DANGEROUS GARDENIAS: The Plays of Dalt Wonk- book launch

Event date:

Tuesday, December 12, 2023 - 6:00pm to 7:30pm

Event address:

Octavia Books - 513 Octavia Street

New Orleans, LA 70115

Join us with Dalt Wonk to celebrate the launch of his new dramatic anthology, DANGEROUS GARDENIAS: The Plays of Dalt Wonk, with a reading and signing.

A collection of plays by Dalt Wonk, but it’s more than that. DANGEROUS GARDENIAS also tells how the plays came to be written and produced. In the theater world, these anecdotes are known as “War Stories.” They are often comic—and great fun to read.

"No one conjures a more mythological French Quarter with more deftness or charm than Dalt Wonk." -- T.R. Johnson, New Orleans: A Writer's City

THE LOST VAN GOGH - Jonathan Santlofer in conversation with Tom Piazza

Event date:

Friday, January 12, 2024 - 6:00pm to 7:30pm

Event address:

Octavia Books - 513 Octavia Street

New Orleans, LA 70115

Come join us for an evening with award-winning author Jonathan Santlofer celebrating the release of his new novel, THE LOST VAN GOGH. New Orleans author Tom Piazza will join him in conversation.

"Ingeniously plotted, irresistibly readable, brimming with inside information about the high-stakes art world of theft, forgery, and murder, Jonathan Santlofer’s The Lost Van Gogh tracks the history of a missing self-portrait by Van Gogh against the background of the notorious Nazi campaign against "degenerate art.” Also included are brilliantly rendered drawings by the author, who is as accomplished an artist as he is a writer of suspense thrillers." — Joyce Carol Oates

Octavia Books Bestseller List

Check out our Octavia Books bestsellers for the 6 weeks ended November 20, 2023 (including pre-orders):

Elon Musk (Hardcover)

By Walter Isaacson

$35.00

ISBN: 9781982181284

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Simon & Schuster - September 12th, 2023

#1 New York Times bestseller

From the author of Steve Jobs and other bestselling biographies, this is the astonishingly intimate story of the most fascinating and controversial innovator of our era—a rule-breaking visionary who helped to lead the world into the era of electric vehicles, private space exploration, and artificial intelligence.

Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon (Hardcover)

By Michael Lewis

$30.00

ISBN: 9781324074335

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: W. W. Norton & Company - October 3rd, 2023

AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

One of the New Yorker's Best Books of 2023 • One of Pure Wow's 42 Book to Gift This Year

Above the Trenches (Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #12) (Hardcover)

By Nathan Hale

$14.99

ISBN: 9781419749520

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Amulet Books - November 14th, 2023

In Above the Trenches, author-illustrator Nathan Hale takes to the skies with the flying aces of World War I to reveal another Hazardous Tale in American history in the #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novel series.

When the Great War began in 1914, America had plans to stay out of it.

Mario Buatta: Anatomy of a Decorator (Hardcover)

By Emily Evans Eerdmans, Patricia Altschul (Foreword by)

$55.00

ISBN: 9780847873579

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Rizzoli - September 5th, 2023

The first authoritative assessment of Mario Buatta by a protégée of the decorator. Never-before-seen archival material is culled to present the design master as someone who remains impactful in today’s world of maximalist interiors.

The Counting House (Paperback)

By Gary Sernovitz

$18.95

ISBN: 9781608012534

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: University of New Orleans Press - November 14th, 2023

The Chief Investment Officer of a prestigious university sits at the center of modern finance: hundreds of hedge funds, venture capitalists, stock pickers, bond traders, and private equity managers visit him every year, asking for money.

Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies: How Doubting the Bard Became the Biggest Taboo in Literature (Hardcover)

By Elizabeth Winkler

$29.99

ISBN: 9781982171261

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Simon & Schuster - May 9th, 2023

An “extraordinarily brilliant” and “pleasurably naughty” (André Aciman) investigation into the Shakespeare authorship question, exploring how doubting that William Shakespeare wrote his plays became an act of blasphemy…and who the Bard might really be.

The theory that Shakespeare may not have written the works that bear his name is the most horribl

Upcountry (Hardcover)

By Chin-Sun Lee

$28.00

ISBN: 9781951213770

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Unnamed Press - November 7th, 2023

A middle-class ex-Manhattanite, a cash-strapped single mother, and a young member of an obscure religious "sect," become entangled in a Catskills town.

Growing Up Downtown Bay St. Louis: A Memoir of Small Town Mississippi Life from the 1940s to the 1970's and Beyond by Pat Murphy

$60.00

SKU: 9798988214502s

"A beautiful slice-of-life in a small coastal Mississippi town told by a natve son who knows it line no one else could." -Chris Roth, Hancock County Historical Society.

