section as well, so run there now and pick up some of our staggeringly reasonable deals before they're all gone!
March 20, 2003: The Tom Corbett and Mercer Boys sections have minor updates this week, but the main piece of news is that the About the Series page for Christopher Cool is now finished. You'll find descriptions and illustrations of the main characters, gadgets used in the series, locations, and much more. This is especially exciting as it practically finishes the Christopher Cool section –– there are cover photos and plot summaries of all the volumes in the series, as well as the dates published, and number of pages and chapters. The only things left are information about the author and foreign editions, which I will eventually have.
March 13, 2003: As promised earlier, I am pleased to present the newest addition to this site, Global News –– the Ken Holt section. This series is one of my all time favorites, and The Secret of Skeleton Island was one of the first series books I ever bought myself. Also, in a surprise development, I am proud to bring you our first girls' series to this site, Reid & Renshaw Advertising –– the Connie Blair section. This series has been favorably called the "Ken Holt of girls' series" and seemed a fitting choice to launch on this occasion. While some information is missing for both these sections, you'll find photos of the frontispieces for every book in each series, as well as complete title lists and some information about foreign editions. So enjoy your stay, and check back with us next time when we'll have further developments in the Christopher Cool, Tom Corbett, and Mercer Boys sections!
February 28, 2003: This past week I've been working on the site almost constantly. Every section has been updated to reflect the year 2003, as well as to make sure it works equally well with screen resolutions up to 1024 x 1280. Additionally, Christopher Cool, Tom Corbett, The Mercer Boys, Tom Quest, The Lone Ranger, and Yankee Flier have all had slight to major changes made to them. All have new images and the new easier to read list format on the List of Books pages, most have new logos on the main pages, Tom Quest and The Mercer Boys have new books added for viewing as well as upgraded images for a number of books, and Tom Quest and Tom Swift Jr. even have lighter wallpaper for easier reading! In the Links section I've removed all the non-working links, and added many new ones. In fact, there are now 5 more than when I started, even with many old ones removed! Plus, stay tuned, because next month I will be adding a series that has long been one of my favorites to this site!
February 21, 2003: I trust everyone had a great holiday season, and now that we're well into 2003, I hope you are finding the new year all you wished it would be. In that vein, you'll notice that the Biff Brewster section has been wonderfully redone today. The most obvious thing is the new lighter easier to read with purple color for the background. There are some spiffed up graphics, a new frontispiece for volume #4, and a section for foreign editions. Also today, I put up a new logo on the Tom Swift Jr. section, as well as new summaries for several volumes, and a list of Norwegian titles. And last but certainly not least you may be pleased to note many new series added to our store, including Roy Blakeley, Yankee Flier, and many others.
October 1, 2002: Happy October, everybody! As promised, I'm continuing with updates to the existing pages, specifically Tom Swift Jr. this week. Besides the spiffed up list of titles, you'll find some new information about British, German and Icelandic editions of the books. And for the Lone Ranger, take a look at the new plot summary and cover art from the rare next to last book in the series, The Lone Ranger: Trouble on the Santa Fe.
September 23, 2002: After nearly 35 months, I'm finally back to updating this site! Over the last three years I've had a number of major events, as well as everyday things that have kept me from working on series book information. While I can't predict major events for the future, I do intend to make time otherwise to update things more often. For the remainder of this year, I will be going through each section to add photos and information for those books I've newly acquired, change the list of books to a more pleasing format, and change background colors or text colors where needed to make the pages easier to read. I've already finished the Lone Ranger and Tom Quest sections with this update, so you can see what will be happening to the other sections over the next few months. Of special interest regarding those two, you'll find pictures of rare foreign language editions that are new to this site, and the Lone Ranger section now has the frontispieces from the last three hard to find volumes. On another note, while I get e-mail all through the week, my schedule usually doesn't leave time to reply until the weekend. I very much welcome e-mails with comments, questions and the like, but please don't be discouraged if a reply is not sent right away –– just hang on and you'll get one soon. In any event, stay tuned for more news, and have a great remainder of the month!
August 15, 1999: Red Flight, our Yankee Flier section, has been updated again, and is now complete for the time being. All titles are available for viewing, including the hard to find final book in the series. Come take a look for yourself! Something else we're proud to announce: our limited edition Rick Brant symbol lapel pins are now on sale. Get a $5.00 discount for filling out our Survey!
July 17, 1999: Updates have been few this month, but rest assured that within the next few weeks we will be releasing some interesting new series sections including some of the excellent Grosset & Dunlap WWII aviation series. Be sure to watch for these new sections appearing late this month! As always, we very much appreciate your comments and suggestions, and if you're interested in receiving a monthly list of updates on this site, general news from this site, a list of series books for sale, or all of the above, the best way to sign up is to take our Survey and check those options at the end. We look forward to hearing from you!
May 8, 1999: On March 18, we received a lightning strike that melted most of the computer that was used to work on this site. Fortunately, we were able to have most of the data taken from what was left of the hard drive, but it has taken this long to get everything working on a different computer. Today we're uploading quite a few updates, including our new section for the Mercer Boys, a link to David Baumann's X Bar X Boys site, and also some improvements so that this site works equally well for 640 x 480 or 800 x 600 screens.
March 12, 1999: I've just returned from a trip through Missouri and Arkansas, and I had the wonderful good fortune to meet with Peter Harkins on the 9th. We met for breakfast and talked about his work with Rick Brant and Biff Brewster as well as other topics. I have wanted to meet Peter Harkins ever since I first started reading the Rick Brant series, and now that I've had the chance, I can honestly say it will remain one of my fondest memories. Mr. Harkins is one of the nicest and certainly most interesting people you can imagine. I'll be posting more details about the meeting as well as pictures of Mr. Harkins at a later date.
January 30, 1999: The Austin Book & Paper Show is held this last weekend in January here in Austin, Texas. I usually attend both events each year, one in January and one in September. It's enjoyable to see the same friends and dealers each time (and of course the selection of books), but today there seemed to be less of interest to series book collectors than usual. I would like to talk to other series book collectors who attend this show, so please write if you had the chance to come this weekend.
EXTRA!The South Jersey Series Collectors 1999 Meeting is coming up soon! This meeting is free to
attend and there's always lots to see. There will be lectures, an exhibit hall, and a large room for dealers, among other
things. Watch this space for updates, or visit the SJSC page!
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December 31, 1998: The Series Bookcase premiered today on our new domain name, series.net. Those of you who remember visiting us while we were still on Geocities will notice the new format, and quite a few new sections as well as a great many updates to the existing pages. Please take a moment to see what's new, and do come back later for more updates!
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