How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler
Science journalist Sabrina Imbler uses sea life to examine survival, sexuality and more in their debut essay collection. This is a wonderful weaving of memoir and marine biology.
Severance by Ling Ma
Follow Candance Chen as she navigates life during the onset of a global pandemic in this deadpan (but moving) satire. Published in 2018, this book feels utterly prescient and prophetic at times.
This is Salvaged by Vauhini Vara
This short story collection explores themes of meeting and communion through every kind of relationship.
Insurrecto by Gina Apostol
A Filipino translator and an American filmmaker both collaborate and clash during a research road trip through Duterte’s Philippines, resulting in two separate scripts that frame a good chunk of the novel.
Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala
The first book in the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen cozy mystery series has everything – nosy matchmaking aunties, an unavoidable ex-boyfriend, a sweet dog and, yes, murder.
The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui
The author uses moving, evocative illustrations to explore the experience of first-time motherhood while escaping war-torn Vietnam in this poetic and touching book.
Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion by Jia Tolentino
The New Yorker staffer writes with her signature wit and razor-sharp analysis in this collection of essays.
The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan
The author’s fourth novel follows the relationship between a first-generation Chinese-American and her immigrant mother.
Good Talk by Mira Jacob
In this graphic memoir, Mira Jacob chronicles her chats with her 6-year-old son – and thinks back on the formative conversations from her own life.
Names for Light: A Family History by Thirii Myo Kyam Myint
Family stories and Myanmar’s history are woven together to create a truly unique biography made up of poetic prose and a dynamic layout.
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
This iconic Pulitzer Prize-winning short story collection celebrates its 25th anniversary this year – the perfect time to revisit, or discover it.
Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So
This tender, funny short story collection was published posthumously and instantly made an impact, landing on dozens of best-of lists when it was released in 2021.
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
This is a groundbreaking depiction of family, love, class and race, framed as a letter from a son to his mother, who cannot read it.
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
This Pulitzer Prize-winning debut novel is told from the perspective of a communist double agent living in Los Angeles. You can also check out its sequel, The Committed.
Reprieve by James Han Mattson
This genre-bending social horror chronicles the lead-up to a brutal murder inside a full-contact haunted house.
Vietnamerica: A Family’s Journey by G.B. Tran
The author wrote and illustrated this graphic memoir about his family’s experiences during the Vietnam War and after the fall of Saigon.
