FREE Weekly Roundup! A twenty-year veteran of New Orleans (and an immigrant from Transylvania, incidentally the same place my great-grandfather and some assorted other relatives hailed from), Andrei Codrescu uses his essays to take us right to the heart of New Orleans. Rankings on weekly lists reflect sales for the week ending October 28, … . I doubt if I would read a significant number of books you have recommended, but have decided to pick up five days at the memorial based on your description. I did not know there were so many books about New Orleans. Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans? I admit as much as I love books I do tend to forget to go find the libraries and bookstores when I’m in a new city and yet many of them have so much cool architecture. If you have room in your New Orleans itinerary, be sure to screenshot this list and find these bookstores for yourself–they’re all well worth a peek inside. New Orleans is no exception–the rotating Carousel Bar in Hotel Monteleone was once haunted by the likes of Ernest (and Tennessee Williams, and William Faulkner, and Truman Capote, and… the list goes on). Revacuation by Brad Benischek. Dan Baum’s Nine Lives: Mystery, Magic, Death, and Life in New Orleans (2010) is the story of the city and its denizens between Hurricane Betsy, which transformed New Orleans in the 1960s, and the devastation of Katrina in 2005. The Best Nonfiction Books of 2020. Books make wonderful souvenirs! We stopped buying them whenever we became nomadic, but one day when we have a home base again, I think we’ll restart the habit. Order them on Amazon, visit one of our incredible local bookstores, and call up your book club: these are five nonfiction books to pick up ASAP. It’s all true. It is a beautiful shop, though, and we loved getting a chance to browse. But, the main character is also an obnoxious wannabe edgelord, and several of the characters are rather unsympathetic. The interior is beautiful, complete with a chandelier and multiple rooms for browsing, and this is easily the biggest of the New Orleans bookstores we visited. Long before there was Katrina, there was the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927–another example of water reshaping New Orleans. Piggott is located in the north east corner of Arkansas. You won’t regret it! Nonfiction: news, interviews and reviews from NPR Books. The Complete Keto Diet Book for beginners 2021-2022: The Ultimate Beginners Keto diet Cookbook with Quick and Healthy 300 Low-Carb Recipes Incl. Best Nonfiction Books for Kids Some kids prefer true stories -- history, biography, memoir, science -- to made-up ones. As an Amazon Associate, Lone Star Travel Guide earns from qualifying purchases. A professor of writing shares five nonfiction books about New Orleans to read right now. Inventing New Orleans: Writings of Lafcadio Hearn (Paperback) Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904) prowled the streets of New Orleans from 1877 to 1888 before moving on to a new life and global fame as a chronicler of Japan. I have over the years visited a few New Orleans book shops . The ‘Baby Dolls’: Breaking the Race and Gender Barriers of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Tradition, Art of the Tease: Burlesque in New Orleans. Nine Lives: Mystery, Magic, Death, and Life in New Orleans by Dan Baum. 1 Gumbo Ya Ya by Robert Tallant and Lyle Saxon 2 Spirit World by Michael P Smith In May 2017, New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu made national headlines when he announced the removal of the city's Confederate statues. I’m writing in first person, but most of this applies to Jeremy, too: he doesn’t consume books quite as voraciously as I do these days, but he’s a lifelong reader himself–in fact, back in our teenage dating days, we first started flirting with each other by one-upping each other on the Russian and Czech novels we had read. If you haven’t read The Mysteries of New Orleans by Reizenstein, please do. It’s funny–Jeremy is a huge Hemingway fan, but I’ve never been able to get into his work. Jesus Out to Sea by James Lee Burke. Please see our, The Epic, Exciting 3 Days in New Orleans Itinerary, 55 Best Things to Do in Savannah, GA (+ Food Tips! B&N Exclusives B&N YA Book Club The Best Books of 2020 Binge a New YA Series Boxed Sets Explore SparkNotes.com Get Ready for School: Books & Supplies Trend Shop Popular Authors Victoria Aveyard Cassandra Clare Sarah Dessen John Green Sarah J. Maas That is a really impressive list of books, bookstores, and authors you have got there. If you’re looking for a wide-angle view of Hurricane Katrina (and a long read)–one of the first