Whatcha Reading

I haven't had much time lately for pleasure reading, but I have knocked out a couple of books by two of my favorite authors this month.

The first is Someone to Care by Mary Balogh, the newest novel in her Westcott series. This one tells the story of Viola Kingsley, the former Countess of Riverdale, who is the mother of many of the characters in the series. Throughout the saga Viola has been the most interesting character to me, as she was the primary victim of her dead husband's bigamy. The revelation of that in the first book instantly made all her kids illegitimate, took away all their titles, ruined their futures, destroyed her and her family's standing among the ton, etc. If anyone should be beyond pissed by the lying bastard's duplicity, it's Viola.

She's managed to hold onto her dignity, but finally breaks at the very beginning of this story and takes off, leaving her troubled family behind to finally get some alone time. I sent up a silent cheer, chapter one. Lord, what this woman has been through in the other books. Soon temporarily stranded at an inn in the middle of nowhere, Viola meets Marcel Lamarr, a cynical and dedicated womanizer who tempted and tried to seduce her two decades ago (she was married and told him to go away, and he went.) As you might guess the flame's still there, but this time Viola has no wedding ring or legit reason to resist it.

I won't spoil things by getting into the nuts and bolts, but it's already my favorite book of the series. I rarely use the term star-crossed lovers to refer to characters, but oy, Viola and Marc are definitely that. It also features older protagonists, which as an older real person I appreciate. Romance in later years is usually more interesting than the young stuff. The first chance at love in what is only very loosely a second chance at love plot is fun, too. There's lots of emotional turmoil, and in that regard I think it's some of her best writing. Highly recommend.

I had to read Heartless by Anne Stuart on the Kindle my guy got for me for free by redeeming some gift points so I could read another, Kindle-only title by Anne Stuart. Actually the only reason I will ever use a Kindle is for Anne Stuart, which should illustrate how devoted I am to her books. Anyone else and I wait for the paperback or read something else.

Heartless is an indy-published continuation of the author's very wicked House of Rohan series. It tells the story of two very damaged characters from those books, Brandon Rohan and Emma Cadbury, whom you might remember as secondaries from the cast of Shameless. They've both been through hell, so it's nice to see them get the chance to heal each other. You don't need to read the other books to follow their story, but you'll want to read them after you do. After I finished Heartless I got out the other four Rohan books and reread them just so I could revisit the old stories.

The House of Rohan series is not for everyone, especially readers who don't want sex in their romances. I do, but I mainly read Anne Stuart for the characters and the impossible situations she puts them in. She's the master of dark romantic conflict. Also, I like the dark aspects -- it's a nice change to see a terribly flawed protag who generally isn't the stuff of heroes. I get tired of the ones who seem to do nothing but suck up to the heroine. The sweet, loving perfect dude never appears in this author's work, and most definitely not in this series.

So whatcha reading? Let us know in comments.

If at First You Don't Succeed, Avoid Sky Diving

The Woman Left Behind, Linda Howard's latest release, is out now, and the promo got me interested enough to pre-order. For anyone like me who has had actual military training, the story may make you chuckle a bit. But the effort by the author to portray an ordinary-citizen heroine undergoing the intense convert operative team training was certainly enthusiastic.

If you don't want to read any spoilers, stop here. Do not pass Go. Do not collect -- you get the picture.

In the novel, Jina Modell already works in a classified communications position for the government. Without warning she's ordered to take on a new position as a drone operator for a covert paramilitary team. Or a lookout. Or a scout. Oddity#1: I was never quite clear on what Jina's team job is. The order she's given is basically a join or lose your job situation, which I'm pretty sure is illegal, but this is fiction so okay. She then undergoes the absolutely brutal physical training required to get her on the team, which takes about a third of the book. I felt like this, and gradually bonding with her all-male team, was the main story.

Oddity #2: Jina is brought on to be some kind of computer geek for the team, so why all the physical training? When she's finally shown doing her job, she sits in front of a laptop and talks into a mic. Oddly enough, I do that all day, and yet never once had to run ten miles as prep.

Onto the romance, oddity #3: The reciprocated attraction Jina feels to Ace, the team's leader, should come into play, yes? No. Aside from one passionate kiss and lots of lust and self-loathing on both sides, not much happens there until page 321. Oddity #3a: The story is only 351 pages long. The romance commences with a marathon 26 pages of romance and sex -- which are fine, btw -- but after that we get the requistite HEA like immediately. At most the romance is about 20% of the story, so not exactly substantial.

Oddity #4: In the background there are a handful of small, vague scenes in which a traitorous yet heartbroken antagonist plots to stick it to the guy in charge of this paramilitary program via ambushing and killing Jina's team. These scenes were very disjointed and confusing, as I was never quite clear on what's going on there. I tried to fill in the blanks myself, and expected someone on Jina's team to be part of this blurry conspiracy, but that didn't happen, either. You could delete the antagonist entirely and it really wouldn't hurt the book.

