In 1978, Congress established Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week, and in 1992, this celebration was expanded to the whole month of May. In 1997, AAPI Heritage Month was further divided into two groups—Asian and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander.
Take a look at some of these hot new books below and discover a new author to fall in love with.
Sci-fi/Fantasy
Water Moon by Samantha Sotto
A woman inherits a pawnshop where you can sell your regrets—and then embarks on a magical journey when a charming young physicist wanders into the shop in this dream-like and enchanting fantasy novel.
Samantha Sotto Yambao is a professional daydreamer, aspiring time traveler and speculative fiction writer based in Manila. She is the author of Before Ever After, Love and Gravity, A Dream of Trees and The Beginning of Always. Click here for her website.
Romance
Yin Yang Love Song by Lauren Kung Jessen
Chryssy Hua Williams comes from such a long line of women who are so unlucky in love that she has started to believe that her great-great-great-great grandmother has caused them to be cursed. Chryssy accepts that she may never have a happy ever after of her own so she sets out to discover how traditional Chinese medicine may bring lasting love to others. When Chryssy meets Vin, a serial dater who has found fame as a classical musician, she attempts to keep him at a distance to avoid heartbreak. Now the only logical plan of action is to break the unbreakable curse.
Lauren Kung Jessen is a mixed Chinese-American writer of rom-coms with lots of food and big feelings. She has a fondness for witty, flirtatious dialogue and making meals with too many steps but lots of flavor. Click here for her website.
The Girl Most Likely to by Julie Tieu
Rachel Dang, facing unemployment and invited to her high school reunion by her former frenemy Danny Phan, embarks on a night of mishaps that rekindles their past feelings while encountering their quirky childhood friends, forcing them to confront whether their reunion is mere nostalgia
Julie Tieu is a Chinese-Cambodian American author of lighthearted, contemporary romcoms. Her debut, The Donut Trap, was one of Booklist's Top 10 Romance Debuts of 2022. Her follow-up, Circling Back To You, was a 2022 Golden Poppy Award finalist by the California Independent Booksellers Association. Click here for her website.
Flirting With Disaster by Naina Kumar
It's been years since Meena separated from her husband, Nikhil. Now a high-powered lawyer on Capitol Hill and ready to move on (at least, she thinks so) with another successful lawyer, Shake, Meena has returned to Texas. This time, finally to obtain a divorce. But there’s one thing Meena didn’t account for: a hurricane forming in the Gulf, veering right toward them and giving them no choice but to hunker down in the home they had built together. Suddenly, she finds herself trapped amid gale-force winds and pelting rain with the man she once loved.
Naina Kumar is the bestselling author of Say You’ll Be Mine. She lives in Texas, close to her family whose antics provide endless inspiration. When she’s not writing, she enjoys taking her rowdy rescue dog on walks, rewatching Gilmore Girls on a loop, and shopping at HEB. Click here for her website.
Courtroom Drama by Neely Tubati Alexander
Sydney Parks thinks she might be the first person in the world to look forward to serving jury duty. When Margot Kitsch, an original cast member of the hit reality show Authentic Moms of Malibu is arrested after the untimely death of her cast member husband, Joe, Sydney knows being selected for the jury is the most interesting thing that ever happened to her. However, it doesn't take long for Sydney to realize that being part of a sequestered jury in a high-profile case is not at all what legal dramas had led her to expect—especially when she learns that her childhood best friend, Damon, whom she hasn't seen in ten years, is also a jury member. With all the drama in and out of the courtroom, how is Sydney supposed to ignore the fraught history between them?
Neely Tubati Alexander is the acclaimed author of Love Buzz and In a Not-so-Perfect World. Her work has received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publisher's Weekly, Library Journal and Booklist, who declared her “an exciting new romance writer.” She lives in Arizona with her family. Click here for her website.
