Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month - Books for Adults

Explore books for adults that spotlight a range of experiences within Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.

Updated April 27, 2024
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Chlorine : a novel
Song, Jade
Paper Book
In the vein of The Pisces and The Vegetarian, Chlorine is a debut novel that blurs the line between a literary coming-of-age narrative and a dark unsettling horror tale, told from an adult perspective on the trials and tribulations of growing up in a society that puts...
Crying in H Mart : a memoir
Zauner, Michelle
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the indie rock sensation known as Japanese Breakfast, an unforgettable memoir about family, food, grief, love, and growing up Korean American--"in losing her mother and cooking to bring her back to life, Zauner became herself" (NPR). * CELEBRATING...
Cursed bunny
Chung, Bora
Paper Book
" A wildly original debut from a rising star of Korean literature--surreal, chilling fables that take on the patriarchy, capitalism, and the reign of big tech with absurdist humor and a (sometimes literal) bite. Pre-order YOUR UTOPIA, the new book written by Bora Chung and translated by Anton...
Girl in translation
Kwok, Jean.
Paper Book
Introducing a fresh, exciting Chinese-American voice, an inspiring debut about an immigrant girl forced to choose between two worlds and two futures. When Kimberly Chang and her mother emigrate from Hong Kong to Brooklyn squalor, she quickly begins a secret double life:...
Hula : a novel
Hakes, Jasmin 'Iolani
Paper Book
Named a Best Book of the Summer by Harper's Bazaar and ELLE * Audiofile Magazine Earphones Award Winner "Stunning . . . An intricately built novel that spans decades, moving in and out of a collective voice, while also telling Hi'i's deeply personal and devastating story...
The hundred secret senses
Tan, Amy
Paper Book
"Set in San Francisco and in a remote village of southern China, this is a tale of American pragmatism shaken, and soothed, by Chinese ghosts. What proof of love do we seek between mother and daughter, among sisters, lovers, and friends? What are its boundaries and failings? Can love go beyond...
Insurrecto
Apostol, Gina
Paper Book
"A bravura performance."--The New York Times Histories and personalities collide in this literary tour-de-force about the Philippines' present and America's past by the PEN Open Book Award-winning author of Gun Dealers' Daughter.   Two women, a...
Interior Chinatown
Yu, Charles
Paper Book
NOW A HULU ORIGINAL SERIES * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER * "A shattering and darkly comic send-up of racial stereotyping in Hollywood" (Vanity Fair) and a deeply personal novel about race, pop culture, immigration, assimilation, and escaping the roles we...
The leavers : a novel
Ko, Lisa
Paper Book
Winner of the 2016 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged FictionOne morning, Deming Guo's mother, an undocumented Chinese immigrant, goes to her job at a nail salon and never comes home. Set in New York and China, The Leavers is a vivid examination of borders and belonging. It's the story of how...
Must I go : a novel
Li, Yiyun
Paper Book
"One of our major novelists" (Salman Rushdie) tells the story of a woman reflecting on her uncompromising life, and the life of a former lover, in this provocative novel. "Yiyun Li is one of my favorite writers, and Must I Go is an extraordinary book."--Meg...
My life : growing up Asian in America
Pak, SuChin
Paper Book
A collection of thirty heartfelt, witty, and hopeful thought pieces on the experience of growing up Asian American, for fans of Minor Feelings. There are 23 million people, representing more than twenty countries, each with unique languages, histories, and cultures,...
Nuclear family : a novel
Han, Joseph
Paper Book
Winner of the AAAS Book Award for Prose APALA Adult Literature Honor Book Shortlisted for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Prize Longlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice A TIME Best Book of the...
On earth we're briefly gorgeous : a novel
Vuong, Ocean
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller * Nominated for the National Book Award for Fiction * Ocean Vuong's debut novel is a shattering portrait of a family, a first love, and the redemptive power of storytelling New York Times Readers Pick: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century ...
Our missing hearts : a novel
Ng, Celeste
Paper Book
An instant New York Times bestseller * A New York Times Notable Book * Named a Best Book of 2022 by People, TIME Magazine, The Washington Post, USA Today, NPR, Los Angeles Times, and Oprah Daily, and more * A Reese's Book Club...
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-the inspiration for the television series on...
Severance
Ma, Ling
Paper Book
Maybe it's the end of the world, but not for Candace Chen, a millennial, first-generation American and office drone meandering her way into adulthood in Ling Ma's offbeat, wryly funny, apocalyptic satire, Severance. "A stunning, audacious book with a fresh take on both...
Sex and vanity : a novel
Kwan, Kevin
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * GMA BOOK CLUB PICK * The author of the international phenomenon Crazy Rich Asians takes us from Capri to NYC, where a young woman finds herself torn between two men--and two very different cultures. "Another riveting tale of privilege,...
The taker
Katsu, Alma.
Paper Book
From the author of The Hunger--hailed by Stephen King as "deeply, deeply disturbing, hard to put down"--comes a hauntingly atmospheric tale replete with alchemy, lust, and betrayal. True love can last an eternity...but immortality comes at a price... ...
A tale for the time being
Ozeki, Ruth L.
Paper Book
A brilliant, unforgettable novel from bestselling author Ruth Ozeki--shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award "A time being is someone who lives in time, and that means you, and me, and every one of us who is, or was, or ever will be."
To hold up the sky
Liu, Cixin
Paper Book
From New York Times bestselling author Cixin Liu comes a short story collection of captivating visions of the future and incredible re-imaginings of the past. In To Hold Up the Sky, Cixin Liu takes us across time and space, from a rural mountain community where...
To paradise
Yanagihara, Hanya
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER * From the award-winning, best-selling 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.
We could be heroes
Chen, Mike
Paper Book
From the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Brotherhood The super hero book you need to read right now! "An enjoyable, exciting, and action-packed read... at its core, just fun." -Associated Press ...
Yellowface
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 she says she...

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