Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2025: What We're Reading
Staff Picks for the Month of May and Beyond
Celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2025 with our calendar of live events, recommendations, and on-demand content!
Discover your newest binge and get to know our staff a little better with the Asia Society Texas team's favorite ways to stay enteratined!
As part of our 31 Ways to Celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2025, enjoy this special edition of Staff Picks, highlighting fiction, manga and webtoons, and nonfiction! With recommendations spanning fantasy romance to sociocultural histories to middle-grade reads, we invite you to dive in for a fresh understanding and appreciation of the stories being told by and about Asians and Asian Americans.
Jump to:
Fiction | Nonfiction | Graphic Novels, Manga, and Webtoons
Fiction
Fantasy and Magical Realism
Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang
Recommended by Rebecca Becerra, Exhibitions Manager and Registrar
Find it on: Penguin Random House
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
Recommended by Nandini Kommana, Development Associate
Find it on: Bookshop
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Recommended by Megan Sham, Business and Policy Programs Associate
Find it on: Bookshop
Mystery
The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai
Recommended by Megan Sham, Business and Policy Programs Associate
Find it on: Penguin Random House
Fantasy Romance
The Floating World by Axie Oh
Recommended by Rebecca Becerra, Exhibitions Manager and Registrar
Find it on: MacMillan Publishers
The God and the Gwisin by Sophie Kim
Recommended by Rebecca Becerra, Exhibitions Manager and Registrar
Find it on: Penguin Random House
Tusk Love by Thea Guanzon
Recommended by Rebecca Becerra, Exhibitions Manager and Registrar
Find it on: Penguin Random House
Short Stories
A Surplus of Sadness: But Wait There's More... by Jov Almero
Recommended by Kat Del Rosario, Communications Coordinator
Find it on: Penguin Random House
YA Fantasy Romance
Breath of the Dragon by Shannon Lee and Fonda Lee
Recommended by Rebecca Becerra, Exhibitions Manager and Registrar
Find it on: MacMillan Publishers
The Scorpion and the Night Blossom by Amélie Wen Zhao
Recommended by Rebecca Becerra, Exhibitions Manager and Registrar
Find it on: Penguin Random House
A Forgery of Fate by Elizabeth Lim
Recommended by Rebecca Becerra, Exhibitions Manager and Registrar
Find it on: Penguin Random House
YA Fantasy Romance
For She is Wrath by Emily Varga
Recommended by Rebecca Becerra, Exhibitions Manager and Registrar
Find it on: MacMillan Publishers
An Arrow to the Moon by Emily X.R. Pan
Recommended by Rebecca Becerra, Exhibitions Manager and Registrar
Find it on: Bookshop
Heir by Sabaa Tahir
Recommended by Rebecca Becerra, Exhibitions Manager and Registrar
Find it on: Penguin Random House
This Monster of Mine by Shalini Abeysekara
Recommended by Rebecca Becerra, Exhibitions Manager and Registrar
Find it on: Bookshop
YA Fantasy Romance
The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon
Recommended by Rebecca Becerra, Exhibitions Manager and Registrar
Find it on: HarperCollins
A Monsoon Rising by Thea Guanzon
Recommended by Rebecca Becerra, Exhibitions Manager and Registrar
Find it on: HarperCollins
They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran
Recommended by Rebecca Becerra, Exhibitions Manager and Registrar
Find it on: Bloomsbury
Young and Middle-Grade Readers
Alterations by Ray Xu
Recommended by Chris Dunn, Senior Marketing and Communications Manager
Find it on: Union Square & Co.
