Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month—a time to honor the rich history, vibrant cultures, and enduring contributions of these diverse communities. This book list invites you to explore stories by AANHPI authors helping to shape the landscape of modern fiction.

Updated May 5, 2026
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My? documents : a novel
Nguyen, Kevin
Paper Book
The paths of four family members diverge drastically when the U.S. government begins detaining Vietnamese Americans, in this "rich, gripping novel that lands squarely as a mirror of our contemporary moral squalor" (Los Angeles Times). "Comically macabre . . . Nguyen is a...
Superfan : a novel
Zhang, Jenny Tinghui
Paper Book
Lonely college student Minnie feels invisible until she stumbles upon HOURglass- America's new K-pop inspired boyband obsession. Soon she is memorising the lyrics to every song and staying up late to watch their livestreams, hoping that her favourite member, bad-boy Halo, will see her in...
Daughters of Shandong
Chung, Eve J.
Paper Book
A propulsive, extraordinary novel about a mother and her daughters' harrowing escape to Taiwan as the Communist revolution sweeps through China, by debut author Eve J. Chung, based on her family story An Instant USA Today Bestseller, a Good Morning America Buzz Pick,...
Tehrangeles : a novel
Khakpour, Porochista
Paper Book
'Like Little Women on an ayahuasca trip, Tehrangeles is delightfully twisted and heartfelt' - Kevin Kwan, author of Crazy Rich Asians   MEET THE MILANIS. FAST-FOOD HEIRESSES, LA ROYALTY, AND YOUR NEWEST REALITY TV OBSESSION ...
Blackmail and bibingka
Manansala, Mia P.
Paper Book
When her long-lost cousin comes back to town just in time for the holidays, Lila Macapagal knows that big trouble can't be far behind in this new mystery by Mia P. Manansala, author of Arsenic and Adobo. It's Christmastime in Shady Palms, but things are far from jolly for...
Martyr!
Akbar, Kaveh
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD * ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR * A TIME MUST-READ BOOK OF THE YEAR * A newly sober, orphaned son of Iranian immigrants, guided by the voices of artists, poets, and...
Homeland elegies
Akhtar, Ayad
Paper Book
The original daughter
Wei, Jemimah
Paper Book
Every drop is a man's nightmare : stories
Kakimoto, Megan Kamalei
Paper Book
USA Today Bestseller A Debutiful "Best Debuts of the Year" "Rich and wise, humming with confidence." -New York Times Book Review "A knockout. Eleven knockouts. One KO for every story."-Elizabeth McCracken "Every Drop Is a Man...
The color of air : a novel
Tsukiyama, Gail
Paper Book
PARADE's Best Books to Read this Summer "A rich historical novel that illustrates why connection is more important and more vital than ever." -New York Times bestselling author Lisa See Daniel Abe, a young doctor in Chicago, is finally coming back to Hawai'i. He...
The leavers : a novel
Ko, Lisa
Paper Book
FINALIST FOR THE 2017 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION Named a Best Book of 2017 by NPR, Entertainment Weekly, the Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed, Bustle, and Electric Literature "There was a time I would have called Lisa Ko's novel...
The emperor of Gladness : a novel
Vuong, Ocean
Paper Book
THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER Ocean Vuong returns with an achingly beautiful novel about chosen family, unexpected friendship, and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive One summer evening in the town of East Gladness, Connecticut,...
A tale for the time being
Ozeki, Ruth
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller In Tokyo, sixteen-year-old Nao has decided there's only one escape from her aching loneliness and her classmates' bullying. But before she ends it , Nao plans to document the life of her great grandmother, a Buddhist nun who's lived more than a century. A diary...
How to commit a postcolonial murder
McConigley, Nina Swamidoss
Paper Book
A Most Anticipated Book of the Year from The New York Times, Literary Hub, Stylist and many more 'Takes all the expected stories about growing up Indian American, slices them open with razor-sharp wit, and turns them inside out' CELESTE NG, author of...
