Local reads for your gift list

The Capital Region’s growing crop of independent bookstores is all about helping to rekindle a sense of community. People are seeking to break away from their screens and find an entirely different kind of curated content, and they’re getting just that at places like Red Stick Reads and TBR Books and Tea in Baton Rouge, Cavalier House Books in Denham Springs, The Conundrum in St. Francisville, and The Bookcellar in Walker. And though they each carry a wide range of titles, we think there’s no better place than these to seek out south Louisiana-centric books for holiday gifts this year. Here are a few locally focused titles to look for:

Chef Celeste’s Louisiana Kitchen

By Celeste Gill

Though she grew up in Michigan and trained as a chef in Hawaii, Celeste Gill found her culinary home in Baton Rouge, where she served as longtime coordinator of cooking demonstrations at Main Street Market, opened multiple restaurants and a catering company, and hosts cooking shows on TV. Her new book, dedicated to her family, continues her tradition of teaching culinary newbies how to cultivate Cajun and Creole flavors. The book’s recipes, which she declares easy to follow, range from bourbon roasted chicken and sweet potato pie to crab cakes with her signature remoulade. “Food possesses a remarkable ability to mend hearts, bridge distances and bring people into harmonious communion,” she writes. “I want to empower cooks of all levels to re-create in their own kitchens what I consider remarkable dishes.”

Life in the A-Zone

By Peggy Sweeney-McDonald

“Pink cloud moments” are what Peggy Sweeney-McDonald calls the heart-healing times that are interspersed within the hardships of caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s. Sweeney-McDonald, known for her Meanwhile, Back at Café Du Monde… book and food monologue events, was able to see through her own grief and struggles during her mother’s three-year illness to find these “moments of grace.” In her new book, she shares her own stories in hopes that others facing a similar scenario know they’re not alone, and she includes caregiving tips aimed at helping caregivers care for themselves as well. To that end, Sweeney-McDonald has also created two companion “sacred space journals” with writing prompts and messages of encouragement. “I may not be able to create a cure for the disease,” she writes, “but I could share my experience, strength and hope.”

Louisiana from the Sky

Photographs by Philip Gould, text by Ben Sandmel

Acadiana-based photographer Philip Gould’s 20th book shows views of the Bayou State from a perspective most visitors and residents don’t typically get to enjoy. Using both a drone camera and a high-winged aircraft, Gould reveals the beauty in rows of sugar cane plants near Patoutville, the rusty roof of the Rainbow Inn honky-tonk in Pierre Part, the bustle of the Port of Greater Baton Rouge, and many previously unexamined details in between.

Let’s Meet on Government Street

By Ashtin McNicoll

Local artist Ashtin McNicoll calls her new children’s book a “love letter to Baton Rouge,” and anyone who’s a fan of the eclectic range of small businesses in Mid City will easily understand why. McNicoll hand-drew and painted each establishment down to the tiniest details. You might even find a favorite bookstore among the illustrations.

Marsh Island Memories

By George Graham

Lafayette advertising agency founder and cookbook author George Graham sets his sights on fiction with this novel that centers on a woman who returns to her family’s home in south Louisiana only to find herself in a “storm of secrets, small-town politics and a crumbling family legacy.”

My Family Tree Stops with Me

By Sandy Langhart Michelet

“About one in five women are childless not by choice,” says Sandy Michelet, who penned this “guide to purpose and possibility” to help them feel seen and find joy. Michelet, who created a blog and Facebook community known as The Childless Life that connects more than 3,300 women around the world, fills the book with reflections and exercises conveyed with both honesty and humor.