The training Jina receives is pure fantasy, but it does help to quickly gain the reader's sympathy. Oddity #5: There was a bit too much focus on the boots Jina wears throughout the story. It reminded me of another author's book, when all the new-diver protagonist seemed to do was spit in her mask to keep it from fogging up. One mention of an insider detail like that is great. Two mentions, fine. Three mentions, tedious. Four or more become seriously annoying. Training-wise, the novel would have benefited from some input from a female soldier who has gone through similar conditioning. I was still okay with it, except for the sky diving chapter (oddity #6), which I thought was over the top and ridiculous. I liked Jina, but I'd have absolutely kicked her off the team after the first jump, no hesitation.

Oddity #7, which was the biggest and most puzzling: the book's title in relation to what happens in the story. For about the length of a single chapter it's applicable; the actual woman being left behind event stretches to maybe twenty pages. It was such a blip that I went back and read it again, just to be sure I hadn't inadvertently skipped a big chunk of story. I was expecting three, maybe four chapters of Jina having to survive by her wits behind enemy lines. Didn't happen. Aside from running and following a map, none of her strengths and intelligence as a protagonist come into play. So if you're looking for that, nope. "The Woman Who Trains Her Ass Off" or "The Woman Who Should Never, Ever Sky Dive" or even "The Right Boots Are Your Best Friends" would have been more title-appropriate.

Final verdict: Odd book. Very odd. So odd I decided to write it up on the blog, and you know how lazy I am when it comes to that. If you're a rabid Linda Howard fan, you probably can't be disappointed, so by all means invest. Maybe you'll get it by default. The rest of you might want to wait for the paperback, or just skip it altogether -- unless you like lots of oddities.

The Journey

One of the many books I read while on hiatus was Slow Stitch: Mindful and Contemplative Textile Art by Claire Wellesey-Smith. For a while now I've been studying various methods of art quilting to learn more about it, but also to navigate where I'm going with my own needle work. Last summer for the first time I made an improvisational art quilt with eco-friendly, sustainable fabrics and threads that really challenged me, and put me on a different path with my quilt work. This book added a lot to that shift in my thinking as well.

Claire is a textile artist from Yorkshire, UK who doesn't churn out perfect quilts from patterns that a thousand other quilters use. She dyes her own fabrics and threads using seasonal plants that she sources locally. She has an enduring emotional connection with her work and materials, and hand stitches her projects, two things I also feel strongly about as a quilter. She supports using traditional methods in quilting and patchwork, like Kantha and Japanese boro, which are sustainable. The one thing she doesn't do is hurry.

This book is not about utter perfection, over-productivity, or finish line races. There aren't endless pages of complicated projects that you'll never master. In fact, I doubt there's a single straight line of stitching in the whole book. What Claire does is steer textile artists toward taking more time and thought with their work, going green by using recycled materials, and finding inspiration from some lovely traditional methods. She does so with a quiet, elegant honesty that really spoke to me. The slow stitch mindset is very natural, and more grounded in what quilting is for me. Her goal is not to help you finish ten projects in a month, but to find the pleasure in the making of one -- however long it takes.

I highly recommend this book as a wonderful guide and companion for any textile artist who wants to get more out of the journey.

'Tis the Reading Season

This year I decided to be my own Secret Santa and buy some new books to read this month. I set myself a limit of three, and to get some variety I shopped for a favorite author, an author I haven't read in a while, and a new-to-me author.



Mary Balogh is of course the favorite author, and I've been waiting since February for her third Westcott novel, Someone to Wed. The fallout from a bigamous earl's death continues in this installment, which features his heir, Alexander Westcott. I've liked this character since the series began, and I have no doubt this will be a wonderful addition to the series.

I've read Dean Koontz's novels on and off for years; I've been off the author since Innocence depressed me a bit too much back in 2013. The Silent Corner is the first book in a new series featuring a female protagonist, and the cover copy got me curious. I liked the first page. No doubt it will all end up being a government conspiracy, but these days, what doesn't?

Caroline ~ Little House, Revisited by Sarah Miller is the new-to me author's novel. The book was authorized by the Little House Heritage Trust, and evidently tells some of Laura Ingalls Wilder's pioneering childhood stories from her mother's POV. I had some reservations right off the bat -- the Little House books are one of the reasons I became a writer, aka sacred ground -- so I did read the first four pages before I bought it. While it's not written in the voice or style of the Little House books, and the way Caroline Ingalls is portrayed doesn't match my mental image of her, I decided to quit nit-picking and give it a shot.

What are you reading this season? Let us know in comments.

