8 Must-Read Books Featuring Asians

The modern Cinderella story follows Rachel, an Asian-American economic professor in NYU who accompanies her boyfriend back home to Singapore for a wedding.  It is only when she lands in the tropical metropolis that she discovers her boyfriend is the heir to one of the wealthiest families in Asia.  What Rachel imagined as a simple introduction to Nick’s hometown quickly turns into an endless string of lavish parties, fabulous mansions, and billionaire antics.

Pachinko follows the sprawling lives of four generations of Korean immigrants living in Japan.  The epic tale begins in the early 20th century and would unfold over several decades.  At the center of the story is Sunja, whom we first meet as a little girl from a poor family in a small Korean village.  A series of circumstances would later take Sunja to Japan, where she and her family must endure xenophobia, discrimination and turbulent political changes in order to survive.  Charting through significant moments in Korea and Japan’s history, Pachinko masterfully depicts humanity persevering in the face of hardships.

This book is a memoir by Japanese Breakfast musician Michelle Zauner.  It recounts her childhood growing up Korean American, her complicated relationship with her late mother, and how she reconnects with her roots.  Full of witty anecdotes and told in Michelle’s unique voice, the book charts her journey growing up with the high expectations she couldn’t quite meet, her subsequent turn into music that’s brought her worldwide fame, and the sudden reckoning brought on by her mother’s terminal illness.  It’s full of life with all its highs and lows, charmingly told by an authentic soul.

Kim Jiyoung is an ordinary Korean housewife with a seemingly ideal life. But one day, she starts developing signs of mental distress.  The novel reveals a snapshot of life as a typical woman in South Korean society still rife with rigid social structure and patriarchal values despite its modern advancement.  Kim Jiyoung is a name specifically chosen because of its ubiquity in the country, a symbol of everyday Korean women and their struggles.

Billed as Free Guy meets The Truman Show, the novel revolves around Willis Wu, a generic guy who plays Generic Asian Man in a generic police procedural show that for some reason is perpetually on production loop in a Chinatown restaurant.  He believes the highest aspiration in existence is to become Kung Fu Guy.  But one day, something happens that will challenge his belief about his place in the world.

The book is a National Book Award 2020 winner.

This book is a grimdark fantasy drawing inspirations from various eras in Chinese history.  It follows Rin, a young woman who trains in the elite Sinegard Academy and then subsequently recruited to fight in the Poppy War, inspired by the real-life Opium Wars.  In this debut novel, Kuang draws heavily from the Song Dynasty culture and has credited the rise of Mao Zedong as the inspiration for Rin's characterization.

When Lexi Thomas inherits a fortune from her estranged family in Taiwan, she travels there to confront their betrayal in the past.  In the process, she must learn to contend with part of her identity that she’s grown distant from.

The novel by former actress Diksha Basu is a heartfelt comedy about a working-class Indian family suddenly finding themselves with a massive fortune.  Armed with newfound wealth, Mr. and Mrs. Jha leave their cramped neighborhood behind for a new life in the upscale part of town.  But this apparently comes with a fresh slew of problems, ones that they must overcome to find what truly matters.