What's On Your Holiday Reading List

As the year comes to a close, it's time to look at some outstanding books published this year by Louisianians.

1. No One Knows the Son by James Cobb

2. Blink of an Eye by Rexanne Becnel

3. The Unnatural History of Cypress Parish by Elise Blackwell

4. Life in From the Heart: Seven Rules to Live By

5. Louisiana Architecture 1840-1860 by Frederic O. Daspit

6. Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson

7. The exceptional Creole Houses: Traditional Homes of Old Louisiana (Abrams) by New Orleans' John H. Lawrence, with photos by Steve Gross and Sue Daley.

8. Landsmen by Peter Charles Melman

9. Skinny Brown Dog by Kimberly Willis Holt

10. Morbid Curiosity by Deborah LeBlanc

11. The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke

12. New Orleans' Favorite Shotguns by Mary Fitzpatrick and Alex Lemann

Two fabulous cookbooks out this year were John Folse's encyclopedic tome, After the Hunt: Louisiana's Authoritative Collection of Wild Game & Game Fish Cookery, published by his Gonzales company and Crescent City Cooking: Unforgettable Recipes From Susan Spicer's New Orleans by Susan Spicer with Paula Disbrowe (Knopf), a book as fun to read and mull over as it is for its recipes.

A coffee table beauty to savor is Richard Sexton's Terra Incognita: Photographs of America's Third Coast (Chronicle Books), which captures the Gulf Coast in brilliant black and white photos.

This list only mentions a few of the wonderful Louisiana books published this year, but perusing these titles will prove once again that this state owns some of the finest literary minds around.

Book news
Betsy Miguez, reference librarian and associate professor of library science at the UL's Dupré Library, has been appointed to the American Library Association's 2009 Newbery Award Committee, which will review and evaluate children's books published in 2008. The committee bestows Newbery awards to "the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children."

Investigative journalist Ethan Brown has sold his Katrina book The Goddess and the Suicide King, according to Publisher's Weekly. The book chronicles Zackery Bowen and Addie Hall as they live in the French Quarter through Katrina and its aftermath until Bowen commits a shocking murder-suicide. The couple was featured on the front page of the New York Times for their Katrina experiences.

Acadiana resident Cheré Coen is an author under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Visit her Web site at www.LouisianaBookNews.com and write her at bacoen@cox.net.