By Way of Santa

These are the first books I'll be reading in January, thanks to my Library Thing Secret Santa. Some amusing, old writer chick trivia: I haven't read MaryJanice Davidson, but I remember her from the heyday of chicklit back when I started PBW. David Weber I've also skipped, but he and I once both wrote in the same universe, and our stories were published together in Baen's The Ring of Fire anthology.

As for the other two, they're also titles I've never read. I didn't know there was a memoir that inspired the film Awakenings, which is one of my favorite Robin Williams movies. Bonk is a scientific look at sex, which should be fun.

Did Santa drop any new books in your stocking? Let us know in comments.

Book(s) of the Month

This week I have lots of book news, beginning with a heads-up from Library Thing that I've won a copy of 50 Ways to Wear Denim by Lauren Friedman from the September batch of Early Reviewer Program books. It might seem like an odd choice, but I've been trying to put my name in for a wider assortment of available titles. This increases my chances of being selected, and I can also test-drive some new-to-me genres and authors. While I don't own a lot of denim clothes, I thought I might learn something that would tempt me to wear what I have more often. I'm also going to have my very fashionable daughter take a look at it and share her thoughts.

I usually start talking about National Novel Writing Month in August, but being off on hiatus has me a bit behind. They've already posted the official participant badges and banners here, and, well, let's be honest: the little space guy looks like an elaborate ninja can opener. I'll see if I can put together something slightly more attractive to offer as an alternative. As I mentioned earlier this year I won't be joining in the fun, but as always I will write up some pep talks, hunt down some helpful links and otherwise shake my pom poms from the sidelines for all of you who decide to write a book in thirty days this November.

My book of the month for September was actually a short story: Second Son by Lee Child, which can be found in the back pages of his novel The Affair. It can also be purchased as a standalone e-book.

This was not a new read for me; it happens to be one of my favorite short stories of all time, so there wasn't much the other books I read could do to compete. As a very early prequel to the Jack Reacher series Second Son meshes quite well with the novels, and explains a bit of the mysterious family dynamic that resulted in Reacher becoming the somewhat psycho savior he was fated to be. It's intensely satisfying to see how Reacher deals with a bully and manages to solve two other mysteries in the process. I will caution you all that there is a particularly vicious fight scene between minors, and if bullying and violence between kids are triggers for you, you should give it a pass.

Expect some clean, spare, precise (almost surgical) depictions of Reacher and some other very interesting people. There are fascinating glimpses into the lives of children who travel with an active duty military parent. Each time I read it I fall a little in love with Reacher's father, too; his POV is presented just briefly but it makes the whole story. I think it works well as a standalone, and as an introduction to this universe (if you are one of the two or three people left on Earth who haven't read this author, start here.) It's not so long that you get mired down in a lot of stuff you won't need to know if you want to move on to the series, either. On top of that it's superbly written. I highly recommend it.

What was your book of the month for September? Let us know in comments.

Perfection

I've been getting into some very hands-on, fun projects with the books I've been receiving lately from Library Thing's Early Reviewer Program. First I tried the adult coloring book trend, and now I've become a hair stylist.

Seriously, in order to properly test drive 100 Perfect Hair Days by Jenny Strebe, published by Chronicle Books, I wanted to use the book as it was intended: to style hair. It's a bit easier for me to do someone else's hair, and much easier to photograph my efforts, too. This is why I asked my daughter's best friend, Michelle, to be my model. Chelle has amazing, lovely long red locks, and she's young and fashionable, so I thought she'd be a good test subject.

First, some thoughts on the book itself: it's very well written, beautifully photographed, and offers many style variations. The models used for the styles are of a nice mix of ages, hair colors and hair types as well, including some African American, Asian and Latina ladies. I really liked that ethnic hair types were well-represented in the book, as we all know that not everyone is born a California blonde. The instructions are grouped in five chapters by style type: casual, out and about, sporty, dress up and extra special. There's also a whole chapter at the end, Problems and Solutions, to help the reader trouble-shoot, fix and maintain a healthy head of hair.

At the very front of the book are two Style 101 pages, which is a cross-indexed picture grid of the styles in the book by number, matched with the type of hair (frizzy, fine, wavy, etc.) that they best suit. That's definitely a real time-saver when you want to try out something new; you can pick a style that will work with your type of hair. As you go to each particular style, you have one page showing a model wearing it, a description of the style and some notes by the author discussing the advantages. There are also symbols of the type of hair the style suits best. On the facing page there's a list of what you'll need to create the style, along with very clear instruction steps on how to create it, and illustrations of what your hair looks like as you go through each step. The latter is especially fabulous as a how-to reference, because you can check your hair against the illustrations as you go through the steps.

I had my model pick the styles she wanted me to try, and the first was a classic French Twist:





Chelle's hair has long layers, which made it a bit of a challenge. I didn't get this one perfectly smooth, but she was happy with the results.

