#aapi lit

[reverie-quotes]

I wanted to see the whole world for myself. I wanted to see the whole range of possibilities. Your life is yours. It doesn't belong to anyone else. I wanted to know what it would mean to live life on my own terms.

— Satoshi Yagisawa, Days a the Morisaki Bookshop

[richincolor]

Celebrating Asian American/Pacific Islander Month

It's Asian American/Pacific Islander Heritage Month and I thought I'd highlight some books by AAPI authors of different genres that if you haven't read yet, you need to put these books on your TBR list. 

Horror

They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran 

Since the hurricane, the town of Mercy, Louisiana has been overtaken by a strange red algae bloom. Noon and her mother have carved out a life in the wreckage, trawling for the mutated wildlife that lurks in the water and trading it to the corrupt harbormaster. When she's focused on survival, Noon doesn't have to cope with what happened to her at the Cove or the monster itching at her skin. Mercy has never been a safe place, but it's getting worse. People are disappearing, and the only clues as to why are whispers of underwater shadows and warnings to never answer the knocks at night. When the harbormaster demands she capture the creature that's been drowning residents, Noon finds a reluctant ally in his daughter Covey. And as the next storm approaches, the two set off to find what's haunting Mercy. After all, Noon is no stranger to monsters . . .

Contemporary

Chasing Pacquiao by Rod Pulido

Self preservation. That’s Bobby’s motto for surviving his notoriously violent high school unscathed. Being out and queer would put an unavoidable target on his back, especially in a Filipino community that frowns on homosexuality. It’s best to keep his head down, get good grades, and stay out of trouble.

But when Bobby is unwillingly outed in a terrible way, he no longer has the luxury of being invisible. A vicious encounter has him scrambling for a new way to survive–by fighting back. Bobby is inspired by champion Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao to take up boxing and challenge his tormentor. Then Pacquiao publicly declares his stance against queer people, and Bobby’s faith–in his hero and in himself–is shaken to the core.

An Impossible Thing to Say by Arya Shahi

Omid needs the right words to connect with his newly met grandfather and distant Iranian heritage, words to tell a special girl what she means to him and to show everyone that he truly belongs in Tucson, Arizona, the only home he’s ever known. Neither the school play’s Shakespearean English nor his parents’ Farsi seems up to the task, and it’s only when Omid delves into the rhymes and rhythms of rap music that he starts to find his voice. But even as he does so, an act of terrorism transforms familiar accents into new threats.

Then a family member disappears, and it seems everyone but Omid knows why. When words fail altogether and violence takes their place, what will Omid do next?

Romance

True Love and Other Impossible Odds by Christina Li

College freshman Grace Tang never meant to rewrite the rules of love. She came to college to move on from a grief-stricken senior year and to start anew. So she follows a predictable routine: Attend class, study, go home and visit her dad every weekend. She doesn’t leave any room in her life for outliers or anomalies.

Then, Grace comes up with an algorithm for her statistics class to pair students with their perfect romantic partners. Though some people are skeptical, like Julia, Grace’s prickly coworker, Grace is confident that her program will take all the drama out of relationships. That’s why she keeps trying to make things work with her match, a guy named Jamie. But as the semester goes on and she grows closer to Julia, Grace starts to question who she’s really attracted to.

In award-winning author Christina Li’s YA debut, Grace will have to make a choice between the tidy equations she knows will protect her from heartbreak or the possibility that true love doesn’t follow any formula.

Check out Crystal's review 

Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang & Leuyen Pham

She was destined for heartbreak. Then fate handed her love. Val is ready to give up on love. It's led to nothing but secrets and heartbreak, and she's pretty sure she's cursed—no one in her family, for generations, has ever had any luck with love. But then a chance encounter with a pair of cute lion dancers sparks something in Val. Is it real love? Could this be her chance to break the family curse? Or is she destined to live with a broken heart forever?

Fantasy

Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier

In the old tales, it is written that the egg of a seadragon, dragonfruit, holds within it the power to undo a person’s greatest sorrow. But as with all things that offer hope when hope had gone, the tale came with a warning.

Every wish demands a price.

Hanalei of Tamarind is the cherished daughter of an old island family. But when her father steals a seadragon egg meant for an ailing princess, she is forced into a life of exile. In the years that follow, Hanalei finds solace in studying the majestic seadragons that roam the Nominomi Sea. Until, one day, an encounter with a female dragon offers her what she desires most. A chance to return home, and to right a terrible wrong.

Samahtitamahenele, Sam, is the last remaining prince of Tamarind. But he can never inherit the throne, for Tamarind is a matriarchal society. With his mother ill and his grandmother nearing the end of her reign. Sam is left with two choices: to marry, or to find a cure for the sickness that has plagued his mother for ten long years. When a childhood companion returns from exile, she brings with her something he has not felt in a very long time-hope.

But Hanalei and Sam are not the only ones searching for the dragonfruit. And as they battle enemies both near and far, there is another danger they cannot escape…that of the dragonfruit itself.

