,

Best New Orleans Books

There's plenty here to choose from, so be sure to check out the whole list if you don't see one of your favorites! I've reached the limit of how many books I can add by "voting" for them, so you'll have to add your own from now on. New books appear at the end and move up according to their votes.
1

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3.88 avg rating — 264,932 ratings
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2

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3.98 avg rating — 298,412 ratings
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3

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3.88 avg rating — 1,259 ratings
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4

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3.67 avg rating — 198,054 ratings
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5

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4.22 avg rating — 4,660 ratings
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6

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3.66 avg rating — 27,791 ratings
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7

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4.05 avg rating — 77,274 ratings
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8

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4.10 avg rating — 113,432 ratings
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9

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4.01 avg rating — 560,479 ratings
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10

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3.69 avg rating — 254 ratings
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11

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3.87 avg rating — 18,090 ratings
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12

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4.17 avg rating — 2,746 ratings
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13

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4.11 avg rating — 3,609 ratings
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14

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3.95 avg rating — 1,236 ratings
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15

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3.99 avg rating — 1,386 ratings
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15

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3.95 avg rating — 816 ratings
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17

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4.16 avg rating — 8,013 ratings
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18

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3.99 avg rating — 3,290 ratings
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19

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4.39 avg rating — 181 ratings
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20

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3.93 avg rating — 32,109 ratings
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21

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3.92 avg rating — 24,982 ratings
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22

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4.40 avg rating — 6,150 ratings
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23

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3.96 avg rating — 860 ratings
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24

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3.73 avg rating — 605 ratings
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25

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3.83 avg rating — 580 ratings
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26

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4.02 avg rating — 1,080 ratings
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27

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4.14 avg rating — 5,720 ratings
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28

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4.18 avg rating — 259 ratings
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29

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3.74 avg rating — 329 ratings
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30

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3.71 avg rating — 4,000 ratings
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31

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3.54 avg rating — 1,926 ratings
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32

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3.68 avg rating — 3,422 ratings
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33

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4.01 avg rating — 362 ratings
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34

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4.53 avg rating — 53 ratings
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34

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4.09 avg rating — 375 ratings
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36

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3.93 avg rating — 2,674 ratings
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37

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3.80 avg rating — 296 ratings
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38

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4.35 avg rating — 166 ratings
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39

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4.12 avg rating — 1,631 ratings
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39

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3.82 avg rating — 3,566 ratings
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41

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4.11 avg rating — 36 ratings
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42

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3.98 avg rating — 1,302 ratings
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43

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3.98 avg rating — 282 ratings
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44

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4.18 avg rating — 155 ratings
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45

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3.93 avg rating — 241 ratings
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46

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4.02 avg rating — 787 ratings
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47

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3.79 avg rating — 557 ratings
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48

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4.18 avg rating — 14,073 ratings
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48

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3.31 avg rating — 475 ratings
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50

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3.87 avg rating — 308 ratings
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51

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3.75 avg rating — 41,705 ratings
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52

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4.04 avg rating — 419,402 ratings
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53

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3.88 avg rating — 601 ratings
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54

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4.15 avg rating — 15,339 ratings
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55

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3.95 avg rating — 6,987 ratings
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56

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4.26 avg rating — 31 ratings
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57

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3.70 avg rating — 863 ratings
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58

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3.71 avg rating — 1,259 ratings
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59

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3.69 avg rating — 502 ratings
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60

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3.72 avg rating — 97 ratings
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61

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4.05 avg rating — 15,475 ratings
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62

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3.87 avg rating — 60,532 ratings
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62

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 12,035 ratings
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64

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3.81 avg rating — 52,588 ratings
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65

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4.20 avg rating — 935 ratings
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66

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3.70 avg rating — 10,197 ratings
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67

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3.87 avg rating — 216 ratings
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68

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4.26 avg rating — 635 ratings
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68

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3.88 avg rating — 32,353 ratings
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68

