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Books to Devour: Murder and Mamon and The Nameless Restaurant

20 Sep

Murder and Mamon
Murder and Mamon is the latest in Mia P. Manansala’s Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery Series. I have reviewed two of the previous entries including the first book Arsenic and Adobo. The series resolves around Lila Macapagal and her friends and family. Her aunt who raised her is the owner of a Filipino restaurant, which is where the series name is derived from. I think this may have been my favorite novel in the series so far; it focuses on her godmothers, a gossipy bunch who have just opened a laundromat. Lila must discover whether the threating letter’s they are receiving are due to vengeance for the rumors they spread or an angry competitor. The mystery kept me guessing till the very end. The food featured sounded mouthwatering as always and recipes are included at the end if you want to try making some Filipino classic or fusion dishes. Although each book can be enjoyed separately and each mystery is self-contained you will get spoilers about Lila’s romantic partners and other life events if you read the stories out of order. This novel will appeal to fans of New Adult Fiction as well as Cozy Mysteries.

The Nameless Restaurant
by Tao Wong
The Nameless Restaurant is the first in Canadian author, Tao Wong’s Hidden Dishes series. It is a novella and I enjoyed this quick bite as an audiobook narrated by Emily Woo Zeller who charmingly voices the many characters and brings them to life. This is a cozy fantasy set at a mysterious restaurant in Toronto frequented by not quite human patrons who manage to find it. The chef is a lovable grump who creates fantastic meals even if out of the humble ingredients with his skills and knowledge of a variety of Asian cuisine. You do not want to be reading/listening to this one on an empty stomach. This will appeal to anyone looking for more mellow low-stake fantasies similar to Legends and Lattés by Travis Baldree, which a colleague had previously reviewed. Check out next week’s post which includes a fiction novel with a dragon gourmand and two Lovecraft cookbooks!

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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Words about the Birds: Birder, She Wrote and Hello Birdy

2 Aug

Birder, She Wrote
by Donna Andrews
Donna Andrews’s Meg Langslow Mystery Series is one of my favorites with its cast of quirky characters amongst Meg’s large extended family and the local towns people in the fictitious Carephilly, VA. Each of her mysteries tie in with different species of birds. In the case of Birder, She Wrote, it is the backyard hummingbirds, like the ones I always envy my Virginia relatives for enjoying. Meg has a dilemma that one of her’s is a “bully bird” unwilling to share the sugar water feeder with the other hummers. Andrews infuses her cozies with humor and heart (she typically has two releases each year, one around beach read season and the other for the holidays). Unfortunately though this might be the perfect book for you to enjoy sipping an Arnold Palmer while relaxing in a hammock, Meg’s plans are dashed when her family and friends need her help. While she assists her grandmother Cordelia and a local deacon in finding a lost Pre Civil War Era African-American Cemetery, they discover a more recent body dumped there. The book also weaves in the very contemporary issue of NIMBY (not in my backyard) issues when people move from more urban to rural areas and must learn to balance their expectations of country life with the realities (living near farms can be literally stinky). Birder, She Wrote is the 33rd in the series with the 34th, Let It Crow! Let It Crow! Let It Crow! scheduled to be out on Oct 10.

Hello Birdy
Hello Birdy is a fun bingeable 6 episode (27 minute each) series from Australia hosted by award winning Aussie actor, William McInnes. Each episode covers a different categories of Australian birds including parrots, ancient birds, song birds, raptors, pests, and travelers. Back before I had decided on librarianship, I had contemplated a career in ornithology so this show was very much in my wheelhouse, but even if you are just a casual birdwatcher, this series will still delight. The episodes are infused with lots of humor and will be fun for the whole family, but there are also important environmental messages with some of the birds being featured being endangered. I was particularly intrigued by the ancient birds episode which looks at birds like the large flightless cassowaries which seem otherworldly compared with the cardinals and catbirds in my back yard. Interested in more Australian wildlife and nature; you can also check out Martin Clunes: Islands of Australia from Hoopla or the PBS documentary Australia featuring koalas, kangaroos and other intriguing creatures who call the land of OZ home from Kanopy.

If you are interested in bird watching you might be interested in the New York Times Birding Project. Hoboken residents have free access to the New York Times online. Simply email the the reference department with your library card.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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