#aapi authors

[batmansymbol]

hello, my sweet sweet tumblr friends. i have a new book out one month from saturday. here we are together, the book and i:

this one was fun. i wrote it with my sister! when we were young, we were cutthroat competitive. she (older) would forbid me from reading the books on her shelves, and i (gremlin) would booby-trap her room, so you decide which of us committed the greater sin. now we have a blast.

our names are pronounced REE-uh-nock and SHEE-fra, and our book was pitched as THE PARENT TRAP meets THE VANISHING HALF. it releases August 15th, 2023. logline is "Two half-Chinese half-siblings collide for the first time at a summer art camp, not knowing they're related—and begin to understand who they are as artists, as brother and sister, and as Asian-Americans."

it's a book about summer camp hijinks, about passing, about what we long for and where we belong. it also says "Robinson & Robinson" on the spine, which makes us sound like an accidental injury law firm. sweet.

of all the books with my name on it, this one is probably the "book club"-iest. if you like coming-of-age novels or stories about the AAPI diaspora, you might like this one :)

you can preorder a signed copy from my local indie here, or non-signed copies from Bookshop.org, Barnes and Noble, or Amazon. i really cannot stress enough how much every single preorder helps, as i am what the industry calls "a midlist author," also known as "an obscure author who has difficulty placing projects with publishers because of sales figures lmao." (this is not to whinge. the majority of working authors exist in this financially & existentially precarious position)

alternatively, i would be totally thrilled if you reblogged this post, or mentioned the book to any teachers, librarians, bookstore workers, or other readers in your life :)

happy summer everybody—may it be the lazy river of your dreams. xoxoxo

[ink-stained-clouds]

summer 2023

what’s happened so far

A grueling yet enjoyable summer job carries on

Been taking more walks lately, it’s been a strangely cool summer and I intend to take advantage of it

Reading more than during the school year. Daughters of the New Year by E.M. Tran was a heart wrencher and I cannot recommend it enough

Met my grad school mentor, she’s lovely

Got adopted by a cat, happy to be her second home and her owner doesn’t mind in the least (not that she could stop her if she did. She’s very persistent)

what’s still to come

A (hopefully annual) summer visit from a good friend

More plants! Just picked up a new planter off the curb

More books, just started Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

More time with friends and more adventures to find come July and August

I hope summer is treating you well

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

🦇 We shouldn't wait until May every year to delve into the beauty of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) voices. In May, I shared a list of the NEWEST AAPI books out this year. To keep promoting AAPI authors, characters, and stories, here are a few Young Adult AAPI books you can add to your TBR for the remainder of the year!

🏮 The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han 🏮 My Summer of Love and Misfortune by Lindsay Wong 🏮 Permanent Record by Mary H.K. Choi 🏮 When We Were Infinite by Kelly Loy Gilbert 🏮 To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han 🏮 I Will Find You Again by Sarah Lyu 🏮 Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi 🏮 American Panda by Gloria Chao 🏮 When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon 🏮 Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman 🏮 Our Wayward Fate by Gloria Chao 🏮 Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao 🏮 Want by Cindy Pon 🏮 The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf 🏮 A Place to Belong by Cynthia Kadohata 🏮 Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon 🏮 Everyone Wants to Know by Kelly Loy Gilbert 🏮 A Pho Love Story by Loan Le 🏮 The Wild Ones by Nafiza Azad 🏮 Prepped by Bethany Mangle 🏮 The Infinity Courts by Akemi Dawn 🏮 Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi 🏮 Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim by Patricia Park 🏮 This is Not a Personal Statement by Tracy Badua 🏮 The Cartographers by Amy Zhang 🏮 The Love Match by Priyanka Taslim 🏮 This Place is Still Beautiful by Xixi Tian 🏮 Chasing Pacquiao by Rod Pulido 🏮 I'm Not Here to Make Friends by Andrew Yang 🏮 The Queens of New York by E. L. Shen 🏮 Hungry Ghost by Victoria Ying 🏮 These Infinite Threads by Tahereh Mafi 🏮 Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim 🏮 The Marvelous Mirza Girls by Sheba Karim 🏮 A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin

[rockislandadultreads]

Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month: Nonfiction Recommendations

Speak, Okinawa by Elizabeth Miki Brina

Elizabeth's mother was working on U.S.-occupied Okinawa when she met the American soldier who would become her husband. The language barrier and power imbalance defining their early relationship followed them to the predominantly white, upstate New York suburb where they moved to raise their daughter. There, Elizabeth grew up with the trappings of a typical American childhood, while feeling almost no connection to her mother's distant home and out of place among her peers. This account is a heartfelt exploration of identity and what it means to be an American.