Next we tried a Dutch braid, which is under- rather than over-braided:





This was easy enough for Chelle to do it herself, and she thought it would be a pretty style to wear when she does her volunteer work at one of our local children's hospitals.

Finally, we went with a pretty twisted chignon:







Of the three we tried I liked this style the most; I thought it turned out the best, and it could be worn for anything from a business meeting to a nice date. Clip a pretty barrette or a silk flower in the center of the twist and you can dress it up even more.

I can't find fault with anything in Jenny Strebe's 100 Perfect Hair Days, although I did make some observations. There are no older/gray-haired ladies in this book, and I would have liked to see some because I'm one. That said, I realize that my segment of the hair styling population generally wear their hair short or go to the salon to have it styled, so it's probably sensible to stick with younger models. Also, most of the styles are for shoulder-length or longer hair, but you can't really do much with short hair, so that's also only logical.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who would like to try some new styles, learn how to better care for their hair, and create more perfect hair days in their life.

TBR Challenge Results

Last Monday I posted a challenge to read through our TBRs by today, and here are my results:



I read ten books in a week; ten and half if you count the partly-read City of Dark Magic on the unfinished pile there. Bill Bryson's The Road to Little Dribbling slowed me down toward the end. I can't seem to read Bryson speedily.

While I didn't read my entire TBW, I'm quite happy to start March with just three books leftover. On a side note, I removed Anything Considered by Peter Mayle from the TBR, which I realized I'd already read back in the late nineties when it was first published (the new cover art made me think I hadn't.)

How did you all make out? Let us know in comments.

TBR Challenge

I have been sewing so much this month I haven't been reading much at all, and now I need to balance out my two favorite pastimes. Also, I have a pretty nice stack of books waiting to be read, including The Naturalist, my latest ARC from LT's Early Reviewers Program which arrived this week:



To get myself motivated, I'm going to try to read all these books before or by February 29th so I can start March without any leftovers in the TBR. Anyone want to join me and try to read through most or all of your TBR by the end of the month? Toss your name in comments if you do. No prize involved, I'm afraid, but it could be fun to see who can successful slay their TBR in a week.

Secret Santa Books

I mentioned last month that I was signing up for Library Thing's Secret Santa event, which is a surprise book exchange between members during the holidays -- and this is what Santa delivered:



Ah, this is so much fun. I love surprise books. Let's open it up and see what I scored:



Hooray! I have read the Bill Bryson, but someone nicked my copy. I was planning to buy another to add to my Bryson keeper shelf, so very pleased to have it so I can read it again. Back when I was in high school Sylvia Plath was my favorite poet (big surprise there, eh?) and I bought the edited/censored edition of Ariel, which is now too old to handle. I'm anxious both to reread it and see what's in the restored edition. I've read several of John Keegan's books -- he's an amazing nonfic military writer -- but not this one. All three books are perfect choices for me.

And in case you're curious, here are the books I sent as Secret Santa for my recipient:

Soulless by Gail Carriger -- hilarious steampunk at its best.

Raven Black by Anne Cleeves -- my Secret Santa in 2014 sent this to me, and I enjoyed it so much I bought the series. Ruthless writer, great puzzles.

Play Dead by Anne Frasier -- Amazing writing. Amazing series. Just amazing.

Black Tupelo by Anne Frasier -- You can't have too much Anne Frasier.

Chalice by Robin McKinley -- this is a book I give often to folks who write or enjoy reading different YA. Really interesting characters and world-building.

LT Secret Santa

Library Thing is holding their annual SantaThing, a secret Santa book-giving event for LT members, and here are some of the details:

"HOW IT WORKS

You pay into the SantaThing system (choose from $15–$50). You play Santa to a LibraryThing member we pick for you, by selecting books for them. Another Santa does the same for you, in secret. LibraryThing does the ordering, and you get the joy of giving AND receiving books!

Sign up once or thrice, for yourself or someone else. If you sign up for someone without a LibraryThing account, make sure to mention what kinds of books they like, so their Santa can choose wisely.

Even if you don’t want to be a Santa, you can help by suggesting books for others.

IMPORTANT DATES

Sign-ups close MONDAY, December 7th at 5pm Eastern. By Tuesday morning, we’ll notify you via profile comment who your Santee is, and you can start picking books.

Picking closes FRIDAY, December 11th at 5pm Eastern. As soon as the picking ends, the ordering begins, and we’ll get all the books out to you as soon as we can."

It's wonderful fun, and I'm participating again this year, so who knows - if you join in maybe I'll be your Secret Santa. For more information on what to do and how it works, check out the LT blog post here.

LT Early Reviewers

My third book from Library Thing's Early Reviewers program was The Florida Land Boom of the 1920s by Gregg M. Turner. A historian who has already written a number of books about the state where I grew up, Mr. Turner this time tackled a period of land development and real estate that built and destroyed fortunes, transformed a tropical backwater into a much-desired destination, and attracted millions hoping to find paradise and make their dreams come true.

