Events from Octavia Books

Octavia Books: THE LOUISIANA COAST: Guide to an American Wetland by Gay Gomez - presentation & signing

Sunday, November 29 (2:30 pm)

Gay M. Gomez.

Please join us for a Sunday afternoon talk and book signing with Gay Gomez who has written the indespensable THE LOUISIANA COAST: : Guide to an American Wetland. With a native Louisiana naturalist as a guide, learn how best to enjoy, appreciate, and protect our fragile natural Louisiana coastal landscape. GAY M. GOMEZ is associate professor of geography at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana. A professional nature guide and longtime activist and champion for the preservation of the state’s wetlands, she has served on the board of directors for the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and the Louisiana Ornithological Society, and on the advisory board for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries’ White Lake Wetland Conservation Area.

Octavia Books: Author! Author!- Meet the Authors and Illustrator of Two Bobbies

Monday, November 30 (4:00 pm)

Kirby Larson , Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship, and Survival.

Join us in welcoming both Kirby Larson and Mary Nethery along with Jean Cassels for a signing and reception in honor of their book, Two Bobbies:A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship, and Survival! This is the first time all three will be together to discuss and sign their popular book, it will be an event not to be missed!

Octavia Books: DOGS IN MY LIFE: The New Orleans Photographs of John Tibule Mendes - Bill Lavendar, editor

Wednesday, December 2 (6:00 pm)

Bill Lavender.

Please join us for a presentation and booksigning featuring Bill Lavendar, editor of this most curious and intriguing book, DOGS IN MY LIFE: The New Orleans Photographs of John Tibule Mendes. Raised in New Orleans, John Tibule Mendes lived most of his life in a two-room house on Broad Street with his beloved mother and their dogs. Only after his death in 1965 was it discovered that this lonely and socially awkward man had spent most of his free time documenting beautiful and unusual scenes of early 20th century New Orleans. His glassplate negatives, discovered after his death in the attic of his house and published here for the first time, captured subjects typically ignored by the photographers of the era: transvestites, demolition of historic buildings, working class children playing in their yards, the mean streets of New Orleans. His photographs are exceptional from both documentary and aesthetic perspectives, presenting what could accurately be classified as photographic folk art. The collection is complimented by excerpts from his self-published autobiography, Dogs in My Life, which add Mendes' sometimes tragic, sometimes hilarious, voice to the remarkable images.

Octavia Books: Reception and Signing- Dictionary of Louisiana French

Friday, December 4 (5:30 pm)

Albert Valdman.

Join us for an elegant reception celebrating the release of The Dictionary of Louisiana French. Editors will be present to answer your questions and to sign your copy of this indispensable reference book.

Octavia Books: Jessie Haas wants to rope in the kids for her new book, Horse Crazy!

Sunday, December 6 (2:00 pm)

Jessie Haas.

Join Jessie Haas for a book signing and projects from Horse Crazy! Jessie will bring in some of the crafts she's done from the book, for inspiration. Also she'll bring in baling twine, and teach kids how to make emergency rope halters. Each child will go home with her own personal piece of baling twine, fully equipped to steal a pony of her own. Bring in horse models or even stuffed horses. Jessie will provide yarns, and you and she can make halters for the toy horses. And there will be a lesson on drawing horses using some of the tricks from the book. All ages are welcome to take part.

Octavia Books: Chef David Gaus - DAMGOODSWEET: Desserts to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth, New Orleans Style

Monday, December 7 (6:00 pm)

David Guas.

Please stop by for a tasting and booksigning with pastry chef David Guas as we celebrate his new cookbook, DAMGOODSWEET: Desserts to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth, New Orleans Style. Part memoir, part travelogue and all cookbook, DamGoodSweet transports cooks from their home kitchens into the giant dessert gumbo that is New Orleans. Beignets, Bananas Foster, Lemon Icebox Pie, Red Velvet Cake, Salted Caramels and Syrup-Soaked Sno-Balls are just a few of the sweet endings that bring David back home every time. Including 50 delicious recipes, DamGoodSweet offers David’s version of these classics and also re-introduces us to some almost lost traditons, like Calas Fried Rice Fritters, a fritter just about as popular as beignets during the 19th century. If for any reason you are unable to come to our in-store Monday evening event (or if you just want another taste), not to worry! We will be featuring Chef Guas at the Tuesday morning Crescent City Farmers Market at Uptown Square where he will give a demonstration and sign more books.

