#readers community

[bookishpedia]

Am I a feminist? Yes.

Would I get on my knees and remove Zade Meadow's belt if asked me to? Also, yes.

[bookaddict24-7]

Sometimes I worry that I give too many books four and five star ratings (because I've genuinely enjoyed them), but then I remember that I DNF a lot of books.

Life is too short. Sorry, not sorry.

[skymoral]

Bi-Han x B!F Wife Reader

TRAINING

Summary: Bi-han was having the clan train, Kuai Liang monitoring it and Y/N wanted to join. But one of the Lin Kuei’s went a bit to far, and Bi-han was not accepting that.

Tags: Fluff/protect, slight drama, over-protective

A/N: Bi-han does not play about his woman

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

You just had finish treating yourself of earthrealms female activities, Sonya took you for a girls out to explore earth.

With a hard push to have Bi-han approve of you going, so you had body guards as if you couldn’t defend yourself… well to a certain extent.

Y/N bid her friend Sonya farewell, as you were headed to back to your room to show it off to your husband. You passed where the Lin Kuei was training.

Y/N saw her brother-In-law Kuai Liang, he was showing his clan new skills. You watched standing between the threshold.

“What are you doing woman?” A cold tone came from behind her. There was only one man that talked with such coldness.

“Beloved! Ooh look!” You ran up hugging his arm, and putting your hand in his face.

“You like my nails, there blue and light blue. I know how much you love it when I wear your color. Ooh, and I let my braids out!”

Y/N stepped back not to far shaking her big fluffy curly Afro. It was literally touching your shoulders. He left your hand kissing the back of your palm.

“It is Beautiful, I am pleased to know you enjoyed yourself.” Bi-han gave a small smile, that was quickly gone as he entered the training spot.

Of course you followed behind, as you love watching the training sessions and little spar.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

As the training was continuing, you heard Kuai Liang ask anyone if they would like to spar with one of the Lin Kuei warriors, who went by the name “Lu Min”(A/N: don’t judge me about the name lol). Who was there most skilled warrior

“I can spar with them!” Y/N volunteered herself happily. Kuai Liang gave you a shocked expression, then turned to his brother. Who only waved his hand giving his approval.

You stood up and put your hair into two big puffs. “It is an honor to be able to spar with the grand mistress herself.” Lu Min bowed.

“Likewise.” You returned the gesture. You got into a fighting stance. You were lucky you didn’t have to change. You had a comfortable attire on, that was suitable for fighting.

As you both spar, you earned a couple impressed reactions.

You’ve been doing some training of your own and sometimes practice with your husband.

But you wanted to show off something you learn, which was a double aerial kick before you kicked him down.

“A little something ya girl learned on her own.” You noticed an impressed grin from Bi-han. He expected nothing less from you, as he does not marry weak women.

“We’re not finish yet.” Lu Min said a bit more agitated. You noticed but brushed it off.

He charged at you, but you blocked his punch, then he swepped his leg under her making her fall.

Before Y/N could block, he punched her hard in her chest. Knocking the wind out of you, you grunted slightly.

Trying to get up, then he kicked you hard against the wall and punched you dead in your face, but used your hands to protect it slightly, which didn’t do much. Earning a whimper out of you, your face bruised.

Before it could continue, Kuai Liang ended the fight. Standing between you both, Y/N thanked the gods for the intervention. Because she be damned if she tapped out.

Not wanting to seem weak, but was boy fighting as if it was a real Mortal Kombat. The pain was getting to you, and he just fucked up the nails you just got did.

You felt the aura of the room changed, Bi-han kneeled in front of you. Gripping your face and looking at your wounds

{You wondered to yourself on when you had got on the ground}

“You are bruised but not broken. We will end this little sparring session.”

You could tell Bi-han was pissed that one of his men went overboard, “I-It’s fine Bi-han, I was just caught off guard I’m alright babe… Well, except my nails.” You tried to play off jokingly, but he was in no joking mood.

Bi-han called one of the medics and asked them to tend to your wounds in your shared room with Bi-han.

“You will finish your sparring lesson with me.” Bi-han pointed at Lu Min, who was already apologizing and begging for mercy.

