Louisiana Books

Real Cajun style cooking! It has great recipes along with great stories behind the recipes. A must have for the Cajun Style lovers.

by Peggy Fallon, author Ice Cream and Frozen Desserts DK Publishing, 2007
This book travels between my nightstand--where I enjoy Terri's thoughtfully written prose and stories of her colorful family--to my kitchen, where I revel in her detailed recipes for fried chicken, grits, and gumbo. Lots of good food here, and I recommend this book to anyone interested in authentic Cajun cuisine.

Recipes are easy to follow and use ingredients easily found stocked in everyday grocery stores and personal kitchens. An added bonus was the personal angle of the stories about the originators of the recipes. There is gentle humor and good advice on almost every page. Best of all, the several recipes I tried not only looked good, but tasted wonderful. This book is NOT about burning your taste buds with "hot and spicy" but enjoying flavor bursting tastes. The book is everything I hoped for in a Cajun cookbook. I agree with the book reviewers!

The opening wording on the flyleaf of this book expresses a couple of points better than I can. 'When most people think of Cajun cooking, they thing of blackened redfish (or blackened nearly anything else) or, maybe, gumbo.'

No, blackened meats and a bunch of other dishes are the creation of New Orleans chefs preparing foods for the tourists. Note, I'm not saying that I don't like these dishes, they just aren't the kinds of foods that I grew up with in the swamps of South Louisiana.

This book talks about the kinds of things we really ate. We had things like etouffee, shrimp boil, jambalaya. Just like she says. But then I do find a few points with which I disagree.

For instance on page 225 she says that they usually use quick grits, which cook in just a few minutes, rather than stone-ground or old-fashioned grits, which take up to an hour to cook. The stone-ground are delicious, but very difficult to find outside of the South.

Terrible, terrible, sacrilege. Go on the web and you can find lots of places that sell 'real' grits. Just substitute them for her recipies that use grits. Incidentally I highly recommend her Baked Spicy Cheese Grits, page 223. Her recipie is a bit different than mine, I put in a bit of spicy sausage. She puts in eggs. You might also want to try varying the types of cheese you use: blue cheese is good, so is Velveeta. Try this at a pot luck, you'll be surprised at the result.

Try some of her Gumbos.

Try a lot of her recipies, you'll be glad you did.

Reading this book is like having a beautiful dream. Its one of the books I will never move without and I've read it over and over again.

Its a fairy tale but it is also an examination of why we tell fairy tales and the delicate importance of them in our lives.

Are you a recovering someone? In the Dutch Mountains is a spell-binding tale of love lost, redemption, and reconciliation. Cees Nooteboom weaves a story from the view of Tiburon, a Spanish engineer, in the same fashion that he presents his narrative of travels across central Spain in Roads to Santiago. A must read.

This novel has all traits of Cees Nooteboom's oeuvre - a lot of ideas, concepts and insights compressed in a slim volume, several levels of narrative, exquisite composition, excellent language (kudos also to translator).But some enigmatic quality of story makes its gist elusive and even criptic and any interpretation only relative. It is a fairy tale told by Alfonso Tiburon, a Spanish engineer, so we have at least two levels of narrative: a fairy tale per se and some thoughts of its author concerning literature and life. Both levels are rather uncomplicated apart: retold 'Snow Queen' with addition of Plato's concept of androgynes and some facts of Triburon's life with addition of his literary and philosophical opinions. The mystery appears when you peruse both levels simultaneously, and here Cees Nooteboom is at his best. Tiburon starts his tale with perfect beauty and perfect happiness (a perfect man Kai, a perfect woman Lucia and their perfect love) and promises to finish it with them. The beginning of the fairy tale resembles Andersen's story: Kai is abducted by Snow Queen, Lucia undertakes his quest. But this story 'happened not so very long ago' and the world seriously changed since Andersen's days. Today 'Snow Queen' is just a nickname of mob female bellwether, today perfect people can't keep their innocence and perfection any more. Kai becomes a silent lover of his cool mistress and, at the same time, a chauffeur during gang inroads. All this is at least motivated and justified by his painful eye. Lucia falls a prey to some lecherous wandering preacher and achieves a total blank in his embraces without any intrusion of splinted glass. But a fairy tale has its own laws that differ it from a real life. Some external events but not internal fortitude mend the situation. And now Lucia recommences her search leaving behind her new lover. A feeble ghost of Andersen's courageous heroine, she only dreams of robbers, of reindeer, of a girl with a knife. Happy end is a law of fairy tales: Kai and Lucia reunites again but where are promised perfect beauty and perfect happiness. The happy 'ever after' exists only in words (or in longing) but not in reality. There were love lost and some kind of reconciliation. But there was no real redemption and so there is no real perfection. Is a human being so weak today, is he/she powerless to face the evil of the world? In last chapter Tiburon recalls his childhood, the time when a child sees 'the brave new world' without its shortcomings. And previously, somewhere in the middle of the novel, he told us that the author who writes fairy tales distorts reality. 'It is, after all, possible that distortions may make something clear about form'. Nooteboom's opinion concerning modern world is far from optimistic. But nevertheless he believes that Kai and Lucia can be happy together after their ordeal. But a way to new perfect happiness will not be so short and easy as it was in the fairy tale. A wonderful novel!

