This book sale is really, really big. Really.

The Friends of the New Orleans Public Library’s Really, REALLY Big Book Sale is happening Saturday (Nov. 12) at the Latter Library. Held on the front porch of the historic building on St. Charles Avenue, the Really, REALLY Big Book Sale is the signature fundraiser of Friends of New Orleans Public Library. Sales of used books fund important New Orleans Public Library programs such as the Summer Fun Reading program, adult literacy classes and much more.

Oak Street Po-Boy Festival is back, with music on four stages and a truck

After a two-year absence, the Oak Street Po-Boy Festival, the popular event celebrating New Orleans’ beloved sandwich, will return Sunday (Nov. 6). The 14th annual festival will host more than 40 food vendors, four stages of music (plus a piano truck stage), an arts market and kids zone. The 2022 festival will also highlight the history of the po-boy with special programming and events, organizers said in a press release. ​The festival traditionally features a po-boy competition, where local restaurants battle for top honors.

Tulane opens the Anne Rice vaults for ‘Absolutely Unpredictable’ exhibition (with video)

Just in time for the annual celebration of the macabre, Tulane University Special Collections will open an exhibition of its Anne Rice collection on Thursday (Oct. 27). Absolutely Unpredictable: Anne Rice in the City of Transgression will display rare items and archival materials related to Rice and her works. The exhibition, free and open to the public, will be on display through Feb. 17, 2023, and will be celebrated with a costumes-optional reception on Thursday evening. 

The materials center on New Orleans cultural touchstones such as Carnival and the Southern Gothic genre.

Neal Bodenheimer to talk about ‘New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ‘Em’

Neal Bodenheimer, owner of renowned New Orleans bars and restaurants — Cure and Vals on Freret Street and Cane & Table and Peychaud’s in the French Quarter — will be at the Garden District Book Shop on Monday (Oct. 24) for a pre-publication celebration of his debut cocktail book, “Cure: New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ‘Em.” Due out nationwide on Tuesday October 25, the book will showcase New Orleans’ iconic cocktail scene through 100 drinks — each chosen to represent the city’s past, present and future. The event will kick-off at 6 p.m. with a welcome reception within The Chicory House featuring bites and select cocktails from the book. Afterward, Bodenheimer and his friend and partner in Cure and sister concept Cane & Table, Kirk Estopinal, who contributed some of his original recipes to the book, will sit down to discuss the book and the cocktail culture in New Orleans.

Al Copeland celebrated in biographical cookbook by Chris Rose and Kit Wohl

“Secrets of a Tastemaker: Al Copeland The Cookbook” by Chris Rose and Kit Wohl was published Sept. 13 by the Cookbook Studio. The book is a biography of fried chicken magnate Al Copeland Sr. It is also a cookbook packed with some of Copeland’s most famous (and not-so-famous) recipes. Copeland was the larger-than-life figure behind the Copeland’s restaurant chain and the famed Popeye’s franchise. Al Copeland Jr., who wrote the book’s forward, and Kit Wohl will be at the Garden District Book Shop on Saturday afternoon (Oct.