I leave it up to you
Chong, Jinwoo
Paper Book
Jack Jr woke up from a two-year coma with a sore neck, a brand new ex-fiancee, and the distinct feeling he'd missed something big. Like, global pandemic big. Reluctantly returning to New Jersey, and a kitchen job at the sushi restaurant his family runs, he finds himself suddenly dependent on his...
Our beautiful boys
Pandya, Sameer
Paper Book
'A profound meditation on class, privilege and masculinity' Observer 'An insightful, nuanced story ... I couldn't put it down' Charles Yu 'Timely and timeless ... A book about the lies we knowingly or unwittingly tell...
Real Americans : a novel
Khong, Rachel
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * READ WITH JENNA'S MAY BOOK CLUB PICK * From the award-winning author of Goodbye, Vitamin: How far would you go to shape your own destiny? An exhilarating novel of American identity that spans three generations in one family and asks: What makes us...
The Midnight Taxi
Gunasekera, Yosha
Paper Book
Siriwathi Perera doesn't quite know where she's going in life. She never expected to be a taxicab driver in New York City, struggling to make ends meet and still living with her parents at twenty-eight. The true-crime podcasts that keep Siri company as she drives don't do much to make up for the...
The art of prophecy : a novel
Chu, Wesley
Paper Book
The prophecy is clear: Wen Jian is the Chosen One, born to defeat the immortal Eternal Khan and save the kingdom. The only problem is that the prophecy is wrong. Jian has been raised in splendor, trained by the best warriors, and celebrated before a single battle has been won. After all...
Drop dead
Chu, Lily
Paper Book
One mysterious mansion. Two rival journalists. Three weeks to uncover the story-and love-of a lifetime. Obituary writer Nadine Barbault doesn't mind being called "Lady Death." It suits the ice queen persona she's cultivated to survive the fast-paced Toronto Herald. So when Nadine...
Yellowface : a novel
Kuang, R. F.
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK "Hard to put down, harder to forget." -- Stephen King, #1 New York Times bestselling author White lies. Dark humor. Deadly consequences... Bestselling sensation Juniper Song is not who...
Julie Chan is dead : a novel
Zhang, Liann
Paper Book
TRN
Immaculate conception : a novel
Huang, Ling Ling
Paper Book
"A superb work of fiction."--New York Times Book Review What if you could enter the mind of the person you love the most? Enka meets Mathilde in art school and is instantly drawn to her. Mathilde makes art that feels truly original, and Enka--trying hard to...
The rivals
Pek, Jane
Paper Book
ONE OF THE WASHINGTON POST'S 10 BEST MYSTERY NOVELS OF 2024 * A witty and thought-provoking mystery that reimagines the spy story to explore the nature of relationships in a digital age: the follow-up to Jane Pek's "thoroughly modern twist on classic detective fiction," The Verifiers (...
Goddess complex : a novel
Sathian, Sanjena
Paper Book
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice * Named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker and Library Journal * Jezebel's May Book Club Pick "Inventive . . . astute . . . sharp and unexpected . . . Haunting and hilarious, Goddess Complex...
Your driver is waiting
Guns, Priya
Paper Book
An electrifying battle cry against the gig economy; a fierce debut on love, privilege, anger and revenge in all their messy forms from a blazing, unstoppable debut talent.
The great reclamation
Heng, Rachel
Paper Book
Set against a changing Singapore, a sweeping novel about one boy's unique gifts and the childhood love that will complicate the fate of his community and country Ah Boon is born into a fishing village amid the heat and beauty of twentieth-century coastal Singapore in the waning...
Interior Chinatown
Yu, Charles
Paper Book
Winner of the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction - a deeply personal novel about race, pop culture, and escaping the roles we are forced to play-by the author of the infinitely inventive How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe.
The lowland : a novel
Lahiri, Jhumpa.
Paper Book
National Book Award Finalist Shortlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize From the Pulitzer Prize-winning, best-selling author of The Namesake comes an extraordinary new novel, set in both India and America, that expands the scope and range of one of our most...
