Mother and son team publish Eunice history

    Mother and son team Alma Brunson Reed and Van Reed have teamed up again for another historical look at Eunice with “Legendary Locals of Eunice” by Arcadia Publishing.
    The authors also collaborated on “Eunice,” part of the Arcadia Publishing Images of America series. 

    Their new book features a variety of Eunice residents, from city founders and early settlers to business people, musicians, veterans and NFL football record-holder Kyries Hebert, among many others.
    The Reeds will discuss “Legendary Locals of Eunice” at noon Friday, Sept. 21, in the Louisiana Collection Room of the LSU-Eunice LeDoux Library in Eunice. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Book Sale
    The Friends of the Lafayette Parish Library Book Sale will be Monday through Thursday, Sept. 17-20, at the Heymann Convention Center Ballroom. A Friends member-only sale will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, followed by the public sale from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday.
    For those who are not members but wish to attend the first night sale, you can join the Friends of the Lafayette Parish Library at the door. The membership fee is minimal.
    To date, the Friends of the Library has donated $566,249.16 to the Lafayette Public Library system with much of this money raised through book sales.
    In addition to the book sale at the Heymann Center, there will be a Silent Auction at the South Regional Library from now until Oct. 4.
    For more information, visit the Friends’ website at www.friendsofthelafayettelibrary.org.

New releases
    New Orleans jazz musician Wynton Marsalis take children on a tour of interesting sounds with a new children’s board book titled “Squeak! Rumble! Whomp! Whomp! Whomp!: A Sonic Adventure,” will illustrations by Paul Rogers.

    Liz Talley of northern Louisiana traveled to Breaux Bridge to create the fictional town of Bayou Bridge for “The Boys of Bayou Bridge” series published by Harlequin. Her first two books in the series were “Waters Run Deep” and “Under the Autumn Sky,” and conclude this month with “The Road to Bayou Bridge.” All three are set in Louisiana. For more information, visit http://www.liztalleybooks.com.
    Pelican Publishing releases several new cookbooks this month. They are “The Art of Brazilian Cooking” by Sandra Cuza; “Mr. Dickey’s Barbecue Cookbook: Recipes from a True Texas Pit Master; “New Orleans Classic Cocktails” by Kit Wohl; “The Louisiana Seafood Bible: Fish Vol. 1 by Jerald and Glenda Horst: “Meanwhile, Back at Café Du Monde: Life Stories about Food,” created and edited by Peggy Sweeney-McDonald with photographs by Troy Kleinpeter and a foreword by Karen Benrud; and “A Savannah Christmas” by Kimberly Ergul and Holley Jaakkola with photography by Richard Leo Johnson.
    Joe Reese follows up his “And the Flowers Began to Dance” with “Swann Song:  A Leah Swann Mystery,” part of a series featuring a non-traditional graduate student at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette who’s attacked by an alligator, stalked by a psychotic professor, lured into the Atchafalaya and accused of murdering her mentor.
    Dr. Hillary Keeney, adjunct faculty in UL-Monroe’s marriage and family therapy program, and Dr. Bradford Keeney, professor and Hanna Spyker eminent scholars chair in education, released a new book, “Circular Therapeutics: Giving Therapy a Healing Heart.” Dr. Stephen Lankton, editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, said it is a “fantastic book capable of transforming the entire thinking and practice of therapy.” For more information and to purchase a copy, visit: http://www.zeigtucker.com/
    Geoff Wyss has published a collection of short stories that pose questions such as “How did we get here?” titled “How.” The book won the Ohio State University Prize in Short Fiction. Wyss will be reading from and signing books at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 18, at Maple Street Bookstore in New Orleans.
    Tyrone “Li’l T” Roberts meets Buddy when his family’s car accidentally hits the stray dog on their way to church and the dog becomes part of the family —until Hurricane Katrina arrives and they must leave Buddy behind. Li’l T refuses to give up on Buddy after they return and the dog is long gone, but his perseverance makes up “Buddy,” a young adult book by M.H. Herlong. Kirkus Reviews calls it “A touching tale of hope, of holding on when you can, and of letting go when it’s the right thing to do.” Herlong will sign copies of “Buddy” from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, at Maple Street Bookstore in New Orleans. Herlong is a teacher, writer and the author of “The Great Wide Sea,” a YALSA 2010 Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults.
    Now in paperback is “The Homecoming of Samuel Lake” by Jenny Wingfield, about a preacher and his family who leave Louisiana and return to the preacher’s homestead in Arkansas after the death of the preacher’s father-in-law.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She teaches writing at UL-Lafayette’s Continuing Education. Write her at chere@louisianabooknews.com.