Happy Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! I think that it’s always so important to celebrate our cultures and heritage, but I think after the last few years it’s extra important to celebrate and uplift the AAPI community.
There are so many exciting new books coming out this year by AAPI authors, so I thought it would be fun to talk about some of the ones that I’m looking forward to!
Flip the Script by Lyla Lee (May 31st, 2022)
I read Lyla Lee’s I’ll Be the One in 2021, and thought it was such a lovely story. Lee does a great job of writing characters that are fun and relatable and I’m sure that I’ll think the same of the characters in Flip the Script! I’m really looking forward to picking this one up at the end of the month.
The first rule of watching K-dramas: Never fall in love with the second lead.
As an avid watcher of K-dramas, Hana knows all the tropes to avoid when she finally lands a starring role in a buzzy new drama. And she can totally handle her fake co-star boyfriend who might be falling in love with her. After all, she promised the producers a contract romance, and that’s all they’re going to get from her.
But when showrunners bring on a new girl to challenge Hana’s role as main love interest—and worse, it’s someone Hana knows all too well—can Hana fight for her position on the show while falling for her on-screen rival in real life?
-K-drama lovers will fall for all the fan-favorite tropes that make for a hit show.
-Romance is everywhere in this swoony, joy-filled novel, with fake dating, a secret relationship, and a classic love triangle!
-Visit South Korea as Hana takes readers through popular spots and hidden gems.
Links for Flip the Script: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
This Place is Still Beautiful by XiXi Tian (June 7th, 2022)
We know that I love stories with good family dynamics, and it sounds like This Place is Still Beautiful is really going to deliver on that! Based on the summary, I’m sure this one will be filled with a lot of emotion and heart, so I’m very intrigued and glad that it’ll be out so soon!
Two sisters. A shocking racist incident. The summer that will change both of their lives forever.
Despite having had near-identical upbringings, sisters Annalie and Margaret agree on only one thing: that they have nothing in common. Nineteen-year-old Margaret is driven, ambitious, and keenly aware of social justice issues. She couldn’t wait to leave their oppressive small-town home and take flight in New York. Meanwhile sweet, popular, seventeen-year-old Annalie couldn’t think of anything worse – she loves their town, and feels safe coasting along in its confines.
That is, until she arrives home one day to find a gut-punching racial slur painted on their garage door.
Outraged, Margaret flies home, expecting to find her family up in arms. Instead, she’s amazed to hear they want to forget about it. Their mom is worried about what it might stir up, and Annalie just wants to have a ‘normal’ summer – which Margaret is determined to ruin, apparently.
Back under each other’s skins, things between Margaret and Annalie get steadily worse – and not even the distraction of first love (for Annalie), or lost love (for Margaret) can bring them together.
Until finally, a crushing secret threatens to tear them apart forever.
Links for This Place is Still Beautiful: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Dauntless by Elisa A. Bonnin (July 19th, 2022)
I first heard about Dauntless when I stumbled upon author Elisa A. Bonnin’s Twitter account and immediately added it to my TBR. This book sounds SO cool, and as a Filipino reader, I am always advocating for Filipino writers. Elisa graciously did an interview with us a little while back discussing Dauntless, which you can check out here. I am just counting down the days until this one comes out and a copy is in my hands.
A teen girl must bring together two broken worlds in order to save her nation in this lush, Filipino-inspired young adult fantasy novel from debut author Elisa A. Bonnin.
“Be dauntless, for the hopes of the People rest in you.”
Seri’s world is defined by very clear rules: The beasts prowl the forest paths and hunt the People. The valiant explore the unknown world, kill the beasts, and gain strength from the armor they make from them. As an assistant to Eshai Unbroken, a young valor commander with a near-mythical reputation, Seri has seen first-hand the struggle to keep the beasts at bay and ensure the safety of the spreading trees where the People make their homes. That was how it always had been, and how it always would be. Until the day Seri encounters Tsana.
Tsana is, impossibly, a stranger from the unknown world who can communicate with the beasts – a fact that makes Seri begin to doubt everything she’s ever been taught. As Seri and Tsana grow closer, their worlds begin to collide, with deadly consequences. Somehow, with the world on the brink of war, Seri will have to find a way to make peace.
Links for Dauntless: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Stolen City by Elisa A. Bonnin (September 20th, 2022)
Elisa, being the superstar that she is, has TWO books coming out this year! I find heist books so interesting, and I’m very intrigued by this summary. I pre-ordered Stolen City and Dauntless at the same time, and I just know that come September 20th, I’ll be dropping whatever it is I’m doing to read this one.
