Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man)

Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutano (2025) 324 pages

Vera Wong was too good to have just one story, so she's back again. In the first Vera story, Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, the lonely 60 year old Chinese woman investigates the death of a man she finds in her tea shop, and also brings together a group of people into a "found family." In this continuation of her story, while she is still so happy with her new family members, she misses the thrill she had while investigating the murder. When Vera finds a nervous young woman with a story about a guy who has disappeared, Vera hops right to it, trying to figure out what happened to him. Part of the difficulty is that he went by a number of different names.

Vera is an excellent cook who makes the best Chinese foods, often transporting them to people who have no idea what a delicious feast is in store for them. (Hmmm, is she buttering up possible witnesses in order to get more information? Quite possible!) She also has the ability to brew up just the right tea for any given situation. And did I forget to mention that she is rather strong-willed and pushy? Yes, she's all of that. And once she learns how to use social media to send out videos, she goes viral, gaining information, but putting herself and her family at risk. The charm of Vera and her ever-growing family makes this story a quick and surprising read as we learn what secrets the witnesses have been hiding.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (2022) 401 pages

I listened to the audiobook on Libby narrated by Jennifer Kim with a short section narrated by Julian Cihi. The title comes from a speech in Shakespeare's Macbeth. A couple of my co-workers have also read and reviewed this novel here on the blog. I really enjoyed this story of two friends, their love of video games, and their careers as game designers. The characters of Sam and Sadie are just a bit older than I am growing up in the '80s and '90s. I remember learning computer skills in elementary school, in part, by playing Oregon Trail. Sadie also shares a love of Magic Eye images, those repetitive patterns that you stare beyond to bring out a hidden 3D object. Their lives and the other people in their lives are so richly drawn and realistic. I found exploring the process of video game design fascinating. The ups and downs of building and marketing their games, as well as family and romantic relationships kept me engaged.

 

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto  338 pp. 

Kara already blogged about this book and pretty much says it all. I don't have much to add other than I enjoyed the busybody Vera Wong and the way she copes with her failing teahouse, the dead body in the teahouse, the police, and the other characters/suspects, although I don't know why she wasn't arrested. The descriptions of the meals Vera makes had me drooling. Can you bribe police officers with food (aside from donuts)? I agree that there should be at least one sequel starring Vera. This is a fun book.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

 

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (2022) 401 pages

 

This might be my favorite read of 2023.  

Bouncing between Sam Masur and Sadie Green, but usually from Sadie's pov, this story tells the tale of how old friends grow and change, together and apart, and back together throughout their life. The nostalgia with how old-school Nintendo and computer games in the late 80s and early 90s were made and played is integral to this, as the two main characters become game programmers. Not only about gaming, this novel goes into depth with themes of grief and loss, love and friendship, grappling with disability, homophobia and the recent culture war issues with mass shootings. Flashing back in time quite often, it is sometimes hard to remember where specifically you are at, but the author does a good job keeping you grounded throughout.

The Magic Fish

 The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen, 256 pages.

Tiến loves his family, reading fairy tales, and reading fairy tales with his family. The fairy tales are especially important to his mother, both because she loves the stories and because they are helping her to practice her English. This graphic novel switches between
Tiến's story of trying to find a way to tell his parents he's gay when he doesn't even know the word in Vietnamese, and his mother, who is missing her family (and especially her ailing mother) back in Vietnam, and is afraid she abandoned them to be safe in the United States with her husband. These two stories are beautifully interwoven with three gorgeously illustrated fairy tales, which are the lens through which all of the characters are processing both their own and their loved one's problems. 

I was very interested into this story because I, much like our protagonists, love fairy tales. I also love inter-generational stories, so I was pretty sure I would like this one. I really underestimated just how much though. The colorful illustrations are breathtaking, and the flow of the narrative is pretty much flawless. The interplay between the stories and "real life" was done more cleverly than I had expected, with each narrative genuinely enriching the others. I also loved how very human everyone felt. All of our characters very much felt like real, three-dimensional people. I would definitely recommend this very quick book.

(Also a note: the author's notes in the back talk a lot about the development of the art, and they are extremely interesting)

The Love & Lies of Rukshana Ali

 The Love and Lies of Rukshana Ali by Sabina Khan, 336 pages.

Rukshana Ali is seventeen and trying desperately to balance the life she wants for herself with the life that would make her semi-conservative Muslim parents happy. But soon everything will be better, when she gets a little space on her own to be with her secret girlfriend and study engineering at CalTech. Everything explodes when her mother catches Rukshana kissing her girlfriend and goes ballistic, along with her normally very even-tempered father. Soon Rukshana is whisked away with her parents to their family in Bangladesh, where being gay is dangerous in addition to unacceptable (like it is in the Bangladeshi community back home in Seattle), and where they will stay until an arranged marriage is settled and their daughter is no longer "sick."

This book does a phenomenal job truly acknowledging how complicated Rukshana's existence is. She is very proud of her heritage, and she loves Bangladeshi culture and her family. She even cherishes visits to Bangladesh (with the major exception of current events). But at the same time the book does not shy away from acknowledging the huge problems in Bangladeshi culture, which has problems in the same way any culture has problems.

Mostly though, this book will break your heart. It is told in first person and I found, especially in the whole second half, my heart breaking for Rukshana and the things she was going through. It feels very emotionally honest, even if there's a small degree of suspension of disbelief in the plot. I will say, on a more positive note, the conclusion of the book did a good job putting my heart back together again. Definitely a good read if you're in for an emotional time.

Arsenic and Adobo

 Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala, 336 pages.

Lila Macapagal's life is starting to look like a rom-com. After she catches her terrible fiance cheating on her in the big city she moves back to her tiny hometown in Illinois to help her aunt save her failing restaurant. She also has to deal with meddling, match-making aunties and old and new crushes. Of course her food-critic ex-boyfriend being murdered in her family's restaurant throws a wrench in the genre. 

Now Lila has to solve the crime before she, the prime suspect, goes to jail for it. Luckily, the tight-knit Filipino community in Shady Palms, Illinois is ready to help, and Lila will meet a really fun cast of diverse characters in the course of her investigation.

I don't read much in the cozy mystery genre, but I really enjoyed this book. It was really funny, and I loved Lila's voice throughout. I also really appreciate the recipes in the back, and there's definitely some I want to try (if only I could stand the smell of bananas enough to make banana bread!). I'm definitely looking forward to the second book in the series next year!