Slippery, Spicy, Tingly: A Kimchi Mystery by Yangsook Choi
Recommended by Phuong Ha, Associate Director of Education and Outreach
Find it on: Bookshop
Play
Wolf Play by Hansol Jung
Recommended by Michael Buening, Director of Performing Arts and Culture
Find it on: thriftbooks
Nonfiction
Design, Art, and Photography
Diaspora Digest by Areesha Kalid
Recommended by Nandini Kommana, Development Associate
Find it on: Architecture by Ari
Giant Robot: Thirty Years of Defining Asian American Pop Culture by Erik Nakamura
Recommended by Michael Buening, Director of Performing Arts and Culture
Find it on: Giant Robot
There and Back: Photographs from the Edge by Jimmy Chin
Recommended by Nandini Kommana, Development Associate
Find it on: Author's Website
History
The Birth of Vietnam by Keith Waller Taylor
Recommended by Alexis Perlloni, Guest Services Associate
Find it on: Cambridge University Press
Biography and Memoir
The Writer as Migrant by Ha Jin
Recommended by Alexis Perlloni, Guest Services Associate
Find it on: The University of Chicago Press
Mornings without Mii by Mayumi Inaba
Recommended by Megan Sham, Business and Policy Programs Associate
Find it on: MacMillan Publishers
Cookbooks
The Korean Vegan Cookbook: Reflections and Recipes from Omma's Kitchen by Joanne Lee Molinaro
Recommended by Janjay Mason, Education and Outreach Coordinator
Find it on: Bookshop
Mooncakes & Milk Bread by Kristina Cho
Recommended by Phuong Ha, Associate Director of Education and Outreach
Find it on: Author's Website
Essays
Dancing On My Own: Essays on Art, Collectivity, and Joy by Simon Wu
Recommended by Michael Buening, Director of Performing Arts and Culture
Find it on: Bookshop
Unassimilable: An Asian Diasporic Manifesto for the 21st Century by Bianca Mabute-Louie
Recommended by Megan Sham, Business and Policy Programs Associate, and Alexis Perlloni, Guest Services Associate
Find it on: HarperCollins
When the World Ended I was Thinking About the Forest by Glenn Diaz
Recommended by Kat Del Rosario, Communications Coordinator
Find it on: Author's Website
Substacks
alchenny by Allison Chen
Topics: Baking
Recommended by Megan Sham, Business and Policy Programs Associate
Find it on: Substack
TKTKETK by E. Tammy Kim
Topics: Current Events, Culture
Recommended by Michael Buening, Director of Performing Arts and Culture
Find it on: Substack
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Graphic Novels, Manga, and Webtoons
Graphic Novels
The Boy From Clearwater: Book 2 by Pei-Yun Yu
Recommended by Rayén Torres, Guest Services Manager
Find it on: Bookshop
Ninja Sarutobi Sasuke by Sugiura Shigeru
Recommended by Michael Buening, Director of Performing Arts and Culture
Find it on: New York Review Books
Manga and Webtoons
Ao no Hana Utsuwa no Mori by
Recommended by Ashley Gelato, Grants Manager
Find it on: Mangadex
My Broken Mariko by Waka Hirako
Recommended by Ashley Gelato, Grants Manager
Find it on: Kinokuniya
Supyeongseon (The Horizon)
Recommended by Ashley Gelato, Grants Manager
Find it on: Webtoon
About APAH Month at Asia Society Texas
Beginning in 2021, Asia Society Texas has celebrated Asian Pacific American Heritage Month with the Houston community and beyond through a curated calendar of events for 31 ways to celebrate over the 31 days of May. Spotlighting the traditions, talents, and contributions of Asians and Asian Americans, the calendar highlights the month's key Asia Society programming, providing a platform to showcase local artists, performers, educators, and leaders who contribute to the vibrant, multicultural tapestry of Houston while also featuring staff recommendations for our favorite music, books, movies, and more by Asian and Asian American creatives.
At Asia Society Texas, APAH Month is an opportunity to celebrate and honor Asians and Asian Americans and to uplift their stories to a broader audience as part of our goal to inspire our larger community to better understand one another through culture, conversation, and connection. For information about sponsoring APAH Month and other projects like this one, please contact Saleena Jafry at [email protected] or 713.496.9939.
Presenting Sponsor of APAH Month at Asia Society Texas
Sponsors of APAH Month
Comcast
CITGO
APAH Month 2025 Calendar
Digital Calendar Interactive/Printable PDF
Past APAH Month Calendars
2024: Highlights | Details
2023: Highlights | Details
2022: Highlights | Details
2021: Details
About Asia Society Texas
Asia Society Texas believes in the strength and beauty of diverse perspectives and people. As an educational institution, we advance cultural exchange by celebrating the vibrant diversity of Asia, inspiring empathy, and fostering a better understanding of our interconnected world. Spanning the fields of arts, business, culture, education, and policy, our programming is rooted in the educational and cultural development of our community — trusting in the power of art, dialogue, and ideas to combat bias and build a more inclusive society.