In the Dutch Mountains began as a story with the title The Snow Queen. It was intended to be filmed but the film was never made. Based on the Hans Christian Andersen story, it pays homage to Andersen openly.

The Snow Queen is one of Andersen's most remarkable tales; a plea for the precious uniqueness of childhood, an appeal against the premature induction of the child into rationality. Little Kai is stolen by the Snow Queen and kept captive in her castle in the cold and snowy North. His faithful playmate, Gerda goes in search of him and after many adventures and tribulations she arrives, borne on the back of a reindeer, at the Snow Queen's great hall of ice.

Here, she finds Kai, blue with cold, playing an endless solitary game, trying to fit shards of ice together like puzzle pieces. Gerda's warm tears melt the ice around Kai's heart and he is freed from the Snow Queen's spell.

In Nooteboom's version, Kai and Gerda become Kai and Lucia, a beautiful, happy couple who share a life and make a living as illusionists for the theater. In their act, Kai blindfolds Lucia and holds up an object before her, which she then "sees." This couple is of one mind and their serene perfection is continually compared to the reunited halves of a self that, as in the fable of Plato's Symposium, has been split in two.

This happiness and oneness arouses the jealousy of a mysterious femme fatale, who has Kai kidnapped and whisked off to her own castle. There she keeps him in thrall, obliterating his memories of Lucia while subjecting him to her lust. For this coldly beautiful mistress, Kai feels a mixture of both fear and desire.

Near the end of this story the novelist-narrator, who by this point is indistinguishable from Nooteboom, himself, gets entangled in a debate about truth and fiction tinged with shades of Plato, Milan Kundera and Hans Christian Andersen. "Why," asks the narrator, "do I have this irrepressible desire to fictionalize, to tell lies?" "From unhappiness," answers Andersen. "But you are not unhappy enough. That's why you can't bring it off."

This is the most penetrating self-insight in this novel, which, like the rest of Nooteboom's fiction, is as much about its own processes and raisons d'être as it is about the fictitious activities of its characters. Despite contortions of self-reflexiveness that in another writer (Samuel Beckett, for instance) might give rise to agonies of the spirit, Nooteboom and his narrator-atavars seem far too urbane, too cosmopolitan and too much at home in the world to genuinely suffer. This is Nootebooms particular affliction as a writer: perhaps he is just too intelligent, too sophisticated, too cool, to be able to commit himself to the grand illusion of fiction.

At one of its most reflexive levels, Nooteboom's fiction has, of necessity, been about a search for a level of emotion that can be carried over undiminished into literary creativity. In the Dutch Mountains, Andersen's diagnosis turns out to be correct: for all the wit, for all the insight into self and its fictions, for all the elegance of style, there is finally just not enough raw emotion to drive the story forward.

i appreciated that the book ordered arrived the day before christmas, even though it was estimated to arrive on the 26th.