Check out Crystal's review 

The Floating World by Axie Oh

Sunho lives in the Under World, a land of perpetual darkness. An ex-soldier, he can remember little of his life from before two years ago, when he woke up alone with only his name and his sword. Now he does odd-jobs to scrape by, until he comes across the score of a lifetime—a chest of coins for any mercenary who can hunt down a girl who wields silver light. Meanwhile, far to the east, Ren is a cheerful and spirited acrobat traveling with her adoptive family and performing at villages. But everything changes during one of their festival performances when the village is attacked by a horrific humanlike demon. In a moment of fear and rage, Ren releases a blast of silver light—a power she has kept hidden since childhood—and kills the monster. But her efforts are not in time to prevent her adoptive family from suffering a devastating loss, or to save her beloved uncle from being grievously wounded. Determined to save him from succumbing to the poisoned wound, Ren sets off over the mountains, where the creature came from—and from where Ren herself fled ten years ago. Her path sets her on a collision course with Sunho, but he doesn't realize she's the girl that he—and a hundred other swords-for-hire—is looking for. As the two grow closer through their travels, they come to realize that their pasts—and destinies—are far more entwined than either of them could have imagined...

Non-Fiction/Memoir

 Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir Of A Wuhanese American by Laura Gao

After spending her early years in Wuhan, China, riding water buffalos and devouring stinky tofu, Laura immigrates to Texas, where her hometown is as foreign as Mars—at least until 2020, when COVID-19 makes Wuhan a household name.

In Messy Roots, Laura illustrates her coming-of-age as the girl who simply wants to make the basketball team, escape Chinese school, and figure out why girls make her heart flutter.

Insightful, original, and hilarious, toggling seamlessly between past and present, China and America, Gao’s debut is a tour de force of graphic storytelling.

[read-alert]

Happy Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! Full titles under the cut!

The Dragon Republic (The Poppy War #2) by RF Kuang

A Magical Girl Retires by Park Seolyeon

The Siren, the Song, and the Spy by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

A Witch's Guide to Magical Inkeeping by Sangu Mandanna

Disability Intimacy: Essays on Love, Care, and Desire edited by Alice Wong

Tell Me How It Ends by Quinton Li

Falling Back in Love with Being Human: Letters to Lost Souls by Kai Cheng Thom

Squire by Nadia Shammas and Sara Alfageeh

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

[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

[the-greatest-fool]

Oh fuck, it’s almost June. Okay, here’s a quick and dirty Asian American literature sweep I recommend for AAPI month. Note this is not meant to cover all of AAPI—obviously, because they’re different ethnic groups and it barely even makes sense to combine the categories to begin with—but instead blast out some of the most famous works that, IMO, should already be household names outside of AsAm lit/studies. I also, just based off my own interests, included works that look at the interplay between race and gender and sexuality.

I included “trending” writers, but I also wanted to redirect some attention to work and writings that have been in this field for literally decades. This is off the top of my head and written on my phone, plus I doubt anyone will read this. I may return to this in the future.

Essayists & Memoirs:

Eric Liu, Notes of a Native Speaker

Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior

Alexander Chee, How to Write an Autobiographical Novel

Cathy Park Hong, Minor Feelings

Jia Tolentino, Trick Mirror

Jay Caspian Kang, The Loneliest Americans

Hua Hsu, Stay True

Playwrights:

David Henry Hwang: Chinglish, Yellow Face, M. Butterfly

Novelists/Authors:

Louis Chu, Eat a Bowl of Tea

Amy Tan, Joy Luck Club

Gene Luen Yang, American Born Chinese

Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer

Charles Yu, Interior Chinatown

Elaine Hsieh Chou, Disorientation

Ling Ma, Severance

RF Kuang, Yellow Face

Poets:

Theresa Hak Kyung Chu

Arthur Sze

Justin Chin

Timothy Liu

Cathy Park Huang

Ocean Vuong

Other:

David L. Eng, Racial Castration

[beareadsbookz]

Review: The Do’s and Donuts of Love by Adiba Jaigirdar

Summary

Shireen Malik is still reeling from the breakup with her ex-girlfriend, Chris, when she receives news that she’s been accepted as a contestant on a new televised baking competition show. This is Shireen’s dream come true! Because winning will not only mean prize money, but it will also bring some much-needed attention to You Drive Me Glazy, her parents’ beloved donut shop.

Things get complicated, though, because Chris is also a contestant on the show. Then there’s the very outgoing Niamh, a fellow contestant who is becoming fast friends with Shireen. Things are heating up between them, and not just in the kitchen.

As the competition intensifies , Shireen will have to ignore all these factors and more— including potential sabotage—if she wants a sweet victory!

Thoughts

I always enjoy Adiba Jaigirdar's books, but I didn't like this one quite as much as, say, Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating. The main character is very talented and relatable, but she is a bit self centered in her friendships. There was an element of this in The Henna Wars, but in that book I felt like the main character recognized it and learned from it. In this book there isn't as much self-awareness, which made it a little frustrating to be in Shireen's head at times. That aside though, the story was cute and the characters were good. I liked the puns in the chapter names. One of the judges on the show that Shireen competes in has a name that is like a funny version of Gordon Ramsey, which I didn't realize until more than half way through (I think it’s Galvin Kremsey or something? I listened to the audiobook so I have no idea how it’s spelled.) I did love that the main character is fat and it doesn’t really come up that much, because I so rarely see plus sized main characters, and even when I do a large portion of the book is deprecating towards the character.