Land booms in Florida are definitely regular events. My family moved from Maryland to South Florida during one, while my guy and I later moved away to escape some of the many problems caused by another. On average 803 people currently move to Florida every single day, which last year helped push the state past New York to become the third most populous in the union (only #1, California, and #2, Texas, presently have more residents.) Twelve hundred miles of beaches certainly don't hurt, nor do the very low taxes (Florida ranks fifth in the nation for states with the lowest tax burden.) Close to ninety million people simply visit Florida every year to work on their tans, take the kiddies to Disney World, Universal and a plethura of other theme parks, and otherwise bask in the Sunshine State.

From the beginning of the book I was impressed, not only by the author's meticulous research, but also by how he explored the fascinating people involved. We can thank developer George Merrick, for example, an aspiring writer who dreamed of building a "City Beautiful", for Coral Gables, and world traveler and (admittedly unlicensed) architect Addison Cairns Mizner for Boca Raton. Sarasota owes quite a bit to circus king turned developer John Ringling, who came on his yacht to visit the city after being snubbed by high society in nearby Tarpon Springs. Yet for every visionary there were scammers and criminals waiting to rip off and defraud the unwary; after being sentenced to prison for investment fraud in Massachusetts the infamous Charles Ponzi worked a scam to sell ten million building lots to investors that were too tiny to build on, located in the middle of nowhere, or drowning in swamp water.

This book is also chock full of fascinating advertisements and photographs related to Florida's 1920's land boom, and the men who drove it. I think reading the original ads used to lure new residents to the state are the most fun. The promises these guys made were often even more outrageous than their plans. The one thing they didn't mention in addition to the balmy sea breezes and warm winters was hurricane season, or how often Florida is hit by these monster storms. A category 4 storm made landfall in 1926 to wipe out greater Miami, cross the state and ravage the west coast, and then zip up the Gulf to batter the panhandle. Just one storm killed 400 people, injured 6,300 and rendered some 18,000 homeless.

Gregg M. Turner does a terrific job of pulling together bios, backgrounds, business ventures and thousands of little details to portray this chaotic and ultimately very costly time period. Students of Florida history should definitely invest in it, but it's a pleasure to read for anyone who loves the richness of the past, the mistakes our predecessors made in those times, and what we all might learn from them.

Instant TBR

I stopped by my local Dollar Tree store last Friday to pick up some mailing envelopes, and noticed they had a really nice selection of hard covers and paperbacks, too, so I invested in ten by authors I've never read:

The Door Through Space by Marion Zimmer Bradley (yeah, I know, but I've never read her. Honestly.)

Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon

The Lingering Dead by J.N. Duncan

Absolution by Patrick Flanery

News from Heaven by Jennifer Haigh

The Aviary Gate by Katie Hickman

Gary Jennings' Aztec Revenge by Junius Podrug (An editor thought up this title. I'm sure of it. Also, a disclaimer: I did read Gary Jennings' first Aztec book before he went on to the next place.)

The Deadliest Sin by Caroline Richards

The Andalucian Friend by Alexander Soderberg

The Taint of Midas by Anne Zouroudi


Six hardcovers, two trades and two paperbacks for a grand total of ten bucks; I defy anyone to beat that price for brand-new books. It also helps my book budget to buy remainders when I want to try some new authors. I then I donate the books to our local Friends of the Library for their annual sale, so they'll be passed along for more folks to discover.

The Florida Land Boom of the 1920s by Gregg M. Turner, the third book I've gotten for free from Library Thing's Early Reviewers Program, also just arrived. I'm looking forward to diving into it this week. It did take about seven weeks for the publisher to send it to me, just FYI for anyone who is thinking about joining the program -- sometimes you do have to wait a bit for them to arrive.

Library Thing will also be kicking off their annual Santa Thing book exchange, which I'm thinking about doing again this year because it's always fun to discover what other book lovers think I should be reading. I might request e-books this time around, though, to get some new reads on the Nook and see if I can motivate myself to start using the e-reader more frequently than once or twice a year.

How are you getting cheap or free books these days? Let us know in comments.

Halloween Reads

I'm looking for spooky reads for Halloween. I usually go with a romantic suspense but this year I wouldn't mind a good mystery, or an intelligent horror (yes, there is such a thing) novel.

I have a strange relationship with horror. I really like it when it's smart and elegant, particularly if it involves a haunted house. Not so crazy about the gratuitous slasher/gore variety. After much beating around bushes I finally tried Joe Hill by reading his book Horns over the summer (it was one of those buy two get one free deals, and I can only read so many wallpaper historical romances before I develop an aneurysm.) He's definitely intelligent horror, and his dad's boy in many ways, but I think he's read Catcher in the Rye a few too many times.