I really enjoyed reading this book. You can tell the authors are really passionate about what they do!

From the proprietors of the legendary Commander's Palace in New Orleans, Ti Adelaide Martin and Lally Brennan, comes this fascinating and fun guide to the world of classic cocktails. From Margaritas to Caipirinhas, and from Sazerac to the Sidecar, this handy guide includes all of the secret recipes that you'll need to make your next cocktail party a blast. Don't miss it!

A delightful read as well as useful cocktail recipes. Also, if you love New Orleans, you'll love the many stories that tie the cocktail to the history and allure of the City.

Donna Schaff's Just One Kiss is an entertaining romance novel of a man and a woman who simply don't care for each other in the beginning - but with passing time and new challenges, each finds the courage love again. At different times warm, contradictory, or philosophical, Just One Kiss is a thoughtful, passionate, highly recommended presentation of stubborn personalities and heartfelt sentiment.

Once again Ms. Schaff has done it again. As with her first book "Priceless" everytime I put it down I was drawn back to it. I just had to find out what was going to happen next. I found the non-rushed pace of the "budding romance" refreshing. I mostly enjoyed the author's sense of humor. Although I am not a big reader of romance I most definitely will continue to look for Ms. Schaff's work and am eagerly awaiting her next venture.

Ms. Schaff has done it again! Like her first book, Priceless (which was a RITA finalist for Best First Book), this is one you can't put down. Just One Kiss is wonderful. This author has a magical story-telling ability; she delivers adventure and passion in a superbly paced, emotional tale of two people, each with their own painful secrets. They don't like each other in the beginning; they clash, they try to out-manuever each other, yet they're destined to become lovers. Ms. Schaff creates heart-breaking, memorable characters who play off one another beautifully, with wit and humor and deep emotion. In my opinion, she's one the best historical romance writers in the genre. I can't wait for the next book!

Absolutely fantastic! Ms. Schaff's first book "Priceless" was wonderful, and she has definitely exceeded my expectations in "Just One Kiss"! Ms. Schaff's ability to effectively build tension, anxiety, and excitement culminated in the best historically-based romance novel I have ever read. I finished this book in one day because it is so hard to put down. Now I'm reading it a second time and I am thoroughly enjoying every word. I cannot wait for the next one! Keep writing Ms. Schaff, for you certainly have that talent.

Two years ago today I was in New Orleans, gutting houses for Habitat for Humanity. My son, my brother, his son and I were there for several weeks, and got to see first-hand what the aftermath of Katrina was like. It's similar to childbirth: until you've experienced it first hand, the full impact doesn't really hit you. I had seen the photos and the footage, but as we drove through the 9th Ward on the day we first arrived, I realized NOTHING had prepared me for what I was seeing in front of me, that day, June 18, 2006. It didn't seem as if we were still in America - it was more like being in the aftermath of a war zone in some other country. The wide streets, empty and silent; the school-bus-sized piles of what had been the entire contents of a family's home; the stench that lay over everything (this came from the refrigerators stuffed with food and rotten water: "Katrina Soup", my brother called it). And in the trees that were still upright, if you looked closely, you could see where strands of Mardi Gras beads still hung from people having thrown them up there, in celebration, over a year and a half ago. The book was so brilliant - his photographs bring it all back to me in vivid relief. The one that affected me the most was the one of the shrimp boat sitting at the end of the street. My brother took me to see that same boat the first night we were in New Orleans, and I visited it several times after. And his descriptions - !! The heat, the isolation, the fear, and the adventure of what he was living. God bless his friends and family for saving his e-mails and urging him to publish them. This book is an absolute treasure.

David Spielman's book is both awesome and emotionally jarring. It's as close as one can come to experience Katrina without having been there.

I evacuated, returned to my own Uptown neighborhood eight weeks after the storm... and after just now looking at David's book I'm seeing it all over again. And, I'm seeing things I've never seen (Six Flags under 20+ feet of water). The emails walk you through what it was really like, the photos are reminders of what happened to this American city. All Americans should see these unique photos, this unique perspective, as we continue to try and fathom what happened here. This is the perfect presentation. I don't live in New Orleans anymore for a million reasons... but these photos take me 'home' again, and this is a book you will show your friends for years to come.

