BOOKS NEWS AND REVIEWS

The latest literary updates from around New Orleans

This week in The Reading Life, mysteries columnist Diana Pinckley talks with Bill Loehfelm, winner of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award for his thriller, "Fresh Kills."

And children's book columnist Marigny Dupuy surveys inspiring biographies in picture book form.

Susan Larson, Book editor

"Art From The Heart: Folk Artist Clementine Hunter" Written by Kathy Whitehead Illustrated by Shane W. Evans (G. P. Putnam's Sons, $16.99, ages 6-8)

The life and work of Clementine Hunter are inspiring in so many ways, as this excellent biography, "Art from Her Heart," shows. Hunter was born to formerly enslaved parents on Melrose Plantation in Natchitoches about 20 years after the Civil War brought an official end to the practice of slavery. Young Clementine worked hard in the fields alongside her family, but with no formal education, the possibilities in her life seemed quite limited.

Kathy Anderson / The Times-PicayuneCharlie Thensted reads with his son, Charles Thensted, 5.

CHARLIE THENSTED,
61, lawyer and financial adviser

So what have you been reading lately?: Oh, "The Selfish Crocodile," "100 Things You Don't Know About Dinosaurs," "You Can Give a Pig a Pancake, " "How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food," "Dragonology."

BEACH BOOK

The Gargoyle: A Novel
By Andrew Davidson (Doubleday, $25.95)

A coke-addicted pornographer embarks on an unusual love affair with a sculptress who makes gargoyles and is convinced they were lovers in past lives.

Heather Graham's Writers for New Orleans Workshop

Best-selling novelist Heather Graham hosts her third annual Writers for New Orleans Workshop Aug. 29-31 at the Hotel Monteleone. On Aug. 30, there will be a full day of workshops with writers and editors on topics as varied as creating conflict, blogging and Web sites and MySpace pages.

Heather Graham's Writers for New Orleans Workshop

Best-selling novelist Heather Graham hosts her third annual Writers for New Orleans Workshop Aug. 29-31 at the Hotel Monteleone. On Aug. 30, there will be a full day of workshops with writers and editors on topics as varied as creating conflict, blogging and Web sites and MySpace pages.

"The Moon in the Mango Tree" by Pamela Binnings Ewen.

SPOTLIGHT ON:

Who: Bev Marshall and Pamela Binnings Ewen.

What: The seventh season of "Coffee and Conversation," sponsored by the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival and the Jefferson Parish Library, kicks off tonight at 7 p.m. at the library, 4747 West Napoleon Ave., Metairie. Marshall interviews Ewen, author of "The Moon in the Mango Tree," about "Family to Fiction."

Kathy Anderson / The Times-PicayuneHear Tom Piazza speak about City of Refuge.Listen to Octavia Books' podcast. »

It was one of those Jazzfest moments of perfect grace. The Carolina Chocolate Drops launched into the Blind Willie Johnson song "City of Refuge," and there, on an aisle seat, clapping along and rocking out, was music writer Tom Piazza.

Read Susan Larson's profile on "City of Refuge" Author Tom Piazza.

Tom Piazza's "City of Refuge" -- a tale of two families, two cities, really -- is the big Katrina novel here at last, reconstructing a city's stubborn spirit through a writer's keen vision into singular human hearts. It remembers the life before, honors the lives lost, and adds its urgency to the struggle that continues.

Keith I. Marszalek / NOLA.com Meet Phyllis Montana LeBlanc in this week's Reading Life.

This week in The Reading Life, we catch up with Phyllis Montana LeBlanc, author of "Not Just the Levees Broke: My Life in New Olreans During and After Katrina." Readers will remember LeBlanc as one of the outspoken, outraged citizens featured in the Spike Lee documentary, "When the Levees Broke." And for your end-of-summer reading pleasure, check out Selden Edwards' transporting debut novel, "The Little Book."

More in books . . .

• Hot reads: New in stores
• This week: A calendar for the bibliophile

Ted Jackson / The Times-PicayunePhyllis Montana LeBlanc pens her hurricane tale in "Not Just the Levees Broke: My Life Before and After Katrina."See Phyllis talk about her book »See photos from Spike Lee's premiere »

"I truly believe that home is where the heart is and when you say 'New Orleans,' you might as well say 'my heart,'" said Phyllis Montana LeBlanc, leaning forward with characteristic intensity. "This city is for people who really love it, really want to see it come back.

"I'm one of those people."

Danny Bourque / The Times-PicayuneNell Saussy

NELL SAUSSY
81, musician and actress

How much of a chance do you give a book before you decide to give up on it?
Maybe 20 pages. And if it hasn't grabbed me, I'm out of there. I'm not going to fool around with it. Too many other books in the world. I have a stack of books I can't wait to get to. I know there's something delicious in there for me.

Beach Book

"Off Season"
By Anne Rivers Siddons (Grand Central, $24.99)

A grieving widow takes refuge in a cottage in Maine and re-evaluates her life.

Steven Forster / The Times-Picayune
Dominic Massa

SPOTLIGHT ON:

Who: Dominic Massa discusses and signs "New Orleans Television" along with local TV icons Bob and Jan Carr, Al Shea and Linda Mintz.

When: Saturday, 1-3 p.m.

Where: Garden District Book Shop, 2727 Prytania St.