Grab a Louisiana book this fall!

Looking for a good fall read? Here’s some new releases to choose from…

First, I have to brag, the fifth book in my Viola Valentine paranormal mystery series, “Give Up the Ghost,” hit online bookshelves Oct. 13. I will be discussing this book and “Ghost Trippin’,” the fourth book in the series, at the Louisiana Book Festival on Nov. 2 in Baton Rouge. But you can find my ebooks at all online stores and paperbacks at Amazon.

UL Press and the Center for Louisiana Studies have just released “O Malheureuse: French Writing by Louisiana Women,” edited by Ashlee Wilson Michot and featuring the work of 50 contributing female authors writing in Louisiana French.

UL Press has also released “Taking the World, by Storm: A Conversation with Warren ‘Storm’ Schexnider, the Godfather of Swamp Pop” by Yvette Landry.

In honor of the American Folklore Society annual meeting, folklore titles from the University Press of Mississippi are 30 percent off until Nov. 16 (apply code FOLKLORE19 at checkout for the discount). Some of the titles are: 

“When They Blew the Levee: Race, Politics, and Community in Pinhook, Missouri” by David Todd Lawrence and Elaine J. Lawless; “Downtown Mardi Gras: New Carnival Practices in Post-Katrina New Orleans” by Leslie A. Wade, Robin Roberts and Frank de Caro; “Jockomo: The Native Roots of Mardi Gras Indians” by Shane Lief and John McCusker; and “Language in Louisiana: Community and Culture,” edited by Nathalie Dajko and Shane Walton.

Jody Plauche recalls the bitter crime he experienced at the hands of his Baton Rouge karate teacher with “Why, Gary, Why? The Jody Plauche Story.” 

Billionaire and sole owner of Fertitta Entertainment, Tilman Fertitta, relates his personal strategies to help the next generation of entrepreneurs achieve success in his new book, “Shut Up and Listen!”

Deanna Chase’s “A Witch for Mr. Holiday,” a story in set in Christmas Grove, where holiday magic and matchmaking is in the air, will be out in time for the holidays. You can read her “Power of the Witch” now, book seven in the “Wtiches of Keating Hollow” series.

Bayou Diversity blogger and multi-published author Kelby Ouchley has published “Natural Words: A Dictionary for Naturalists,” a guide for nature lovers with an interest in learning the terminology used to relate to the natural world. It is available from Amazon in paperback and e-book here.

Waights Taylor turns to young adults in his latest book, “Henry Tuttle: The Boy who Ran to Glory” where a teenager must overcome bullies, a troubled friend, a courtroom trial, an attempted murder, and a forest fire to achieve his dream. The book is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle.

Louisiana artist Jax Frey has published her a humorous debut novel “The Gumbeaux Sistahs,” set in Covington and New Orleans. The story involves five Southern women who wage a war against the ageism problems of one of their sisters using their improbable friendships, oh-so-numerous cocktails and a shared passion for good gumbo.

Norman German just launched his new murder-mystery novel “Cripple Bayou Two-Step,” a fast-paced journey through the dark side of the back waters of Lake Charles with a politically incorrect one-armed PI named Shreve West. It was a finalist in St. Martin’s Private Eye Writers of American first novel contest. German is also the author of “A Savage Wisdom,” a fictional take on the first and only woman to be executed in Louisiana's electric chair in 1942.

Louisiana author Liz Talley is having a great year, with a Christmas book out now titled “A Down Home Christmas” by Hallmark. Her “Room to Breathe” by Montlake hits bookstore shelves on Nov. 1, and was chosen as an Amazon First Reads book.

Miki Pfeffer focuses on the period shortly after Grace King wrote her first stories in post-Reconstruction New Orleans in “A New Orleans Author in Mark Twain's Court: Letters from Grace King's New England Sojourns.” She will discuss the book at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 19, at the East Bank Regional Library in Metairie.

Louisiana author Shevelle Ford pens a tale of a young girl named Liesa and her daily walks with her mother in the children's book “The Dog that Would Not Bark.” As the two travel the neighborhood, Liesa takes in the city's sights and sounds and develops a special love for the local animals. She’s very curious about one particular pup who does not bark like the rest of the neighborhood dogs.

Coming up…

Ellen Byron's "Fatal Cajun Festival," part of her Cajun Country Mystery series, arrives just in time for the Louisiana Book Festival on Nov. 2. Byron will be speaking about her book at the festival panel, "Building a Mystery: Creating a Series in Genre Fiction" with yours truly. So, grab a book and come hear us speak.

“Essence of the Witch” by Deanna Chase will be released Dec. 2 and features cursed Miranda Moon who suffers one bad date after another. After lighting a man’s hair on fire and ending up on a blind date with her cousin, she’s ready to lose herself in the books she writes and live her life as a spinster… until Gideon Alexander, the one man she’s always wanted, walks back into her life.

Suzanne Stone looks at New Orleans java background in “New Orleans Coffee: A Rich History.” She will discuss the book at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 13, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon, Metairie.

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.