Great Reads for AAPI Month 2026
By Laurie Wolfe, shades Contributing Writer
Recognized and celebrated each May, AAPI Heritage Month honors the history, culture and contributions of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (also referred to as AANHPI month) to the United States. It honors the diverse origins of these communities, spanning East, Southeast and South Asia, as well as the Pacific Islands and highlights their impact on American history.
To honor this month, I’ve reflected on some of the novels I’ve enjoyed over the last year. Through fiction, each of the following books offers a glimpse into the struggles and joys of just a few of the cultures in this very diverse diaspora.
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng
By Kylie Lee Baker
MIRA Books, 2025, 304 pages
This dark, humorous, horror novel introduces readers to Cora Zeng –– a Chinese American crime scene cleaner haunted by her sister’s murder and hungry ghosts, all while dealing with anti-Asian violence during the pandemic. It takes place in NYC’s Chinatown during the initial COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.
I loved this book, and especially appreciated its commentary on the awful hate and discrimination experienced by Asian Americans. However, it comes with a huge trigger warning –– the gore is graphic, so it is definitely not for squeamish readers!
–– A Goodreads Nominee for Readers’ Favorite Horror (2025)
A Guardian and a Thief
By Megha Majumdar
Penguin Random House, 2025, 224 pages
Majumdar’s second novel is set in a near-future, climate-ravaged Kolkata, India, where two families navigate moral ambiguity, the fight for survival and more.
I found “A Guardian and a Thief” to be beautifully written and thought-provoking, with an unforgettable lesson about making assumptions, and labeling and categorizing people.
–– Long Listed for the Women’s Prize in Fiction 2026
–– Oprah Book Club Pick
Flashlight
By Susan Choi
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2025, 464 pages
Flashlight opens with the mysterious disappearance of a Korean-Japanese father and his 10-year-old daughter during a walk on a Japanese breakwater. The story spans decades and continents, exploring themes of family secrets, memory and identity and the legacy of historical trauma, specifically with the Korean diaspora in Japan and the division of Korea.
I found this historical fiction family saga that takes place over decades in Japan, Korea and the U.S. heartbreaking, mysterious and educational.
–– Long-listed for the National Book Award for Fiction
–– Shortlisted for the Booker Prize
The Many Daughters of Afong Moy
By Jamie Ford
Atria Books, 2022, 384 pages
This surprise –– from the only male on our list –– is a multigenerational novel, which follows the descendants of Moy, the first Chinese woman to arrive in the U.S., exploring themes of inherited love, trauma and identity through the lens of Epigenetics.
The titular character of this beautiful historical fiction novel is based on a real person, the first known Chinese woman to arrive in America in 1834. The book goes on to imagine generations of descendants (out of order) and is a fascinating look at familial connections through generations.
–– A Read With Jenna (Bush Hager) Pick
Homeseeking
By Karissa Chen
GP Putnam’s Sons, 2025, 512 pages
This historical novel follows childhood sweethearts from 1940s Shanghai to Los Angeles, exploring themes of love, loss and identity across decades of war and displacement.
Chen creates a unique format –– alternately telling Haiwen’s story from the present to the past while tracing Suchi’s from her childhood to the present. I found it a little bit long, but a well told story.
–– Good Morning America (GMA) Book Club pick
Laurie Wolfe is a book lover and social activist who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is an occasional guest on shades Magazine’s #RealTalkPlus podcast show on Clubhouse.