May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (also known as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month) where we recognize the contributions and influence of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States.
To celebrate, we’ve put together a list of incredible Asian and Pacific Islander voices in literature—from inspiring memoirs about cultural identity and laugh-out-loud fiction to authentic cookbooks and interracial romance.
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Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner
From the indie rockstar of Japanese Breakfast fame, and author of the viral 2018 New Yorker essay that shares the title of this book, an unflinching, powerful memoir about growing up Korean American, losing her mother, and forging her own identity.
“Zauner’s writing is powerful in its straight-forwardness, though some turns of phrases are as beautiful as any song lyric . . . but it is her ability to convey how her mother’s simple offering of a rice snack was actually an act of the truest love that leaves the most indelible impression.”—Refinery 29
Named a Best Book of April 2021 by • AV Club • Bustle • Entertainment Weekly • Good Morning America • Chicago Review of Books • Fortune • TIME • CNN Underscored • Apartment Therapy • Popsugar • Hello Giggles • Business Insider • The Millions • Wall Street Journal Magazine • Glamour
Available in Hardcover, eBook, Audio, and Large Print Editions.
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Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong
A ruthlessly honest, emotionally charged, and utterly original exploration of Asian American consciousness.
“Cathy Park Hong’s new memoir confronts the tough questions of Asian American identity. Drawing its title from Hong’s theory regarding the impact of racial stereotypes and lies on ethnic minorities, this memoir-in-essays is a must-read at a time of rising racist violence and distrust.”—Bustle
“Minor Feelings is anything but minor. In these provocative and passionate essays, Cathy Park Hong gives us an incendiary account of what it means to be and to feel Asian American today. Minor Feelings is absolutely necessary.”—Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Sympathizer and The Refugees
In development as a television series starring and adapted by Greta Lee • One of Time’s 10 Best Nonfiction Books of the Year • Named One of the Best Books of the Year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, New Statesman, BuzzFeed, Esquire, The New York Public Library, and Book Riot.
Available in Hardcover, Trade Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions.
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Listen to a Clip from the Audiobook.
Lady Joker, Volume 1 by Kaoru Takamura; Translated by Allison Markin Powell and Marie Iida
One of Japan’s great modern masters, Kaoru Takamura, makes her English-language debut with this two-volume publication of her magnum opus.
Inspired by the unsolved true-crime kidnapping case perpetrated by “the Monster with 21 Faces,” Lady Joker has become a cultural touchstone since its 1997 publication, acknowledged as the magnum opus by one of Japan’s literary masters, twice adapted for film and TV and often taught in high school and college classrooms.
“[Lady Joker] is a work you get immersed in, like a sprawling 19th century novel or a TV series like “The Wire.” It reveals its world in rich polyphonic detail. Inspired by a real-life case, it takes us inside half a dozen main characters, follows scads of secondary ones and enters bars and boardrooms we could never otherwise go . . . Yet for all its digressions, Lady Joker casts a page-turning spell.”—John Powers, NPR’s Fresh Air
Available in Hardcover and eBook Editions.
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My Year Abroad by Chang-Rae Lee
From the award-winning author of Native Speaker and On Such a Full Sea, an exuberant, provocative story about a young American life transformed by an unusual Asian adventure—and about the human capacities for pleasure, pain, and connection.
“An extraordinary book, acrobatic on the level of the sentence, symphonic across its many movements—and this is a book that moves . . . My Year Abroad is a wild ride—a caper, a romance, a bildungsroman, and something of a satire of how to get filthy rich in rising Asia.”—Vogue
Available in Hardcover, eBook, Audio, and Large Print Editions.
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Listen to a Clip from the Audiobook.
Things We Lost to the Water by Eric Nguyen
A stunning debut novel about an immigrant Vietnamese family who settles in New Orleans and struggles to remain connected to one another as their lives are inextricably reshaped.
“Nguyen’s narrative strikes a very elusive balance: vast in scale and ambition, while luscious and inviting—enchanting, really—in its intimacy.”—Bryan Washington, The New York Times Book Review
Available in Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions.
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Listen to a Clip from the Audiobook.
Click to Watch Eric Nguyen on Our Illuminating Book Club Picks Author Panel.
Angel & Hannah: A Novel in Verse by Ishle Yi Park
The sweeping, unforgettable story of an interracial couple in 1990s New York City who are determined to protect their love against all odds—a reimagining of Romeo and Juliet.
“Triumphant . . . sensuous, tender, and faceted like cut glass.”—Cathy Park Hong, award-winning author of Minor Feelings
Winner of the PEN/Open Book Award • Winner of The Story Prize Spotlight Award
Available in Trade Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions.
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Listen to a Clip from the Audiobook.
