Baton Rouge Books

The four books we ordered are faithful reproductions of the original published many years ago.

I first bought this cookbook over 27 years ago during a trip through Louisiana after I first got married and it is the most worn cookbook in my extensive collection. It absolutely is one of the best cookbooks I have ever used!

Lots of truly tasty traditional Louisiana recipes. All recipes are simple enough for the complete novice to serve up food like a pro. I've used this book for years and have never been disappointed in any recipe.

I am from the South. Cooking is a hobby and I collect cookbooks. I have had this book for about 30 years. In my opinion, this is the best all around Southern cookbook you can buy. In addition, it contains the best Creole recipes.

When I look through a cookbook, the first thing I check is that the ingredients are correct. It is amazing how wrong some can be. This cook book sets the standard.

There are about 3 later editions of this book which are good, but they do not compare to this, the original.

You will be more successful if you can try an authentic Creole dish before you try to make one yourself. That way you will know what you are aiming for.

I always go here first when I'm looking for something new, and many of our family's favorite recipes are in this book. I've given countless copies as gifts, which are always appreciated once the recipients start trying out the recipes. We discovered this treasure when my sister went to LSU years ago (we lived in Connecticut at the time), and have been grateful ever since. We also use all of the subsequent River Road editions.

Yes, you have to read "Theophil Magus in Baton Rouge" - a masterpiece made up of 101 haiku. I do not know too many novelists to be a great poet, an outstanding haijin (haiku creator) like Leonard Oprea. His work is so simple, so profound, so universal, briefly, so genius. Just try to read it and you will be totally charmed. I advice every friend of the great literature to own this book.

Great poetry finds truth, witnesses beauty, and gives life meaning. "Theophil Magus in Baton Rouge, A Haiku Novel" does all of these things.

Oprea doggedly transcends a spiritual and aesthetic abyss and challenges his readers to seek beauty, hope, and freedom. By using the simple formula of haiku, this newly immigrated Romanian author simultaneously crushes both linguistic and spiritual barriers with random natural images from everyday experience. The poet finds true solace in nature, divinity in the sky's colors, grace in the songs of birds, and objectifies anger, frustration, and alienation. His lines take us around the LSU lakes in Baton Rouge, under Spanish moss-draped live oaks, to New Orleans' French Quarter in search of a new spiritual home, almost as if he is on a mission to find the very soul of the American South.

His expectations of what one should find in the "promised land" should not be taken as dissatisfaction, but as a reminder of what should be found. Singing with the downtrodden, oppressed, and misfortunate, Oprea's haiku reminds us that beauty and hope must be steadily pursued, perceived, and seized in the here and now.

Ricky Rees

In his THEOPHIL MAGUS IN BATON ROUGE, Mr. Leonard Oprea has done a Wonderful job of capturing ones imagination and taking you to higher grounds. I found myself immersed in more ways than one. When your busy schedule permits find a quiet comfortable place and enjoy. Great Work!

"... sadness smokes my empty soul... tremor of water... the old road's splendor..." This poetic work of wondering and wandering pays tribute to the author's depth of feeling and insight into a world both alien to him and even lost to itself. Both melancholy yet at the same time punctuated by a lonely hope and a sense of an underlying, spiritual narrative, Mr. Oprea brilliantly paints a tale (whether intended as a tale or not)of pilgrimage, sorrow, and quiet grandeur that lives not just in Baton Rouge, but perhaps beneath all things in all places. "Theophil Magus in Baton Rouge" is astounding and beautiful. I recommend it highly.

Leonard Oprea's haiku novel is a reflection of his emotions experienced in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In short but powerful sentences Leonard Oprea creates a peaceful yet complex image of his beginning a new life. He came to this place as an adult but I could sense in his writing the wonder of a child discovering things for the first time.
I find Leonard's haiku novel very fascinating and I enjoyed reading it very much.

I have all of the River Road books and this one is the best of the series. It is not only beautiful, with colorful picture, but it has a durable hard cover to sustain a long life. I can't wait to try the wonderful recipes inside.

This is my new favorite cookbook. Everything I have made from it has been wonderful. I especially love the recipes for crawfish pie, pecan praline bacon and spinach salad sandwiches. Plus it is a beautiful book. This is a must for all Southern cooks!

I came into this marriage with a husband who had his own river road cookbooks. And a mother-in-law on the committee.... (who hates to cook- guess???) and I LOVE the first, despite the plastic comb, like the second, really appreciated the 3rd, (but healthy and cookbook don't go that well together), and this is a beauty.