3.75 ⭐️

AAPI Heritage Month Hopefuls

(books I want to read if I can get them)

Rise of the Manō by Leialoha Humpherys

Poūkahangatus by Tayi Tibble

Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo

Hula by Jasmin ‘Iolani Hakes

Vā: Stories of the Women of the Moana edited by Sisilia Eteuati and Lani Wendt Young

The Wild Ones by Nafiza Azad

Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amélie Wen Zhao

The Last Bloodcarver by Vanessa Le

The Do’s and Donuts of Love by Adiba Jaigirdar

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao

Weird Fishes by Rae Mariz

The Marvelous Mirza Girls by Sheba Karim

One Boy, No Water by Lehua Parker

The Bone People by Keri Hulme

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh

The Wonders We Seek by Saadia Faruqi & Aneesa Mumtaz

Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier

The Dragon Prince: Stories and Legends From Vietnam edited by Thich Nhat Hanh

The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang

Muslim Girls Rise by Saira Amir

Fish Swimming In Dappled Sunlight by Alison Watts & Riku Onda

Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRocco

Banyan Moon by Thao Thai

Force Of Fire by Sayantani DasGupta

Rangikura by Tayi Tibble

Writing In Color by multiple authors (including but not limited to Nafiza Azad, Axie Oh, Joan He, Chloe Gong, and Darcie Little Badger)

I will be reblogging with reviews as I finish these!

[bloviating-vy]

I HIT #1 IN AAPI LIT

Friends!!! Thank you so much! I hit #1 in my category of AAPI Literature! 💕💕💕

If you haven’t had a chance yet to get my second novel "Weightless," it’s currently free on Amazon.

It’s all because I’m participating in a ONE DAY ONLY stuff your Kindle event where you can download more than 1600 ebooks onto your ereader.

Not only that, if that number sounds way too intimidating, you can sort by romance genre, tropes, preferred retailer, preferred device, and LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, and disabled authors.

Here’s the link: https://www.romancebookworms.com

[which-star]

Can not believe Silk was only introduced in 2014 by the way, thought she's been around way longer than that for some reason. Do you want to see her in any other major pieces of media like the MCU or BTSV?

ah yes, she's a pretty new character. I totally understand why you would think she'd be older though! Personally, I would love to see her in live action and btsv but particularly not the mcu? There's definitely a way for it to be done really well! I don't know if I trust them to, but the appeal of seeing Silk on the big screen is really high -- not gonna lie -- so I will probably be more forgiving if the mcu does decide to adapt her and fumble the bag. But with the whole Sony stuff, they might never be able to -- oooh a Sony adaptation could be cool! I really liked Venom!

BTSV I'm 100% gunning for. I was praying she would be in the ATSV trailer and I still have hope she'll be in the next one. I really want to see what sort of art style they'll choose for her along with her movements! There's so many cool things that separate her from the others (and the one, bunker-sized thing) and she played such a big role in the original spiderverse comic event that it feels unfair if she doesn't make an appearance at all. I have a small theory that since the third movie is going to be about disproving Miguel, we'll get the intro cards ("My name is Cindy Moon, and for the last however-long-it's-been, I've been the one and only... SILK") to spider-characters that have nothing to do with the original Peter Parker origin story.

Otherwise, I still have a candle lit for the Silk Amazon TV show that is rotting in developmental hell right now. I think Silk is a character that would do well in a live action and I would love to see it executed well, along with a different interpretation of her character. There's so many ways they could take her character and great runs to fall back on, from the original iconic 2015-2016 run with all the tension with Black Cat to the recent 2021 and 2022 runs that are more conducive to shorter seasons but still serve as a good jumping off point. I could go on about the different ways they could represent Cindy's Korean-American identity, but thats not the point of the ask.

More than her appearing on screen is that I wish she would have more runs! Marvel is treating her like a reserve character right now and only giving the big names ongoings (only bringing her out every AAPI month and maybe a mini), which is affecting her negatively in sales, popularity, etc. I think that working on her library of iconic runs will be more beneficial overall, because when she is adapted to the screen, the writers there will have more to go off of! I think the fact that we're getting yearly minis is good, since it means that Marvel hasn't forgotten about her, but I wish they would take the plunge to give her a loooong ongoing because it WILL pay off in the end. She'd be so much more popular if they did!

Thanks for the ask, I love answering them! This ended up being a lot longer than I expected it to be, but most things do. I hope you had an enjoyable day, anon, and/or continue to!

[reverie-quotes]

You must always stay calm. But you must also be willing to break all the person's ribs in order to keep her alive.

— Weike Wang, Joan is Okay

[bennubirdreadz]

Entry #4: Off With Their Heads by Zoe Hana Mikuta

This horror-fantasy story set in the world of the classic Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland seemed like it would be a smash hit for me. Unfortunately it fell a little flat. I didn’t hate it, and the worldbuilding was very interesting. The dynamic between the two main characters was compelling. Alas, I am a reader who really loves strong plots, and this book didn’t have that. It is also shockingly long for how few actual events happen. I think the execution here is very specific to someone’s tastes, that someone just isn’t me.