Mr. Spielman's approach in presenting the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is excellent. He guides the reader, using photography, to relate the sequences of events in a very clear, realistic and poignant way, especially, on his photograph depicting the sick and the poor waiting for medical services in a cold morning in Audubon Park in December nearly three months after Hurricane Katrina made landfall. showing a Third World situation inside the world's most advanced and richest country. All because of bureaucratic red tape and FEMA inability to handle a catastrophy of such magnitude.

Dennis Covington is a genius. I have read this novel almost three times now and with each new reading I find more layers to the story. Covington weaves a fantasticly strange story with bizzare characters that is very difficult to criticize.

Although the story itself is one we've all read before-- the coming of age of Lucius "Lizard" Sims is so fascinating that it will keep many wanting more to read. There are not enough good things I can say about this novel. It should be required reading in all schools.

I liked this book a lot, but it wasn't at all what I expected. It made me a little uncomfortable because I felt like I was listening in on the authors thoughts. This particularly unnerved me because Dennis Covington was my teacher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. I was lucky to be in his class during the publication of his book Salvation on Sand Mountain. I recommend reading that book too. You may have seen him on DATELINE NBC regarding his "snake handling" Sand Mountain topic. Regarding Lizard, if you're familiar with Birmingham, AL many of the landmarks will be familiar to you. Also, he is a nice man and a dedicated writer. Other books that may be of interest...Vicki Covington (his wife) has written several very good books

When I read this book I was in 6th grade (I'm in 8th now), And this is the only book I can truely look back on and say I could visualize the colorful, inventive characters, And that I truely enjoyed the story and was amazed that such good books truely existed. This is an amazing book, And I highly recommend it to anyone going through a remotely tough time, Because no matter what Lucius Sims always had hope for the better.

Lizard Lizard is Lucius Sims, a boy that is sent to the Leesville School for Retarded Boys probably because of what he looks like. Lizard has no idea who his mother is, the only person he can relate to is Miss Cooley who tells him that his father died the same year that he was born. Soon a man by the name of Callahan but in disguise as Simonetti comes to Lizard claiming that he is his father. When Lizard finally manages to escape the school he meets the rest of Callahan's actors. They head for the north and camp out in the woods at night. This is were Lizard meets two black kids that live in a pump house. Sammy is not a very good host but his sister seems to understand Lizard, so much that she trusts Lizard to sell their most valuable possession, a mysterious silver bowl that is very precious to both Sammy and Rain. Lizard then heads farther north with the actors to perform The Tempest by William Shakespeare. Lizard must somehow get back to Sammy and Rain and try to continue his endless search for his mother... This book, had strong emotions hidden beneath the words of the main characters like Lizard, Callahan or Sally. Even though there might not seem to be anything interesting in a boy trying to get to the woods, the author fills the book with little "goodies" that keep you interested all the way. The work that this author has given to the development of the characters is extraordinary, especially Lizard. If you haven't read this book then read it. It might change the way you think about retarded boys and maybe lizards also.

This is a travel guide for people whose priorities are food, beverage and the social order of eating out. Though centered in New Orleans, it also lists valuable food resources throughout the cajun country of Southern Louisiana. The book is well laid out, features excellent maps and gives the reader a wonderful feel for the local vernacular. Most pages feature great color photographs. Best of all for the traveler afoot, its small size allows you to slip it into a jacket pocket or purse.

I have really enjoyed this book and the way it was written. The author gives you history, science, culture, restaurant recommendations, recipes and other local "need to know info" that will be helpful as you mosey around Louisiana looking for good food.

I am originally from south Louisiana and would highly recommend this book to anyone visiting or even to someone living in the state.