published after the disaster, and published by a New Orleans resident–this is the book. The book opens with 13-year-old Joel Harrison Knox arriving in New Orleans with plans to live with his absent father in the wake of his mother’s death–but because this is New Orleans, the cast of colorful characters he meets end up reshaping his life in unexpected ways. As with Starr’s book, The ‘Baby Dolls’: Breaking the Race and Gender Barriers of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Tradition weaves together a comprehensive and important thread of New Orleans history: in this case, the story of the first women’s groups to mask and perform during Mardi Gras. Achilles and Troy are brothers on a duty tour in Afghanistan. I’ve spent some time trying to hunt down this book – without success. Take, for example, Map 16—“Bass Lines: Deep Sounds and Soils.” The map combines an illustration of the soils of New Orleans—Swamp (muck), Point bar deposits (sandy, drier clay), Natural Levees (silty clay), amongst others—and where train streetcar tracks are positioned. join me & award-winning writer & host reese fuller for the cablog zoom virtual launch party sponsored and hosted by garden district books in new orleans. Hemingway married one of the local girls, Pauline Pfeiffer. Not New Orleanians, and with a culture all their own, these people saw their own set of challenges during and after Katrina: this is the story of how one family handled the disaster, and what happened next. Also, seems like its a literary haven with so many bookstores! Written in the 1960s, but not published until … The author of Groove Interrupted transports us to the world of Fats Domino and Professor Longhair, and tells us how (and where) to sample the city’s unique music culture. Looking at this list, something becomes very obvious: it’s very Katrina heavy. 36 books — 41 voters. Following is a list of nonfiction books that focus on Katrina and that are available for Jefferson Parish Library patrons to check out. Storm Surge: A Novel of Hurricane Katrina by Ramsey Coutta. The Spanish, the French, the Native Americans, the Caribbeans: it was a complex web of influences that led to the city of New Orleans as we know it today, and they are all still very visible in the makeup of the city–if you know where to look. Confederacy of Dunces is my favorite book. Read Voodoo Queen to learn how their practices sustained a … All Rights Reserved. Coincidentally, when we were in New Orleans one of my best friends was busy starring as Blanche in her community theatre’s production of the play half a country away! 7 Nonfiction Books About Witches, Because They Aren't Just The Stuff Of Fairy Tales. Find hidden gems and get insider information on NOLA’s best restaurants, bars, attractions, and events every week. One of Kate’s novels (At Fault) is also set in New Orleans. Free of the streets that crowd the traditional city map, this approach shows the bloom of one of New Orleans greatest treasures. For more than thirty years, The Historic New Orleans Collection has been publishing books about the city and the Gulf South as part of our mission to promote the study and preservation of our region’s history and culture. Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans by Dan Baum. when: thurs.nov.12 time: 6 pm where: It has been about 10 years since I’ve tried, though, so it’s probably time to give The Sun Also Rises another chance! I must say the last thing I ever look out for when I travel are book shops as I always bring along a book with me for the flight and lounging time. is nothing if not utterly brutal: set in the 12 days leading up to Hurricane Katrina, the story is told from the perspective of children living in absolutely abject poverty, without decent parents to care for them. I carry dozens of books around with me this way, and while I miss turning pages, the flexibility, lack of weight to carry around, and ease of downloading new books on the go make it worth it. ... Infamous free women of color in 19th century New Orleans… He recommends the five books that best represent the history and culture of the city (pre- and post-Katrina). To this day, their legacy persists in New Orleans' French Quarter. “New Orleans Un-Masqued” by S. Frederick Starr. This book immediately got me into the spirit of New Orleans, because it has everything: interwoven stories, vastly diverse characters that all draw you in in their own way, a story that spans decades… and the kicker? Pauline converted an old barn on the property of her parents home in Piggott to a studio for Hemingway to write in. Amazon.com New Releases: The best-selling new & future releases in