Asian American and Asian Pacific Islander Voices for Adults

May is Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month, and in honor of this, we have put together a list of titles by authors of Asian and Pacific Islander decent.

Updated April 28, 2024
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Happy : a novel
Baljeet Basra, Celina
Paper Book
"Leaping, chattering, dancing atop this conundrum [of global migration] comes the hero of Celina Baljeet Basra's debut novel, Happy Singh Soni, his head bursting with ideas, his heart set on gargantuan dreams." --New York Times "Bighearted." --New York Times Book...
Everything I learned, I learned in a Chinese restaurant : a memoir
Chin, Curtis
Paper Book
This "vivid, moving, funny, and heartfelt" memoir tells the story of Curtis Chin's time growing up as a gay Chinese American kid in 1980's Detroit (Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers). Nineteen eighties Detroit was a volatile place to live, but above the fray stood a safe haven:...
A living remedy : a memoir
Chung, Nicole
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK Winner, Tillie Olsen Award for Creative Writing Named a Best Book of the Year by: Time * Harper's Bazaar * Esquire * Booklist * USA Today * Elle * Good Housekeeping * New York Times * Electric Literature * Today From the bestselling author...
A Great Country
Gowda, Shilpi Somaya
Paper Book
Named an ELLE BEST BOOK OF 2024 Named a BEST or MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR by Readers' Digest, Elle Magazine, CondeNast Traveler, Publishers' Weekly, Indigo, ZibbyMag, Goodreads, BookBub & more  "A deeply moving, layered portrait of the hopes, dreams and fears a...
The best possible experience
Injam, Nishanth
Paper Book
A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR * An emotionally rich collection of short stories, painting a fascinating portrait of contemporary India and its diaspora and a yearning rendering of the people and places we call home, from a major new literary talent. "A full-hearted, brilliant...
Every drop is a man's nightmare : stories
Kakimoto, Megan Kamalei
Paper Book
USA Today Bestseller "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's Nightmare is a frontrunner for Book of the...
Memory piece
Ko, Lisa
Paper Book
ONE OF TIME'S MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2024 NAMED A VOGUE BEST BOOK OF 2024 ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE READS OF SUMMER 2024 "Adventurous. . .gritty and refreshingly girl-centric. . . lingers in the imagination." -The New York Times
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 she says she...
The night eaters. Book 1, She eats the night
Liu, Marjorie M.
Paper Book
The Night Eaters: She Eats the Nights is the first volume in a graphic novel horror trilogy from author Marjorie Liu and illustrator Sana Takeda--the creative team behind the New York Times bestselling series Monstress. * Eisner Award Winner...
The Chinese groove : a novel
Ma, Kathryn
Paper Book
Winner of the Silver Medal for the California Book Award for Fiction Longlisted for the Dublin Literary Prize Longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice An Amazon Editors' Pick People, A Best Book of the Year...
The fetishist : a novel
Min, Katherine
Paper Book
An Indie Next Pick In this hilariously savage, poignant novel by acclaimed author Katherine Min, a grieving daughter's revenge on the man who caused her mother's death sets off a series of unexpected reckonings. On a cold, gloomy night, twenty-three-year-old Kyoko...
A place for us : a novel
Mirza, Fatima Farheen
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NATIONAL BOOK AWARD "5 UNDER 35" NOMINEE * NEW YORK'S "ONE BOOK, ONE NEW YORK" PICK Named One of the Best Books of the Year: Washington Post * NPR * People * Refinery29 * Parade * BuzzFeed "Mirza ...
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."
The Red Boat fish sauce cookbook : beloved recipes from the family behind the purest fish sauce
Pham, Cuong (Chef)
Paper Book
The official cookbook of 100 recipes from the cult favorite and top chef lauded fish sauce brand, Red Boat Fish Sauce   You wouldn't expect a condiment made of  anchovies to gain cult status--but that's exactly what Red Boat Fish Sauce did, earning praise from food...
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.
Chlorine
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...
The good, the bad, and the aunties
Sutanto, Jesse Q.
Paper Book
What should have been a family celebration of Chinese New Year descends into chaos when longtime foes crash the party in this hilariously entertaining novel by Jesse Q. Sutanto, bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties. After an ultra-romantic honeymoon across Europe,...
The Joy Luck Club
Tan, Amy
Paper Book
Master storyteller Amy Tan examines the sometimes painful, often tender, and always deep connection between mothers and daughters in this New York Times bestseller. "The Joy Luck Club is one of my favorite books. From the moment I first started reading it...
Banyan Moon : a novel
Thai, Thao
Paper Book
A TODAY Show #ReadWithJenna Book Club Pick "A riveting mother-daughter tale." -- Elle "Radiant. ... An intimate account of one family's planting of roots in American soil and the sacrifices great and small that each member makes along the way." -- Washington Post A...
Dear America : notes of an undocumented citizen
Vargas, Jose Antonio
Paper Book
THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER "This riveting, courageous memoir ought to be mandatory reading for every American."  --Michelle Alexander, New York Times bestselling author of The New Jim Crow "l cried reading this book, realizing more fully what my parents endured....
Did you eat yet? : craveable recipes from an all-American Asian chef
Woo, Ronnie
Paper Book
From renowned chef and beloved food personality Ronnie Woo, a cookbook of over 100 craveable all-American Asian-inspired recipes. If you were ever to visit Ronnie Woo, chef and beloved food personality, the first words out of his mouth would be "Did you eat yet?"--just like how his mom...
The golden screen : the movies that made Asian America
Yang, Jeff
Paper Book
From a New York Times bestselling author, this groundbreaking book celebrates and examines the history of Asian Americans on the big screen, exploring how iconic films have shaped Hollywood, representation, and American culture. In 2018, the...
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...

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