You were taken away before you could see an outcome

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

You were laying in the bed, leaning against the headboard. Looking at what was your newly blue and light blue nails.

Fingers bandaged, some broke off fully(which hurt like a bitch) and others half broken but still sore as it was new.

Then you heard Bi-han entered the room, he sank the bed as sat on the edge. Pulling your hands to his lips kissing it.

“You didn’t kill the poor boy did you?” Y/N asked worryingly, you didn’t want to get anyone killed.

“Why does it matter.” Bi-han bluntly responded settling in the bed and pulling you close to him.

“Bi-hannnnn.” You whined, Bi-han was kissing your neck then bruises.

“He’s lucky Kuai Liang was there.” Bi-han, would have killed him if it weren’t for his brother holding him back. As he was already taught a lesson and made as an example to the others if they ever felt like being bold. How dare anyone ruin his wife’s beautiful face.

Y/N was alright with that response, at least he was alive. You gave him a sweet kiss on the lips before confirming to him that you’re alright and you will live and heal… except your nails.

“I’m sad about my nails though, they were so cute and nice… After all that money I spent on it.” You pouted.

“Money is no issue my dear wife, you can go again tomorrow.” Bi-han told you, giving you a smile. Your the only person he shows this too.

“THAT MEANS YOUR TAKING ME DADDY!?” You sat up excitedly. Bi-han huffed with a smirk before getting out the bed and heading to wash himself up.

“I never said that, it means you can find your own way again.” Bi-han told you before disappearing in the bathroom.

“BI-HANNNNNNN!” You whined loudly.

A/N: These are what your nails looked like, also hoped you enjoyed this story as well

[readlikeido]

the roots of chaos - samantha shannon

[novelestic]

“you came back for me.”

“i protect my investments.” investments.

“i’m glad i’m bleeding all over your shirt."

— kaz & inej ♡

[jessicaleesheppard]

Don't listen to those who say you can't. You can. I’m living proof.

[writers-potion]

Why I annotate as I read

I used to be someone who never, ever wrote in my books. I didn't bend the spine of my most beloved volumes and made absolutely no doggy ears. While I still stick to my no goddy ear policy, I recently started to enjoy annotations.

Here are some reasons why I started annotating my books, both digital and physical.

Digital books can be a bit boring - so I started annotating them

I can capture fleeting thoughts as I read. Helps me write reviews later.

Color-coding different themes can be quite insightful

When I re-read, I can see how my thoughts changed

Especially for non-fiction, helps me read faster on a 2nd or 3rd re-read.

Because it looks pretty and the book screams, "read!"

Do you annotate your books? Why or why not?

[unfilteredversionhere]

I wish someone had told me that love isn't torture. Because i thought love was this thing that was supposed to tear you in two and leave you heartbroken and make your heart race in the worst way. I thought love was bombs and tears and blood. I didn't know it was supposed to take only the kind of work that makes you softer. I thought love was war. I didn't know it was supposed to be peace.

- Taylor Jenkins Reid, Daisy Jones and the six.

[midnight-specialist]

*hauntingly beautiful violin music plays*

Romantasy readers: 💭✨🌌🗡️🧝🏻‍♀️🔮🐉

[bookishpedia]

*Kenji and Juliette sneaking inside the house at 4am*

Nazeera: *sitting on the sofa* Where were you?

Kenji: We were helping Aaron.

Aaron: *turns on the light* Try again.

[ellierenae]

hey guys you probably already know about "dark patterns" as a web design term so i'll just cut to the chase and say amazon appears to be collecting data on your kindle reading habits and has hidden the option to disallow data collection DEEP in the settings on their website where almost no normal user would venture

here's a really quick link directly to the kindle privacy settings so you dont have to descend the madness of submenus but i'll also break down how you'd get there yourself

> amazon.com

> click your name at the top right to open a submenu

> scroll and click "See all account" to open a submenu

> scroll to "Account settings" and click "Manage content and devices" to open a submenu

> near top right of page and slightly off screen on mobile, click "Privacy Settings" to open a submenu

> click "Amazon Devices Privacy" to open a submenu (this is where the aforementioned link takes you)

> click to select an individual device, in this case your kindle to open a submenu

below is a screenshot of the submenu you will have opened

click the orange switch maked "On" (may read strangely with text to speech as it came out as two unicode symbols i hadn't seen before when i used google lens) and you will be greeted with this pop-up

finally you can click "Turn off", the switch will be grey and (in a few minutes, according to them) they'll have to stop mining your data

woohoo.

i hate this company

[bookaddict24-7]

"He would go somewhere no one knew him, and he would sit in a library all day and read books and listen to people breathing."