Nonfiction. No, not everyone was happy about this (or that women–especially women of color–were participating in dressing up for Mardi Gras at all). We’re full-time travel bloggers who have been exploring the world since May 2016, visiting nearly 50 countries across 5 continents since. I’m hoping you might help with a search for a NEW book that caught my eye very briefly recently, as I was passing through a bookstore quickly (no time to stop). Franklin Adams, a long-time Tulane professor and one of this region’s most renowned artists, illustrated the book, and his images provide a memorable accompaniment to Starr’s words. This is the bookstore that Anne Rice used to use to do all of her book signings when she lived in the Garden District, which is actually a bit hard to imagine–this is probably the lightest, brightest, and most modern bookstore of all the ones we visited! That is such a huge list and I would definitely love to visit New Orleans to follow in the footsteps of many famous authors. The Axeman of New Orleans: The True Story: Davis, Miriam C.: 9781613748688: Amazon.com: Books. Our self-led walking tour of independent bookstores in and near the French Quarter ended up being one of our favorite things to do in New Orleans! Books are the best souvenirs! I recently started purchasing books while traveling as souvenirs so will definitely keep this post in mind when I travel to New Orleans. After interviewing various residents who experienced the storm in different neighborhoods and under a range of conditions, Neufeld brings an investigative reporter’s sensibility to a seismic moment in this city’s history. War, adoption, racial identity, family–the themes of Hold It ‘Til It Hurts are both modern (the war in question is the modern war in Afghanistan) and absolutely timeless. Author Kim Marie Vaz documents the organization’s roots in the Storyville-era brothels and dance halls—it was in 1912 that a number of African American women came together with their own funds to dress and costume as “Baby Dolls”—and then shows us how this tradition spread throughout neighborhoods from Treme to Uptown, and how the Baby Doll tradition continues today. Zeitoun is a nonfiction book written by Dave Eggers and published by McSweeney's in 2009. interwoven stories, vastly diverse characters that all draw you in in their own way, a story that spans decades… and the kicker? I had no clue that there are so many books about, and set in, New Orleans. Aww I lvoe book stores … I can spend hours in them. Poppy Z Brite “gets New Orleans,” said neighbourhooduk. There are a lot of reasons for this, I think: first, Katrina thrust New Orleans into the national spotlight, meaning those books were likely to win awards and press that meant they were easier to find when I started doing my research into the best books about New Orleans. Second, I personally find the storm interesting, so those books had a tendency to catch my eye. As a professor of writing, I recently taught a course about representations of New Orleans, and it was incredible to see the different ways in which this city has been depicted through words and images—some of those texts made it to this list. He expertly weaves pages of New Orleans history through his stories of personal discovery and debauchery. It’s engaging. This nonfiction book takes a deep dive into both Marie Laveaus, a mother-daughter duo around whom gossip, rumors, and legend gathered in 19th-century New Orleans. Thanks for sharing. Two of our favorites in the world. Before heading to New Orleans, I compiled a giant list of all the best books about New Orleans with the intention of reading several of them before and during the trip. This city, as anyone who has been here knows, will never fail to elicit wonder. Well if you had to pick two bookstores to visit while traveling, those are amazing choices!! The best books on The Music of New Orleans recommended by Keith Spera. Also when I travel I always look out for book stores as I bring them as souvenirs back home. Hold it ‘Til it Hurts. Haha, you’re so right Earnest Hemingway got drunk everywhere he went but he did leave us behind some amazing works of writing. I was quite successful… but clearly, didn’t get through this many books. Two black brothers return home from a tour of duty, only to be handed the keys to finding their birth parents by their white mother–and so begins, War, adoption, racial identity, family–the themes of. Never knew about Truman or Faulkner and it is interesting to know that about New Orleans. ), you may remember us spending a whole day on Instagram Stories going on a self-led walking tour of the best independent bookstores within