Family Ma Ers

Apr il / May 2012 Family Ma ers The House of Velvet and OCTAVIA BOOKS The Beginner’s ball. In Goodbye Glass ($25.99, Hyperion, 978-1- 513 Octavia Street 401-34091-9), Katherine Howe New Orleans, LA 70115 Crippled in his right arm and weaves together meticulous 504-899-READ (7323) leg, Aaron spent his childhood period detail, intoxicating octaviabooks.com fending off a sister who wants to romance, and a fi nal shocking [email protected] manage him. So when he meets twist that will leave you breathless. Dorothy, a plain, outspoken, self- STORE HOURS dependent young woman, she is like Carry the One Open 10 am - 6 pm a breath of fresh air. Unhesitatingly In the hours following Carmen’s wedding reception, a car Monday - Saturday he marries her, and they have a fi lled with stoned, drunk, and sleepy guests accidentally Sunday 12 Noon - 5 pm relatively happy, unremarkable marriage. Aaron works hits and kills a girl on a dark, country road. For the next in the family’s publishing business, turning out titles that twenty-fi ve years, those involved, including Carmen and her presume to guide beginners through the trials of life. brother and sister, connect and disconnect and reconnect But when a tree crashes into their house and Dorothy is with each other and their victim through friendships and killed, Aaron questions his own existence. Only Dorothy’s love affairs, marriage and divorce, parenthood, holidays, unexpected appearances from the dead help him begin and the modest tragedies and joys of ordinary days. In to fi nd a way to say goodbye. Anne Tyler subtly explores Carry the One ($25, Simon & Schuster, 978-1-451-63688-8), loss and recovery, and pierces it throughout with humor, Carol Anshaw shows how one life affects another and how wisdom, and a penetrating look at human foibles in The those who thrive and those who self-destruct are closer to Beginner’s Goodbye ($24.95, Knopf, 978-0-307-95727-6). each other than we’d expect. Deceptively short and simple Avail. 4/3 in its premise, this novel derives its power and appeal House of Velvet and Glass from the author’s beautifully precise use of language; her sympathy for her very recognizable, fl awed characters; and Still reeling from the deaths of her mother and sister on her persuasive belief in the transforming forces of time and the Titanic three years earlier, Sibyl Allston is living a life love. Located in uptown New Orleans of quiet desperation with her taciturn father and scandal- at the corner of Octavia plagued brother in an elegant town and Laurel Streets between house in Boston’s Back Bay. Trapped in Magazine and Tchoupitoulas. a world over which she has no control, Sibyl looks for solace in the parlor of a table-turning medium. But when her brother is suddenly kicked out of Celebrating the Harvard under mysterious circumstances spirit of inde- and falls under the sway of a strange pendents and young woman, Sibyl turns for help to an 70115 Louisiana Orleans, New Street, Octavia 513 PERMIT NO. 357 NO. PERMIT the vitality of old fl ame, psychology professor Benton TN FRANKLIN, PAID our community. Derby. They soon realize that there POSTAGE U.S. may be something even more magical STD PRSRT between them than a medium’s crystal DOING OUR PART TO KEEP LOCAL FLAVORS AMERICA INTERESTING The Garden District of New Orleans The Garden District of New Orleans has enthralled residents and visitors alike since it arose in the 1830s with its stately white- columned Greek Revival mansions and double-galleried Italianate houses decorated with lacy cast iron. In The Garden District of New Orleans ($49.95, Univ. Press of Mississippi, 978-1-9341-1068-3), Spring is fi lled with reasons to be author Jim Fraiser and photographer West Freeman explore the unexpected evolution of this district and reveal how war, plagues, politics, religion, cultural confl ict, and optimistic. No wonder so many people architectural innovation shaped the incomparable Garden District. Avail. 5/1 claim it as their most favorite season. In the bookselling world, spring Madame Lalaurie: Mistress of the Haunted House also marks a few special occasions When fi re destroyed part of her home in 1834, the public was outraged to learn that —- National Poetry Month and now, behind closed doors Madame Lalaurie routinely bound, starved, and tortured her slaves. World Book Night — both happening Forced to fl ee the city, her guilt was unquestioned, and tales of her in April. actions have become increasingly fanciful and grotesque over the decades. Even today, the Lalaurie house is described as the city’s Did you know that Apollo is the god of both poetry and medicine? “most haunted” during ghost tours. Carolyn Long, a meticulous What a wonderful combination. It reminds us that reading poetry is researcher of New Orleans