Read Your Way Through New Orleans
Here at BOOKED Trips we love to travel through books – both through our formal BOOKED Trips and our #TravelThroughBooks series on Instagram and here on the blog. We highlight books, activities, and foods to eat if you want to use books as your platform for connection and exploration around the world. We are just on the heels of our trip to New Orleans for Tulane Book Festival so we thought we’d provide some recommendations on where and what to read on your next trip to New Orleans. If you missed our #NOLABookFest recap, you can check it out here.
What to read
The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom
The Yellow House is the story of a mother’s struggle against a house’s entropy, and that of a prodigal daughter who left home only to reckon with the pull that home exerts, even after the Yellow House was wiped off the map after Hurricane Katrina. The Yellow House expands the map of New Orleans to include the stories of its lesser known natives, guided deftly by one of its native daughters, to demonstrate how enduring drives of clan, pride, and familial love resist and defy erasure. Located in the gap between the “Big Easy” of tourist guides and the New Orleans in which Broom was raised, The Yellow House is a brilliant memoir of place, class, race, the seeping rot of inequality, and the internalized shame that often follows.
A Kind of Freedom by Margaret Wilkerson
Evelyn is a Creole woman who comes of age in New Orleans at the height of World War II. In 1982, Evelyn’s daughter, Jackie, is a frazzled single mother grappling with her absent husband’s drug addiction. Jackie’s son, T.C., loves the creative process of growing marijuana more than the weed itself. He was a square before Hurricane Katrina, but the New Orleans he knew didn’t survive the storm. For Evelyn, Jim Crow is an ongoing reality, and in its wake new threats spring up to haunt her descendants. Margaret Wilkerson Sexton’s critically acclaimed debut is an urgent novel that explores the legacy of racial disparity in the South through a poignant and redemptive family history.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it’s not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it’s everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Many years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters’ storylines intersect?
Heart Talk: Poetic Wisdom for a Better Life by Cleo Wade
True to her hugely popular Instagram account, Cleo Wade brings her moving life lessons to Heart Talk, an inspiring, accessible, and spiritual book of wisdom for the new generation. Featuring over one hundred and twenty of Cleo’s original poems, mantras, and affirmations, including fan favorites and never before seen ones, this book is a daily pep talk to keep you feeling empowered and motivated.
Where to Read:
Baldwin & Co book store, a black-owned independent bookstore & coffee shop located in New Orleans. Baldwin & Co bookstore was our first stop in New Orleans straight from the plane. The space did not disappoint from its friendly staff and delicious drinks, to the buzzing ambiance and plethora of books by Black writers. Inspired by James Baldwin, Baldwin & Co works to eradicate the root causes of poverty, eliminate discrimination, increase access to opportunity, and combat the racism that underlies inequity. Through the power of books, they are increasing individuals’ ability to improve their lives and achieve economic independence.
Next to Baldwin & Co and managed by the same owner is New Orleans Art Bar, a locally owned bookstore and wine bar. In addition to the 30% off book titles in the space, they have a full bar with happy hour starting at 5:00 p.m. As the sun goes down the party starts with a great playlist and festive vibes. On Thursdays they have trivia nights and a small business market in the courtyard that separates New Orleans Art Bar and Baldwin & Co.
If you’re looking for inventive, craft cocktails in a lush and upscale venue, then Bar Marilou is your spot. Located in the Warehouse District and within walking distance of our next recommendation, this cocktail lounge is certain to please. It’s discreetly located next to the Maison de la Luz hotel down a vine streamed walkway. Upon entering you are met with a boldness that shines through from the interior (tiger-skin-patterned carpets and bar stools, red painted walls adorned by well-stocked built-in bookshelves, a tangerine-hued ceiling) to the cocktail menu. We recommend the Childish Gambino which features King Cake Rum cream, Jamaican rum, aged cachaca, cinnamon, chicory and pecan.
If you came to New Orleans looking for color and opulence, then the Peacock Room in the Kimpton Hotel Fontenot is your spot. A fun and fanciful cocktail bar in New Orleans’ Central Business District, you’re sure to find a lively atmosphere and even a few well placed books in the couch section. Expert bartenders, eclectic furniture, and shareable plates make this hangout worth a visit to discuss some of your favorite reads.