On the other hand -- and the opposite/far end of the horror spectrum -- Chuck Wendig (who I think is writing like Star Wars books now) can write gory horror, which I really don't care for, quite well. I paid full price for his book Double Dead and did not regret it, even when things got uber gory with cannibals squatting in a Wal-Mart. He also had one of the best endings of all time in that book (and please note Wendig's novel is extremely violent, gory, bitter, and not something I'd rec for the faint of heart whatsoever.)

I usually read an Anne Rice book around Halloween. I think this year I'll go with The Witching Hour since I haven't read that one in a few years. Beautiful book, way over written (it's over a thousand pages, and I think there are as many characters, too) but by the time you get into the Mayfair family tree you don't care.

As for my Halloween rec, I have to go with Anne Frasier's Pretty Dead, which was my September book of the month. You don't have to read Play Dead and Stay Dead, the first two books in the series, to follow along, but if you haven't read them you're really missing out.

So what spooky read do you recommend for some fun Halloween reading? Got one of your own you want to tell us about? Let us know in comments.

MS 408

Books with mysterious reps, bizarre origins or that contain puzzles of any kind fascinate me. What's not to like about the world's longest secret novel, created by the incredible self-taught writer/illustrator Henry Darger, or curses like the one that supposedly haunts Sangorski's bejewelled edition of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, or exactly what sort of secrets Ripley really put in his alchemist's scroll? Yet no book quite matches the alluring (and enduring) mystery of The Voynich manuscript.

We've known about the Voynich manuscript since 1639, and thanks to carbon dating we are reasonably sure it was written around 600 years ago. That's all anyone can say for sure about the book because it has never been read. We don't know who wrote it, or why. The book is also handwritten in an unknown language that has never been translated, and illustrated with drawings of things that have yet to be identified or fathomed -- and there are a small number pages missing from it.

Many people believe the Voynich manuscript is an ancient hoax filled with gibberish. Others think it might have been written in a deliberately complicated code to hide important secrets from that era. It is beautiful to look at, and when you do inspect the lovely writing and interesting illustrations they do seem like something we should recognize, as if the book might be copied from a more sophisticated work by someone who didn't understand the language in which the original was written. There's a lovely feeling of naivete about it, too, and it's not a stretch for me to imagine a self-taught but otherwise illiterate artist creating this book.

The Voynich manuscript likely predates the Gutenberg printing press, and I agree with experts who don't believe it is a hoax or gibberish because back then it was very time-consuming and expensive to create books. All the work had to be done by hand, often by monks in monasteries. This book doesn't have that Eau de Scriptorium about it, however. It's no Da Vinci notebook, either, but it reminds me of him.

Here's my admittedly unscientific theory about what this book really is: a practice workbook. At this particular time in history most books were created by copying other books, and if you wanted to do that for a living, you obviously had to practice. If you look at Arabic botanical journals written in the same time period, like this one, you see a startling resemblance between them and the Voynich manuscript.

Now imagine an amateur or apprentice scribe (possibly a young one), who didn't speak or understand Arabic, copying Islamic calligraphy from a botanic journal. The words weren't important because he couldn't understand them, so his writing might be an archaic form of lorem ipsum text. If this budding book maker was practicing his drawing by copying the plants, charts and other contents from the original work he probably didn't understand them and/or had never seen them. Since it was just practice he might have even embellished them.

Since I'm not a scholar of ancient manuscripts I can't prove my theory, and I'll be the first to admit it's probably wrong. The thing is, it's fun to guess. So what do you think the Voynich manuscript is? Let us know in comments.

Revisited Read: Derelict by LJ Cohen

A little over a year ago I first read Derelict by LJ Cohen, and it impressed me so much I not only gave it a quote I even wrote a ten things list about it. It came into my hands exactly at the precise moment I needed a wonderful read, too. At the time I was beginning all the lab work and prep stuff for the first of my two eye surgeries, and Derelict provided a terrific and very necessary escape from all that. Now that the sequel, Ithaka Rising, has just been released I decided to take a trip back to my first experience to revisit this amazing universe by having another go at Derelict.

I remember my strong first impression of the novel came from being immediately hooked by how smart, engrossing and interesting the story begins, and that happened again. As a writer I appreciate that elusive, page-turner magic because I know how difficult it is to capture, and as a reader it's absolutely what I want when I hit the first page. Don't give me a weather report, make me burn dinner. Fortunately I wasn't cooking when I began Derelict or something would have scorched. Same again this time -- I deliberately waited until I was not operating any electrical appliances when I began to read and lost myself in the story.