Twin thieves attempt to pull off a daring heist in Stolen City, the sophomore fantasy novel from Dauntless author Elisa A. Bonnin.
The city of Leithon is under Imperial occupation and Arian Athensor has made it her playground.
In stealing magical artifacts for the Resistance, bounding over rooftops to evade Imperial soldiers, and establishing herself as the darling thief of the underground, Arian lives a life wrapped in danger and trained towards survival. She’ll steal anything for the right price, and if she runs fast enough, she can almost escape the fact that her mother is dead, her father is missing, and her brother, Liam, is tamping down a wealth of power in a city that has outlawed magic.
But then the mysterious Cavar comes to town with a job for the twins: to steal an artifact capable of ripping the souls from the living–the same artifact that used to hang around the neck of Arian’s mother. Suddenly, her past is no longer buried under adrenaline but intimately tied to the mission at hand, and Arian must face her guilt and pain head-on in order to pull off the heist.
As Arian and Cavar infiltrate the strongest fortress in Leithon and Liam joins the Resistance as their resident mage, the twins find themselves embroiled in court politics and family secrets, and the mission becomes more than just another artifact theft. The target is now the Imperial rule, and Arian will go to any length necessary to steal her city back.
Links for Stolen City: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Seoulmates by Susan Lee (September 20th, 2022)
I’ll be honest, I have not watched any K-drama’s — mostly because there are many and I’m overwhelmed, so if you’ve got recs send them my way — but I love reading stories with K-drama vibes. Based on the summary, it sounds like Seoulmates will have some really heartfelt conversations on what it is like to be Asian American and the struggles that come with trying to embrace both sides of your identity.
Her ex-boyfriend wants her back. Her former best friend is in town. When did Hannah’s life become a K-drama?
Hannah Cho had the next year all planned out—the perfect summer with her boyfriend, Nate, and then a fun senior year with their friends.
But then Nate does what everyone else in Hannah’s life seems to do—he leaves her, claiming they have nothing in common. He and all her friends are newly obsessed with K-pop and K-dramas, and Hannah is not. After years of trying to embrace the American part and shunning the Korean side of her Korean American identity to fit in, Hannah finds that’s exactly what now has her on the outs.
But someone who does know K-dramas—so well that he’s actually starring in one—is Jacob Kim, Hannah’s former best friend, whom she hasn’t seen in years. He’s desperate for a break from the fame, so a family trip back to San Diego might be just what he needs…that is, if he and Hannah can figure out what went wrong when they last parted and navigate the new feelings developing between them.
Links for Seoulmates: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong (September 27th, 2022)
Alright friends, as much as I love you all, if anyone tries to contact me on September 27th to talk about anything other than Foul Lady Fortune, I will not be replying. I don’t think I can accurately articulate just how excited I am for this book. I will read anything and everything Chloe Gong writes: she can publish her to-do list for the day and I would drop everything to read it. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that luck is on my side again and my pre-order copy just happens to arrive a few days early or on pub date so that I can start reading it right away. All I know is, once this book is in my hands, I will not be putting it down until I’ve read the very last page.
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends comes the first book in a captivating new duology following an ill-matched pair of spies posing as a married couple to investigate a series of brutal murders in 1930s Shanghai.
It’s 1931 in Shanghai, and the stage is set for a new decade of intrigue.
Four years ago, Rosalind Lang was brought back from the brink of death, but the strange experiment that saved her also stopped her from sleeping and aging—and allows her to heal from any wound. In short, Rosalind cannot die. Now, desperate for redemption from her traitorous past, she uses her abilities as an assassin for her country.
Code name: Fortune.
But when the Japanese Imperial Army begins its invasion march, Rosalind’s mission pivots. A series of murders is causing unrest in Shanghai, and the Japanese are under suspicion. Rosalind’s new orders are to infiltrate foreign society and identify the culprits behind the terror plot before more of her people are killed.
To reduce suspicion, however, she must pose as the wife of another Nationalist spy, Orion Hong, and though Rosalind finds Orion’s cavalier attitude and playboy demeanor infuriating, she is willing to work with him for the greater good. But Orion has an agenda of his own, and Rosalind has secrets that she wants to keep buried. As they both attempt to unravel the conspiracy, the two spies soon find that there are deeper and more horrifying layers to this mystery than they ever imagined.
