Two books I can't remember

[telophase]

Cross-posted to whatwasthatbook

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I'm trying to remember the titles of two books at the moment:

1) a book that I hated, actually. It came up in a conversation elsewhere and it bothers me that I can't remember the title. It's a fantasy that I read sometime in 2002-2004 and published around then. I believe it's supposed to be the story of how the protagonist became an evil character. It's told in first person and the character spent some time in his youth in a religious order like a monastery. The key part I remember - and what caused me to hurl it with great force put the book down was when the protagonist, during some sort of strategy-plotting session with other characters, led them on a sort of guided visualization exercise for one of the plans that they were considering - asking them to respond with the actions they would perform as he described the circumstances of their infiltration of a town (I think), with the help of some sort of storytelling dice. Yes, you got that correctly, he DMed an RPG in the middle of the book.

Anyway, although the book read basically as a D&D session log, it is not Villains by Necessity. And although I think they may have called the dice "destiny dice," it is not Bischoff's Destiny Dice. I think the author is female. puppleball, I may have passed this book on to you - I certainly remember telling you about it back in 2003 or 2004, when we were cleaning out J&C's apartment after the fire.

2) a children's book I read over and over as a kid, which means it was published in the 1970s or earlier, most likely. I think it was set in New York City, or some large metropolitan city like that. The main character and her family lived in an apartment building. Her little sister loved horses so much that she either thought she was a horse or pretended she was a horse all the time, and I think may even have made a tail for herself to wear. At one point, the main character or her sister got hit on the head by falling masonry from construction on a building, and I think the main character's friend made her a paper charm to wear that looked like this:



ABRACADABRA
ABRACADABR
ABRACADAB
ABRACADA
ABRACAD
ABRACA
ABRAC
ABRA
ABR
AB
A


and she was supposed to cut a row of letters off every day, which was supposed to help her (or her sister, whichever one got hit) get better, I think.



Whoa, the LJ posting form changed radically between, like five minutes ago and now...

Comments

[animarelic.livejournal.com]

I remember the second book, but not the title. Something about how her sister spent a whole year pretending she was 'A five gated mare' and would speak only in whinnies and neighs.

And I remember the Abracadabra necklace too! Argh, this is going to drive me crazy!

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Someone on the book-finding community remembers it, too, but not the title. XD

I hadn't thought about it in years, but once I did ... aaarg!

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

The second one sounds vaguely familiar. Is it possible it was by Mary Stolz?

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I don't know. I've just gone through the Mary Stolz books at Amazon, and none of them ring a bell. Lots of them don't have descriptions, though.

[cicer.livejournal.com]

led them on a sort of guided visualization exercise for one of the plans that they were considering - asking them to respond with the actions they would perform as he described the circumstances of their infiltration of a town (I think), with the help of some sort of storytelling dice.

AHAHAHAHA. That's the best/worst thing ever. Hilarious.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

EXACTLY MY POINT.

And why it's driving me crazy that I can't remember the title. EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE SUBJECTED TO THIS.

[flusterdance.livejournal.com]

Hey, I LIKED Villains by Necessity.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Did I give an opinion one way or teh otehr about Villains by Necessity? Nope. :)

Mind you, I hated it, but not because it was a D&D session log, which can be entertaining if the characters are intriguing. I hated it because the author would stop the flow of the story dead to infodump at you, and the information contained in the infodump would be reiterated to you, better, by the actions of the characters a page or two later.

[errantimpulses.livejournal.com]

Hahah, you did kind of insult it by implying that your hated lame book could be confused with it! I liked it, too!

Can't help you with the two you're actually looking for. sorry.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Implying that it could be confused with it? Every time I say "There's this book I hated that read like D&D session logs..." people say "Ah! Villiains by Necessity!" :) That's why I put it down - I didn't want even more people suggesting it.

It seems to be polarizing - you either really liked it or hated it. I know people on both sides of the fence.

[damongolian.livejournal.com]

I remember #2 as well...well ok, the abracadabra charm at the very least.

the rest of your description makes me think of Harriet the Spy. And for some reason, the works of Zilpha Keatly Snyder also come to mind....but that might be an 'abracadabra' and Black and Blue Magic connection. But no sisters in that one, and the main char was a he anyway. The Egypt Game on the other hand.....

[telophase.livejournal.com]

It's definitely not Harriet the Spy or The Egypt Game, books which I also read over and over and over as a kid. :D

Man, that abracadabra charm really hit the memories of people. Everyone remembers it, but not the title or author. XD

[damongolian.livejournal.com]

humn.....well doing a websearch....it seems that charm has 'existed' in the real world for some time now, so it is also possible that it appears in multiple works of literature.

see now you've got me wondering about a mystery book of my own......the details that I recall, two siblings one much younger, but much more intelligent than the other (like genius level) at some point in the story, they two need to drive a car, which the genius knows how to do already, but isn't big enough to reach the pedals or anything....so he sits on the lap of the older, and gives instruction. In fact, I think his genius is first described when a testor asked him how a car works and he responds by starting to explain the workings of an internal combustion engine; then interrupting himself to ask if they meant how to drive the car.

The only other thing I recall about the book, is some older 'teenagers' are trying to coerce/force? the smart one to help them with a batch of LSD they're making.


yeah....who knows what I was reading......

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I recommend whatwasthatbook - readers there have IDed some impressively obscure books from impressively obscure descriptions. :D They managed to get the D&D one, although not the kids' one yet.