AAPI Heritage Month Reading Recommendations

Published May 23, 2023

Did you know that May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Month?

On June 11, 1978, Rep. Frank Jefferson Horton (R-NY) and co-sponsor Rep. Norman Yoshio Mineta (D-CA) introduced a bill “authorizing the President to proclaim a week, which is to include the seventh and tenth of the month, during the first ten days of May of 1979 as ‘Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week.’”

These dates were chosen to include the date of the arrival of the first Japanese immigrant to the United States (May 7, 1843) and the completion of the Trans-Continental Railroad in Utah (May 10, 1869), which depended on the work of over 11,000 Chinese immigrants. Beginning in 1990, the federal observance was to last for the entire month. In 2009, at the federal level, the month took on its current name: Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Virginia has recognized and celebrated the month since 2002.

My use of the term API here encompasses a huge umbrella of folks, including (but certainly not limited to!) Asians, Asian Americans, Asian Canadians, Pacific Islanders, Native Hawaiians; South Asians, Southeast Asians, East Asians — all Asians of the diaspora, all folks that identify within API. Mixed race Asians, half Asians, quarter Asians, Asian adoptees, Queer Asians, Disabled Asians — you cannot think about Asians without thinking of intersectionality!

This month, and all year, I encourage you to read API stories written by API authors — whether you are interested in fantasy, history, romance, memoir, or other genres. Some of these authors have also done events with our Virginia Festival of the Book, so check out the Festival site for recordings of live-streamed and virtual events.

Jump to:

Memoirs

Biting the Hand: Growing Up Asian in Black and White America by Julia Lee
Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place by Neema Avashia
What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo
Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Live by Alice Wong
Crying in H-Mart by Michelle Zauner
Know My Name by Chanel Miller
Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang
A Living Remedy by Nicole Chung

History

Asian American Histories of the United States by Catherine Ceniza Choy
Our Voices, Our Histories: Asian American and Pacific Islander Women by Shirley Hune & Gail M. Nomura
American History Unbound: Asians and Pacific Islanders by Gary Y. Okihiro
Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now by Jeff Yang, Phil Yu & Philip Wang
The Making of Asian America: A History by Erika Lee
Asian Americans in Dixie: Race and Migration in the South by Khyati Y. Joshi & Jigna Desai

Graphic Novels

Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations by Mira Jacob
Displacement by Kiku Hughes
They Called Us Enemy by George Takei
Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Rosemary Valero-O’Connell
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

Fiction

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Disorientation by Elain Hsieh Chou
Yolk by Mary H. K. Choi
Nuclear Family by Joseph Han
Hula by Jasmin Iolani Hakes
Days of Distraction by Alexandra Chang
The Fortunes of Jaded Women by Carolyn Huynh
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Babel: An Arcane History by R. F. Kuang
Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
Severance by Ling Ma
A Thousand Steps Into Night by Traci Chee
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan
The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh

Poetry/Essays

I Hope We Choose Love: A Trans Girl’s Notes from the End of the World by Kai Cheng Thom
Iep Jaltok: Poems from a Marshallese Daughter by Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner
Soft Science by Franny Choi
The Future is Disabled: Prophecies, Love Notes and Mourning Songs by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
The Collection Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang
Time Is A Mother by Ocean Vuong
DMZ Colony by Don Mee Choi

Romance

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
Café Con Lychee by Emery Lee
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto
A Pho Love Story by Loan Le
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

Thriller/Horror

Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang
She Is A Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran
White Ivy by Susie Yang
The Missing Sister by Elle Marr
These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant
Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw
The Fervor by Alma Katsu

Middle Grade & Picture Books

Eyes that Speak to the Stars by Joanna Ho
Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao
Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee
Eva Evergreen: Semi-Magical Witch by Julie Abe
Asian Adventures: Delicious Asian Foods from A to Z! by Yobe Qiu
Eyes that Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho
Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki
Tofu Takes Time by Helen H. Wu

Books & Literature, Cultures & Communities • Stories • aapi