Holiday Gift Suggestions: A sense of place part II

Yes, we know this blog covers all things Louisiana, but we love our cousin to the east, especially since so many lines can be drawn through both states' regions connecting us forever.

Music is one.

Take “Live from the Mississippi Delta” by lifelong Delta resident Panny Flautt Mayfield (University of Mississippi Press), a gorgeous coffee table book that presents photos and stories of the musicians who hail from that region and who made a lasting influence on the world music scene. Mayfield is an award-winning journalist from Tutwiler and she spotlights the region’s landscapes, juke joints, festivals, local and international icons, gospel and the Delta Blues Museum (a must for any blues aficionado). Throughout the book are fabulous photos of Mississippi’s best.

The book opens with a visit to Tutwiler by Robert Plant when the town’s depot received a Blues Marker detailing it as an important influence to the birthplace of blues music. W.C. Handy, arguably called the “Father of the Blues,” first heard the music played when his train paused at the Tutwiler station.

Mayfield began photographing blues musicians at festivals and celebrations decades ago so she's amassed an impressive collection. Her photos have been exhibited in museums throughout the world and she's been recognized with more than 30 awards of excellence from several organizations.

Another gorgeous book and holiday gift idea for the Mississippi lover in your life is Timothy T. Isbell's "The Mississippi Gulf Coast" (University of Mississippi Press). Starting from Bay St. Louis and ending in Pascagoula, Isbell takes us on a photographic journey of Coast highlights, from the iconic shoo flys gracing live oak trees and the endless dramatic sunsets to the architectural wonders of historic homes, the Ohr-Okeefe Museum of Art and campy souvenir stands. Isbell also includes a history of the region, from its inception through wars and hurricanes to the present day.

Isbell is an author and freelance photographer and a member of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize-winning newsroom of the Biloxi Sun Herald. An inductee of the Southern Mississippi School of Mass Communication and Journalism Hall of Fame, he has also authored "Gettysburg: Sentinels of Stone," "Shiloh and Corinth: Sentinels of Stone" and "Vicksburg: Sentinels of Stone," all published by the University of Mississippi Press.

Isbell will sign copies of "The Mississippi Gulf Coast" at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 24, 2018, at Lemuria Books in Jackson.

Both books come highly recommended and make excellent gifts.

Louisiana Book News is written by award-winning author Chere Dastugue Coen, who writes Louisiana romances and mysteries under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Her first book in each series is FREE to download as an ebook, including "Emilie," book one of The Cajun Series, "Ticket to Paradise," book one of The Cajun Embassy series and "A Ghost of a Chance," the first Viola Valentine mystery.