―The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

[skymoral]

Liu Kang x B!F Reader

FIRST DATE (Pt. 2)

Link: Pt 1 | Pt 2

Summary: Y/N with was able to snag an opportunity of dating Liu Kang, thanks to your friend Johnny bringing him around. You just hope that you aren’t to rusty

Tags: fluff/romance, friendship, happy/sad, first time, fun, black air-force energy, black girl magic, and comedy(supposedly)

A/N: This is going to be a sweet little first date with ya’ll boy Liu Kang

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

Today was the date, you were going on your date with the god of fire. You’re not gonna lie, you were very nervous.

You jumped out of the shower, you made sure the shower cap was still on your head. You didn’t want the locs to get wet, you were thankful for Jamika.

Your phone buzzed on the dresser, you quickly grabbed it. Open your messages on your iPhone

“Speak of the devil.” You said out loud to yourself.

You put the phone back down and started looking for something cute to wear.

You asked Johnny to get information on what his favorite color is. Johnny came back unhelpful for once, because of course Liu Kang didn’t really have a favorite color.

You and Johnny believed it was probably red, possibly. You believe he was a spiritual kind of man, which wasn’t far from you.

Y/N was a women that liked beads, crystals, and more things to help her Zen.

After what felt like eons you finally found an outfit, you oiled your body. Did your makeup, keeping it simple and natural.

You were proud with how you looked, and was ready to give this man everything. For some reason you felt as though he was different, you usually like to take it slow. But something about Liu Kang made you feel like, even if you jumped into a relationship with him. It’ll be fine, hopefully…

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

You were headed to the Chinese restaurant in San Diego. You hoped Johnny had helped him with knowing where to go, because he’s clearly not from around here.

You pulled up into the parking lot, as you got out you fixed up your outfit up. You made your way into the restaurant and was looking around, to see if you saw Liu Kang.

“Hi, how many today?” A young Chinese waitress approached you.

“Ooh! I had a reservation for two under Y/N and Liu Kang.”

“Of Course! He’s actually straight back there in the both.”

“Thank you!” You smiled walking to where she directed you. Y/N didn’t expect him to already be here, she hope he wasn’t waiting here long.

“Sorry If I made y-“ You froze as he turned to you, standing up. Pulling you into a hug, you could have passed out right then and there.

You would’ve been on the news, and your girls would have clowned your ass for something so stupid, but damn did he feel nice and he LOOKED amazing!

He wasn’t in his usual attire like at the shop, he broke the hug, noticed you staring at his appearance.

“I apologize if I look strange, Johnny suggested I dress properly for the occasion… To fit in better.”

“Oooh! Nooo no no no! It’s totally fine like… Fuck you clean up nicely, I’m sorry… I promise I’m not always this ugh…”

Liu Kang chuckled and blushed slightly at the compliment. “It’s alright, thank you. You look exceptionally well tonight, even more so.”

Liu Kang brought your palm up to his hand kissing it. You blushed and giggle at the compliment and gesture, “T-Thank you.”

Both of you eventually sitting down, “I didn’t know what your favorite color was… I did see you as someone who is like spiritual and nature like… So that was look I was going for… Sense I’m like that to ya know.”

You hated how shaky your voice sounded, it was pretty obvious you were nervous.

“So you meditate and focus on your chakra?” Liu Kang asked intrigued.

“Yes! Exactly like that. I actually have like some herbal earthly stuff at my place. You know my girlfriends from the shop, they do NOT LIKE THAT SHIT! Whatsoever. But meh, to each its own. It’s nothing wrong with having people around you that likes different things… As long as they just respect what you do.”

