One of the dragon magazines had this eidetic wizard substitution which effectively lets you do away with the need for a spellbook.
Not really optimized, but neat for putting to rest that tired argument about how a wizard can be screwed if the DM has a thief steal his spellbook...
Dragon #357 > page 88 > Class Acts > Transversed Arcana > Eidetic Spellcaster >
Level: 1st, "do not gain a familiar or the Scribe Scroll bonus feat", "You do not need a spell-book, either to record spells you know or to prepare known spells. You can learn spells normally, either through gaining levels in wizard or learning from other spellbooks, and you must pay all the normal costs for learning new spells (used instead in special incenses rather than inks), but you do not need to put them into a spellbook."
Vicon English Dictionary > "eidetic [ei·det·ic || a?'det?k]
adj. pertaining to visual images (seen recently or long before) which can be recalled vividly and with great detail"
"olfactory [ol·fac·to·ry || ɑl'fæktərɪ /ɒl'fæktrɪ]
n. sense of smell; olfactory organ
adj. related to sense of smell" (Vicon English Dictionary)
Caveat: the GM might have you require special incenses to prepare from as a fluff-prerequisite.