Asian American Histories of the United States by Catherine Ceniza Choy

Original and expansive, this volume is a nearly 200-year history of Asian migration, labor, and community formation in the U.S. Reckoning with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the surge in anti-Asian hate and violence, historian Catherine Ceniza Choy presents an urgent social history of the fastest growing group of Americans. The book features the lived experiences and diverse voices of immigrants, refugees, US-born Asian Americans, multiracial Americans, and workers from industries spanning agriculture to healthcare.

Seeing Ghosts by Kat Chow

Born two years after her parents' only son died just hours after his birth, Kat Chow became unusually fixated with death. She worried constantly about her parents dying - especially her mother. Four years later when her mother dies unexpectedly from cancer, Kat, her two older sisters, and their father are plunged into a debilitating, lonely grief. In this memoir, Kat weaves together what is part ghost story and part excavation of her family's history of loss spanning three generations and their immigration from China and Hong Kong to America and Cuba.

Rise by Jeff Yang, Phil Yu, & Philip Wang

In this intimate, eye-opening, and frequently hilarious guided tour through the pop-cultural touchstones and sociopolitical shifts of the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and beyond, authors Yang, Yu, and Wang chronicle how we’ve arrived at today’s unprecedented diversity of Asian American cultural representation through engaging, interactive graphics, charts, graphic essays from major AAPI artists, exclusive roundtables with Asian American cultural icons, and more.

[pickledandjarred]

book recs for aapi heritage month 🕺🕺

a bit late, but happy aapi heritage month! i’ve been getting back into reading this past year after my pandemic slump, so here’s some books that i really enjoyed by aapi authors 

the poppy war trilogy by rf kuang - this series is a fantasy based on 19th-20th century china. it’s hilariously written with some of my favorite characters of all time, and deals with some really heavy topics like colonialism, the effects of warfare, and classism in a brutally honest fashion. i have so much to say about it but that’s for a much longer post-

babel: an arcane history by rf kuang - at this point i will read this woman’s grocery list, she is such a skilled writer and genius storyteller. babel is set in an alternate 1800s oxford university, in a world which the british empire’s power is built upon magic silver. babel unpacks the intrinsic ties between academia and empire from the perspective of someone on the inside and the concept of resistance. it also really hits home to the feeling of disconnect from your native language as a bilingual/third culture kid- overall just brilliant book imo. the magic system is also really interesting (as is that of rf kuang’s other work)- she builds upon the real world to create a fantasy that is engaging, but also very representative of the motifs of her work?? idk how to explain it but 🙏rebecca🙏

you’re the only one i’ve told: the stories behind abortion by meera shah - you’re the only one i’ve told is a collection of stories about abortion entrusted to shah, a medical practitioner who works as an abortion provider. the book humanizes these people and their experiences from a variety of different backgrounds and circumstances, and is a really compelling read. 

we have always been here: a queer muslim memoir by samra habib - we have always been here is a memoir about  habib’s experience growing up as an ahmadi muslim in pakistan, coming to canada as refugees in their teenage years, and grappling with queer identity within an environment where their body and personhood was thought to have been needed to be controlled. habib discusses faith, sexuality, and love through a lens of self discovery and finding community that you didn’t know existed. 

the henna wars by adiba jaigirdar - this book is set in dublin, and follows a young bangladeshi girl named nishat. nishat has fallen for an estranged childhood friend, flávia, who just so happens to be her rival in an upcoming school business competition. and by some luck, they both have chosen to create the same business; henna tattoos. i’m a sucker for fluff so this book got me, but it also deals with appropriation and queer romance (particularly from a 3rd culture experience) quite delicately. nishat’s relationship with her sister was also so well written, and i think was one of the most compelling bonds in this book!

this is how you lose the time war by amal el-mohtar - okay i’m still in the process of finishing this book, but it has been so good so far! this is a story about two rival agents moving through a war that stretches across time, fighting tooth and nail for their own victory in a vaguely apocalyptic world. they begin a correspondence that spills into something that could change the course of time extremely literally. the writing style and descriptions are gorgeous, and the fragmented format of letters jumping across thousands of years is a really interesting reading experience. very cool book!

on earth we’re briefly gorgeous by ocean vuong - god this man is such a talent- everything good you’ve heard about his work is true and you should go read it rn. on earth we’re briefly gorgeous is written in the form of a letter from a son to his illiterate mother, and tells a story that crosses over 3 generations with it’s epicenter rooted in vietnam. the narrator unpacks how the effects of warfare, immigration and generational trauma have shaped his relationship with his mother and his own life. i’m not doing it justice (not for any of these rlly i cannot elevator pitch books), but vuong’s writing is so beautiful and intimate yet quiet? 💃💃🙏🫶👍🙏👌💃

that’s all i have for now, if you have any recs pls do tell!! to my fellow asian/pacific islander americans, your voices and stories deserve to be uplifted and celebrated without being fetishized, appropriated or pigeonholed. have a great may! 