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3.79 avg rating — 710 ratings
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71

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4.11 avg rating — 1,320 ratings
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72

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 94 ratings
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73

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4.22 avg rating — 5,271 ratings
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74

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3.99 avg rating — 959 ratings
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75

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4.16 avg rating — 907 ratings
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76

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4.18 avg rating — 7,611 ratings
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77

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4.38 avg rating — 16 ratings
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78

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3.57 avg rating — 285 ratings
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79

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3.68 avg rating — 501 ratings
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80

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3.94 avg rating — 465 ratings
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81

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3.48 avg rating — 152 ratings
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82

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3.52 avg rating — 403 ratings
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83

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3.90 avg rating — 104 ratings
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84

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4.42 avg rating — 583 ratings
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85

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4.22 avg rating — 37 ratings
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86

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4.13 avg rating — 62 ratings
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87

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4.57 avg rating — 46 ratings
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87

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4.29 avg rating — 104 ratings
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89

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4.04 avg rating — 28 ratings
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90

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3.67 avg rating — 2,104 ratings
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90

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4.16 avg rating — 3,896 ratings
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92

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4.12 avg rating — 233 ratings
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93

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4.19 avg rating — 208 ratings
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94

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3.59 avg rating — 248 ratings
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95

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4.04 avg rating — 59,526 ratings
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96

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3.84 avg rating — 13,524 ratings
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97

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3.98 avg rating — 50 ratings
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98

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3.11 avg rating — 1,089 ratings
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99

by
4.43 avg rating — 61 ratings
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99

by
4.04 avg rating — 434,823 ratings
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416 books · 345 voters · list created January 4th, 2010 by Tom (votes) .
97 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Tom 281 books
72 friends
Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) 546 books
369 friends
Thom 6022 books
298 friends
Gk 55 books
168 friends
Glenn 356 books
43 friends
Abby 40 books
563 friends
Jeff 24 books
37 friends
Ashley 5096 books
542 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-20 of 20 (20 new)

dateDown arrow    newest »

message 1: by Julie (new)

Julie Zeitoun add to list VERY VERY good


message 2: by Tom (new)

Tom Great idea, Julie (just got a copy myself). Have added it and for some reason the book dropped into the lineup at #41. If you vote on it, it'll move up the list.
Tom


message 3: by Allison (new)

Allison I added Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?. It's a great collection of stories. It includes 2 suggested story orders: a sequential one, and one reflecting the different recordings of the famous song.


message 4: by Tom (last edited Sep 19, 2011 07:28AM) (new)

Tom Just added Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table
by Sara Roahen. One of the most fun and interesting reads about the city in a long time (especially if you enjoy eating there!).


message 5: by Michelle (new)

Michelle midnight in the garden of good and evil takes place in Savannah, NOT New Orleans.


message 6: by Bobbi (new)

Bobbi Baker I would add Gumbo Ya Ya, WPA-collected folklore edited by Lyle Saxon, Robert Tallent, and Edward Dreyer. Five stars.


message 7: by Bobbi (new)

Bobbi Baker How about Five days at Memorial? I haven't read it, but I want to.


message 8: by Bobbi (new)

Bobbi Baker Wandering Ghost? Ladfadio Hearn was from New Orleans...


message 9: by Bobbi (new)

Bobbi Baker Rising Tide by John Barry.


message 10: by Michelle (new)

Michelle Bobbi wrote: "I would add Gumbo Ya Ya, WPA-collected folklore edited by Lyle Saxon, Robert Tallent, and Edward Dreyer. Five stars."

good call. i think this is required reading for most new orleanians. i have owned a copy, but i've never read it.


message 11: by Bobbi (new)

Bobbi Baker Michelle wrote: "Bobbi wrote: "I would add Gumbo Ya Ya, WPA-collected folklore edited by Lyle Saxon, Robert Tallent, and Edward Dreyer. Five stars."

good call. i think this is required reading for most new orlean..."

