Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month by reading books from AAPI authors or about AAPI experiences! Check out more information about AAPI Heritage Month.
Compiled by:
Maggie H
Adult Fiction - So
Released posthumously after the author’s untimely death, Afterparties is a moving and engaging collection of short stories about Cambodian-Americans in California’s Central Valley.
Mystery & Detective - MYS Manansa
Series: Tita Rosie's Kitchen
Lila Macapagal never thought she would move back to Shady Palms, but here she is, helping her Tita Rosie get her restaurant back on its feet. When a troublesome food blogger ends up dead after eating at the restaurant and Lila ends up being the prime suspect, it’s up to her and her best friend to solve the crime. Cozy mystery fans will appreciate a new upbeat amateur sleuth who makes mouth-watering Filipino foods.
Adult Fiction - Shepher
Seven years after inexplicably firing her from her internship at the Map Division of the New York Public Library, Nell’s father, Daniel, is found dead. Daniel has hidden away a 1930s highway map, which is what prompted their fatal argument years ago. Nell begins to research the map, and what follows is a compelling and suspenseful magical realism thriller.
Adult Fiction - Chen
Ava Wong is living a hectic life in San Francisco. When her former roommate enters the scene, Ava is convinced to participate in a designer handbag con. Readers will be kept guessing in this compelling and witty novel.
Adult Fiction - Chang
In this Chinese American retelling of The Brothers Karamazov, Chang tells the story of the Family Chao, featuring difficult father Leo, mother Winnie who has escaped to a Buddhist Temple; youngest brother and college student James; middle brother and successful New Yorker Ming; and oldest brother Dagou, who has slaved away in the family business hoping for recognition.
Graphic Novels - GN Pichets Infidel
In this 21st century take on a haunted house story, Muslim woman Aisha moves into a new apartment complex where she experiences hostility from her neighbors. As she investigates the reasoning for this, she discovers an evil entity in the building that is fueled by bigotry. Horror fans will enjoy the detailed illustrations in this suspenseful, creepy graphic novel.
Science Fiction & Fantasy - Aoki
Shizuka Satomi needs one more violin student—and soul to trade—before she is free from her deal with a demon. She finds it in abused runaway Katrina Nguyen. However, her attention is divided these days—distracted by a crush on the owner of a local donut shop (who is also an intergalactic refugee). Nominated for a Hugo Award, this is a bittersweet and hopeful novel about love, choice, and found family.
Adult Nonfiction - 800.92 Madden Mad
Madden’s candid memoir chronicles her life growing up in a difficult home. Although going to live with her father meant wealth, privilege, and private schools, it also meant living with unstable parents. Before escaping to New York, Madden found solace with a “tribe of fatherless girls,” who briefly provided comfort and stirred romantic longings that she was able to explore as she grew up. While haunting and melancholy, this is a powerful story about an artist finding who they are.
Adult Nonfiction - 305.4895 Hon
Hong writes an impassioned and candid series of essays on race and gender issues from her perspective as a Korean-American woman.
Adult Nonfiction - 800.92 Myint Myi
Myint writes her own life story as it is shaped and haunted by her family history, myths, and folklore.
Large Print - LP Lee
A moving and compelling character-driven saga, Pachinko is a Nation Book Award finalist that follows multiple generations of a Korean-Japanese family in the 20th century.
Adult Nonfiction - 811.6 Vuo
Vuong’s second poetry collection is lyrical and heart-wrenching, focusing on loss and life, especially in connection to losing his mother.
Adult Fiction - Yanagih
Yanagihara tells three different stories of an alternate United States in 1893, 1993, and 2093 in this character-driven, thought-provoking novel.
Mystery & Detective - MYS Sutanto
Cozy mystery fans will love tea shop owner and amateur detective Vera, who wakes up one morning to find a dead body in her shop. Vera steals evidence and lures in four suspects with food and friendship as she susses out who is the guilty party in this warm, funny mystery.
Adult Fiction - Lahiri
Written in a series of vignettes, the unnamed narrator tells us about her seemingly tranquil, yet melancholy, life. Pulitzer Prize winner Lahiri writes about an Italian life with engaging and lyrical prose and a strong sense of place.