\usepackage{emptypage} not working reliably

Question

In a 200 page book, I'm trying to use \usepackage{emptypage} to remove page numbers from the automatically generated blank pages before a new chapter. For the some of these pages, I am still getting a page numbers. I cannot see anything different in content to trigger this. I am stumped!

If I take any single line of the content out before the new chapter, emptypage works! So it's like LaTeX thinks the content is spilling to the blank page when it is not.

Any Ideas?

Here is code:

% Designed to run under "pdfLaTeX + BibTeX + MakeIndex" option in TeXworks
\documentclass[openright,twoside,10pt]{book}
% Page Setup:
\usepackage[
paperwidth=6in,
paperheight=9in,
bindingoffset=0.2in,
left=1.25in,
right=1.25in,
top=1.1in,
bottom=1.1in,
includefoot
]{geometry}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage[usenames]{xcolor}
% Header/Footer Page Numbering and color:
\usepackage{fancyhdr} 
\renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0pt}
\fancyhf{}
\setlength{\footskip}{45pt}
\fancyfoot[C]{\textcolor{gray}{\thepage}}
\pagestyle{fancy}
\fancypagestyle{frontmatter}{%
\renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0pt}% No header rule
\renewcommand{\footrulewidth}{0pt}% No footer rule
\fancyhf{}% Clear header/footer
\fancyfoot[C]{\thepage}%
}
\fancypagestyle{mainmatter}{%
  \renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{.4pt}% Header rule
  \renewcommand{\footrulewidth}{.4pt}% Footer rule
  \fancyhf{}% Clear header/footer
  \fancyhead[L]{\leftmark}% Chapter in header Left
  \fancyhead[R]{\thepage}% Page number in header Right
}
% Remove page numbers on empty pages 
\usepackage{emptypage}
% Add dummy text:
\usepackage{lipsum}
% Paragraph Formatting:
\parindent=0in
\parskip=12pt
% Turn off section numbers (0=no numbers, 1=numbers):
\setcounter{secnumdepth}{0}
% package for adding pages after a page:
\usepackage{afterpage}
\newcommand\blankpage{%
\null
\thispagestyle{empty}%
\addtocounter{page}{0}% change to -1 if you don't want page numbers additive
\newpage}
%
%---------------------------------------Begin Book--------------------------    -------------
%
\begin{document}
. . .
\thispagestyle{empty}
\tableofcontents
\thispagestyle{empty}
\frontmatter
\pagestyle{frontmatter}
\section{Forward}
\lipsum[1-5]
\mainmatter
\pagestyle{frontmatter}


This is not where I want to live\\
In my heaven\\
Flags are for burning\\
And the only God is possibility\\
\\
We can change this\\
F-cked up world\\
Into whatever we want, so\\
Why does it always stay the same\\
\chapter*{Man With a Suitcase}
\thispagestyle{empty}
\addcontentsline{toc}{chapter}{Man With a Suitcase}
\newpage
\blankpage
\section{Two Little Sparrows}
All my heroes \\
have flown away \\
While the blossoms \\
\\
On the trees \\
Are bursting out \\
Beautiful, in the \\
\\
Spring air \\
Followed by the hot winds \\
That will blow across my face \\



\end{document}

Answer 1

Your example produces multiple warnings of the form

Underfull \hbox (badness 10000) in paragraph at lines 82--93

Note that that is the maximum badness TeX ever assigns, so TeX is warning you that the output is as bad as it gets according to its internal measure of the acceptability of the output.

Using \\ \\ or \\ at the end of a paragraph does not produce vertical space. it produces a line of the paragraph with no text "underfull" such a "white" line will not be discarded at a page break so will appear at the top of a normal page break, making the first line appear too low, and the final one may appear on a page on its own making a page that looks white but isn't empt.

Use a blank line not \\to mark a paragraph (or verse)

% Designed to run under "pdfLaTeX + BibTeX + MakeIndex" option in TeXworks

\documentclass[openright,twoside,10pt]{book}
% Page Setup:
\usepackage[
paperwidth=6in,
paperheight=9in,
bindingoffset=0.2in,
left=1.25in,
right=1.25in,
top=1.1in,
bottom=1.1in,
includefoot
]{geometry}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage[usenames]{xcolor}
% Header/Footer Page Numbering and color:
\usepackage{fancyhdr} 
\renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0pt}
\fancyhf{}
\setlength{\footskip}{45pt}
\fancyfoot[C]{\textcolor{gray}{\thepage}}
\pagestyle{fancy}
\fancypagestyle{frontmatter}{%
\renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0pt}% No header rule
\renewcommand{\footrulewidth}{0pt}% No footer rule
\fancyhf{}% Clear header/footer
\fancyfoot[C]{\thepage}%
}
\fancypagestyle{mainmatter}{%
  \renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{.4pt}% Header rule
  \renewcommand{\footrulewidth}{.4pt}% Footer rule
  \fancyhf{}% Clear header/footer
  \fancyhead[L]{\leftmark}% Chapter in header Left
  \fancyhead[R]{\thepage}% Page number in header Right
}
% Remove page numbers on empty pages 
\usepackage{emptypage}
% Add dummy text:
\usepackage{lipsum}
% Paragraph Formatting:
\parindent=0in
\parskip=12pt
% Turn off section numbers (0=no numbers, 1=numbers):
\setcounter{secnumdepth}{0}
% package for adding pages after a page:
\usepackage{afterpage}
\newcommand\blankpage{%
\null
\thispagestyle{empty}%
\addtocounter{page}{0}% change to -1 if you don't want page numbers additive
\newpage}
%
%---------------------------------------Begin Book--------------------------    -------------
%
\begin{document}
. . .
\thispagestyle{empty}
\tableofcontents
\thispagestyle{empty}
\frontmatter
\pagestyle{frontmatter}
\section{Forward}
\lipsum[1-5]
\mainmatter
\pagestyle{frontmatter}

\begin{verse}
This is not where I want to live\\
In my heaven\\
Flags are for burning\\
And the only God is possibility

We can change this\\
F-cked up world\\
Into whatever we want, so\\
Why does it always stay the same
\end{verse}

\chapter*{Man With a Suitcase}
\thispagestyle{empty}
\addcontentsline{toc}{chapter}{Man With a Suitcase}
\newpage
\blankpage
\section{Two Little Sparrows}

\begin{verse}
All my heroes \\
have flown away \\
While the blossoms

On the trees \\
Are bursting out \\
Beautiful, in the

Spring air \\
Followed by the hot winds \\
That will blow across my face 
\end{verse}

\end{document}