I LOVE the hardback, killer format. The photos, and ESPECIALLY the stories. But come on you guys, it is starting to really LOSE the regional flavor that made the first so great. And ASIAN??? I mean, yes, you can get great Asian food almost anywhere now, but I buy regional cookbooks for the regional flair- thus knocked off one of the stars...

what I REALLY WANT to see is a 'BEST OF RIVER ROAD' with all the glitz of the last cookbook, and all the HEFT (number of regional recipes, I have enough Lasagna thanks very much) of the first.... PLEASE

This new River Road Recipes is absolutely beautiful! The pictures are gorgeous and the text reads like a Louisiana traveloge. The recipes are new and current but still reflect the types of food people like to eat in Louisiana. Not the same old gumbo recipes but no weird ingredients you have to look up either. We are loving it.

This is a truly wonderful cookbook. It looks beautiful, is laid out well, and most importantly, has lots of terrific recipes. The recipes are not difficult, the ingredients are generally easy to find, and yet they all have that special flare that great southern cooks are known for. I'm buying a second copy to give to my sister-in-law. It is a great addition to your cookbooks and makes a great gift.

This book has become a staple for my at home daily cooking. The Breakfast Casserole and the Lemon Squares are particularly good. This cookbook will serve as an outstanding guide for anyone who is intersted in adding the delicious flavor of Louisiana cuisine to their everyday meals!

I got this cookbook as a gift, and so far the recipes have been easy to follow! My family loves the Banana Nut Bread on page 58 any time of the day. I was afraid the recipes would all be too spicy, but they were yummy! I am going out to buy River Roads Recipes III this week.

When I say that this cookbook is one of my favorites, topped only by Talk About Good, that is saying a lot. I have found myself pulling this off of my mother's shelves after she has 'borrowed it'.

When I got this as a gift from my Sister In Law, I didn't know what a treat I was in for. Thank you!

The recipes are fairly easy to prepare and the results turn out great meals.

My only issue with any cajun cooking is that it sometimes calls for those Louisiana type of ingredients that are hard to get anywhere else but Louisiana (tasso for example!)

Having lived in New Orleans for 8 years, I acquired a taste for the unbelievable food there. In 1988, I moved away and some of the most important items to pack were my copies of the River Road cookbooks. I have just discovered my son has "borrowed" my Second Helping cookbook only to inform me it is his now. I now find myself having to reorder it as it contains so many easy to prepare and outstanding recipes. Congratulations to your contributors for a job well done.

What a perfect baby gift in support of a particular school. The Auburn parents thought it was great!!!

For your little Auburn Tiger this is the perfect book. It is sturdy and captures the AU life that you want your little one to treasure!

What an awesome book! It's a fantastic start to get my son prepared for his first year at UCLA come Fall 2024! :-)

A nice idea for a shower or new baby gift for a fellow alumnus, and a great way to start brainwashing your own child from the beginning.

I bought this for my friend's two year old daughter - we are both UW-Madison alums living in Seattle. The book has lots of photographs of various things around campus, including lessons on colors and numbers using Wisconsin-related items. Her daughter carries it around constantly saying "Bucky Badger!" and also lobes the picture of the hockey team! It is a great book for us to share our memories of Madison with her, even though we live so far away. :)

I got this book as a gift for my boyfriend. He is a serious LSU fan. He loves it. He reads parts of it to me outloud because he finds it so interesting he wants to share it with me. I don't think he has ever read a book for pleasure until now.

My dad is an LSU alumni and when I gave it to him Christmas morning he couldn't put it down. The book itself was in perfect condition when I received it.

Baseball in Baton Rouge, like Bielawa's other Arcadia publication Bridgeport Baseball, is a rich pictorial memoir of not only the game, but of a city and its widespread association with the American pastime. Readers will enjoy learning about remarkable people, such as Moxie Manuel and surroundings, like Battle Park, that have defined Baton Rouge's long outstanding history in baseball. Little known facts and pictures uncovered from hours of research and personal interviews, as well as the knowledge and documentation that many famous ballplayers have traveled through Baton Rouge, make this a truly enjoyable read for every baseball fan!

I highly recommend this book and LSU grad Chris Warner's "A Tailgater's Guide to SEC Football"

Both are must-haves for the die-hard LSU fan.

This was truly an uplifting, heartwarming book. It made me laugh and cry as I could relate the author's true stories to my own life and marriage. This book is not just for couples struggling with infertility problems, but a must read for every woman. It was highly inspirational and rejuvenated my Faith-definitely a lily to me.

thumbed thru this great book at Barns and Noble and was hoping it would be less expensive on the net. I knew Prof. Carleton and took his history class at LSU. The book "The River" is seriously the best I have seen considering the real history of Baton Rouge as I know it to be. All of the "recent" characters that are noted are real to me. Mr. Lloyd Collett was my neighbor back in the 50's when he first invisioned the company that he founded. United Companies was born on Eugene Street in the 50's and has blown into a mega company. Others noted in the book are just as acurate to my knowledge and I've known them all at one time or the other. It feels like my history in this city - from 1942 to present. Prof. Carleton was in command of a wealth of history regarding this area - politically and otherwise. I wish he had not been taken at such an early age. The pictures are beyond great. Have one for me Tom - wherever you are.