Links for Foul Lady Fortune: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo (October 4th, 2022)
I am a huge fan of Malinda Lo’s writing. I read A Line in the Dark back in 2019 and thoroughly enjoyed it, then we read Last Night at the Telegraph Club in March 2021 for TeaTimeReads and I really loved it. As a California Bay Area native myself, I love reading Malinda’s stories set in the Bay, and it sounds like A Scatter of Light will be no exception. I have a feeling that this book will be a very emotional read, and I’m really looking forward to it. I am also super excited to get a glimpse into what happened to Lily and Kath after Last Night at the Telegraph Club.
Award-winning author Malinda Lo returns to the Bay Area with another masterful coming-of-queer-age story, this time set against the backdrop of the first major Supreme Court decisions legalizing gay marriage. And almost sixty years after the end of Last Night at the Telegraph Club, Lo’s new novel also offers a glimpse into Lily and Kath’s lives since 1955.
Aria Tang West was looking forward to a summer on Martha’s Vineyard with her best friends–one last round of sand and sun before college. But after a graduation party goes wrong, Aria’s parents exile her to California to stay with her grandmother, artist Joan West. Aria expects boredom, but what she finds is Steph Nichols, her grandmother’s gardener. Soon, Aria is second-guessing who she is and what she wants to be, and a summer that once seemed lost becomes unforgettable–for Aria, her family, and the working-class queer community Steph introduces her to. It’s the kind of summer that changes a life forever.
Links for A Scatter of Light: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Blackmail and Bibingka by Mia P. Manansala (October 4th)
It is a well established fact here at TeaTimeLit that I am a huge fan of Mia P. Manasala. Arsenic and Adobo made me feel connected to my culture and my grandmother in a way that not many — if any — other books have, and I loved Homicide and Halo-Halo just as much. I love the little town of Shady Palms and am so excited to revisit it and see what these characters are up to.
When her long lost cousin comes back to town just in time for the holidays, Lila Macapagal knows that big trouble can’t be far behind in this new mystery by Mia P. Manansala, author of Arsenic and Adobo.
It’s Christmastime in Shady Palms, but things are far from jolly for Lila Macapagal. Sure, her new business, The Brew-ha Cafe, is looking to turn a profit in its first year. And yes, she’s taken the first step in a new romance with her good friend, Jae Park. But her cousin Ronnie is back in town after ghosting the family fifteen years ago, claiming that his recent purchase of a local winery shows that he’s back on his feet and ready to give back to the Shady Palms community. Tita Rosie is thrilled with the return of her prodigal son, but Lila knows that wherever Ronnie goes, trouble follows.
She’s soon proven right when Ronnie is accused of murder, and secrets and rumors surrounding her shady cousin and those involved with the winery start piling up. Now Lila has to put away years of resentment and distrust to prove her cousin’s innocence. He may be a jerk, but he’s still family. And there’s no way her flesh and blood could actually be a murderer…right?
Links for Blackmail and Bibingka: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang (October 11th, 2022)
Honestly, this book just sounds SO cool! I’ve always wondered what life would be like if you could make yourself invisible, and it sounds like If You Could See the Sun is going to provide me with some answers! With Alice attending an international boarding school and uncovering the secrets of her classmates, it sounds like this book is going to be filled to the brim with drama and I can’t wait to see how everything plays out!
“Utterly unique, thought-provoking, and wonderfully written… a thrilling ride that hooked me from start to finish.” —Gloria Chao, author of American Panda and Rent a Boyfriend
In this genre-bending YA debut, a Chinese American girl monetizes her strange new invisibility powers by discovering and selling her wealthy classmates’ most scandalous secrets.
Alice Sun has always felt invisible at her elite Beijing international boarding school, where she’s the only scholarship student among China’s most rich and influential teens. But then she starts uncontrollably turning invisible—actually invisible.
When her parents drop the news that they can no longer afford her tuition, even with the scholarship, Alice hatches a plan to monetize her strange new power—she’ll discover the scandalous secrets her classmates want to know, for a price.
But as the tasks escalate from petty scandals to actual crimes, Alice must decide if it’s worth losing her conscience—or even her life.
Links for If You Could See the Sun: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
AAPI authors have been seriously killing the game as of late, so I’m 100% positive that there are books that I’m super excited about but have accidentally left off this list. I’d love to hear which books by AAPI authors you’ve read and loved this year, as well as ones you’re looking forward to! Let me know in the comments!
If you’d like to support the AAPI community, here are some great resources!
