A very different crowd converges on Atlanta about a month later, for the four days of DragonCon. Many of these people will be wearing costumes related to their favorite science fiction, fantasy, comic book or movie worlds.  Most of the others will opt for what the dh calls “appropriately decorated t-shirts.”  The packing is much easier–spare jeans in case of spills, t-shirts, toiletries, etc.  Not very glamorous, but there’s lots of fannish enthusiasm.

Which do you prefer–casual occasions or dressy ones?  Do you have any packing secrets?

The TBR pile is kind of like a hardware store, where I walk in and see possibility all around me, especially when the authors there are new to me.  Maybe this will be someone else whose work I’ll love.  Or not.  But it’s fun finding out.

This summer I’ll be sharing the pleasures of the TBR pile, the books I dig out, read at last, and enjoy.  I hope you’ll do the same.  Just leave me a comment and let me know what you like about the books you’re reading.  I’m especially interested in any new authors you discover and enjoy.

When I look over the stack, I see history, multiple subgenres of romance, science fiction, fantasy and mystery.  Which one I pick up next always depends on my mood at the moment.  I have several new authors (either to the market or to me) in the stack.  I love picking up a new or unfamiliar author and falling into the book, having a new name to add to my watch-for list.

I recently discovered Caitlin Kittridge’s Black London series–very dark urban fantasy.  Of course, not all experiments end happily.  Some books don’t engage me the way I thought they would when I bought them.

In honor of the website’s new look, I’m having a contest.  The prize, to be awarded at the end of May, is a package of three novels (mass market paperback) I enjoyed that were by authors new to me, plus a $15 gift card for an independent bookstore or one of the chains I have easy access to.

To enter, send me an email via the site link telling me what author you recently read for the first time and why you liked that author’s book.  I’ll put all the names of those who enter in a hat and draw one out on May 26, which will also be my May blog day on Romance Bandits.

If it’s a financial plan, it won’t work if you deviate from it.  If you’re supposed to put a certain amount of money into the plan every payday and  you start finding excuses not to do it, or something keeps coming up, as things are wont to do, success moves farther and farther out of reach.

We all know that.  Yet every year, lots and lots of people subscribe to quick fixes.  Why do you think that happens?

This is a treatise on married life and household management in the medieval period.  Discusses wifely virtues and deportment, care of husbands, gardening, management of servants, and care of clothing along with other topics.

McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1986

Markham, who lived in the from about the mid-16th to early 17th centuries, set down the virtues and knowledge expected of a housewife and discussed such tasks as brewing, distilling, the making of dairy products, and cooking. The book contains instructions for numerous “medicinal” remedies and quite a few recipes, which do not appear to have been revised for modern use.

Penguin Books, 1986; reprint, 1987

Organized by months, this book discusses which kitchen chores were performed at what points during the year.  It also contains selected recipes translated for the modern reader as well as discussions of Elizabethan cooking.

University of Toronto Press, 1976; reprint, 1987

Contains a short discussion of medieval cooking and extensive recipes, with advice on using them.

Mostly a recipe collection with some historical background.  The periods covered range from the 14th century to about the mid-20th century.