“I couldn’t agree more, you are very wise woman and I feel as though that’s why your friends care so much about you and stay with you.”

This man just could not stop making you blush, you dipped your head pulling a loc behind your ear.

Y/N started talking his ear off again, until a waitress approached them. “Hello my name is Mei Sung, and I will be your waitress today. Would you like me to start you off with some drinks?”

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

One thing Y/N did not know was her three friends were outside of the restaurant. Watching them from afar in Johnny’s car.

“Man once Y/N start talking. It’ll take a miracle to get her to shut up, don’t get me wrong I love my girl but damn.” Tonya said looking through the binoculars.

Jamika snatched it out of her hand from the passenger seat. Looking through it, “Leave Stanka butt alone. It doesn’t seem to be bothering Mr. Kang over there.”

Johnny pushed on behind Jamika from the driver seat, snatching them this time looking out while leaning over her.

“Hmph! That’s just how that powerful son of a bitch is. Or maybe he just don’t feel like talking.”

“Johnny if you don’t get yo BIG ASS OFF ME!” Jamika shoved him back, the binoculars falling back into Tonya’s lap.

She quickly pulled down the windows, to watch. As soon as she did Liu Kang looked directly at her. Making her quickly hide back in her seat.

“Shit that scared me!”

“What happened Jamika and Johnny said.”

“The nigga stared right at me!”

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

Liu Kang was looking out the window, but then back at you. When you called his name, “Is something the matter?”

“Hmm, oh nothing is wrong. I just thought I saw someone.”

“I’m sorry I’m probably talking to much for you.” You told him sinking slightly in your seat.

He grabbed your hand and gripped it tightly, “I could never get tired of hearing you talk. It is like music to my ears, I enjoy listening to you talk and hearing more about you.”

You smiled and then something came to your mind, “You know, I already know like what you are… and what you do, because of Johnny… Like could you tell me something that maybe… all realms don’t know about you, like on a personal level… It’s alright if it’s to personal.”

“No, I don’t mind telling and I kind of figure Johnny told you or more so knew he was going to tell you.”

“Yeah! Johnny told me you can see the future or something like that… WAIT! Did you already know who I am and that we were going to have this date!?”

“Know you yes, but knew the outcome of todays events no. I do not have that kind of power, I let everyone chose there own fate and lead there own path. I only knew Cage told you, because of how Kenshin calls it. He is a chatterbox and has a loose tongue.”

You chuckled at that, Liu Kang smiled at you. “So because of what you are and this god of fire duty shit… You don’t have time for things like these… The little things in the world you created.”

“No, as I must stay alert and make sure earthrealm is safe and protected. In case of another threat arises.” Liu Kang explained.

You nodded understanding, doesn’t that mean having a relationship with you is pointless. “So why even go on this date with me… You already know I like you and… Maybe have a relationship with you… Why the effort, when you have your duties.” You looked at him with sad eyes.

He still kept that same smile on his face, “I felt like this time is different from before… So I want to take the chance given to me, besides… Who could resist someone as charming as you Y/N.”

Y/N began snorkeling a bit, covering her face“Nice one Kang!” Johnny shouted on instinct, the girls pulling him back down. Liu and Y/N looked towards the window where the sound came from.

“I could’ve sworn I heard Johnny.” You looked around curious. Ms. Sung came back with you and Liu Kang’a order.

As you both were enjoying your meal, two men who clearly look like they had an attitude problem came in demanding a seat.

“Hey lady, hurry up and seat us.” One of the men said.

“You will have to give me a few moments sir.” she was coming to you and Liu Kang on your refills.

The man smacked the glass out of her hands, knocking her down. Making her fall. You noticed this and approached the scene.

“You fucking serve us first when we tell you to Bitch!”

“Hey!” You shouted to the two men.

“Go mind your business little girl!” The man said not paying you no attention.

“I don’t know who the hell you talking to but I ain’t no damn little girl. And she is my business, because those were me and my dates drink you knocked down.”

One of the men approached you, you didn’t flinch one bit and stood your ground.

