To celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we asked AAPI writers to share the books that have moved, inspired, and astonished them
Photo-Illustration: The Strategist; Photos: Retailers To celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we asked AAPI writers to share the books that have moved, inspired, and astonished them. Titles mentioned span genres including memoir, essay, and fiction and touch on topics such as the brutal legacy of comfort women, being a white-passing Filipino immigrant, and growing up queer and Desi in Appalachia.
$27 at Amazon Buy $27 at Barnes & Noble Buy My Life in Sea Creatures, by Sabrina Imbler $21 $21 In the nonfiction realm, Anelise Chen recommends Sabrina Imbler’s upcoming collection of essays, My Life in Sea Creatures, which merges personal writing with natural history for a lyrical mediation on empathy and survival.
$17 at Amazon Buy $17 at Bookshop Buy Recommended by Lisa Hsiao Chen “The Curious Thing,” by Sandra Lim $16 $27 now 41% off $16 In the dark context of anti-Asian hate and violence that has increased dramatically in the past few years, Lisa Hsiao Chen says she has found comfort in The Curious Thing’s investigations into desire, female rage, and beauty.
$20 at Amazon Buy $21 at Barnes & Noble Buy Another Appalachia: Coming up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place, by Neema Avashia $18 $18 There’s a jolt of recognition when you come across a story that reflects your own marginalized experience, which Vauhini Vara says she felt while reading Neema Avashia’s insightful memoir about growing up in West Virginia. Avashia’s description of life as a queer Desi Appalachian woman touches on gun culture, religion, and beauty standards.
$21 at Amazon Buy $21 at Amazon Buy Recommended by Emily Jungmin Yoon Unexpected Vanilla, by Lee Hyemi $12 $12 The only translation to appear on this list, Unexpected Vanilla contains mouths licking, parting, kissing, and whispering. The Korean language allows for ambiguous gendering, which this collection takes advantage of to show “how delicious the language of desire and intimacy can be,” says Emily Jungmin Yoon.
$26 at Amazon Buy $25 at Bookshop Buy Recommended by Elaine Castillo Fairest, by Meredith Talusan $13 $17 now 24% off $13 With a title that touches on Meredith Talusan’s experience of being a white-passing Filipino immigrant, this memoir examines identity through the lenses of class, colorism, and gender. Elaine Castillo calls Talusan’s voice “searingly exact and profoundly compassionate,” as they interrogate the tension between the present self and the self that’s always evolving.
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