Louisiana Lens: Photographs from the Historic New Orleans Collection (Hardcover)

By John H. Lawrence, Jeff L. Rosenheim (Foreword by)

$49.95

ISBN: 9780917860911

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Historic New Orleans Collection - November 28th, 2023

Classical Shindig (Hardcover)

By Michael Harold, Quinn Peeper, Henrietta Spencer-Churchill (Foreword by)

$60.00

ISBN: 9798985071368

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Susan Schadt Press LLC - August 29th, 2023

Make the acquaintance of two of New Orleans' most beloved hosts and concert pianists, Michael and Quinn, who sure do know their shindigs.
From seasonal celebrations to iconic book clubs to lavish parties for friends, family, and charities (both local and national), Michael and Quinn have seen, done, and decorated it all.

Claude: The True Story of a White Alligator (Hardcover)

By Emma Bland Smith, Jennifer M. Potter (Illustrator)

$18.99

ISBN: 9781632172693

Availability: On Our Shelves Now
(This book cannot be returned.)

Published: Little Bigfoot - August 4th, 2020

Claude is the story of the California Academy of Sciences' beloved albino alligator, from his birth in Louisiana to his present day life in his swamp at the Academy.

"Ultimately, Claude’s hopeful tale is a celebration of individuality and the joy in finding those who appreciate you for exactly who you are."--Booklist

No Brainer (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book 18) (Hardcover)

By Jeff Kinney

$14.99

ISBN: 9781419766947

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Amulet Books - October 24th, 2023

In No Brainer, book 18 of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series from #1 international bestselling author Jeff Kinney, it’s up to Greg to save his crumbling school before it’s shuttered for good.

Up until now, middle school hasn’t exactly been a joyride for Greg Heffley.

Iron Flame (The Empyrean #2) (Hardcover)

By Rebecca Yarros

$29.99

ISBN: 9781649374172

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Entangled: Red Tower Books - November 7th, 2023

PLEASE NOTE: The limited edition with stained edges is sold out, but we invite you to purchase an unstained edition—same captivating story, same heart-pounding read!

Discover the instant #1 New York Times bestseller! Now optioned for TV by Amazon Studios.

Accolades for Fourth Wing

Let Us Descend: A Novel (Hardcover)

By Jesmyn Ward

$28.00

ISBN: 9781982104498

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Scribner - October 24th, 2023

OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • Instant New York Times Bestseller • Shortlisted for the 2024 Carnegie Medal for Excellence

From Jesmyn Ward—the two-time National Book Award winner, youngest winner of the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction, and MacArthur Fellow—comes a haunting masterpiece, sure to be an instant classic, about an

All Kinds of Kids (Hardcover)

By Bill Martin, Michael Sampson, Paul Meisel (Illustrator)

$18.99

ISBN: 9781612546414

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Brown Books Kids - October 10th, 2023

From Bill Martin Jr and Michael Sampson comes the newest story about not only recognizing differences amongst one another but learning to embrace them. All Kinds of Kids teaches kindness, inclusivity, and acceptance to children around the world.

Most Fortunate Unfortunates: The Jewish Orphans' Home of New Orleans (Hardcover)

By Marlene Trestman

$39.95

ISBN: 9780807172902

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: LSU Press - October 18th, 2023

Marlene Trestman's Most Fortunate Unfortunates is the first comprehensive history of the Jewish Orphans' Home of New Orleans. Founded in 1855 in the aftermath of a yellow fever epidemic, the Home was the first purpose-built Jewish orphanage in the nation. It reflected the city's affinity for religiously operated orphanages and the growing prosperity of its Jewish community.

Erasure: A Novel (Paperback)

By Percival Everett

$17.00

ISBN: 9781555975999

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Graywolf Press - October 25th, 2011

Percival Everett's blistering satire about race and publishing, soon to be the major motion picture AMERICAN FICTION

Tom Lake: A Reese's Book Club Pick (Hardcover)

By Ann Patchett

$30.00

ISBN: 9780063327528

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Harper - August 1st, 2023

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK
In this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again proves herself one of America’s finest writers.

The Woman in Me (Hardcover)

By Britney Spears

$32.99

ISBN: 9781668009048

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Gallery Books - October 24th, 2023

“In Britney Spears’s memoir, she’s stronger than ever.” —The New York Times

The Woman in Me is a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope.

In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court.