Read: May 31st - June 4th

Rated: 3⭐️

Pride Month Reading Post

This blog is an HP deconstruction blog. However, I am also a massive reader of other things, namely queer books. So all month I will be blogging my LGBTQIA2S+ reads, because it’s Pride month and I think it’s important.

Entry #1: The ABCs of Queer History by Seema Yasmin

This is a nonfiction children’s book that teaches kids about important historical figures and events, as well as ideas about expressing yourself and fighting for the people you love.

As a queer adult I was already familiar with a lot of the material in this book, but I did learn something new! The physician who saved countless lives by advocating for the use of diagnostic X-rays in tuberculosis patients was a trans man named Alan Hart. He was also one of the first people in the United States to receive a hysterectomy as part of his transition.

Read: June 2nd

[5chatzi]

Okay I'm going to send you some partly-solicited recs for queer literature and classics because I have a decent amount of exposure to both~~

My qualifications include a degree in English and now being halfway towards my MLIS lol this is what I was made for

For queer lit, sometimes it depends heavily on your own orientation, like bi people want to read books with bi representation, etc. But those preferences notwithstanding, here are some generally quality titles:

Zenovia July by Lisa Bunker: A trans girl solves a cyber crime. Mystery, YA, contemporary setting, trans rep

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune: a gay man who lives a boring government-worker life travels to an island in order to monitor the family of magical children who live there. Fantasy, found family, adult fiction (it has some kid's book vibes but does contain mild sexual content and mild swearing), gay representation.

Ace by Angela Chen -- nonfiction, part memoir exploration of what it means to be asexual, for the author personally and for society generally.

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo -- a Chinese-American girl in 1950s San Francisco comes to terms with being a lesbian. Historical fiction, adult fiction (or might be YA?? There is what I'd call mild sexual content), lesbian representation, AAPI representation

Jeanette Winterson is a queer author whose work I generally like!(don't have specific title recs though) (I have read The Passion, and she has a couple biographies shelved in the queer library in which I volunteer. The Passion is not very explicitly queer from my memory but it is very good regardless.

For classics, here are titles that I personally Actually Enjoyed Reading and found relatively accessible:

To Kill a Mockingbird (and I also like the film-- I should have added that to my answer to your ask)

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf is my absolute favourite classic novel, but I won't pretend it's for everyone, or that it's especially accessible. It's written in a heavily Modernist style that involves a quite lyrical, non-linear plot. But the prose is breathtakingly gorgeous and it has a really moving anti-war message.

Also, Orlando by Woolf as well, and this one is also queer! Features a genderqueer/trans/otherwise gendernonconforming character.

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins is very long, but it's a mystery, and I found it engaging. The section narrated by the character Marianne is the best, and I headcanon her as asexual or possibly a lesbian.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker is what I would call poignant, and it's fairly short. Be warned that it contains some SA content, racism, and AAVE dialect that could be hard to understand.

Macbeth or Twelfth Night or King Lear are my favourite Shakespeare works to recommend. But with Shakespeare, it's better if you can see a film or live performance, since just reading the script can be difficult to follow.

Little Women!!! God, I love Little Women. Honestly not sure how that wasn't the first one I thought of.

Oh thanks so much for the thorough response!

I’ll admit most of these are wildly outside my normal genre, but I’m always willing to try new things.

I have read Macbeth in school but it’s been ages and I am pretty sure I’ve read Little Women but I can’t remember it would have been a long time ago. Oh and To Kill a Mockingbird. I think everyone has read that in school but don’t think I’ve read it since.

I’m gonna write them down and check them out and see how it goes. I pretty much exclusively read non fiction so should be interesting 😅

[cleverhottubmiracle]

