Welcome to BookCrossing! It's a site for catching and releasing books and spreading the good karma of reading! Please make a journal entry when you FIND this book and let previous readers know how you came upon it. You may remain anonymous on this site if you like but it's very safe and spam free. We leave FREE books around for others to stumble upon...they read, and then re-release in a public place for someone else to enjoy. Of course you're welcome to keep the book if you prefer but it's more fun to watch them travel and to hear from them once in a while. I hope you enjoy the book but I especially hope you enjoy BookCrossing.

"Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens ..."

Carlos Ruiz Zafon (The Shadow of the Wind)

B&N Overview

In a world of violence and intrigue, who guards the truth?It is 1498, the dawn of the Renaissance, and Venice teems with rumors about an ancient book that holds the secret to unimaginable power. It is an alchemist's dream, with recipes for gold, immortality, and undying love. But while those who seek the book will stop at nothing to get it, those who know will die to protect it.As a storm of intrigue and desire circles the republic that grew from the sea, Luciano, a penniless orphan with a quick wit and an even faster hand, is plucked up by an illustrious chef and hired, for reasons he cannot yet begin to understand, as an apprentice in the palace kitchen. There, in the lavish home of the most powerful man in Venice, he is initiated into the chef's rich and aromatic world, with all its seductive ingredients and secrets. It is not long before Luciano is caught up in the madness. After he witnesses a shocking murder in the Palace dining room, he realizes that nothing is as it seems and that no one can be trusted. Armed with a precocious mind and an insatiable curiosity, Luciano embarks on a perilous journey to uncover the truth. What he discovers will swing open the shutters of his mind, inflame his deepest desires, and leave an indelible mark on his soul.Rich with the luxurious colors and textures of Venice, The Book of Unholy Mischief delights the senses and breathes fresh life into an age defined by intellectual revival and artistic vibrancy....

Released to Booklady331's CD ONLY Audio Book Box

Selecting this from Booklady331's CD ONLY Audio Book Box . I look forward to listening to it at some point, and reporting back.

A tale of old Venice, alchemy, and intrigue, wrapped up with some of the most sumptuous descriptions of food I've read in a long time. Young Luciano, an orphan living by his wits and cunning, finds his life changed when the Doge's chef rescues him from his life on the streets. At the same time there is a search for a mysterious book of potions -- recipes for gold, immortality, love, and more.

What swept me in were the menus that Chef presented to the Doge and guests. The descriptions bordered on magical realism, and made me wish for table scraps.

I usually don't like to listen to abridged audio-books, but this was edited in such a way that I didn't really realize it was abridged until the end, when the book title/author/publisher ID was given. Still, there were some phrases that captured me enough to record them when a stoplight came along (I listen to audio books in the car.) Unfortunately, the only slip of paper with a quote scrawled on it says, "He reeked of good health and old money." That could apply to a lot of people I know today.

Passing this on in Booklady331's CD only box. On to the next reader!

my dad chose this from the CD only audiobox. He was excited to peruse the box as a 4th of July holiday treat. Thanks for sharing!

Venice? Food? Sounds like the book for me!

A rather interesting read, a heady combination of politics, mystery, love, religion and food. I totally love the description of the banquets the chef prepared, how he subtly uses his dishes to alter the mood of diners and thus in some way history. I totally wouldn't mind to see more of this.

I find that Luciano, while growing up on the street, seems to be rather naive. Sometimes I just want to hit some sense into him, so he won't go blurt everything out. Thankfully the chef has much more patience and love than me. Well, "thankfully"? Hmmm, maybe not. He may have been better off leaving the boy in the street, though I doubt he regret his action.

Putting into the audio bookbox. Hope another reader enjoys it as much as I did.

Taken from the BigJohnLefty audio book box.

Media mail to Imawinn for the BigJohnLefty audio book VBB

I picked this out from The BigJohnLefty VBB. Thanks for sending it my way.

I really enjoyed this tale set in the city of Venice in 1498. It is a story that revolves around the rumor of an ancient, mysterious and magical book that holds what mortal humans desire. Love potions, the secret to making gold, immortality... What is supposedly written on this book's pages would bring much money and power. Those that seek it would kill for it. When an orphan named Luciano is taken under the wing of a talented chef, he finds himself caught up in something much bigger than he can ever imagine. Something that is so secretive, that if discovered, it could turn the world upside down. It surely has me thinking of the possibilities. I found the story line intriguing, the characters were enjoyable, and the cooking scenes delicious. One thing, I couldn't tell was if this was a book written for adults or older youths. Interesting without going too deep. I would say to the potential reader/listener, this medieval tale is worth giving it a go.

Releasing this audiobook into HI77's Audiobook Bookbox. Happy Travels!

In the last 5 years or so, I have probably only ear-read about as many audiobooks as are in the entire book box, maybe one or two more. So when I saw this book -- one that I ear-read a few years ago -- I had to smile and to check if this was the copy I ear-read. It was not.

Here is my review from June 2017:
I picked up an audio copy of this book for my road trip to Massachusetts. There were aspects of the book that I found annoying in an audio format that would like not have bothered me as much in a paper format, mostly because of my own personality and not because of any flaw in the book itself. I was irritated by Luciano's obsession with Francesca and I was also irritated by the suspense factor on the audio. I kept turning it off because the roller coaster was hard for me and I could only take it for a few minutes at a time. At one point I was irritated enough that I considered giving up, but I saw some of my friends had read the book and given it 4 stars, so I figured it was worth going on with. I am glad that I finished it and I feel like I learned a lot about Venice and Venetian politics in the 1400-1500s and about cooking. There was quite a bit of philosophy in the dishes cooked as well. I will say that I would have handled some of the references to sadism/torture better on paper, because they left a more lasting image in my mind from the audio and I would rather not have that. Nonetheless, it was a good read and I was satisfied with it, sitting in the car for the last twenty minutes in the parking lot at home to finish it.

This book remains in the Audiobook Bookbox and is on to the next stop.

Any future reader or recipient of this book is encouraged to leave a journal entry here on the BookCrossing site to let prior readers know the fate of the book. You can make an anonymous entry without joining the BookCrossing movement, but if you are interested in joining, it is a free and spam-free community where your contact information is not shared with others. Best of all, members receive private messages via e-mail from books like this one when those books are journaled, allowing for long-term relationships between books and readers.

It's a world of mostly have not's,

but there are dreams and pages
a world of possibilities in an elusive book.

There was someone that really wanted to listen to this! :)

So off it goes to make new friends! ;)


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