The Reading Life

This week on The Reading Life: Robert Leleux, whose new book is "The Living End: A Memoir of Forgetting and Forgiving," and poet Alison Pelegrin, author of "Hurricane Party."

This week on The Reading Life: Architectural historian Ellen Weiss' new book:  "Robert R. Taylor and Tuskegee: An African American Architect Designs for Booker T. Washington." Also,  poet Andy Young tells us about her new collection: "The People Is Singular."

This week on The Reading Life, we'll be talking with John Barry, whose new book is Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul: Church, State, and the Birth of Liberty. We'll also hear Fred Kasten's "Sound of Books" interview with Anka Muhlstein, author of "Balzac's Omelette: A Delicious Tour of French Food and Culture with Honore de Balzac."

This week on The Reading Life, we'll be talking with John Barry, whose new book is Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul: Church, State, and the Birth of Liberty. We'll also hear Fred Kasten's Sound of Books interview with Anka Muhlstein, author of Balzac's Omelette: A Delicious Tour of French Food and Culture with Honore de Balzac.

This week on The Reading Life, we talk with Charles Brown, the new director of the New Orleans Public Library, and with city archivist Irene Wainwright.

This week we'll be talking with Ted O'Brien, author escort, writer and bookseller, about his year of driving authors around New Orleans. And we'll visit with Linda Prout, who has a Free Little Library in her butterfly garden on the West Bank.

This week we'll be talking with Marigny Dupuy and Meghan Kelly, founders of the Dickens Fellowship of New Orleans. Mark Yakich reads from his book Checking In/Checking Out, and Susan has some suggestions for Christmas giving and some thoughts on the season.

This week on The Reading Life: Suggestions for holiday giving from Judith Lafitte of Octavia Books (children's books), Donna Allen of Maple Street Book Shop (nonfiction), and Britton Trice of Garden District Book Shop (fiction).

This week on The Reading Life, artist Thomas Mann talks about his new how-to book, Metal Artists' Workbench: Demystifying the Jeweler's Saw, and poet Katherine Soniat drops by to read from The Swing Girl.

We look back at the past literary year in New Orleans with author escort Ted O'Brien, hear a list of 2010's best books and events and a poem by Rodger Kamenetz, as well as Fred Kasten's Sound of Books interview with Rob Verchick.