I think on this read I appreciated the diverse cast a bit more. When you're first introduced to each of the characters you become absorbed in the immediate aspects of their particular personalities and conflicts. I loved on the first read how real they felt on the page, but this time around I knew them and so noticed the less obvious elements. Ro, the protagonist, is very intelligent, driven, and rather cold, but it's a facade, and this time I spotted more glimpses of her vulnerabilities. The same with Barre, the musician son of physicians who always comes up short when compared with his brilliant baby brother -- until his innate ability to compose music enables him to do things the other characters can't. I felt much more sympathetic to Barre this time around.

Halcyone, the derelict ship in the story, also took on more depth for me. On my first read I was caught up in the adventure, but the second time around I knew what would be happening and paid more attention to the details around the action. Those little things that I zeroed in on this time allowed me to better visualize the ship, which made every scene more colorful and alive for me, and in turn enhanced the action. As a result I'd say I probably enjoyed the book this time more than the first read-through.

The feel of the novel once more transported me back to my young teens, when I read every A.M. Lightner book I could borrow from the school library, so it definitely works as a YA. At the same time it doesn't read like most YAs that shove that too-young, over-the-top teen angst in your face. The young cast in Derelict are not standing around wondering what he said or she said. They're dealing with very serious situations in their lives, and while they act their ages they also resonate with me as an adult. I know how Ro feels about being awkward with people because I'm the same, and the age difference doesn't matter. Jem's tireless and sometimes overwhelming enthusiasm for advanced programming rings true with me because I feel the same about my art.

I'm glad I took the time to read Derelict again, because I've just ordered the paperback of Ithaka Rising and I want to see what happens next with Ro and the crew. Tomorrow I will also have a Q&A interview with Derelict's author, so if you'd like to find out more about LJ Cohen, stop in. And if you haven't yet taken the first wild ride on Halcyone, Derelict for Kindle is less than a dollar right now, so click here to get it for a song.

PBW's Book of the Month

There will not be a Just Write Thursday this week as I'm finishing up a project for a client today. Since it's the last day of April I'll use this post instead to make my pick for the book of the month, which is Longing by Mary Balogh. You can read my thoughts about it here.

The new glasses are helping me quite a bit with reading, which is why I was able to knock out a total of fourteen books in April. That's also the most I've read in one month since the eye surgeries, so I feel very good about my reading future. The last remaining problem with reading is that my book-buying budget is quite a bit tighter now that I'm freelancing, so I'm looking for creative ways to get more books without breaking the bank.

One major thing I've done this month is to sign up for Library Thing's Early Reviewer program, as I can now actually read anything I might receive. I also plan to post about the program and what books I receive from it here on the blog -- and as it happens the LT folks just notified me to expect one of my requests:

Congratulations. You've been selected to receive an Early Reviewers copy of In a French Kitchen: Tales and Traditions of Everyday Home Cooking in France by Susan Herrmann Loomis from the April 2015 batch.

This is the book I wanted most out of all my requests so I think the universe is giving me a nod there; I'll be reading and reporting on it here at the blog as soon as it comes in and I read it.

While dropping off a bunch of books at our local public library I also went into their books-for-sale nook for the first time, and was able to score this batch for a grand total of six dollars. The cookbook is not only exactly what I was looking for (my guy loves pasta) but is spiral-bound, which makes it a lot easier to use in the kitchen. It's in brand-new condition and originally listed for $18.95, so at $1.50 it was quite a bargain.

Actually I was surprised by how nice all the books in the book nook were; the Anne Perry hardcover and The Arabian Nights were also in pristine condition, and the Arabian Nights has a bunch of gorgeous color plate illustrations by Maxfield Parrish. The next time you stop by your public library you should definitely check out any books they have for sale. Unless I want to keep them all the review copy or used books I receive will be donated to our Friends of the Library for resale to benefit the library's many excellent programs, or donated to our local public high school for their media center.

What are you looking forward to reading in May? Any exciting new releases I should be keeping an eye out for? Let me know in comments.

PBW's Book of the Month

I skipped doing a book of the month post in February because I had time to read only a couple of books and my favorite was actually a cook book (plus I was feeling too blue about Leonard Nimoy passing to work up the proper amount of enthusiasm.) I did make more of an effort to read in March, and my pick for the book of the month is Prudence ~ The Custard Protocol: Book One by Gail Carriger.

You don't have to have read Gail Carriger's The Parasol Protectorate series to follow this story, although if you have then you're in for a treat. Prudence is the first novel of TPP's next generation in this delightful Victorian steampunk alternate universe. The protagonist is none other that Lady Prudence Alessandra Maccon Akeldama, the daughter of TPP's Alexia Tarabotti, whom we last saw as Alexia's mischievious abilities-stealing infant. She's also the adopted daughter of Lord Akeldama, London's ever-dazzling, always-fashionably brilliant vampire.