Pableaux is my cousin. As I read through my copy, I jumped to the 'Biscuit Torture', 'Keeper of the Nog', and my grandmother's quiet relishing of a homegrown tomato and a 'pinch' of salt. It was like going back in time and savoring it all over again. I'm not writing because he's my cousin, I'm writing because this book is a great read. I have purchased it for nine friends in the Chicago area. It is informative and concise as well. Great job paul...

This is the travel guide for those whose preferences include food, beverage and the social order of eating with others. No hotel listings or must sees for the ordinary tourist. Though centered in New Orleans, the book also includes valuable food resources throughout the cajun country of Southern Louisiana. Great photos make this a nice souvenir or even a gift for the armchair tourist. It also has great maps and sense of the local vernacular. It's small size makes it easy to stash in a pocket or purse for the traveller afoot.

I LOVED this book!! I thought the author captured life as it really was in Baton Rouge, La. in the mid '50's!! And,yes, as your reveiwer said, it sounds like "Pleasantville", and it was, except for those who were trapped in mental illness!! Her contrasts of those who were allowed to "run free" and those who had "special needs" is really the heart of this compelling and heartwarming story!! She portrayed this loving, once happy family who was torn apart through ignorance and fear, and the GOD-AWFUL SOCIAL OUTCAST horror,in a loving and yet painful way!! And, yeh, folks, that's the WAY IT WAS in So. LA in the 1950's!!! NO ONE was mentally ill!! NO ONE committed suicide!! At least in "nice" families!! Thanks to Ms. Lawrence for helping us remember that maybe some of our "old thoughts" and values aren't quite so CORRECT anymore, and that those of us from this Faulkner-esque mentality from the South should re-think it. I have to give her many thanks for her portrayal of the mental institution and long-time care facility in Livingston Parish that I THINK she is speaking of in this book!! If not, then many thanks to her anyway for bringing a long-time problem to light!! A 60yr old reader from CT who grew up in Hammond, LA.

I can't believe this is the same book that the editorial reviewers so rudely panned! The story was riveting and very well written. I can't remember the last time a book affected me so deeply. I picked it up off the new book shelf at the library on Saturday morning and finished it in tears Saturday night. The characters are still with me as I write this on Monday morning. I highly recommend it.

I picked this book up at my local library without much hope of entertainment -- which is why, after all, most of us read in the first place. Sure we hope to be enlightened, but in the end the book has to be in some way enjoyable otherwise any truth becomes insufferable. But this book and these characters held my attention. Lawrence manages to mingle heartbreak and hope in a way that is neither absorbingly heartbreaking nor neatly hopeful. One of the reviewers noted a "stilted" style. I found the style a terrific reflection of the main character's stunted development, and in any case, it isn't an affectation, just a subtle quality that denotes the trauma Bonita faces as she carries on her life in the face of family secrets and family burdens. Overall, a good read from a writer of great promise.

After reading some of the critics' comments (as opposed to customer reviews), I have to wonder if the same book was released to the public as was sent to the press. I found Carole Lawrence's novel far from `stilted' and `hackneyed' - I thought it a well-written story, one that is both entertaining on the surface and potentially eye-opening for those who have not had the experience of dealing with people affected by mental illnesses. Reading this book is an experience that could very well lead the reader to a greater understanding and empathy for those of us among us who are touched by mental disease and disability - and allow them to be treated more like human beings and less like freaks.

The cruelty perpetrated on Mary Gabriel in this novel - not only by the neighborhood children and her classmates, but by well-meaning but ignorant and prejudiced adults as well - is hard to watch, but it's unfortunately not too far-fetched. `Kids can be cruel' is the excuse too often mouthed by those who would just as soon ignore the problem when it arises - but there is a lot of guilt bubbling under the surface of the Gabriel family, and it causes a lot of harm when it's ignored, or when it's dealt with in an inappropriate manner.