Excellent chapter on the Axeman's Jazz. (I can't read it after dark.)


message 12: by Tom (new)

Tom Some of these titles are somewhat down the list, which is what happens if only one person has added a book recently, registering a single "vote," or if the book hasn't attracted support it might well deserve. Be sure to check out the entire list!


message 13: by Bobbi (new)

Bobbi Baker Tom wrote: "Some of these titles are somewhat down the list, which is what happens if only one person has added a book recently, registering a single "vote," or if the book hasn't attracted support it might we..."

Good point. But I think a Goodreads list is a work in progress. I don't remember, but my suggestions may have been added after I made them. So it looks like I didn't read the whole list!


message 14: by Tom (new)

Tom Right, it's a work in progress. New books will first appear at the end, but may rise in the ranking over time. Btw thanks for the reminder about Five Days at Memorial!


message 15: by Mike (new)

Mike George Washington Cable - The Grandissimes; Old Creole Days
Charles W. Chesnutt - Paul Marchand, FMC
William Faulkner - Mosquitoes; New Orleans Sketches; Absalom, Absalom!; Pylon
Lyle Saxon - Fabulous New Orleans
Gary Boulard - Huey Long Invades New Orleans
John Howard Griffin - Black Like Me
Lafcadio Hearn - Inventing New Orleans
William Wells Brown - The Narrative of William Wells Brown
William Spralting - Sherwood Anderson and Other Famous Creoles
Ida Wells - Mob Rule in New Orleans
Grace King - Balcony Stories
Alice Dunbar-Nelson - Violets and Other Tales
Lillian Hellman - Toys in the Attic
Zora Neale Hurston - Mules and Men
Lawrence N. Powell - Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans
Nelson Algren - Walk on the Wild Side


message 16: by Jacqueline (new)

Jacqueline D'Acre Love your website. I'm wondering if I should be listed here. I have 2 books published, both set in New Orleans. In one, Between Extremities, I was named a Louisiana Author of Note, by an Irene Singletary of Morgana Press in New Orleans.
The second was first published in print under the title: Foreclosure (by Stargazer Press). I made a few changes in this book, retitled it Hot Blooded Murder and had a new cover designed. It is available under this title at amazon and most other book websites as an ebook. Jacqueline D'Acre


message 17: by Tom (new)

Tom Hi Jacqueline. I've reached the limit of how many books I can add without deleting others first, but people can and have been adding books to the list on their own. By all means feel free to add your work or have a friend do it. I've noticed other writers doing it, so you deserve props for coming forward to ask first! Good luck with your books - I'll check them out.


message 18: by Jacqueline (new)

Jacqueline D'Acre Hi Tom--Thanks for responding. I will list my books but I can't figure out how to do it. Can you guide me? I'd sure appreciate it! Jackie


message 19: by Tom (new)

Tom Jacqueline wrote: "Hi Tom--Thanks for responding. I will list my books but I can't figure out how to do it. Can you guide me? I'd sure appreciate it! Jackie"

Sure - there's an "Add Books to List" caption at the top of the page, a little to the right of the #1 entry (Confederacy). If you click on that, I think it'll ask what book you want to add. Follow the search prompt and when your book's Goodreads icon pops up, you should be able to add by clicking on it.


message 20: by Jacqueline (new)

Jacqueline D'Acre I can't get this to work! The book is Between Extremities and here's one review: A customer
4.0 out of 5 starsA very entertaining book.
July 6, 1998 - Published on Amazon.com
I join with my fellow Louisianians in giving this book a good review. The characters were very well developed. At times, the writing reminded me of John Kennedy Toole, who wrote A Confederacy of Dunces, which is also set in New Orleans. I enjoy a book most when I find myself either really liking or really disliking the characters. Such was the case with this book, especially regarding the son, Saunders. You folks who live outside of Louisiana will enjoy it as well. I hope you will give it a try.


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