Nothing like temperatures climbing up in the Fahrenheit scales that beckon the return of your healing girl habits – leisurely walks in the park nearby, sleeping six to eight hours a night, and reading (yes, you should feel called out). With everyone tightening their wallets, travel can feel wistful and limited right now, so books are the ultimate getaway to indulge in especially on a Summer Friday off. And with it being AAPI month, what better time than now to honor and immerse yourself in stories from the Asian diaspora?
Below are eight of our favorite literature picks penned by AAPI authors, to launch you out of your post-Memorial Day haze and into the exhilarating start of summer.
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Oh My Mother! by Connie Wang
Image Credit: DoubleDay When the book title starts as a cross-language pun, you know it’s going to be good. In Chinese, the term for “Oh My God” is “Wo De Ma Ya!”, which directly translates into “Oh My Mother!”. Freshly published this month, Connie Wang’s debut novel takes her conscientious and effervescent skills as a former Refinery29 executive editor into nine adventurous essays that explore the dynamic of her relationship with her mother, Qing. Wang’s relatable coming-of-age immigrant millennial experience is told through the lens of travel, from destinations like China, Amsterdam and Paris. Her invigoratingly heartwarming book will have you appreciating and laughing at your own mother-daughter relationship.
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Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Image Credit: Grand Central Publishing So lauded that it’s now an Apple TV+ series, Pachinko is a breathtaking novel that explores across generations of the same Korean family. Spanning nearly a century starting in the late 1800s, the teenage Sunja falls in love and is impregnated by a wealthy but married stranger. She refuses his offer to be a bought mistress and ends up marrying a kind but sickly minister on his way to Japan. A story on the…
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