40 Must-Read Books by Asian and Pacific Islander Authors

This stunning debut is a heart-wrenching look at war, colonialism and the damage they wreak on families. In British-occupied Malaya (today's Malaysia) in the 1930s and '40s, Cecily is a dissatisfied housewife. Looking for an identity beyond her family, she becomes a spy for the Japanese, trying to overthrow British rule to create "an Asia for Asians." But the new occupation she ushers in is more brutal than the last, and her family pays the price. This book is being translated into 20 languages for good reason!

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Suchi and Haiwen are star-crossed lovers growing up in occupied Shanghai during WWII. This sweeping epic traces their path through the Chinese diaspora in Taiwan, Hong Kong, New York and California as they separate and reconnect again and again against the troubled backdrop of Japanese occupation and the Cultural Revolution. Heartbreaking and hopeful in turns, Homeseeking is about the love of home and family, even against unimaginable circumstances.

This dizzying speculative fiction tackles AI, art and toxic female friendship in a whirl of obsession and jealousy. Enka envies fellow art student and best friend Mathilde, an artistic genius who is held back by trauma. When a new technology allows Enka to enter Mathilde’s mind, the boundaries between them and between right and wrong increasingly blur as obsession wrestles with art and technology.

Willis Wu is a background actor on police procedural Black and White. He plays the role of Generic Asian Man, but dreams of the ultimate role: playing Kung Fu Guy. Funny, moving and deftly observed, this inventive National Book Award winner interweaves pop culture, immigrant experience and the damage of stereotypes into an incisive novel. It was recently adapted into a series on Hulu.

This family saga has a sci-fi twist. It follows three generations: May, a geneticist who escapes China’s cultural revolution; her daughter Lily, who falls in love with a rich white man in New York; and their son Nick, a high schooler who tries to find and reconnect with his absent father. Their alternating storylines explore identity, destiny, and what it means to assimilate.

This hilarious read combines a rom-com with true crime. When Meddelin accidentally kills her date, her tight-knit Chinese-Indonesian aunties step in to help cover her tracks. But they must contend not only with a dead body but the lavish wedding they are working at and the handsome man from Meddelin’s past. This book is a warmhearted and funny testament to the power of family and immigrant identity.

As crops wither and livestock starve, food becomes little more than survival. One chef mourns both her career and the flavors she loved, but rediscovers the magic of ingredients when she's hired to cook for a secluded colony of the global elite. Soon, her enigmatic employer and his fearless daughter entice her into a world where decadence isn't dead, but neither is avarice. Grab a snack before reading this ultimately hopeful take on how humanity might persevere.

When Mika gets an unexpected call from Penny, the daughter she placed for adoption 16 years ago, she tells a few little white lies. But that means when Penny visits, Mika has to construct an elaborate ruse to uphold her story. When it all comes crashing down, mother and daughter have to rebuild their faith in one another. It’s a lovely tale of love, trust and forgiveness.

If you've read the eerily familiar plague novel Severance, don't miss this one by the same author. This delightfully weird dip back into Ma's brain is just as satisfying as you'd think. It touches on what amounts to the greatest hits of human existence: friendship, love, the meaning of home and why we need each other in a series of tightly curated stories.

In gorgeous prose, science journalist Sabrina Imbler tracks their evolution as a queer, mixed race person struggling with assimilation, gender identity, family dynamics and what it means to live in a society that rewards sameness. This transcendent book will break your heart and put it back together in new configurations, and you might just learn something about the creatures of the deep along the way.

This meaty crime epic starts off with a car crash that leaves five people dead, a driver who wasn't supposed to be there and a ton of unanswered questions. More just keep coming as we get to know the wealthy Wadia family, loyal servant Ajay and journalist Neda, who all find themselves swept up in a complex, gasp-inducing drama that accelerates to an explosive ending.

You can never really go home again, as the saying goes. And when Audrey Zhou brings her cosmopolitan white fiancé back to the small town where she grew up to meet her Chinese immigrant parents, she finds out just how true that is. This deeply felt novel about shedding old selves and what happens when you have to confront them will be relatable to anyone who's ever tried on their own new identities.

The past few years have raised a lot of questions: Who is the "middle class?" When we say we're there for one another, are we really? Who gets to define the "American dream?" In this lyrical, thought-provoking memoir, Chung plumbs great depths of grief and rage as she takes an incisive look at the inequality in American society and what community really requires.

Haunting, a bit creepy and occasionally heartbreaking, this debut novel follows three generations of Vietnamese women finding their way in the world. It's an exploration of the ways in which generational trauma impacts each subsequent one, the love that keeps us together and how we're uniquely positioned to hurt those we hold dear.

Ava Wong has always been a rule-follower and all she has to show for it is an unused law degree, a blah marriage and a toddler she can barely control. So when her former college roommate Winnie Fang recruits Ava to help move counterfeit handbags from China, Ava finds herself part of a scheme that's larger than life. But once Winnie disappears, Ava is, quite literally, left holding the bag. This one's as flashy as a designer store window, and just as enticing.

Best friends Fiona and Jane are thick as thieves through their chaotic teenage years, but when Fiona moves across the country, their bond stretches to its breaking point. This novel about the power of female friendship will give you an intimate look into both women's perspectives on a shared story that has as many facets as they do.

When an archaeologist witnesses the unleashing of a long-buried plague, it changes history as we know it. This hauntingly beautiful novel meditates on how the human spirit perseveres through adversity. With everything from a cosmic search for home to a theme park for terminally ill kids and even a talking pig, it’s a lyrical adventure that feels fantastical yet familiar.

Frida's daughter Harriet is her entire world. But when she makes a devastating error in judgment, the state decides that she has to prove her mothering skills in order to remain one. This frighteningly prescient novel feels like Orwell and Vonnegut as it explores the depths of parents' love, how strictly we judge mothers and each other and the terrifying potential of government overreach.

Min can’t believe his ambitious Korean girlfriend Yu-jin died by suicide, right before graduation. As he seeks to untangle the mystery of her death, he learns more about Yu-jin’s life as the daughter of a high-ranking government official, the true nature of her relationship with her roommate So-ra, and his own bi-racial identity. This compelling, fast-paced novel is as complex as the characters it follows.

This memoir in essays blends memoir and cultural criticism and takes a deep dive into the racial consciousness in America today. With the recent rise in Asian American hate crimes around the United States, this book is a timely must-read.