We’re just two months into 2025, and already the social events calendar for the year is stacked. Fashion month looms large with February on the horizon—and that means plenty of parties, dinners, and late nights at the style set’s favorite haunts and legendary venues in New York, London, Milan, and Paris. But before all that, Paris Couture Week arrives on Monday, January 27—which will come with it numerous fêtes. Back in New York City, the Whitney Museum is throwing its annual art party on January 28; this year, it’s disco-themed. On the gala front, the New York Philharmonic will host a Lunar New Year extravaganza on Tuesday, February 11. Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood is plotting its own starry gala for springtime in April. But for the moment, the stars are burrowing down in snowy, far-flung locales, like Aspen, Colorado, where celebs flock to venues like The Snow Lodge, a club-slash-bar-slash-restaurant in the St. Regis Hotel. Keep checking back here as we follow all the biggest parties of the year—and the celebs who attended them.Chloë Sevigny, Martha Stewart, Sandra Choi and The DareMatteo Prandoni for BFAOn Thursday, Feb. 6, guests joined Jimmy Choo creative director Sandra Choi and Chloë Sevigny for an intimate dinner to celebrate the brand’s spring 2025 campaign—in which Sevigny stars—at downtown hotspot Jean’s. Amanda Lepore and Cole EscolaMatteo Prandoni for BFALegendary musician Patti Smith, a longtime friend of the brand, performed alongside her daughter Jesse Paris Smith for a crowd that included Justin Theroux, Jack Harlow, Dree Hemingway, Brit Lower, Cole Escola, Amanda Lepore, Lisa Rinna, Japanese Breakfast, and Jemima Kirke.Kevin Sharkey and Martha StewartMatteo Prandoni for BFAMartha Stewart was also in attendance for the exclusive evening, which ended with a special DJ set by Grammy-nominated artist The Dare.New York Fashion Week got off to a quintessential start on the evening of February 5, courtesy of Saks Fifth Avenue. The retailer hosted its annual pre-NYFW fete at the newly opened Crane Club Restaurant in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. Per usual, the event drew a mix of industry insiders and front-row regulars who enjoyed Saks-branded treats and their signature Champagne tower throughout the evening. Alex Consani, dressed in a sheer white dress, preferred a martini over the bubbles, however.Indie-pop darling Caroline Polachek delighted the crowd with a performance of her songs “Bunny Is a Rider,” “Sunset,” and “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings.” A sheer Kiki de Montparnasse slipdress and Gucci undergarments made up Polachek’s look for the evening.Laura Harrier, dressed to the nines in ruched velvet, joined Charli XCX collaborator The Dare and actors Thomas Doherty and Louisa Jacobson for the event. Also in attendance were designers like Rachel Scott of Diotima and Prabal Gurung, who got some deserved R&R before presenting the brand’s fall 2025 collections in the coming days.On Monday, February 3, designer Phillip Lim held his annual Lunar New Year party at the restaurant Coqodaq in New York City’s Flatiron District. The fete was thrown in collaboration with Hennessy, which kitted out the chic, dimly lit space with cognac-based cocktails of all kinds, including The Snake, a take on the classic Manhattan. Guests were treated to a Korean fried chicken dinner, replete with Hennessy pairings for each course.Moonlight director Barry Jenkins was in attendance, along with partner (and fellow filmmaker) Lulu Wang. The starry evening was filled with AAPI luminaries of the moment, like Prabal Gurung, Laura Kim, Eva Chen, and DJ/model Mona Matsuoka.Kim Shui (left), who will reveal her latest fall 2025 collection at New York Fashion Week, poses for a photo with Beverly Nguyen.Laura Jung was one of the many celebs of the evening who plucked red envelopes containing $2 bills from a faux maple tree that had been installed in the venue.What’s a Lunar New Year celebration without a dragon dance? Here, Hennessy’s Antoine Varlet gets a taste of the annual tradition for the first time. Xin nian kuai le!Michael Kors convened a VIP crowd at Bemelman’s Bar on February 3 to celebrate the opening of his new boutique just down the street on Madison Avenue—but the guest list culled heavily from Broadway. While he may be best known at the moment for hosting the fiendishly addictive reality show The Traitors, Cumming reminded everyone why he’s a Tony winner with a powerhouse three-song set that included “Mein Herr” and “The Ladies Who Lunch.” Very likely future Tony nominee (if not eventual winner) Nicole Scherzinger, currently starring in Sunset Boulevard, took a seat front and center to cheer on Cumming. A little to her left stood Tony winner Jane Krakowski.Of course, the event served as an unofficial kick-off to New York Fashion Week as well, and the fashion world was well-represented. Iman and Patti Hanson, both supermodels and longtime Kors friends (not to mention both the wives of rock royalty) had a sweet reunion. Katie Holmes, fresh off her own run on the Great White Way, turned up in a black gown that showed off her shoulders. Of all the galas, fetes, and parties held in New York’s many art museums, the Whitney’s annual Art Party is undoubtedly the wildest. This year the museum really let loose, turning its lobby into the Studio 54-inspired “Studio 99” for the night. DJs The Muses and Jenny Albright spun a steady procession of disco classics. Guests were invited to peruse the museum’s exhibitions upstairs, and could report back to the dance floor in an elevator outfitted with a bar serving Maestro Dobel tequila.Above, Housewife Jessel Taank, party co-chair Micaela Erlanger, Andrew Taylor, and Julie Beynon hold court. While Bianca Jagger and her white horse did not manage to swing through, Mischa Barton, wearing a glossy black mini-dress, did. Designer Cynthia Rowley, who served on the host committee, and her daughter, the reality and social media star Kit Keenan, lightly coordinated with pink florals. Nightlife icon Dianne Brill, meanwhile, proved she can still demand attention in any room. Photograph by Madison McGaw/BFA.comKendall, Kylie, Hailey, and Justin may have been in Aspen this past weekend—but so were a gang of NYC party legends like Susanne Bartsch and Amanda Lepore, pictured here. The two had flown to the snowy location for Gay Ski Week, and stopped at Revolve x The Snow Lodge’s party at the Jade Room in the St. Regis Hotel on Friday night. Together with Joey Arias, they sat to dinner in The Snow Lodge’s impressive dining room—replete with a giant fireplace and DJ Nyjah Huston spinning tunes all night.Photograph by Madison McGaw/BFA.comCaroline Vreeland and model Maryna Linchuk, shown here, were also in attendance for the lavish weekend in Aspen.Lola Von Rox, Annartist, Vera Westwood, and many more friends joined Arias, Bartsch, and Lepore for a night of dinner and clubbing at Snow Lodge. Photograph by Madison McGaw/BFA.comThe next evening, the jet set took the party outside, braving the frigid temps for a DJ set with Bedouin during the Revolve x The Snow Lodge Aprés Ski party at the St. Regis.Photograph by Madison McGaw/BFA.comGuests included Barbara Palvin and Dylan Sprouse (Snow Lodge regulars), who paused grooving on the outdoor dance floor to snap a photo.Photograph by Madison McGaw/BFA.comThis article was originally published on Jan. 22, 2025 Source link

[read-alert]

Happy Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! Here's some of my favorite reads by Asian authors from the past year!