Octavia Books: Oliver Houck -- TAKING BACK EDEN: Eight Environmental Cases that Changed the World

Wednesday, December 9 (6:00 pm)

Oliver A. Houck.

"Who would have guessed that one of the most fascinating books of the year would be a discussion of environmental lawsuits from around the world?" - Denis Hayes, President, Bullitt Foundation, and National Coordinator of the first Earth Day Please join us for a talk and booksigning by distinguished Tulane University environmental law professor Oliver Houck as we celebrate the release of his new book. TAKING BACK EDEN is the saga of an idea--that ordinary people can go to court to defend their environment--told through lawsuits brought in eight countries around the world. Starting in the United States, this idea has traveled the planet at warp speed, carrying protections for threatened environments and new notions of justice and democracy as well. Author Oliver Houck describes the sites at issue in their place and time, the project promoters, the people who rose up against them, their lawyers, strategies, obstacles, setbacks, and victories. Along the way we meet Consolidated Edison, the Japanese Ministry of Construction, the agricultural juggernaut of Thessaly, the military regime of Chile, and the decaying Taj Mahal. We encounter hard-nosed fisherman, activists and dreamers, sabotage, media spectacles, a Cree Indian flotilla from northern Quebec to New York City, a lawyer in the Philippines descending by helicopter to arrest an illegal logging ship, a woman who dared sue the Russian state, and a colleague killed on the doorstep of his home. These legal actions, largely spontaneous, brought in the days before the Internet and without communication among them, created a new brand of public rights and hope for a more sustainable world. After them, there is no turning back. "Oliver Houck is a most unusual law professor: he writes with wit and even humor but also great brilliance and compassion. Read him and learn." - Mark Hertsgaard, author of EARTH ODYSSEY: Around the World In Search of Our Environmental Future

Octavia Books: You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?! by Jonah Winter -- readin/signing

Thursday, December 10 (4:00 pm)

Jonah Winter , You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?!.

Please join Octavia Books at the New Orleans Jewish Community Center for a booksigning & reading with children's book author Jonah Winter featuring his delightful and colorful picture book, You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?!

Octavia Books: Science Fiction Book Club- Sparrow by Mary D. Russell

Saturday, December 12 (10:30 am)

Mary Doria Russell , The Sparrow.

Join our Science Fiction bookclub for what is sure to be a thought-provoking discussion of this month's selection, Sparrow.

Octavia Books: Santa

Sunday, December 13 (2:00 pm)

Chris Van Allsburg , The Polar Express.

Santa is coming to the Bookloft for the 1st time. He will be here Sunday December 14th and will host a very special reading of "The Polar Express" at 2:45pm by the fireplace for the kids. You can meet personally with Santa and take pictures. So come all for a perfect afternoon with Santa

Octavia Books: The Sound of Kwanzaa - signing w/children's book illustrator Lisa Cohen

Saturday, December 19 (2:00 pm)

Dimitrea Tokunbo.

Join us for a special afternoon as one of our most talented New Orleans-based children's book illustrators returns to Octavia Books to sign THE SOUND OF KWANZAA. Come close, gather round, and discover what Kwanzaa is all about.

Octavia Books: Author Signing- Historic Photos of New Orleans Jazz by Tom Morgan

Monday, December 21 (1:30 pm)

Tom Morgan.

Join us for a signing of Historic Photos of New Orleans Jazz, a beautiful coffee table book that celebrates such a uniquely New Orleanian tradition.

Octavia Books: Science Fiction Book Club- Eifelheim by Michael Flynn

Saturday, January 9 (10:30 am)

Michael Flynn , Eifelheim.

Join our Science Fiction Book Club in the new year for their discussion of 2010's first pick, Eifelheim!

Octavia Books: Octavia Books Book Club- Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Saturday, January 16 (10:30 am)

Charles Dickens , Bleak House.

Join our Book Club as they discuss a classic, Charles Dickens' novel, Bleak House.

Octavia Books: Science Fiction Book Club- Transmigration of Timothy Archer by Philip K Dick

Saturday, February 13 (10:30 am)

Philip K. Dick , The Transmigration of Timothy Archer.

Our Science Fiction Book Club meets this month to discuss The Transmigration of Timothy Archer by influential novelist, Philip K. Dick. Join them for coffee and scintillating conversation!