This week on The Reading Life: Susan talks with University of New Orleans anthropologist Rachel Breunlin and musician Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes, co-authors of “Le Ker Creole (The Creole Heart): Creole Compositions and Stories from Louisiana,” the most recent book from the Neighborhood Story Project.

This week on The Reading Life: Susan talks with part-time New Orleanian Nevada Barr, whose new stand-alone thriller is “What Rose Forgot.” We’ll also hear from Matt Sakakeeny, co-editor of the provocative essay collection, “Remaking New Orleans: Beyond Exceptionalism to Authenticity.”

This week on The Reading Life: Susan Larson talks with photographer Richard Sexton, whose new book is “Enigmatic Stream: Industrial Landscapes of the Lower Mississippi River,” which accompanies an exhibit that opens this week at the Historic New Orleans Collection. We’ll also hear from Poppy Tooker, host of "Louisiana Eats," who’s celebrating her new book, “Drag Queen Brunch.”

This week on The Reading Life: Susan talks with J. Richard (Rick) Gruber, director emeritus of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art and author of "Dusti Bongé: Art and Life: Biloxi, New Orleans, New York." We’ll also hear from novelist Monique Truong, whose new book, based on the life of Lafcadio Hearn, is “The Sweetest Fruits."

This week on The Reading Life: Sister Helen Prejean, whose new book is “River of Fire: My Spiritual Journey.”

This week on The Reading Life: Susan talks with New Orleans native Sarah Broom about her critically acclaimed new book, "The Yellow House: A Memoir," a tale of what draws us home and what makes us leave, and a chronicle of a sprawling, complicated family and the house in New Orleans East that binds them all together in shared memory. And Susan has a few words about the passing of Toni Morrison.

This week on the Reading Life: Susan talks with Minrose Gwin, whose most recent novel is “The Accidentals.” We’ll also hear from Kate Lacour, whose odd and beautiful new art book is “Vivisectionary: A Convocation of Biological Art.”

This week on The Reading Life: Susan talks with Rich Cohen about “The Last Pirate of New York: A Ghost Ship, A Killer, and the Birth of a Gangster Nation.” And New Orleans native Nick Courage takes us into the world of his new young adult novel, “Storm Blown.”

This week on The Reading Life: Laura Lippman talks about her new, critically acclaimed novel, “The Lady in the Lake,” a thriller set in the many worlds of Baltimore, and Lisa Howorth, author of “The Summerlings."

This week on The Reading Life: Susan talks with New Orleans writer Andrew Feldman, whose new book is “Ernesto: The Untold Story of Hemingway in Revolutionary Cuba.” Feldman is the only North American scholar who’s been permitted to study in residence at Hemingway’s home, Finca Vigia.