Full titles under the cut!

Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

Dust Child by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

Djinn City by Saad Z Hossain

Femme in Public by Alok Vaid-Menon

The Future is Disabled: Prophecies, Love Notes, and Mourning Songs by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

From the Stars in the Sky to the Fish in the Sea by Kai Cheng Thom and Kai Yun Ching

Funny Boy by Shyam Selvadurai

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

[norajworld]

We’re just two months into 2025, and already the social events calendar for the year is stacked. Fashion month looms large with February on the horizon—and that means plenty of parties, dinners, and late nights at the style set’s favorite haunts and legendary venues in New York, London, Milan, and Paris. But before all that, Paris Couture Week arrives on Monday, January 27—which will come with it numerous fêtes. Back in New York City, the Whitney Museum is throwing its annual art party on January 28; this year, it’s disco-themed. On the gala front, the New York Philharmonic will host a Lunar New Year extravaganza on Tuesday, February 11. Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood is plotting its own starry gala for springtime in April. But for the moment, the stars are burrowing down in snowy, far-flung locales, like Aspen, Colorado, where celebs flock to venues like The Snow Lodge, a club-slash-bar-slash-restaurant in the St. Regis Hotel. Keep checking back here as we follow all the biggest parties of the year—and the celebs who attended them.Chloë Sevigny, Martha Stewart, Sandra Choi and The DareMatteo Prandoni for BFAOn Thursday, Feb. 6, guests joined Jimmy Choo creative director Sandra Choi and Chloë Sevigny for an intimate dinner to celebrate the brand’s spring 2025 campaign—in which Sevigny stars—at downtown hotspot Jean’s. Amanda Lepore and Cole EscolaMatteo Prandoni for BFALegendary musician Patti Smith, a longtime friend of the brand, performed alongside her daughter Jesse Paris Smith for a crowd that included Justin Theroux, Jack Harlow, Dree Hemingway, Brit Lower, Cole Escola, Amanda Lepore, Lisa Rinna, Japanese Breakfast, and Jemima Kirke.Kevin Sharkey and Martha StewartMatteo Prandoni for BFAMartha Stewart was also in attendance for the exclusive evening, which ended with a special DJ set by Grammy-nominated artist The Dare.New York Fashion Week got off to a quintessential start on the evening of February 5, courtesy of Saks Fifth Avenue. The retailer hosted its annual pre-NYFW fete at the newly opened Crane Club Restaurant in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. Per usual, the event drew a mix of industry insiders and front-row regulars who enjoyed Saks-branded treats and their signature Champagne tower throughout the evening. Alex Consani, dressed in a sheer white dress, preferred a martini over the bubbles, however.Indie-pop darling Caroline Polachek delighted the crowd with a performance of her songs “Bunny Is a Rider,” “Sunset,” and “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings.” A sheer Kiki de Montparnasse slipdress and Gucci undergarments made up Polachek’s look for the evening.Laura Harrier, dressed to the nines in ruched velvet, joined Charli XCX collaborator The Dare and actors Thomas Doherty and Louisa Jacobson for the event. Also in attendance were designers like Rachel Scott of Diotima and Prabal Gurung, who got some deserved R&R before presenting the brand’s fall 2025 collections in the coming days.On Monday, February 3, designer Phillip Lim held his annual Lunar New Year party at the restaurant Coqodaq in New York City’s Flatiron District. The fete was thrown in collaboration with Hennessy, which kitted out the chic, dimly lit space with cognac-based cocktails of all kinds, including The Snake, a take on the classic Manhattan. Guests were treated to a Korean fried chicken dinner, replete with Hennessy pairings for each course.Moonlight director Barry Jenkins was in attendance, along with partner (and fellow filmmaker) Lulu Wang. The starry evening was filled with AAPI luminaries of the moment, like Prabal Gurung, Laura Kim, Eva Chen, and DJ/model Mona Matsuoka.Kim Shui (left), who will reveal her latest fall 2025 collection at New York Fashion Week, poses for a photo with Beverly Nguyen.Laura Jung was one of the many celebs of the evening who plucked red envelopes containing $2 bills from a faux maple tree that had been installed in the venue.What’s a Lunar New Year celebration without a dragon dance? Here, Hennessy’s Antoine Varlet gets a taste of the annual tradition for the first time. Xin nian kuai le!Michael Kors convened a VIP crowd at Bemelman’s Bar on February 3 to celebrate the opening of his new boutique just down the street on Madison Avenue—but the guest list culled heavily from Broadway. While he may be best known at the moment for hosting the fiendishly addictive reality show The Traitors, Cumming reminded everyone why he’s a Tony winner with a powerhouse three-song set that included “Mein Herr” and “The Ladies Who Lunch.” Very likely future Tony nominee (if not eventual winner) Nicole Scherzinger, currently starring in Sunset Boulevard, took a seat front and center to cheer on Cumming. A little to her left stood Tony winner Jane Krakowski.Of course, the event served as an unofficial kick-off to New York Fashion Week as well, and the fashion world was well-represented. Iman and Patti Hanson, both supermodels and longtime Kors friends (not to mention both the wives of rock royalty) had a sweet reunion. Katie Holmes, fresh off her own run on the Great White Way, turned up in a black gown that showed off her shoulders. Of all the galas, fetes, and parties held in New York’s many art museums, the Whitney’s annual Art Party is undoubtedly the wildest. This year the museum really let loose, turning its lobby into the Studio 54-inspired “Studio 99” for the night. DJs The Muses and Jenny Albright spun a steady procession of disco classics. Guests were invited to peruse the museum’s exhibitions upstairs, and could report back to the dance floor in an elevator outfitted with a bar serving Maestro Dobel tequila.Above, Housewife Jessel Taank, party co-chair Micaela Erlanger, Andrew Taylor, and Julie Beynon hold court. While Bianca Jagger and her white horse did not manage to swing through, Mischa Barton, wearing a glossy black mini-dress, did. Designer Cynthia Rowley, who served on the host committee, and her daughter, the reality and social media star Kit Keenan, lightly coordinated with pink florals. Nightlife icon Dianne Brill, meanwhile, proved she can still demand attention in any room. Photograph by Madison McGaw/BFA.comKendall, Kylie, Hailey, and Justin may have been in Aspen this past weekend—but so were a gang of NYC party legends like Susanne Bartsch and Amanda Lepore, pictured here. The two had flown to the snowy location for Gay Ski Week, and stopped at Revolve x The Snow Lodge’s party at the Jade Room in the St. Regis Hotel on Friday night. Together with Joey Arias, they sat to dinner in The Snow Lodge’s impressive dining room—replete with a giant fireplace and DJ Nyjah Huston spinning tunes all night.Photograph by Madison McGaw/BFA.comCaroline Vreeland and model Maryna Linchuk, shown here, were also in attendance for the lavish weekend in Aspen.Lola Von Rox, Annartist, Vera Westwood, and many more friends joined Arias, Bartsch, and Lepore for a night of dinner and clubbing at Snow Lodge. Photograph by Madison McGaw/BFA.comThe next evening, the jet set took the party outside, braving the frigid temps for a DJ set with Bedouin during the Revolve x The Snow Lodge Aprés Ski party at the St. Regis.Photograph by Madison McGaw/BFA.comGuests included Barbara Palvin and Dylan Sprouse (Snow Lodge regulars), who paused grooving on the outdoor dance floor to snap a photo.Photograph by Madison McGaw/BFA.comThis article was originally published on Jan. 22, 2025 Source link

