Celebrating Asian Voices

 

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage!

Generations of Asian and Pacific Islanders have enriched America’s history and these authors’ new books are enriching American literature:

Things We Lost to the Water by Eric Nguyen

Named one of the “Fifteen Books to Watch for in May” by The New York Time, Nguyen’s narrative strikes a very elusive balance: vast in scale and ambition, while luscious and inviting. 

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto

"Sutanto brilliantly infuses comedy and culture into the unpredictable rom-com/murder mystery mashup as Meddy navigates familial duty, possible arrest and a groomzilla. I laughed out loud and you will too.”—USA Today

Crying in H Mart 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.

First Person Singular by Haruki Murakami

“Some novelists hold a mirror up to the world and some, like Haruki Murakami, use the mirror as a portal to a universe hidden beyond it.” —The Wall Street Journal

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

A magnificent new novel from the Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro—author of Never Let Me Go and the Booker Prize-winning The Remains of the Day.

Speak, Okinawa by Elizabeth Miki Brina

A searing, deeply candid memoir about a young woman's journey to understanding her complicated parents—her mother an Okinawan war bride, her father a Vietnam veteran—and her own, fraught cultural heritage.

My Year Abroad by Chang-rae Lee

“A manifesto to happiness—the one found when you stop running from who you are.” –New York Times Book Review

Inheritors by Asako Serizawa

From the O. Henry Prize-winning author comes a heartbreakingly beautiful and brutal exploration of lives fragmented by the Pacific side of World War II.

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.

Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong

A ruthlessly honest, emotionally charged, and utterly original exploration of Asian American consciousness

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

Poet Ocean Vuong’s debut novel is a shattering portrait of a family, a first love, and the redemptive power of storytelling