Prudence -- now known as Rue -- is all grown up, and about to set off on her first adventure with her best friend Primrose, Prim's bookish brother Percy, and the utterly too rakish French engineer Quesnel Lefoux, all on board a fantastic dirigible run by the most charming (if not perfect) crew ever to take the skies. How to describe Prudence as a story . . . you're in for a romp that twists and turns like The Spotted Custard (the name of Rue's airship, which resembles an enormous ladybug) as it floats off to India in search of adventure, tea, intrigue -- and finds all that and quite a bit more.

I picked this book because it made me continually laugh out loud while keeping me on the edge of my seat, especially in the second half of the novel when things go from very interesting to Holy Cow, how is Rue getting out of this mess? As fond as I am of all the characters from TPP, and loved seeing some of them show up in the story, I really enjoyed the quartet of Rue, Prim, Percy and Quesnel. As a team they're definitely original and endlessly entertaining, and I can't wait to follow their adventures in the next book.

So Noted

Here's a contradiction: I rarely write in books, but I love to find writing in books. I think the former is because I read mostly library books when I was a kid, and I didn't want to get in trouble with the library ladies. The latter is like spying a bit on the book's former owner and finding out something about them.

Sometimes I find notes in books that really intrigue me, such as those I discovered when I purchased a 1958 edition of Edmund Spenser's poetry. Inside the front cover some reader before me wrote this:



The notations on the inside of the cover are lists of the seven deadly sins and the seven cardinal virtues, along with the phrase "Fatal to spiritual progress" next to the sins list. In case you're wondering, I pulled this book to get the list of the seven deadly sins for a scene in Club Denizen.

On the opposite/title page are some fainter, different notes in pencil (some of which I've typed out beneath them):



I didn't recognize any of the words except the Pershing, which I thought used to be an old gangster hotel in Chicago back during the Capone/Prohibition era. I never bothered pursuing the meaning of the words, but after author Kris Reisz made a very interesting discovery about one of his old books I decided to research the notation and see what I could find out. Which lead me to this recording over on YouTube and this article over at The Wall Street Journal.

I didn't recognize the notation because I'm definitely no music expert; the jazz in my own collection is primarily limited to sax wizards like John Coltrane and Charlie Parker. Still, it was very cool to discover Ahmad Jamal, listen to his music, and find out how he and his trio changed so much with their live album.

Have you ever tracked down something you found written in a book? Let us know in comments.

Got Indy?

Now that the eyes, work and life in general have settled down I've been looking for some indy author titles to add to my TBR. I confess I haven't read much in the way of indy since LJ Cohen blew me away last summer with her indy YA SF Derelict so I do need to make more of an effort.

I guess the main problem is print is always my #1 format preference. I know, with all the technology involved in reading these days the paper book is going the way of the dinosaurs, but then I am, too. Print books for me are always going to be the real deal; they're easier for me to read and I just like them better. So the first thing I look for with any indy title is a print edition option. Not many authors opt for print, however, so I then have to eye the electronic alternatives. Since I don't have a working e-reader I use Adobe for .pdfs (love being able to print them out, too, hint hint) my Nook thing on the PC, or that idiot Amazon Cloud thing (don't get me started on that; I just this week finally figured out how to reopen a book on it.)

My latest indy purchase was from LJ, as she has a new indy title out: Time and Tithe, which is the sequel to The Between. Along with all the electronic incarnations she has a print edition available on Amazon, which I happily ordered and will have by Tuesday, according to the e-mail. I could complain about having to wait three years for the book, but that might jinx the sequel to Derelict so I'm keeping my mouth shut.

Having been burned more than a few times I generally don't buy indy titles from writers I don't know anymore. Sad but true; I just can't gamble on new-to-me indy authors the way I can while browsing the brick-and-mortars; there are just too many indies who are simply not writing at a professional level. I have a select few authors who are doing both traditional and indy publishing whom I trust to deliver every single time, and I'll buy anything they publish indy-wise. Some favorite authors of mine are now independently publishing backlist titles for which they've had their rights revert, and if there's something I've never read I'll grab those. I'll also occasionally buy indy titles from authors I'm watching (not in the stalkerish sense, but more to see if they overcome various rookie/early career writing problems and develop into the storytellers that I think they could be.)

Considering how many debut indy titles I have I think the bulk of my purchases are to support writers I know who have opted to fly solo out the starting gate -- like our blog pal B.E. Sanderson, who has gone indy with her first novel Dying Embers. Although B. has a print edition option I bought the Kindle format so I could use it as a test book on their stupid Cloud thing. It turned out to be my good luck charm novel, too, because with it I finally figure out how to close/go back/reopen my purchases. Which means that once I finish B.'s novel I can also read that Anne Stuart Kindle-only book I bought like two years ago and have never been able to reopen.

Are you buying more indy books these days? Got any title recs you want to share? Let us know in comments.