history, disentangles the threads of fact good for us and in our busy lives today, who doesn’t need a reminder and legend that have intertwined over the decades in her new book to take a few moments out to do something to refresh the spirit and Madame Lalaurie ($24.95, Univ. Press of Florida, 978-0-8130-3806-3). remind us of what really matters in life? April is National Poetry Themes of mental illness, wealth, power, and questions of morality in Month, so we hope you’ll choose to pick up a book of poems and read a society that condoned the purchase and ownership of other human something every day. For us, this healthy habit will continue long after beings pervade the book, lending it an appeal to anyone interested in the month has ended. Poetry is so very nourishing and very much alive. antebellum history. Long’s ability to tease the truth from the knots of sensationalism is uncanny as she draws the facts from the legend of Madame Lalaurie’s haunted house. This year, World Book Night crosses the Atlantic Ocean as the United States joins an effort fi rst started in the United Kingdom with Petrochemical America one goal — to spread the joy and love of reading. Publishers, book Combining Richard Misrach’s haunting photographs of Louisiana’s “Chemical wholesalers, and others in the book industry have made it possible Corridor” with landscape architect Kate Orff’s “Ecological Atlas” — a series of to give away tens of thousands of free books. Among the titles are speculative drawings developed through intensive research and mapping of data from The Glass Castle The Poisonwood Bible by Jeannette Walls, by Barbara the region — Petrochemical America ($80, Aperture, 978-1-5971- Kingsolver, Stephen King’s The Stand, Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite 1191-1) documents the causes of sustained environmental abuse Runner, Kate DiCamillo’s Because of Winn-Dixie, and others we’ve all along the largest river system in North America. This revelatory loved. Individuals around the country have signed up to be “givers” and collaboration depicts and unpacks the complex cultural, physical will happily give away books at shelters, prisons, food pantries, literacy and economic ecologies of a particular region along 150 miles centers, and other places. We know that books can change lives, and we of the Mississippi River, from Baton Rouge to New Orleans — hope many lives are touched — and changed — by these stories. Those an area of intense chemical production that became known as “Cancer Alley” when of us in the book community have another expectation … that word unusually high occurrences of the disease were discovered in the region. Avail. 4/30 about World Book Night will remind everyone of the value of reading. Broussard’s Restaurant & Courtyard Cookbook While well-funded technology companies spend millions of dollars Creative Creole cuisine in an elegant restaurant. Historic promoting gadgets and electronic games that compete for our time and architecture of New Orleans and a passion for life’s fi ner elements attention, we’d like the focus to be on books. come together at Broussard’s. In Broussard’s Restaurant & Courtyard For us, this spring has a slogan all its own: Cookbook ($35, Pelican, 978-1-4556-1489-9) by Ann Benoit and the Preuss family, you’ll discover delectable recipes from one of the Practice random acts of reading. city’s culinary treasures intertwined with the history of this New Orleans’ landmark. Each Celebrate spring, pick up something good to read, give books as gifts, entry provides a wine and music pairing to enhance the sensory experience. savor a poem. We thank you for understanding what it means to be a reader and for making the commitment to shop locally. Come visit Mrs. Cora’s Clothespins Octavia Books to see all of the great new books arriving each week. For Kids: What can you do with clothespins? Mrs. Cora’s Clothespins ($12, Enjoy the season! Authorhouse, 978-1-4670-3943-7) is a story by Anthony Melancon about a lady who used her clothespins for multiple things. They were assigned to various duties as if they were hired workers. They didn’t only hold her clothes on a clothesline, they kept her food fresh, held her mail on the table, were used to replace buttons on her clothes, etc. She gave life to them in her own way. Tender & Troubled Relationships Another Piece of My Heart The Healing Andi has spent much of her adult life looking for the Troubled by his wife’s disturbing mental state and perfect man, and at thirty-seven, she’s fi nally found him. concerned about a mysterious plague that is sweeping Ethan – divorced with two daughters, Emily and Sophia – is through the plantation in the pre-Civil War South, Master a devoted father and even better husband.

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