[chilimili212]

We’re just two months into 2025, and already the social events calendar for the year is stacked. Fashion month looms large with February on the horizon—and that means plenty of parties, dinners, and late nights at the style set’s favorite haunts and legendary venues in New York, London, Milan, and Paris. But before all that, Paris Couture Week arrives on Monday, January 27—which will come with it numerous fêtes. Back in New York City, the Whitney Museum is throwing its annual art party on January 28; this year, it’s disco-themed. On the gala front, the New York Philharmonic will host a Lunar New Year extravaganza on Tuesday, February 11. Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood is plotting its own starry gala for springtime in April. But for the moment, the stars are burrowing down in snowy, far-flung locales, like Aspen, Colorado, where celebs flock to venues like The Snow Lodge, a club-slash-bar-slash-restaurant in the St. Regis Hotel. Keep checking back here as we follow all the biggest parties of the year—and the celebs who attended them.Chloë Sevigny, Martha Stewart, Sandra Choi and The DareMatteo Prandoni for BFAOn Thursday, Feb. 6, guests joined Jimmy Choo creative director Sandra Choi and Chloë Sevigny for an intimate dinner to celebrate the brand’s spring 2025 campaign—in which Sevigny stars—at downtown hotspot Jean’s. Amanda Lepore and Cole EscolaMatteo Prandoni for BFALegendary musician Patti Smith, a longtime friend of the brand, performed alongside her daughter Jesse Paris Smith for a crowd that included Justin Theroux, Jack Harlow, Dree Hemingway, Brit Lower, Cole Escola, Amanda Lepore, Lisa Rinna, Japanese Breakfast, and Jemima Kirke.Kevin Sharkey and Martha StewartMatteo Prandoni for BFAMartha Stewart was also in attendance for the exclusive evening, which ended with a special DJ set by Grammy-nominated artist The Dare.New York Fashion Week got off to a quintessential start on the evening of February 5, courtesy of Saks Fifth Avenue. The retailer hosted its annual pre-NYFW fete at the newly opened Crane Club Restaurant in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. Per usual, the event drew a mix of industry insiders and front-row regulars who enjoyed Saks-branded treats and their signature Champagne tower throughout the evening. Alex Consani, dressed in a sheer white dress, preferred a martini over the bubbles, however.Indie-pop darling Caroline Polachek delighted the crowd with a performance of her songs “Bunny Is a Rider,” “Sunset,” and “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings.” A sheer Kiki de Montparnasse slipdress and Gucci undergarments made up Polachek’s look for the evening.Laura Harrier, dressed to the nines in ruched velvet, joined Charli XCX collaborator The Dare and actors Thomas Doherty and Louisa Jacobson for the event. Also in attendance were designers like Rachel Scott of Diotima and Prabal Gurung, who got some deserved R&R before presenting the brand’s fall 2025 collections in the coming days.On Monday, February 3, designer Phillip Lim held his annual Lunar New Year party at the restaurant Coqodaq in New York City’s Flatiron District. The fete was thrown in collaboration with Hennessy, which kitted out the chic, dimly lit space with cognac-based cocktails of all kinds, including The Snake, a take on the classic Manhattan. Guests were treated to a Korean fried chicken dinner, replete with Hennessy pairings for each course.Moonlight director Barry Jenkins was in attendance, along with partner (and fellow filmmaker) Lulu Wang. The starry evening was filled with AAPI luminaries of the moment, like Prabal Gurung, Laura Kim, Eva Chen, and DJ/model Mona Matsuoka.Kim Shui (left), who will reveal her latest fall 2025 collection at New York Fashion Week, poses for a photo with Beverly Nguyen.Laura Jung was one of the many celebs of the evening who plucked red envelopes containing $2 bills from a faux maple tree that had been installed in the venue.What’s a Lunar New Year celebration without a