When the Game Was War: The NBA's Greatest Season (Hardcover)

By Rich Cohen

$28.00

ISBN: 9780593229545

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Random House - September 5th, 2023

The gritty, no-holds-barred account of the 1987 NBA season, a thrilling year of fierce battles and off-the-court drama between Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas, and Michael Jordan—from New York Times bestselling author Rich Cohen.

The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece: A novel (Hardcover)

By Tom Hanks, R. Sikoryak (Illustrator)

$32.50

ISBN: 9780525655596

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Knopf - May 9th, 2023

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • From the legendary actor and best-selling author: a novel about the making of a star-studded, multimillion-dollar superhero action film...and the humble comic books that inspired it. Funny, touching, and wonderfully thought-provoking, while also capturing the changes in America and American culture since World War II.

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI (Paperback)

By David Grann

$17.00

ISBN: 9780307742483

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Vintage - April 3rd, 2018

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history, from the author of The Wager and The Lost City of Z, “one of the preeminent adventure and true-crime writers working today."—New York Magazine • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • NOW A MAR

Draining New Orleans: The 300-Year Quest to Dewater the Crescent City (Hardcover)

By Richard Campanella

$39.95

ISBN: 9780807178546

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: LSU Press - May 3rd, 2023

In Draining New Orleans, the first full-length book devoted to "the world's toughest drainage problem," renowned geographer Richard Campanella recounts the epic challenges and ingenious efforts to dewater the Crescent City.

So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men (Hardcover)

By Claire Keegan

$20.00

ISBN: 9780802160850

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Grove Press - November 14th, 2023

The Night Field (Hardcover)

By Donna Glee Williams

$28.00

ISBN: 9781529422672

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Mobius - July 25th, 2023

A magnificent, moving ecological fable: welcome to The Real, where Pyn-Poi's people live in harmony with nature - until a brown fog threatens their whole world.
Pyn-Poi's mother Marak wants her to grow up to be the matriarch of the tribe, learning how to cook, to make medicines, how to care for everyone, but Pyn-Poi would rather be out among the trees like her father Sook-

Jerry Changed the Game!: How Engineer Jerry Lawson Revolutionized Video Games Forever (Hardcover)

By Don Tate, Cherise Harris (Illustrator)

$18.99

ISBN: 9781665919081

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books - August 29th, 2023

A Junior Library Guild Selection

Meet Jerry Lawson, the Black engineer who revolutionized the video game industry, in this engaging picture book biography perfect for fans of Whoosh!: Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions and Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History.

Before Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo Switch, there was a tin

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store: A Novel (Hardcover)

By James McBride

$28.00

ISBN: 9780593422946

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Riverhead Books - August 8th, 2023

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NPR, WASHINGTON POST, AND TIME MAGAZINE

“A murder mystery locked inside a Great American Novel . . . Charming, smart, heart-blistering, and heart-healing.” —Danez Smith, The New York Times Book Review

Trust (Pulitzer Prize Winner) (Paperback)

By Hernan Diaz

$17.00

ISBN: 9780593420324

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Riverhead Books - May 2nd, 2023

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN BOOKS OF 2022
ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2022
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2022 BOOKER PRIZE

New Orleans: Elegance and Decadence (Hardcover)

By Richard Sexton (Photographer), Randolph Delehanty

$45.00

ISBN: 9780764365980

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Schiffer Publishing - June 28th, 2023

New Orleans: Elegance and Decadence 2nd edition focuses on the interiors, furnishings, art collections, and gardens of New Orleans' most eccentric and creative dreamers of the '90s.

Fourth Wing (The Empyrean #1) (Hardcover)

By Rebecca Yarros

$29.99

ISBN: 9781649374042

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Entangled: Red Tower Books - May 2nd, 2023

A #1 New York Times bestseller • Optioned for TV by Amazon Studios • Amazon Best Books of the Year, #4 • Apple Best Books of the Year 2023 • Barnes & Noble Best Fantasy Book of 2023 • NPR “Books We Love” 2023 • Audible Best Books of 2023 • Hudson Book of the Year • Google Play Best Books of 2023 • Indigo Best Books of 2023 • Waterstones Book of the Year finalist • Goodreads Choice Awa

Muppets in Moscow: The Unexpected Crazy True Story of Making Sesame Street in Russia (Hardcover)

By Natasha Lance Rogoff

$26.95

ISBN: 9781538161289

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers - October 17th, 2022

Muppets in Moscow is the incredible true story of the author's odyssey to create Sesame Street in Russia. It reveals how--in between bombings and political chaos in 1990s Moscow--a team of Russian and American artists, producers, educators, writers, and puppeteers overcame their many differences to create an unprecedented hit in a post-communist era.

