Nevermore: Starling House, Snow Leopard, Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

 Reported by Rita

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

Determined to find a better life for her younger brother Jasper, Opal, when she gets the chance to step inside the Starling House, the estate of the 19th-century author of her favorite book, and make some extra cash, finds things taking a sinister turn.

  I didn’t love it, but I liked it – good if you like horror.    – MH      4.5 stars

 

T

he Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen

An account of the author's two-hundred-fifty-mile journey, on foot, from Kathmandu, Nepal, to the Crystal Mountain in Tibet, in search of the Himalayan blue sheep, the rare snow leopard, and distances of the spirit.

Third time reading. It’s a beautifully written adventure.    – DC       5 stars

 

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

When she discovers a dead man in the middle of her tea shop, Vera Wong, a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands, calls the police. Later decides she is better equipped to solve the crime herself.  This becomes more complicated when she develops unexpected friendships with her suspects.

It‘s a good mystery, funny, and has well-developed characters.   – KP      5 stars

 

Other Books Mentioned

 

The House of Closed Doors by Jane Steen

Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes by Daniel L. Everett

The Hunt by Ryan Green

Outback Outlaws by Ryan Green

The Color of Water: a Black Man's Tribute to his White Mother by James McBride

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand: a Novel by Helen Simonson

Caravans: a Novel of Afghanistan by James A. Michener

Ship of Theseus by V.M. Straka

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu

 

New Books

 

100 Places to See After You Die: a Travel Guide to the Afterlife  by Ken Jennings

The Little Encyclopedia of Fairies: an A to Z Guide to Fae Magic by Ojo Opanike

The United States of Cryptids: a Tour of American Myths and Monsters by J. W. Ocker

Our Favorite Books Read in 2023: Christina, Laura

Here are two more staff members with lists of their favorite books read in 2023!

Christina:  A black hole is not a hole by Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano (Juvenile audiobook from Libby)

Starter Villain by  John Scalzi (Libby audiobook)

Vera Wong’s unsolicited advice for murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Audiobook)

Losers club by Yvonne Vincent

No better friend by Robert Weintraub

When the corn is waist high by Jeremy Scott (audiobook) This one involves a serial killer and has an extremely unexpected twist.

Nala’s world by Dean Nicholson

The coworker by Freida McFadden

The bandit queens by Parini Shroff

Remarkably bright creatures by Shelby Van Pelt is my favorite of the year. It is a very poignant and well written work of fiction (only a tiny bit unbelievable).

 

Laura:  I made a list of 10. Mostly, I like thrillers, but I love books that tell fabulous stories. Mitch Albom is my favorite author of all time and he did not disappoint with his new one!

 

1. The Little Liar by Mitch Albom (As always, broke my heart and then put it back together. Fabulous book!)

 

2. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (I kept avoiding this one thinking it would be sad, but it was fabulous!)

 

3. Magic of Lemon Drop Pie by Rachel Linden (Wonderful book, I'll have to own it!)

 

4. Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult (Fascinating book and I learned so much about bees!)

 

5. This Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp (YA book about a school shooting-very well done.)

 

6. Everyone Here is Lying by Shari Lapena

7. You Look Beautiful Tonight by L. R. Jones

8. My Darling Girl by Jennifer McMahon (Creepy, but really good!)

9. Dirty Thirty by Janet Evanovich (I had about gotten over the Stephanie Plum series, (too repetitive), but this one made me laugh out loud!)

10. Episode Thirteen by Craig Dilouie (Another scary one. A little wild, but sure kept me interested).

Our Favorite Books Read in 2023: Taylor, Christy, Ashley

 Since it’s the start of a new year, the Bristol Public Library and Avoca Branch Library staffs were asked to name their favorite books read in 2023. There were no other restrictions: the books could be old or new, adult or juvenile or YA, picture books, non-fiction books, long books, short books, audio books, ebooks, whatever.  We’ll be running the responses over the next week or so.

 

Taylor:  My favorite I read last year was Notes from a Sickbed by Tessa Brunton. It's a YA graphic novel about living with an undiagnosed chronic illness that really resonated with me.

 

Christy: All Hallows by Christopher Golden (neighborhood drama/light horror)

 

The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller (gothic romance with a ghost side plot)

 

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murders by Jesse Q. Sutanto (heart warming, cozy mystery)

 

The Night of the Hunter by Davis Grubb (noir/thriller)

 

Heartwood Hotel by Kallie George (very cute children's book about hotel for woodland creatures)

 

Forever Home by Jenna Ayoub (sweet graphic novel about a young girl who makes friends with the ghosts in her house. surprisingly funny!)

 

Ashley:  My favorite book of 2023 was Weyward by Emilia Hart.

I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy it.  I'm typically not keen on multiple timelines in a story,  multiple POVs often lose me, and there were a few content warnings that had me uncertain.  In other words, from what I’d heard there were a lot of things working against it when it comes to my preferences! But I ended up just absolutely adoring it and going through it rather quickly! 

  

I will admit that I almost gave up on it once; I found it decent enough by the end of the first section, but the next day  I couldn't decide if I wanted to bother with picking it up and finishing it. I'm remarkably glad I decided to, as that second section was when the book absolutely picked up for me. 

 

I immediately recommended it to two friends, one of whom later messaged me to thank me for nudging her toward it because she had enjoyed it as well~ (I'm not certain the other friend has gotten around to it yet, haha)

 

Overall, I found the characters fantastic and I adored the subtle magic weaved into the worldbuilding. Each of the storylines were unique and interesting, and each wrapped up in a way I found out remarkably satisfying.