dragon dance? Here, Hennessy’s Antoine Varlet gets a taste of the annual tradition for the first time. Xin nian kuai le!Michael Kors convened a VIP crowd at Bemelman’s Bar on February 3 to celebrate the opening of his new boutique just down the street on Madison Avenue—but the guest list culled heavily from Broadway. While he may be best known at the moment for hosting the fiendishly addictive reality show The Traitors, Cumming reminded everyone why he’s a Tony winner with a powerhouse three-song set that included “Mein Herr” and “The Ladies Who Lunch.” Very likely future Tony nominee (if not eventual winner) Nicole Scherzinger, currently starring in Sunset Boulevard, took a seat front and center to cheer on Cumming. A little to her left stood Tony winner Jane Krakowski.Of course, the event served as an unofficial kick-off to New York Fashion Week as well, and the fashion world was well-represented. Iman and Patti Hanson, both supermodels and longtime Kors friends (not to mention both the wives of rock royalty) had a sweet reunion. Katie Holmes, fresh off her own run on the Great White Way, turned up in a black gown that showed off her shoulders. Of all the galas, fetes, and parties held in New York’s many art museums, the Whitney’s annual Art Party is undoubtedly the wildest. This year the museum really let loose, turning its lobby into the Studio 54-inspired “Studio 99” for the night. DJs The Muses and Jenny Albright spun a steady procession of disco classics. Guests were invited to peruse the museum’s exhibitions upstairs, and could report back to the dance floor in an elevator outfitted with a bar serving Maestro Dobel tequila.Above, Housewife Jessel Taank, party co-chair Micaela Erlanger, Andrew Taylor, and Julie Beynon hold court. While Bianca Jagger and her white horse did not manage to swing through, Mischa Barton, wearing a glossy black mini-dress, did. Designer Cynthia Rowley, who served on the host committee, and her daughter, the reality and social media star Kit Keenan, lightly coordinated with pink florals. Nightlife icon Dianne Brill, meanwhile, proved she can still demand attention in any room. Photograph by Madison McGaw/BFA.comKendall, Kylie, Hailey, and Justin may have been in Aspen this past weekend—but so were a gang of NYC party legends like Susanne Bartsch and Amanda Lepore, pictured here. The two had flown to the snowy location for Gay Ski Week, and stopped at Revolve x The Snow Lodge’s party at the Jade Room in the St. Regis Hotel on Friday night. Together with Joey Arias, they sat to dinner in The Snow Lodge’s impressive dining room—replete with a giant fireplace and DJ Nyjah Huston spinning tunes all night.Photograph by Madison McGaw/BFA.comCaroline Vreeland and model Maryna Linchuk, shown here, were also in attendance for the lavish weekend in Aspen.Lola Von Rox, Annartist, Vera Westwood, and many more friends joined Arias, Bartsch, and Lepore for a night of dinner and clubbing at Snow Lodge. Photograph by Madison McGaw/BFA.comThe next evening, the jet set took the party outside, braving the frigid temps for a DJ set with Bedouin during the Revolve x The Snow Lodge Aprés Ski party at the St. Regis.Photograph by Madison McGaw/BFA.comGuests included Barbara Palvin and Dylan Sprouse (Snow Lodge regulars), who paused grooving on the outdoor dance floor to snap a photo.Photograph by Madison McGaw/BFA.comThis article was originally published on Jan. 22, 2025 Source link

[etirabys]

me today: do you want to see some art I made a few years ago that looks like it could be a book cover? it's looks kind of like a YA lit/fantasy book

@eightyonekilograms and @femmenietzsche: it looks like an autobiography where the pull quote on the cover says it's a "vivid and necessary insight into the queer AAPI experience"

me: what is wrong with you. this is clearly a mermaid opening a door

I digitally painted over this photo using mostly colors from this beach image. I thought the constraint might force me to be more comfortable doing weird things with color, and it did!