“What you gonna do? You gonna fucking cry about it darky?”

He ain’t never just called you ‘Darky’. Without thinking, you gave him a strong ass right hook. Knocking him down on his but, nose and mouth bleeding.

Everyone looked at you in shock, your friends and Liu Kang watched impressed.

“I got a name Motherfucker! And it is Y/N L/N you better remember Bitch I’m from the side. Where Niggas like you better watch who you talking to! Now apologize to this young waitress!”

“THAT’S MY BEST FRIEND!” Jamika and Tonya shouted from the window.

You turned around noticing your friends, the other man standing saw your guard down. He quickly grabbed a dagger from his pocket, and charged at you.

“MISS LOOK OUT!” Ms. Sung warned you.

You turned to late, but before he could hurt you. Liu Kang stopped him in his tracks. You opened your eyes slightly.

Liu Kang had a tight grip on the man’s hand. The knife scrapping the inside of his hand causing it to bleed.

Liu Kang then bent his arm slowly causing him to scream and kneel. “I believe it to be unwise if you continue this dishonorable behavior. You owe this Miss and my date an apology.”

He let go of them man, looking down at them, Liu Kangs arms glowed orange and blue. Forming fires, “If not then there will be dire consequences, that I wish to not have it lead.”

The men looked in fear, before apologizing to you and the waitress. Before running off, Liu Kang doing a hand gesture relaxing himself.

“Thank you.” You and the Waitress both said blushing. Both of you knew that was pretty hot.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·

“I had a wonderful evening today with you Y/N. The food here was exquisite, much to my liking.” Liu Kang told you as you both were standing outside.

Johnny took the girls home, after you and Liu Kang gave all of them a lecture the trip didn’t want to hear.

“I knew it’ll be to your taste… So does this mean you would like to continue… Seeing each other?” You were playing with your fingers.

“I would love that Y/N” Liu Kang smiled, giving you a kiss on the cheek. You blushed, but you thought you should shot your shot.

You pulled him into a gentle kiss, pulling on his collar slightly down to you. It felt like heaven, and he even reciprocated the kiss with such passion.

He broke the kiss, you had a goofy face walking to your car. You saw him create a portal, before giving you one last glance and disappearing through it.

You got in your car, you sat there. Before you ended up screaming from happiness.

“BEST FUCKING FIRST DATE EVER!”

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

This is what You and Liu Kang was wearing

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed these two parts! 😊 it was gonna be a lot longer, mainly because of the things you and Liu Kang was discussing.

More so his personal character no one else know and his likes and dislikes. When I do other Liu Kang stories you’ll be able to see what my Headcannon are for him.

Now I did say if you like these story with its characters and what not. Then it can be a series, if someone ask or it’s popular lol 🤷🏽‍♀️ anything is possible for the future.

[readlikeido]

wanted to change the stickers on my kindle because they are peeling at this point but i am so attached to this set ♡ i love them a lot!

[novelestic]

remember when amara was having a panic attack, so dante held her close and said, "you’re not going to walk through life, amara. you’ll dance through it. and i’ll fucking remove anyone who tries to break your rhythm. i promise you."

[creepykuroneko]

Happy Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! Here are some books I highly recommend written Asian authors.

1. Stories for punjabi widows ( sorry for not saying the full name of the book I don't want Tumblr to hide this post for " inappropriate material") by Balli Kaur Jaswal. This is not a collection of short stories. This is a novel set in London that focuses on law school drop out Nikki who is trying to pay the bills well finding her place in life. On a whim she takes up a teaching job at her local Sikh Community Center. Before she knows what's going on her students have hijacked the class and turned it into a writing workshop for their favorite scandalous subject. Full of love, humor, drama, trauma, and secrets, Nikki starts to understand the women in her community better and starts to ask the harder questions she's been ignoring her whole life. This book was a joy to read. Be forewarned there is both humor and heartbreak. Trigger warning: arranged marriages, child brides, bride burning, domestic violence, harassment, threat of violence, physical violence.