walking distance of the French Quarter (and we found a lot of them!). A Confederacy of Dunces (1980), John Kennedy Toole. He was very talented. Adam Thomasson agreed: “Poppy Z Brite has written many great New Orleans books. A bit of a departure from the admittedly heavy books above, Interview with a Vampire is classic New Orleans: beginning in (a clearly fictionalized, as most of the characters are vampires) 18th century New Orleans, with bounces forward in time to the modern era, the city itself comes alive as the background of the exploits of blood-drinking and night-walking Louis, Lestat, and Claudia. Hi, we’re Kate and Jeremy Storm! Since I consider myself a bookworm, I am glad you are sharing this in your blog. Colorful characters, peeks inside various subcultures, and time spent in the 1960’s, New Orleans style–that’s what Rheinhardt, the main character of. Here on Our Escape Clause, we are dedicated to helping travelers plan their adventures. In the DC Comics fictional universe, New Orleans has been given a neighboring city, St. Roch, Louisiana, serving as an occasional home to the original Hawkman and Hawkgirl. According to the authors, because there “no two people live in quite the same city”. When it comes to large-scale disasters like Hurricane Katrina, the sheer enormity of the horror can often make us forget to zero in and hear the small-scale stories that make up the much larger picture. Definitely have a look at the website. He was known early on … ), 21 Intoxicating New Orleans Quotes to Inspire Your Trip to the Big Easy, This book immediately got me into the spirit of New Orleans, because it has. In chronicling the history of the Baby Dolls, Vaz’s book is another reminder of New Orleans’ vivid and inimitable culture. I’m a big believer in preferring to see plays rather than read them, so this one is on the backburner for now–but Tennessee Williams’ famous play about Blanche DuBois remaking her life in New Orleans is definitely on my list. Today, I want to share some of the literary aspects of New Orleans: from the best books about New Orleans to the best New Orleans bookstores to add to your itinerary, here’s how to release your inner bookworm in New Orleans! Over this, the author’s have provided the location, time period, and commentary about a particular seminal contributor to New Orleans musical history: “Professor Longhair’s (1918—1980) left hand wows at Tipitina’s,” or “James Singleton (1955—) pushes boundaries on his upright at Snug Harbor.”. Favorite Pirate List. be keeping that 15-foot tall stack of books from toppling over on top of you, right? Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Later in the book, after guiding the reader on a journey from Roman Catholic Europe in the late 1400s through the various outposts of the independent Spanish and French colonial outposts, then delivering us to the burgeoning region of Louisiana, Sublette returns us to something both evocative and familiar: a chilly winter’s night in Central City where “the cigarette smoke in the packed Blueprint Lounge was even thicker than the fog outside,” and inside, “tambourines and drums thumped, as a crowded circle of people sang, ‘Ho na naaaaaaae, hooo na nae . I never thought that it would actually be a way of getting to know the local community of the place you are visiting, by browsing and buying local books. Confederacy of Dunces is quite an interesting book! Everything You Need to Know About the Crawfish Boil, Your Guide to Spring Break in New Orleans, History of the Casket Girls of New Orleans, 15 Things to Do in February in New Orleans. It’s a fascinating book. Colorful characters, peeks inside various subcultures, and time spent in the 1960’s, New Orleans style–that’s what Rheinhardt, the main character of Hall of Mirrors, finds waiting for him when he rolls up to the Big Easy. I’ll add it to my (very long) reading list. While traveling, I recommend reading on a Kindle or via the Kindle App on your phone to save space. New Orleans has an impressive literary tradition, spawning countless top-notch writers and serving as the colorful setting for classic novels like The Moviegoer by Walker Percy and A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, as well as Tennessee Williams' play A … If it happens to pass your ‘review’ of recent New Orleans-related titles, I would be VERY grateful if you could please post a reply to this blog question (or directly email! We sure try! Two black brothers return home from a tour of duty, only to be handed the keys to finding their birth parents by their white mother–and so begins Hold It ‘Til It Hurts. 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