Time Loops & Meet Cutes by Jackie Lau
Noelle Tom really shouldn't have eaten those dumplings at the night market. But the old woman at the stall said they'd give her what she needed most, and what Noelle desperately needed after another long work week was food. Except now she's reliving the same Friday. Every morning her alarm goes off at 6:45, and the Wordle answer is always "happy." Then she meets good-looking Cam, who appears in multiple places on her Friday. While the brewery owner seems to have no memory of their encounters, there are signs he might be the key to getting un-stuck. As she grows attached to him, she becomes more worried that she'll never escape the loop and he'll never recall her name. And if she does ever get out, can they be together in the "real" world?
Jackie Lau studied engineering and worked as a geophysicist before turning to romance novels. She has written over 20 books and lives in Toronto with her husband. Click here for her website.
Gothic Horror
The Manor of Dreams by Christina Li
Vivian Yin is dead. The first Chinese actress to win an Oscar, the trailblazing ingénue rose to fame in the eighties, only to disappear from the spotlight at the height of her career and live out the rest of her life as a recluse. Now her remaining family members are gathered for the reading of her will and her daughters expect to inherit their childhood home: Vivian's sprawling, Southern California garden estate. But due to a last-minute change to the will, the house is passed on to another family instead—one that has suddenly returned after decades of estrangement. In hopes of staking their claim, both families move into the mansion. Amidst the grief and paranoia of this unhappy reunion, Vivian's daughters race to piece together what happened in the last weeks of their mother's life, only to realize they are being haunted by something much more sinister and vengeful than their regrets.
Christina Li is the award-winning author of children’s books Clues to the Universe and Ruby Lost and Found, both of which have won awards. The Manor of Dreams was listed as one of TIME Magazine’s Most anticipated novels of 2025. Click here for her website.
Contemporary Fiction
There's Something About Mira by Sonali Dev
Mira Salvi has the perfect life—a job she loves, a fiancé everyone adores and the secure future she's always imagined for herself. Really, she hasn't a thing to complain about, not even when she has to go on her engagement trip to New York alone. While playing tourist in the city, Mira chances upon a lost ring, and her social media post to locate its owner goes viral. With everyone trying to claim the ring, only one person seems to want to find its owner as badly as Mira does: journalist Krish Hale. As Krish and Mira reluctantly join forces and jump into the adventure of tracing the ring back to where it belongs, Mira begins to wonder if she is in the right place in her own life.
Sonali Dev’s spent her few decades getting degrees in architecture and writing, migrating across the globe, and starting a family while writing for magazines and websites. With the advent of her first gray hair her mad love for telling stories returned full force, and she now combines it with her insights into Indian culture to conjure up stories that make a mad tangle with her life as supermom, domestic goddess, and world traveler. Click here for her website.
Julie Chan Is Dead by Liann Zhang
Julie Chan has nothing. Her twin sister has everything. Except a pulse. Julie Chan, a supermarket cashier with nothing to lose, finds herself thrust into the glamorous yet perilous world of her late twin sister, Chloe VanHuusen, a popular influencer. Separated at a young age, the identical twins were polar opposites and rarely spoke, except for one viral video that Chloe initiated. When Julie discovers Chloe's lifeless body under mysterious circumstances, she seizes the chance to live the life she's always envied. Julie effortlessly adopts Chloe's luxurious influencer life, complete with designer clothes, a meticulous skincare routine, and millions of adoring followers. However, Julie soon realizes that Chloe's seemingly picture-perfect life was anything but. As events spiral out of control, Julie uncovers the sinister forces that may have led to her sister's demise and realizes she might be the next target.
Liann Zhang is a second-generation Chinese Canadian who splits her time between Vancouver, British Columbia and Toronto, Ontario. After a short stint as a skincare content creator, she graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in psychology and criminology. Julie Chan Is Dead is her first novel. Click here for her website.
The Family Recipe by Carolyn Huynh
Duc Tran, the eccentric founder of the Vietnamese sandwich chain Duc's Sandwiches, has decided to retire. No one has heard from his wife, Evelyn, in two decades. But the money has to go to someone. With the help of the shady family lawyer, Duc informs his five estranged adult children that to receive their inheritance, his four daughters must revitalize run-down shops in old-school Little Saigon locations across America. But if the first-born (and only) son, Jude, gets married first, everything will go to him. Each daughter is stuck in a new city, battling gentrification, declining ethnic enclaves, and messy love lives, while struggling to modernize their father's American dream. Jude wonders if he wants to marry for love or for money-or neither. As Duc's children scramble to win their inheritance, they begin to learn the real intention behind the inheritance scheme—and the secret their mother kept tucked away in the fireplace, all along.