2) NOT your Sidekick by CB Lee. I love love love this book! A young adult novel set in the futuristic world. You have queer main characters, a comedic villain, loving and supportive parents, fear of not being good enough, confronting the model minority myth, having to compete with the gold star older sibling, this book hits on some really good issues. Jess is in high school and is the most average person in her family. Being the only person in her family who does not have super powers she's trying hard to not let anyone see how upset she is when she accepts the fact that she's never going to be a superhero. Determine to make her college application look good, she signs up for an internship. After signing a non-disclosure agreement she finds out she'll be interning for the local c-list super villain. Things aren't exactly as they seem though, the more research Jess starts to do, and the more she starts to think about it, she's convinced that the government is up to something and the superheroes are involved. Well I'll admit this is the type of story that you can immediately figure out how it's going to end from the first chapter that doesn't mean that it's not enjoyable. Trigger warning: racism

3. We hunt The Flame by Hafsah Faizal. This fantasy novel was a delightful fairytale rich in Arabic lore. Zafira is a hunter who is just trying to keep the people in her Village alive as they have no means to grow food or hunt on their own thanks to a curse that has taken over her country. Enter Nasir, the prince of death. An assassin who has to do his father's evil bidding. When Zafira meets a witch who sends her on a magical quest that should help restore magic to the land, the sultan sends his son after Zafira to intercept her quest. Alliances, foes, magic, mystery, the book keeps you guessing who's going to betray who up to the end. Trigger warning: violence, death.

4. Build your house around my body by Violet Kupersmith. Written by a mixed-race Vietnamese American author, this book is about loss, wanting to be accepted, wanting to belong, wanting to fit in and find community, as well as the emptiness left by colonization. The book takes place over about seventy years. It jumps around time periods and focuses on several different characters. Nothing is told in a linear fashion so I know some readers have been confused by this. Basically we learn about Vietnamese American Winnie who has moved to Vietnam and wants so badly to fit in and find her home amongst Vietnamese Nationals but she just doesn't fit in with Vietnamese society. We also follow the childhood of three best friends who grew up in Vietnam and learned about their eventual dirft apart as they enter adulthood. There is an orphan boy who is living under the tyranny of French Catholics and we hear about how he got to watch the French be chase out by the Japanese. Then those Vietnamese children who were under French rule became oppressed by Japanese colonisation. Missing women, people looking to sell Vietnamese women as brides for foreigners all over the world, a ghost, plantations, build your house around my body feels like one big Vietnamese ghost story. Trigger warning: child abuse, violence towards women, murder, death, exploitation of people.

5. In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami. Kenji is an unlicensed translator and tour guide for tourist in Tokyo. One day Kenji gets a American client who makes him very uneasy. Most of the book takes place in Kenji's mind as he contemplates what's going on in the world around him and whether or not his client is acting weird or is just being an obnoxious American. With a violent serial killer on the loose and many coincidences piling up Kenji's paranoia might be justified. Well there's not much plot to the book itself, I really suggest it because of all of its social commentary. Although published in the 90s, it deals with Timeless issues that are still culturally and universally relevant to this day. Issues like sexism, exploitation of sex workers, cultural identity, domestic violence, xenophobia, loneliness, poverty, consumerism, are just a handful of the subjects this book touches on. There is a moment in the book i like where the tourist tells Kenji that he is surprised to see the Japanese youth dress the exact same way that African-American youth dress in New York. Even Kenji has a moment of realization. In the beginning of the book he is quick to condemn teenage girls who become sex workers to pay the bills, saying that if they weren't out at night with adult men they would not get hurt but by the end of the book he gets mad at how everybody always blames the girls in these situations and never blames the adult men who attacked them. Trigger warning: gore, mutilation, Bloodshed, violence, body parts being sliced off, murder, this book is not for the faint of heart. If you seen the 1990s Japanese horror film the Audition, Ryu also wrote the Audition novel. In the Miso soup follows a similar style of it's a slow build-up to the scary scene.

6. Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar. If your fans of Neil gaiman's Stardust you'll like Star daughter. Sheetal is the daughter of a South Asian man and a literal star. Her mother came down from the heavens and fell in love with her father but when Sheetal was a child her mom returned to the heavens. As her 17th birthday draws near, Sheetal is unable to control her new powers, and ends up accidentally injuring her father. Wanting to correct her mistake, Sheetal and her best friend travel to the mysterious Night Market to try to find a cure. Instead they end up in the heavens where her mom resides and finds that her maternal side of the family are extorting her. In exchange for healing her father they want Sheetal to be their champion in a competition that will decide who gets to rule the heavens for the next millennia. Lies, family secrets, tragedy, love, Beautiful lore, and even more beautiful outfits, this fairy tale is a lovely young adult novel. Trigger warning: abuse, torture, mental health decline, blood

7. Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao. A mix of folklore, sci-fi, fantasy, and historical fiction, if you're a fan of Pacific Rim I recommend Iron Widow. This book is very fast-paced from the get-go there's a battle, death, and bloodshed from the very beginning. Wu Zetian is the main protagonist of the story. On a quest to avenge her dead sister, Wu Zetian isn't going to let anyone get in her way, not her family, not her best friend, not the government, not the patriarchy, not even the aliens invading the planet. Li Shimin is the sexy but scary inmate with a mysterious past, on death row for murdering his entire family, who finds himself unwillingly being partnered up with Wu Zetian. Gao Yizhi is the rich son of one of the wealthiest men in the country and he's not afraid to rub it in your face if you piss him off. In fact my favorite line from this book comes from Gao, " you can't kill me, I'm rich!". He's very self aware and also Wu's best friend who wants to help keep her alive. As the three characters who are completely different come to rely on one another they end up uncovering multiple conspiracies and forming a wonderful polyamorous Triad. Trigger warning: mentions of sexual assault, death, abusive family, torture, violence towards women

8. Arsenic and Adobo by  Mia P. Manansala follows the shameful life of Lila as she unwillingly returns to her small home town to live with her auntie after she is unable to get a job with her college degree and a bad breakup. Her tia Rosie runs a Filipino restaurant and is being harassed by the local food critic. Unfortunately for Lila the annoying food critic is also her ex-boyfriend. Things get worse when he dies at her aunt's restaurant and shenanigans ensue from there. Full of love, Millennial and Gen Z humor, lots of delicious food, and unapologetically Filipino this book is definitely not your grandma's murder mystery. Bonus points, there is some recipes at the end of the book. Trigger warning: death, murder, mentions of addiction.

9. The Bone People by Keri Hulme. Kerewin is a painter and indigenous Maori woman living in isolation in New Zealand. One day she finds a mute white child named Simon in her house. No one really knows much about Simon. He washed up on the beach one day after a shipwreck and doesn't talk. He is still able to communicate with other characters. He is both kind and loving but also prone to temper tantrums, violent outbursts, and stealing. Joe is a mixrace widower who takes on the responsibility of being a foster father for Simon but due to his alcoholism he abuses and beat Simon. As the three characters confront their own identity issues and trauma, they come to love one another and form a family together. This book is unsettling but at the same time heart-warming. Trigger warning: violence, alcoholism, child abuse.

10. The Vegetarian by Han Kang. Set in South Korea, this psychological drama takes place in 3 parts, all from the different points of view of Yeong-hye's relatives. Yeong-hye decides she is going to become a vegetarian one day. This decision does not come about in a quiet subtle way but rather radical in your face shock as her husband walks into the kitchen one day to find meat on the floor and in the trash can as she announces they will no longer have meat in their house. From her husband's point of view we find out that he is an unreliable narrator as it's clear he's pretty toxic, possibly even abusive towards his wife and constantly belittles her. In her brother-in-law's prospective he sees Yeong-hye as very attractive and wishes that his perfect Korean model wife was more like her sister. I won't give away any spoilers from the final part which is told from her sisters perspective but I will say it is sad. Ultimately the book is about conformity and how much Yeong-hye has had her life ripped away from her by her family, friends, and Society. Trigger warning abuse, toxic relationships, family abuse, attempted suicide, blood, medical abuse, mental health issues.

That's all for now. Have you read any of these books? Do you like any of them? Got any books to recommend for AAPI month?