|
Octavia Books Upcoming Schedule of Author Events |
|
We have a great lineup of events for the rest of May, starting tonight with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Rick Bragg, on Thursday Cokie Roberts, on Saturday children's author Kathi Appelt, and next week M * A * S * H actor Mike Farrell. Here is the latest listing of upcoming events at Octavia Books for the rest of the month. We invite you to join us for any or all of these. Please mark your calendar now! And remember, to reserve signed editions, just call us at 504-899-READ (7323).
We hope to see you soon at Octavia Books!
|
|
|
Monday night featuring Rick Bragg |
|
|
|
Monday, May 12 at 6:00 PM
Rick Bragg
author of ALL OVER BUT THE SHOUTN'
The Prince of Frogtown
Please join us at Octavia Books for a very special evening with writer Rick Bragg who will read from and sign copies of his just released THE PRINCE OF FROGTOWN.
In this final volume of the beloved American saga that began with All Over but the Shoutin' and continued with Ava's Man, Rick Bragg closes his circle of family stories with an unforgettable tale about fathers and sons inspired by his own relationship with his ten-year-old stepson.
He learns, right from the start, that a man who chases a woman with a child is like a dog who chases a car and wins. He discovers that he is unsuited to fatherhood, unsuited to fathering this boy in particular, a boy who does not know how to throw a punch and doesn't need to; a boy accustomed to love and affection rather than violence and neglect; in short, a boy wholly unlike the child Rick once was, and who longs for a relationship with Rick that Rick hasn't the first inkling of how to embark on. With the weight of this new boy tugging at his clothes, Rick sets out to understand his father, his son, and himself.
The Prince of Frogtown documents a mesmerizing journey back in time to the lush Alabama landscape of Rick's youth, to Jacksonville's one-hundred-year-old mill, the town's blight and salvation; and to a troubled, charismatic hustler coming of age in its shadow, Rick's father, a man bound to bring harm even to those he truly loves. And the book documents the unexpected corollary to it, the marvelous journey of Rick's later life: a journey into fatherhood, and toward a child for whom he comes to feel a devotion that staggers him. With candor, insight, tremendous humor, and the remarkable gift for descriptive storytelling on which he made his name, Rick Bragg delivers a brilliant and moving rumination on the lives of boys and men, a poignant reflection on what it means to be a father and a son.
As a prelude to this event, Octavia Books has produced a 12-minute interview with Rick Bragg discussing The Prince of Frogtown. Click here to listen.
.
More info on this event |
| Thursday with Cokie Roberts |
|
|
|
Thursday, May 15 at 11 AM
at Academy of the Sacred Heart
Nims Fine Arts Center
4301 St. Charles Avenue
Cokie Robert
author of
Founding Mothers
Lecture & Book Signing
LADIES OF LIBERTY
THE WOMEN WHO SHAPED OUR NATION
Join us Thursday from 11AM - 1PM at the Academy of the Sacred Heart as Cokie Roberts presents her new book, Ladies of Liberty. A booksigning & reception will follow.
The event is free & open to the public, with books available at the door or for preorder from Octavia Books.
In Founding Mothers, Cokie Roberts paid homage to the heroic women whose patriotism and sacrifice helped create a new nation. Now the number one New York Times bestselling author and renowned political commentator-praised in USA Today as a "custodian of time-honored values"-continues the story of early America's influential women with Ladies of Liberty. In her "delightfully intimate and confiding" style (Publishers Weekly), Roberts presents a colorful blend of biographical portraits and behind-the-scenes vignettes chronicling women's public roles and private responsibilities.
Recounted with the insight and humor of an expert storyteller and drawing on personal correspondence, private journals, and other primary sources-many of them previously unpublished-Roberts brings to life the extraordinary accomplishments of women who laid the groundwork for a better society. Almost every quotation here is written by a woman, to a woman, or about a woman. From first ladies to freethinkers, educators to explorers, this exceptional group includes Abigail Adams, Margaret Bayard Smith, Martha Jefferson, Dolley Madison, Elizabeth Monroe, Louisa Catherine Adams, Eliza Hamilton, Theodosia Burr, Rebecca Gratz, Louisa Livingston, Rosalie Calvert, Sacajawea, and others. In a much-needed addition to the shelves of Founding Father literature, Roberts sheds new light on the generation of heroines, reformers, and visionaries who helped shape our nation, giving these ladies of liberty the recognition they so greatly deserve.
More info on this event
______________________________
Saturday, May 17 at 4PM
meet children's author
The Underneath

"A mysterious and magical story; poetic yet loaded with suspense."
-- Louis Sachar, Newbery Medal-winning author of Holes
We hope you will join us Saturday afternoon as celebrated children's author Kathy Appelt reads from and signes her new book, The Underneath.
There is nothing lonelier than a cat who has been loved, at least for a while, and then abandoned on the side of the road.
A calico cat, about to have kittens, hears the lonely howl of a chained-up hound deep in the backwaters of the bayou. She dares to find him in the forest, and the hound dares to befriend this cat, this feline, this creature he is supposed to hate. They are an unlikely pair, about to become an unlikely family. Ranger urges the cat to hide underneath the porch, to raise her kittens there because Gar-Face, the man living inside the house, will surely use them as alligator bait should he find them. But they are safe in the Underneath...as long as they stay in the Underneath.
Kittens, however, are notoriously curious creatures. And one kitten's one moment of curiosity sets off a chain of events that is astonishing, remarkable, and enormous in its meaning. For everyone who loves Sounder, Shiloh, and The Yearling, for everyone who loves the haunting beauty of writers such as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Flannery O'Connor, and Carson McCullers, Kathi Appelt spins a harrowing yet keenly sweet tale about the power of love -- and its opposite, hate -- the fragility of happiness and the importance of making good on your promises.
|
| And more next week... |
|
|
|
Tuesday, May 20 at 6PM
Meet Mike Farrell
JUST CALL ME MIKE
Mike Farrell, star of television's M*A*S*H and Providence, joins Octavia Books to discuss and sign his memoir Just Call Me Mike.
From its opening pages, Mike Farrell's memoir reveals the distinctive voice of a man for whom life is an ongoing odyssey of self-discovery, personal commitment, and uncompromising social engagement.
With deep insight and disarming candor, Farrell describes his early years as a timid but restless teenager in West Hollywood, delivering groceries to the homes of Jack Benny, Lucille Ball, Jimmy Stewart, and countless other celebrities, while dreaming of having his own career as an actor. In stark but riveting language, he relates his formative years as a Marine recruit, confused, conflicted, and eager to prove himself as a man.
Farrell humorously portrays his professional development from a young soap opera player on "Days of Our Lives" to the amiable star of two popular television series, "M*A*S*H" and "Providence", to the respected producer of successful motion pictures like "Dominick and Eugene" and "Patch Adams".
At the heart of his story, Farrell narrates his public struggle to be a responsible citizen of the world. From his firsthand accounts of the ravages of war and oppression to his tireless advocacy against capital punishment, to his deep commitment to environmental causes, Farrell portrays each of these experiences with passion, outrage, and stubborn optimism.
|
|
|
|
|
| Octavia Books Book Club |
|
|
Sat. May 17 at 10:30AM

The Octavia Book Club will be discussing Kate Furnivall debut novel, THE RUSSIAN CONCUBINE.
The Octavia Books Book Club meets on the 3rd Saturday of each month at 10:30AM . |
| Contact Information |
|
|
Octavia Books
504-899-READ(7323)
To reserve signed editions of books, please call 504-899-7323
|
|
|
|