Carolyn Huyhn is an author, screenwriter, playwright and retired tech worker. Her work, focusing on Vietnamese American identity, includes Good Morning America Book Club pick The Fortunes of Jaded Women. Click here for her website.
Mystery
The Note by Alafair Burke
A vacation in the Hamptons goes terribly wrong for three friends with a complicated history. It was meant to be a harmless prank. Growing up, May Hanover was a good girl, always. Raised by a first-generation Chinese single mother with high expectations, May didn't have room to slip up, let alone fail. Her friends didn't call her the Little Sheriff for nothing. But even good girls have secrets. And regrets. When it comes to her friendship with Lauren and Kelsey, she's had her fair share of both. Their bond—forged when May was just 12 years old—has withstood a tragic accident, individual scandals, heartbreak and loss. Now, the three friends have reunited for the first time in years for a few days of sun and fun in the Hamptons. But a chance encounter with a pair of strangers leads to a drunken prank that goes horribly awry. When she finds herself at the center of an urgent police investigation, May begins to wonder whether Lauren and Kelsey are keeping secrets from her, testing the limits of her loyalty to lifelong friends.
Alafair Burke is the New York Times, Edgar Award-nominated author of 15 crime novels. Published in more than 20 languages, her books have been featured on “Best Book” lists from the Today Show, Entertainment Weekly, People, O (Oprah Magazine), The Boston Globe, Washington Post, Sun Sentinel, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and numerous other outlets. Click here for her website.
Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (on A Dead Man) by Jesse Sutanto
Vera Wong is back and as meddling as ever in this follow-up to the hit Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers. Ever since a man was found dead in Vera's teahouse, life has been good. Her son Tilly's girlfriend is none other than Officer Selena Gray, the very same officer she had harassed while investigating the teahouse murder. Still, Vera wishes more dead bodies would pop up in her shop, but one mustn't be ungrateful, even if one is slightly bored. Then Vera comes across a distressed young woman looking for a missing friend. Fortunately, while cat-sitting at Tilly and Selena's, Vera finds a treasure trove: Selena's briefcase. Inside is a file about the death of an enigmatic influencer (Xander) who also happens to be the friend that the young woman was looking for. After his body is fished out of the water at Mile Rock Beach, the police can't seem to actually identify him. Who was Xander Lin? Nobody knows. Every contact is a dead end. Everybody claims not to have known him, even his parents. Vera is determined to solve Xander's murder.
Jesse Sutanto grew up going back and forth between Jakarta and Singapore and considers both places her home. She did a Masters in Creative Writing at the University of Oxford and is passionate about women’s rights and diversity in publishing. Click here for her website.
Teen
They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran
Since the hurricane, the town of Mercy, Louisiana has been overtaken by a strange red algae bloom. Noon and her mother have carved out a life in the wreckage, trawling for the mutated wildlife that lurks in the water and trading it to the corrupt harbormaster. When she's focused on survival, Noon doesn't have to cope with what happened to her at the Cove or the monster itching at her skin. People are disappearing, and the only clues as to why are whispers of underwater shadows and warnings to never answer the knocks at night. When the harbormaster demands she capture the creature that's been drowning residents, Noon finds a reluctant ally in his daughter Covey. And as the next storm approaches, the two set off to find what's haunting Mercy. After all, Noon is no stranger to monsters.
Trang Thanh Tran is a Vietnamese-American writer telling all stories scary, otherworldly, and emotional. Trang grew up in a big family in Philadelphia but now calls the South home. When not writing, they’re busy trying new food and watching too many zombie movies. Their debut She Is a Haunting was an instant New York Times and Indie bestseller. Click here for their website.
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