Inheritors by Asako Serizawa
Spanning more than 150 years, and set in multiple locations in colonial and postcolonial Asia and the United States, Inheritors paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of its characters as they grapple with the legacies of loss, imperialism, and war.
“Stunning . . . Serizawa’s brave storytelling gives us more than an epic arc. She creates a narrative that is in and of itself a multidimensional space.” —NPR
Available in Hardcover, eBook, Audio, and Large Print Editions.
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Listen to a Clip from the Audiobook.
How Much of These Hills Is Gold by C Pam Zhang
An electric debut novel set against the twilight of the American gold rush, two siblings are on the run in an unforgiving landscape—trying not just to survive but to find a home.
“Belongs on a shelf all of its own.”—NPR
“[A] glittering debut . . . This novel is at once a thrilling adventure, a tender coming-of-age story, an excavation of the corrosive mythmaking surrounding the American west, and the arrival of a major literary talent.” —Esquire
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • A WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • ONE OF BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR • ONE OF NPR’S BEST BOOKS OF 2020 • LONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 BOOKER PRIZE • FINALIST FOR THE 2020 CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE
Available in Hardcover, Trade Paperback, eBook, Audio, and Large Print Editions.
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Black Water Sister by Zen Cho
A reluctant medium discovers the ties that bind can unleash a dangerous power in this compelling Malaysian-set contemporary fantasy.
“A sharp and bittersweet story of past and future, ghosts and gods and family, that kept me turning pages into the dark hours of the night.”—Naomi Novik, New York Times bestselling author of A Deadly Education
Available in Trade Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions.
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China Room by Sunjeev Sahota
A transfixing novel about two unforgettable characters seeking to free themselves—one from the expectations of women in early 20th century Punjab, and the other from the weight of life in the contemporary Indian diaspora.
“Burns quietly but fiercely from first page to last—a gorgeous, gripping read.” —Kamila Shamsie, author of Home Fire
“China Room, a multi-generational masterpiece based in part on Sahota’s family history, could well see him nominated [for the Booker] again.”—The Daily Mail, “Books to Look Out For 2021”
Coming in July!
Soon to Be Available in Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions.
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The Tiger Mom’s Tale by Lynn Lao Butler
When an American woman inherits the wealth of her Taiwanese family, she travels to confront them about their betrayals of the past in this stunning debut by Lyn Liao Butler.
“The Tiger Mom’s Tale is a heartfelt, delightful read. Lyn Liao Butler’s story of Taiwanese and American identity had me turning pages and laughing (and drooling over the delicious descriptions of food).”—Charles Yu, author of Interior Chinatown, winner of the 2020 National Book Award
Coming in July!
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Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto
What happens when you mix 1 (accidental) murder with 2 thousand wedding guests, and then toss in a possible curse on 3 generations of an immigrant Chinese-Indonesian family? You get 4 meddling Asian aunties coming to the rescue!
“A hilarious, heartfelt romp of a novel about—what else?—accidental murder and the bond of family. This book had me laughing aloud within its first five pages . . . Utterly clever, deeply funny, and altogether charming, this book is sure to be one of the best of the year!”—Emily Henry, New York Times bestselling author of Beach Read
Available in Hardcover, Trade Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions.
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Celebrate with Authentic Cuisine:
The Pepper Thai Cookbook: Family Recipes from Everyone’s Favorite Thai Mom by Pepper Teigen and Garrett Snyder
80 stir-fried-saucy, sweet-and-tangy mostly Thai-ish recipes from the mom who taught Chrissy (almost) everything she knows, Pepper Teigen!
Whether she’s frying up a batch of her crispy-garlicky wings for John’s football Sundays or making Chrissy her favorite afternoon snack—instant ramen noodles with ground pork, cabbage, scallions, and cilantro—Pepper Teigen loves feeding her famously fabulous family. Through these eighty recipes, Pepper teaches you how to make all her hits. You’ll find playful twists on Thai classics, such as Fried Chicken Larb, which is all crunch with lots of lime, chile, and fish sauce, and Pad Thai Brussels Sprouts, which bring the fun tastes and textures of pad thai to a healthy sheet of pan-roasted vegetables. And there are the traditional dishes Pepper grew up with, like khao tod crispy rice salad and tom zapp hot and sour soup.
Available in Hardcover and eBook Editions.
Click to Read an Excerpt.
Click for Pepper Teigen’s Thai Glazed Ribs Recipe.
From memoirs and book club picks to beach reads and family-friendly listens, browse our audio collections and discover a vast array of stories and storytellers!
Click to Browse the Audio Collection.
Click for K-12 Audiobooks Celebrating Asian & Asian American Voices.