[bookaddict24-7]

AUTHOR FEATURE:

﹒R.F. Kuang﹒

Three Books Written By this Author:

The Poppy War

Babel

Yellowface

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Happy reading!

[chanelslibrary]

🌙𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰🌙

Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

A smog has spread throughout the world depriving the planet of crops and slowly destroying wildlife. A young chef manages to escape the hellscape by getting a job on a luscious Italian mountaintop working for the global elite. Although food is abundant and decadent, and the air is fresh and clean, working for her mysterious employer and his high maintenance daughter comes with its own set of problems.

This book was fantastic! I loved the dystopian background, which felt so real like it could happen today (pollution creating a smog that wipes out plants and eventually animals). And it makes you think how it will affect careers such as chefs, farmers, scientists, meteorologists, etc. Zhang illustrates the chef’s thoughts and these characters so well with excellent prose, metaphors, and details! The research to get the ingredients and names for all of the recipes is so well done and meticulous to show the stark contrast between the wonderful life on the mountain and pollution in the rest of the world. Another great theme Zhang subtly weaved was the subjugation and interchangeably of Asian women. How they are seen as objects and not a whole person. I definitely recommend this book, especially the audiobook!!

Read if you love:

🏔️ Dystopian

👩🏻‍🍳 Culinary commentary

🌈 LGBTQ rep

✊🏼 AAPI rep

[curlyhairedbibliophile]

Cover Art | Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R.F. Kuang

Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal. 1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he'll enroll in Oxford University's prestigious Royal Institute of Translation — also known as Babel. Babel is the world's center of translation and, more importantly, of silver-working: the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation through enchanted silver bars, to magical effect. Silver-working has made the British Empire unparalleled in power, and Babel's research in foreign languages serves the Empire's quest to colonize everything it encounters. Oxford, the city of dreaming spires, is a fairytale for Robin; a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge serves power, and for Robin, a Chinese boy raised in Britain, serving Babel inevitably means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to sabotaging the silver-working that supports imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide: Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence? What is he willing to sacrifice to bring Babel down?

Artwork by Nico Delort

Release date | Aug 23, 2022 Goodreads

[faeriemlm]

Ocean Vuong by Annelise Phillips, Kinfolk Issue 36

[this-world-of-beautiful-monsters]

From the author's site:

In June 2001, Rahna Reiko Rizzuto went to Hiroshima in search of a deeper understanding of her war-torn heritage. She planned to spend six months there, interviewing the few remaining survivors of the atomic bomb. A mother of two young boys, she was encouraged to go by her husband, who quickly became disenchanted by her absence.

It is her first solo life adventure, immediately exhilarating for her, but her research starts off badly. Interviews with the hibakusha feel rehearsed, and the survivors reveal little beyond published accounts. Then the attacks on September 11 change everything. The survivors’ carefully constructed memories are shattered, causing them to relive their agonizing experiences and to open up to Rizzuto in astonishing ways.

Separated from family and country while the world seems to fall apart, Rizzuto’s marriage begins to crumble as she wrestles with her ambivalence about being a wife and mother. Woven into the story of her own awakening are the stories of Hiroshima in the survivors’ own words. The parallel narratives explore the role of memory in our lives, and show how memory is not history but a story we tell ourselves to explain who we are.

___

For anyone interested in a perspective on the Hiroshima bombings from Literally Anyone Besides The People Who Did It, I'd definitely recommend this book at least as a starting point. It does a really good job of balancing personal narrative with careful testimonies from the Hiroshima bombings from a wide array of perspectives, all while balanced with an exploration of post-Hiroshima Japan in the early aughts.

There's some truly beautiful language that dances across the line between poetry and prose, showing a dedication to the craft of writing, creating, feeling, and knowing that I really admire and respect. There's also a lot of fascinating stuff about the way different people come to terms with trauma and change, and the messy work that comes with believing in peace when the war never seems to fucking stop, all shit that feels as relevant now as it ever has

(tw include graphic descriptions of death and suffering, discussions of racism and xenophobia, brief segments involving victim blaming and mentions of sexual assault, discussions of pregnancy)

[bookishtck]

So I’ve begun plotting my first serious novel draft and I’m so excited because I realized my stories can be about whatever I want it to. I have the power to take characters on a journey and let them live unique and interesting lives. I can write in as many seals as I want because they’re my favorite animal. I can base the cultural foods of my world off of my knowledge of different dishes around the world and no one will know where I got my ideas from! Fellow writers, don’t forget that your creative powers are the magic that brings your book to life! Don’t give up on whatever weird, crazy or silly ideas you have!