The bandit queens : a novel
Shroff, Parini
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * GOOD MORNING AMERICA BUZZ PICK * A young Indian woman finds the false rumors that she killed her husband surprisingly useful--until other women in the village start asking for her help getting rid of their own husbands--in this razor-sharp debut.
When I'm gone, look for me in the East
Barry, Quan
Paper Book
From the acclaimed author of We Ride Upon Sticks comes a luminous novel that moves across a windswept Mongolia, as estranged twin brothers make a journey of duty, conflict, and renewed understanding. "A dazzling achievement...The rhythms are more like prayer than prose,...
Sea change
Chung, Gina
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK * An enchanting novel about Ro, a woman tossed overboard by heartbreak and loss, who has to find her way back to stable shores with the help of a giant Pacific octopus at the mall aquarium where she works. "Immersively beautiful.... A...
The covenant of water : a novel
Verghese, Abraham
Paper Book
OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK * INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * SUBJECT OF A SIX-PART SUPER SOUL PODCAST SERIES HOSTED BY OPRAH WINFREY From the New York Times-bestselling author of Cutting for Stone comes a stunning and magisterial epic of love, faith, and medicine, set in...
Afterparties : stories
So, Anthony Veasna
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE'S JOHN LEONARD PRIZE FOR BEST FIRST BOOK  WINNER OF THE FERRO-GRUMLEY AWARD FOR LGBTQ FICTION Named a Best Book of the Year by: New York Times * NPR * Washington Post * LA Times * Kirkus Reviews...
How much of these hills is gold
Zhang, C Pam
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES  NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR A WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR ONE OF NPR'S BEST BOOKS OF 2020  LONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 BOOKER PRIZE...
To paradise
Yanagihara, Hanya
Paper Book
SELECTED AS ONE OF THE OPRAH DAILY''S BEST BOOKS OF 2022From the author of the classic A LITTLE LIFE, a bold, brilliant novel spanning three centuries and three different versions of the American experiment, about lovers, family, loss and the elusive promise of utopia. In an alternate version of...
Exhalation
Chiang, Ted
Paper Book
A New York Times BestsellerIn these nine provocative and poignant stories, Ted Chiang tackles some of humanity's oldest questions along with new quandaries. In "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate," a portal through time forces a fabric seller in ancient Baghdad to grapple with past mistakes and...
The fox wife : a novel
Choo, Yangsze
Paper Book
Shanghailanders
Min, Juli
Paper Book
"I think love is when you think you need someonefor your survival. Survival, defined broadly.""The way you think, sometimes . . .""The way I think, what?""It . . . surprises me. Yoko, we need each other. Family - familyis all we have."'Smart, tender, and...
Pachinko
Lee, Min Jin
Paper Book
One of the New York Times' 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. In this New York Times bestseller, four generations of a poor Korean immigrant family fight to control their destiny in 20th-century Japan. "Stunning." --New York...
Daughter of the moon goddess : a novel
Tan, Sue Lynn
Paper Book
The bestselling debut fantasy inspired by the legend of the Chinese moon goddess. A young woman's quest to free her mother pits her against the most powerful immortal in the realm, setting her on a dangerous path where those she loves are not the only ones at risk... *THE INSTANT...
Dial A for aunties
Sutanto, Jesse Q.
Paper Book
The fortunes of jaded women : a novel
Huynh, Carolyn
Paper Book
A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK A WASHINGTON POST BEST FEEL-GOOD BOOK OF THE YEAR For fans of Amy Tan, KJ Dell'Antonia, and Kevin Kwan, this "sharp, smart, and gloriously extra" (Nancy Jooyoun Kim, author of The Last Story of Mina Lee)...
A burning
Majumdar, Megha
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK! * A "gripping thriller with compassionate social commentary"  (USA Today) about three unforgettable characters who seek to rise--to the middle class, to political power, to fame in the movies--and find...

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