Dr. Gabriel is like many physicians of his day - suspicious of psychiatrists, seeing them as out to steal the patients of general practitioners and place the blame for the mental illness of children on the shoulders of the parents. Dr. Landry, the psychiatrist who lives across the street from the Gabriels, is firmly ensconced in the professional beliefs of the day (the 1950s), and holds firm that Mary's mental illness is a direct result of a lack of proper attention by her mother. Medical professionals today believe that schizophrenia and other mental disorders are caused by chemical imbalances in the brain, some of which might be hereditary. Ironically, Dr. Landry's pronouncement that Mary's mother is to blame for her daughter's disease is - somewhat obliquely - pointing in the right direction. However, suggesting that Mrs. Gabriel's mothering skills - or lack thereof - are to blame for her daughter's condition placed an unbearable amount of guilt on the shoulders of the mother.

Dr. Gabriel himself is not much more help. Eager to keep Mary's problems `within the family', he lays far too much of the burden of her care on the shoulders of Bonita, her older sister. The effect of this on Bonita is shattering - when something bad happens to Mary, she feels like it's her fault, that she's let both Mary and her family down. This guilt piles higher and higher within her until it wreaks its havoc on her own psyche - it's a sad but inevitable result of placing too much inappropriate responsibility on a child.

The author utilizes two time planes in relating the story. One of them is told in the first person by Bonita, and is set in the present day. The other is told in the third person, set in the 1950s, when Bonita and Mary were children. Even though the 1950s portion of the story is told in the third person, the author skillfully - and wisely - gives these chapters the voice and innocent outlook of a child. The time frames alternate from chapter to chapter very effectively, allowing the reader to follow events in the present day and understand what has happened in the past that shapes them. The characters are fully developed - and the author has treated the character of Mary Gabriel with incredible respect and love. She is believably depicted as a schizophrenic patient, and the scenes involving her as a child are heartbreaking - but she is never treated as a caricature, never ridiculed by the story (although she suffers several indignities from other characters). She comes across as her own `whole' person - and it's easy for the reader to understand how much people like her deserve more dignity than they receive in this world.

The tension in the story - both parts of it - builds nicely. I thought I could see where the 1950s story was headed, but some clever (and completely plausible) twists by the author surprised me nicely. The part of the present-day story wherein Bonita comes to terms with her sister's condition at last, and recognizes the place they have in each other's lives, is particularly moving.

This is a book that could be valuable to mental health caregivers - maybe not the doctors themselves, but those who meet the day-to-day needs of mental patients. It's also a very entertaining read for the general consumer.

and it was very good. I have read so many bad romance novels recently and this one was well written and definitly in a league of its own. The book was very unpredictable too - I liked all the twists and turns. I highly recommend it.

I very much enjoyed this story. I liked the different approach of Cyrene seeking to get rid of her virginity and what that did to her. The relationshipe between Cyrene and Rene and the mystery as to who he really was and his purpose kept me reading. The authors way of telling the love/sex scenes was very poetic which was touching and moving. I highly recomend the reading of this book. It's one of the best I have read.

In this story, Jennifer Blake introduces us to French Louisianna in which French politics, smuggling, and betrayal come together in the New World. Two people from opposite sides of this spectrum come together, daring to fall in love. A lovely story for any Jennifer Blake fan.

Once again Jennifer Blake, one of Americans Best Historical Romance Writers brings the South to life in this "Hotter than a Summer night on the Bayous Of Louisiana.... Louisiana Dawn is a well written book on true romance with a passion for love without a lot of nonsense. I highly recommend this one to all of Jennifer Blake's fans new ones or for those who had been around while......

I am in a custody fight with my son's father. I truly believe that following the advice in Mr. Rue's book will help me win the custody battle. The guide also stresses that it is important to always act as a good parent.

Although this book is designed for clients, this is an excellent guide for lawyers who generally do not practice in the family law arena.

This divorce handbook has given me tremendous understanding on what I should expect and am experiencing in my custody -visitation case. I also have been supplied with important information to assist me in making sure that the child support payments are fair. This book is like having a second lawyer.

Louisiana Family Law Guide is the most comprehensive book that I have reviewed on divorce, custody, child support, community property, and other related issues. I have found that the advice in this book will saved money. Congratulation to Attorney Stephen Rue for a very fine contribution to those going through the divorce process. I highly recommend this book!