5 Books by Asian Americans For Your Fall Reading List

Feels like fall again!
The crisp autumn air, warm earth-tone fashion color palettes, pumpkin spice lattes - it’s our favorite time of year to curl up in bed (or in your favorite chair) and start a good book.

Here are our 5 Favorite Books by Asian-American Authors to
​add to your reading list this season!

Monstress - Lysley Tenorio

A collection of short stories, Monstress marks Tenorio's breakthrough in the literary world chronicling dark, twistingly funny, fictional events in the lives of Filipinos and Filipino-Americans. Mixing high brow and low brow comedy, Monstress ultimately reveals the varying perspectives of the performance of identity in the modern world.

"The stories in Monstress announce the debut of an eclectic literary talent. Birlliantly quirky, often moving, always gorgeously told, these are tales of bighearted misfits who yearn for their authentic selves with extraordinary passion and grace." - Change-Rae Lee

Forgotten Country - Catherine Chung

​Weaving Korean folklore within a modern narrative of immigration and identity, Forgotten Country is a fierce exploration of the inevitability of loss, the conflict between obligation and freedom, and a family struggling to find its way out of silence and back to one another. - Google Review

"The unflinchingly honest examination of grief, anger, familial obligation, and love gives the novel a compelling emotional core."--The New Yorker

"Chung indelibly portrays a Korea viciously divided but ever bound to history, myth, and hope."--O, The Oprah Magazine

"Gorgeous . . . a heartbreaking story about sisters, family, and keeping traditions alive."
--People​

Justin Chin - Mongrel

In a time when memoirs are often less than they claim to be and essays do not say enough, Justin Chin breaks onto the scene with a collection that is a combination of confession, tirade, journalism, and practical joke.

Mongrel is a cross-section of Chin's imagination and experiences that calls into question what it means to be an Asian-American in San Francisco, the effect your family will always have on you, and the role sexuality plays in your life. Whether it be Internet pornography or family history, Chin manages to dig deep and uncover not only the truths of everyday life, but also the absurdities that surround them.
Mongrel is an exploration and distillation of the experiences and imagination of a gay Asian-American whose sensibilities were formed by the maelstrom of '80s American pop culture. A unique collection from a brash, funny new voice.
- Google Books Review

Mindy Kaling - Why Not Me?

​Ever our favorite comedienne and writer, Mindy Kaling does it again with her new book Why Not Me? A funny, poignant, self-reflective page turner that makes you laugh until you cry and want to be her best friend. Again.

Mindy turns the anxieties, the glamour, and the celebrations of her second coming-of-age into a laugh-out-loud funny collection of essays that anyone who’s ever been at a turning point in their life or career can relate to. And those who’ve never been at a turning point can skip to the parts where she talks about meeting Bradley Cooper. - Google Book Review

Crazy Rich Asians - Kevin Kwan

​When New Yorker Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, she envisions a humble family home and quality time with the man she hopes to marry. But Nick has failed to give his girlfriend a few key details. One, that his childhood home looks like a palace; two, that he grew up riding in more private planes than cars; and three, that he just happens to be the country’s most eligible bachelor. 

“Kevin Kwan gets it right in his debut novel steeped in love and dripping with money."
--Daily Candy 
 
“Both a deliciously satiric read and a Fodor’s of sorts to the world of Singapore’s fabulously moneyed, both new and old.”
--The Daily News 
 
“Jane Austen, or maybe Edith Wharton, goes to Singapore, turning in this lively, entertaining novel of manners.”
--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)