Orleans Embrace (Morgana Press, $50) is a big coffee-table book filled with gorgeous color photographs of New Orleans. It's also a fund-raising project to benefit French Quarter preservation.

The book is really in three parts: Orleans Embrace, Preserving New Orleans, L'Histoire by TJ Fisher fronts a reprint of the fabulous 1993 book, The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carre by Roy F. Guste Jr. and that is followed by the conclusion - Orleans Embrace, Saving New Orleans, L'Histoire.

Fisher, who divides her time between South Florida and New Orleans, is suitably eccentric and outrageous to represent New Orleans. Fortunately, she is also knowledgeable about the city and a talented writer. She begins the book with the subject that looms in everyone's mind.

"Katrina changed everything. Life here is different, every face altered. Yet we feel and sense the landscape not only in hurricane- leveled, sodden depressions but - perhaps more so now in the strangely comforting depths of our shared history. Even in the worst hit areas, not all is dissipated. Dense intricate attachments burrow too deep to underestimate or overlook. This is no featureless town to be rubbed off the map and cast aside. Here the band plays on."

And so it does. The photographs in this book, many taken after the storm, attest to that. Many of the photos, especially those from Guste's book show just why the French Quarter is so special. The Spanish-style walled gardens where beauty is measured in small details, not extensive plantings, are unrivaled in America. But even as you look at these gorgeous photos, questions arise in your mind, the same questions that pose a dilemma for New Orleans leaders and residents.

The French Quarter was virtually undamaged by the storm. Why spend more to preserve it and promote it when vast areas of the city are still lacking basic services, decent streets and are a long way from recovering from the flooding? The answer is tourism. If New Orleans doesn't get tourists, it will shrink into a small port city with few jobs and a stagnant economy. Some feel that's already happening.

But there's another question that sits in the minds of everyone in Louisiana. It's a date: June 1. What happens this hurricane season? Is New Orleans ready? What if there is another Katrina or worse? What tune will Fisher's band be playing then?

One thing is certain. No matter what happens with New Orleans recovery and the hurricane season, the French Quarter was and is a beautiful gem, full of colorful and eccentric people. It's certainly worth preserving. But so is the rest of New Orleans.

Shields to speak

As part of The Big Read: One Book/One Community program, New York Times bestselling author and former English teacher Charles J. Shields will visit the Bluebonnet Regional Branch Library, 9200 Bluebonnet Blvd., at 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 16, for a lecture on the elusive and reclusive author Harper Lee. Shields will discuss his novel, Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee, a character study of a writer who has lived on her own terms and immortalized what she loved the most. Books will be available for purchase.

For more information, call (225) 231-3700.

Signings

Poet Sue Owen, author of The Devil's Cookbook, will read from and sign copies of her book at 4 p.m. today, April 15, at the Baton Rouge Gallery, 1442 City Park Ave.

Kathleen Norris, author of Amazing Grace And The Cloister Walk, will sign copies of her book at 7 p.m. today, April 15, at Chapel of the Holy Spirit, 1100 Broadway in New Orleans.

Victoria Rowell, author of The Women Who Raised Me, will sign copies of her book at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 19, at Octavia Books, 513 Octavia St. in New Orleans.

Veni Harlan, Missy Wilkinson, Mike & Stacy O'Rourke, Wes Danreuther, Cindy Lou Levee, Gary Thomas, Eileen Decoteau and Mary Gehman, contributors to Louisiana in Words, will sign copies of the book, 2-4 p.m. Saturday, April 21, at Barnes & Noble, 2590 Citiplace Court.

Leonard Earl Johnson, Richard Sealy, Mark David, Karen Yochim, Rebekah Markel, Edward Gauthier, Evelyn Smith, Erlene Stewart, Leslie Alexander, contributors to Louisiana in Words, will sign copies of the book, 2-4 p.m. Saturday, April 21, at Barnes & Noble, 5705 Johnston St. in Lafayette.

Naiomi Pitre, author of In the Panty Drawer: Journey Into the Mind of a Sexual Woman, will sign copies of her book at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 21, at Barnes & Noble, 2590 Citiplace Court.

Julia Carey, Debbie Lindsey, Lee Barclay, James L. Jones III, Bruce Henrikson, Tara Jill Ciccarone, and Lee Meitzen Grue, contributors to Louisiana in Words, will sign copies of the book at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 21, at Octavia Books, 513 Octavia St. in New Orleans.