[wttnblog]

6 Incredible Books to Read This AAPI Heritage Month

It’s Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage month, and that means it’s a great time to make sure you’re reading and uplifting AAPI authors! I compiled a list of six great books that have been published over the past two years (and that I read in this past one) written by AAPI authors. These books span genre, time period, age range, and setting but each centers their Asian protagonist. She…

[dracereads]

Crying in H Mart | Michelle Zauner (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

One piping hot evening spent balling your eyes out through Michelle Zauner's heartbreaking recollection over the loss of her mother. Check. Synopsis: Michelle Zauner is a half-Korean half-American woman who experienced the heartbreaking tragedy of losing her mother to cancer. The whole book revolves around her sharing anecdotes of her family, trying to piece together the strings of culture and her place in it. By the way, this is nonfiction! So this is as true to life as you can write in a self-recollection. My thoughts: I have picked up and put down Crying in H Mart about a dozen times in the past years. I would read a couple chapters, cry, and set it down resolved to finish it later. Today, my brain was craving deep rooted sadness and decided to plow my way through the last absolutely emotional pain filled chapters. If you are in the mood for an emotional curbstomping, Zauner's work is both prosaic and sobering.

5 stars: I absolutely love the mix of Zauner's imagery and her recollections. You can really tell there is an earnest-wistfulness to this memoir that's just. French kiss.

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

🦇 Women of Good Fortune 🦇

❓ #QOTD If you could pull off a heist, what would you steal? ❓ 🦇 Lulu, Rina, and Jane have long considered themselves The Leftovers; non-married women considered far past their prime by Shanghai’s society. Now luxury-focused Jane is trapped in a loveless marriage, career-dedicated Rina keeps getting passed over for promotion, and Lulu is engaged to Shangai's most eligible bachelor. Lulu's wedding is their golden opportunity to get what they've always wanted: freedom from the standards and expectations that have trapped them for too long. The cash gifts from Lulu's wedding could transform their lives...IF they can get away with it.

💜 Sophie Wan's debut novel is a stunning study of how society treats women--and the hoops they need to jump through to make a life of their own. Each woman has her own distinct motivations and own clever voice. The real focus of the story is the found family these women built between them, their friendship stronger than the strain society's expectations set on their shoulders. Wan explores a number of important themes, including sexism, beauty standards, classism, and the weight of familial standards. While the romances in this story aren't the main focus, Rina and Vic's enemies-to-lovers sub-plot is the primary source of humor and entertainment. Each women grew to reconsider their primary motivations, leaving us with beautiful character development.

💙 For a heist story, this novel is all tell and very little show. The lack of descriptions or layered character-building makes the story dry and distant. The women only have one primary focus each, making them very one-dimensional and unrealistic when they could have been layered, diverse characters. We're given very little time to connect with them on any emotional level, making it difficult for us to root for their success. The pacing drags as the story establishes each character's world, stressors, and motivations when a heist story should feel action-packed and fast-paced. I love stories that delve into different cultures and provide us with an intimate look into someone else's point of view, but most of the cultural details are rushed through, as if readers would already understand them. I wanted so much more from a diverse, women-centric heist story.

🦇 Recommended for fans of Ocean's 11 and Crazy Rich Asians.

✨ The Vibes ✨ 🧧 Heist Story 🧧 Sisterhood/Female Friendship 🧧 Chinese Culture Rep 🧧 Multiple POVs 🧧 Debut Author 🧧 Wedding Story

🦇 Major thanks to the author and publisher for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

💬 Quotes ❝ It's helped me to see how much we let the people around us inflate our views of something that might be objectively worthless. ❞

❝ Purpose is something you choose. You can't rely on others to give it to you. ❞

[rockislandadultreads]

AAPI Literature: Fiction Picks

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

After the tragic death of his beloved musician father, fourteen-year-old Benny Oh begins to hear voices. The voices belong to the things in his house--a sneaker, a broken Christmas ornament, a piece of wilted lettuce. Although Benny doesn't understand what these things are saying, he can sense their emotional tone; some are pleasant, a gentle hum or coo, but others are snide, angry and full of pain. When his mother, Annabelle, develops a hoarding problem, the voices grow more clamorous. At first, Benny tries to ignore them, but soon the voices follow him outside the house, onto the street and at school, driving him at last to seek refuge in the silence of a large public library, where objects are well-behaved and know to speak in whispers. There, Benny discovers a strange new world, where "things happen." He falls in love with a mesmerizing street artist with a smug pet ferret, who uses the library as her performance space. He meets a homeless philosopher-poet, who encourages him to ask important questions and find his own voice amongst the many. And he meets his very own Book--a talking thing--who narrates Benny's life and teaches him to listen to the things that truly matter.

Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen Ho

Best friends since second grade, Fiona Lin and Jane Shen explore the lonely freeways and seedy bars of Los Angeles together through their teenage years, surviving unfulfilling romantic encounters, and carrying with them the scars of their families' tumultuous pasts. Fiona was always destined to leave, her effortless beauty burnished by fierce ambition--qualities that Jane admired and feared in equal measure. When Fiona moves to New York and cares for a sick friend through a breakup with an opportunistic boyfriend, Jane remains in California and grieves her estranged father's sudden death, in the process alienating an overzealous girlfriend. Strained by distance and unintended betrayals, the women float in and out of each other's lives, their friendship both a beacon of home and a reminder of all they've lost. In stories told in alternating voices, Jean Chen Ho's debut collection peels back the layers of female friendship--the intensity, resentment, and boundless love--to probe the beating hearts of young women coming to terms with themselves, and each other, in light of the insecurities and shame that holds them back. Spanning countries and selves, Fiona and Jane is an intimate portrait of a friendship, a deep dive into the universal perplexities of being young and alive, and a bracingly honest account of two Asian women who dare to stake a claim on joy in a changing, contemporary America.

Joan Is Okay by Weike Wang

Joan is a thirtysomething ICU doctor at a busy New York City hospital. The daughter of Chinese parents who came to the United States to secure the American dream for their children, Joan is intensely devoted to her work, happily solitary, successful. She does look up sometimes and wonder where her true roots lie: at the hospital, where her white coat makes her feel needed, or with her family, who try to shape her life by their own cultural and social expectations. Once Joan and her brother, Fang, were established in their careers, her parents moved back to China, hoping to spend the rest of their lives in their homeland. But when Joan’s father suddenly dies and her mother returns to America to reconnect with her children, a series of events sends Joan spiraling out of her comfort zone just as her hospital, her city, and the world are forced to reckon with a health crisis more devastating than anyone could have imagined. Deceptively spare yet quietly powerful, laced with sharp humor, Joan Is Okay touches on matters that feel deeply resonant: being Chinese-American right now; working in medicine at a high-stakes time; finding one’s voice within a dominant culture; being a woman in a male-dominated workplace; and staying independent within a tight-knit family. But above all, it’s a portrait of one remarkable woman so surprising that you can’t get her out of your head.

At Least You Have Your Health by Madi Sinha

Dr. Maya Rao is a gynecologist trying to balance a busy life. With three young children, a career, and a happy marriage, she should be grateful--on paper, she has it all. But after a disastrous encounter with a patient, Maya is forced to walk away from the city hospital where she's spent her entire career. A new opportunity arises when Maya enrolls her daughter at an exclusive private school and crosses paths with Amelia DeGilles. Amelia is the owner and entrepreneur behind Eunoia Women's Health, a concierge wellness clinic that specializes in house calls for its clientele of wealthy women for whom no vitamin infusion or healing crystal is too expensive. All Eunoia needs is a gynecologist to join its ranks. Amid visits to her clients' homes to educate and empower, and occasionally to remove crystals from bodily orifices, Maya comes to idolize the beautiful, successful Amelia. But Amelia's life isn't as perfect as it seems, and when Amelia's teenaged daughter is struck with a mysterious ailment, Maya must race to uncover the reason before it's too late. In the process, she risks losing what's most important to her and bringing to light a secret of her own that she's been desperately trying to keep hidden.

[lakecountylibrary]

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Book Recs

Adults:

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou

To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara

Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen Ho

The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu

Kids:

One, Two, Three Dim Sum: A Mandarin-English Counting Book by Rich Lo

Grandpa Grumps by Katrina Moore

No Kimchi for Me! by Aram Kim

Eyes that Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho

Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao by Kat Zhang

The Most Beautiful Thing by Kao Kalia Yang

Teens:

Loveboat Reunion by Abigail Hing Wen

A Thousand Steps Into Night by Traci Chee

K-Pop Revolution by Stephan Lee

Once Upon A K-Prom by Kat Cho

This Place is Still Beautiful by XiXi Tian

Almost American Girl: an Illustrated Memoir by Robin Ha

See more of Kelley’s recs