The Pig, the Elephant, and the Wise-Cracking Bird (Hardcover)

By Michael Sampson, Bonnie J. Johnson, Joshua Sampson (Illustrator)

$17.99

ISBN: 9781612546018

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Brown Books Kids - August 8th, 2023

Meet Ogden Oink, a fun-loving, adventurous, likeable piglet. He dresses and speaks as humans do, gets into more than his fair share of difficulties because he interprets figurative expressions literally, and he does not understand various meanings of polysemous (i.e., multiple-meaning) words.

Tell It Like It Is: My Story (Hardcover)

By Aaron Neville

$29.00

ISBN: 9780306832536

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Hachette Books - September 5th, 2023

For the first time, legendary singer and songwriter and Grammy Hall-of-Famer Aaron Neville tells his personal story of overcoming poverty, racism, addiction, and loss through faith, family, and music.

Aaron Neville’s first #1 hit, “Tell It Like it Is,” was released in 1966.

Alabama: Poems (Southern Messenger Poets) (Paperback)

By Rodney Jones, Dave Smith (Editor)

$18.95

ISBN: 9780807180105

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: LSU Press - August 23rd, 2023

Alabama focuses on a boy from a rural, fundamentalist community who becomes a pacifist, feminist, and existentialist poet.

The Thursday Murder Club: A Novel (A Thursday Murder Club Mystery #1) (Paperback)

By Richard Osman

$18.00

ISBN: 9781984880987

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Penguin Books - August 3rd, 2021

A New York Times bestseller | Soon to be a major motion picture from Steven Spielberg at Amblin Entertainment

“Witty, endearing and greatly entertaining.” —Wall Street Journal

Room on the Broom Push-Pull-Slide (Board book)

By Julia Donaldson, Axel Scheffler (Illustrator)

$8.99

ISBN: 9780593110409

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Dial Books - August 25th, 2020

This sturdy board book with fun push-and-pull tabs introduces the beloved characters from Room on the Broom to the very youngest readers and is fun family read-aloud, perfect for the changing seasons and a great way to celebrate Halloween!

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales 3-Book Box Set (Multiple copy pack)

By Nathan Hale

$40.00

ISBN: 9781419728204

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Amulet Books - October 10th, 2017

Get three fan-favorite tales of American history from the New York Times bestselling graphic novel series in this must-have collectible boxed set!

Hilarious, gruesome, and packed with facts, this series introduces readers to some of the strangest moments in history.

Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3 (Chicka Chicka Book, A) (Hardcover)

By Bill Martin, Jr., Michael Sampson, Lois Ehlert (Illustrator)

$18.99

ISBN: 9780689858819

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers - August 1st, 2004

1 told 2
and 2 told 3,
"I'll race you to the top
of the apple tree."
One hundred and one numbers climb the apple tree in this bright, rollicking, joyous book for young children. As the numerals pile up and bumblebees threaten, what's the number that saves the day?

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Sleigh! (Hardcover)

By Mo Willems

$18.99

ISBN: 9781454952770

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Union Square Kids - September 5th, 2023

From #1 New York Times bestselling, award-winning author and illustrator Mo Willems comes a new holiday classic.

Etc (Hardcover)

By Laura Mullen

$18.00

ISBN: 9781733232326

Availability: On Our Shelves Now
(This book cannot be returned.)

Published: Solid Objects - November 2nd, 2023

EtC explores contemporary American selfhood, socially mediated and economically motivated, within a system where we learn to see and represent ourselves as one marketable image among many, where "brand" displaces character, and the corporal and corporate intersect.

Snippets of New Orleans (Hardcover)

By Emma Fick

$25.00

ISBN: 9781935754992

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: University of Louisiana - April 1st, 2017

Snippets of New Orleans is a whimsical 248 pages of witty text and wonderful illustrations all about New Orleans: its music, food, architecture, people, eccentricities, and traditions.

Goodnight Pothole (Hardcover)

By Shannon Kelley Atwater

$19.99

ISBN: 9781455627370

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Pelican Publishing Company - March 6th, 2023

Hold on to your car's alignment. In this parody of the classic children's book Goodnight Moon, sleepy readers will dream of orange cones and chicken bones, blown out tires and downed wires, and so many more amusing rhymes in this funny-but-true take on eroding roads.

Creepy Carrots! (Creepy Tales!) (Hardcover)

By Aaron Reynolds, Peter Brown (Illustrator)

$18.99

ISBN: 9781442402973

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers - August 21st, 2012

In this Caldecott Honor–winning picture book, The Twilight Zone comes to the carrot patch as a rabbit fears his favorite treats are out to get him.

Jasper Rabbit loves carrots—especially Crackenhopper Field carrots.