Asian American Literature & Fiction

Bruce Lee, Defying Stereotypes, and the Catharsis of Writing

Most writers embark on projects with a clear sense of what they want to say, often revisiting familiar characters, themes and settings. When my publisher agreed to launch Johnny Delivers, a standalone sequel to the award-winning Letters From Johnny, they likely had no idea of the deeper struggles I had…

Wayne NgOctober 28, 2024

Podcasts

Books & Looks Podcast: Colonial America Reimagined: A Journey Through Time with Brinda Charry and “The East Indian”

Books & Looks: Real Books for Real Readers was started as a podcast to supplement Blaine Desantis’ website, ViewsOnBooks.com, and expand into audio interviews with authors. With Books & Looks, Blaine’s goal is to focus on real books that real people will read. At least half of the books he reviews are either…

Blaine DesantisOctober 25, 2023

Fiction Recommended

Humorous, Bittersweet Take on the “Millennial Quarter-Life Crisis” Novel

Linh Ly is NOT doing just fine. But she is trying to convince herself she is. At 27 years old, Linh feels like she should have everything figured out by now, despite the difficult past she must reckon with, and the challenges facing her day-to-day. Thao Votang’s Linh Ly is…

Megan BeauregardJuly 23, 2024

Book Club Network Romance

Screenwriter and Author Find Romance After Tragedy in Yulin Kuang’s “How to End a Love Story”

How to End a Love Story (Avon) by Yulin Kuang is an intriguing debut novel that is told from the alternating perspectives of two main characters Helen Zhang and Grant Shepard. Set against the backdrop of a writers’ room in LA for a TV adaptation of Helen’s successful book series,…

Emily FinlaysonApril 9, 2024

Romance

Mistaken Identity Turns App-Developer’s Life Upside Down in Hilarious Rom-Com

Suzanne Park demonstrates her former competition-winning stand-up comedian chops in her latest novel One Last Word. The emphasis is on smart comedy in this laugh-out-loud rom-com replete with heart and social commentary. Narrator/protagonist Sara Chae, a 34-year-old brilliant Korean American woman who works in mid-level management for Los Angeles-based Color…

Linda HitchcockMay 10, 2024

Fiction

Full-Blooded, Moving Historical Debut Featuring Legendary Chinese Pirate Queen

Rita Chang-Eppig's debut historical novel is a lyrical tale of a legendary pirate queen and her struggle to maintain power in the South China Seas. Brimming with poetic language and vivid depictions of life in all its facets, Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea (Bloomsbury Publishing) is a…

Kiersten BjorkMay 30, 2023

Book Club Network Fiction Fiction - Featured

Magical Realism Saga of Multi-Generational Trauma

Sound the trumpets and ready the fireworks to light the sky in a dazzling display honoring the debut of Jamie Ford’s eagerly awaited new novel The Many Daughters of Afong Moy (Atria). He has ambitiously reached for the stars and caught the tail of a transcendent, iridescent and fast-moving comet.…

Linda HitchcockAugust 2, 2022

Fiction Fiction - Featured

“All This Could Be Different,” A Radiant Portrait of a Young, Queer, Immigrant Woman

This novel is as vibrant as its cover, alive and awash with people and love. Its first chapters begin in a rhythm that is clipped and clear, the beat of it ticking along like a clock until suddenly, it shatters, lurching into the life of a young, queer, Indian woman. All…

Megan BeauregardAugust 5, 2022

Fiction Thrillers Thrillers - Featured

A Market Stall Owner Fights Against Murder Accusations in This Appetizing Thriller

Death Doesn’t Forget is a welcome fourth addition to dynamic writer Ed Lin’s atmospheric and nuanced Shilin Night Market series set in Taipei, Taiwan that began with Ghost Month. Each book can stand alone but the novels are as addictive as the marinated, savory skewers sold at protagonist Jing-nan’s food…

Linda HitchcockJuly 28, 2022

Miscellany

9 Reading Recommendations From Bookish Staff

BookTrib is partnering with Bookish to bring you more great content. Do you wonder what the Bookish team is reading? Do you want to take a peek at our bookshelves? You’ve come to the right place. Here are the Bookish staff’s personal weekend reading recommendations. A Duke By Default (Avon)by Alyssa Cole. They say not…

BookishAugust 1, 2018

Fiction Thrillers Thrillers - Featured

College Students Plan Chinese Art Heists in Portrait of a Thief

“Li invites readers along for a ride in the crew’s roving getaway car, promising breathtaking vistas and, more importantly, a reckoning with colonial legacies that have long lingered in the shadows.” —Boston Globe “A cinematic heist thriller with a social conscience … vivid and precisely crafted.” —BookPage “Portrait of a…

Jennifer BlankfeinJune 2, 2022

Fiction Romance Romance - Featured

Sonali Dev’s New Austen-Inspired Release “The Emma Project” Is Sublime Romance at Its Best

I’ve been waiting with bated breath for the release of The Emma Project (Avon), Sonali Dev’s fourth book in her Jane Austen retellings series. With each book in the series — from Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors to A Recipe for Persuasion to Incense and Sensibility — Dev treated readers…

Priscilla OliverasMay 19, 2022

Fiction Romance

Tall Poppy Review: Marrying Jane Austen to Contemporary Cali Charisma

Retellings of Jane Austen novels could be their own section in the bookstore, adding a new shelf's worth each year. Some are quite literal, others are barely recognizable and some are delicately perfect, capturing the spirit of Austen without sacrificing organic storytelling. Sonali Dev’s latest novel, Incense and Sensibility (William Morrow…

Amy ReichertAugust 5, 2021

Fiction Fiction - Featured

Human Motivation in an Epic Story of Love and Longing

The Plot: Beasts of Little Land by Juhea Kim, has us rewind to 1910 when Japan has annexed Korea. The Japanese Imperial Army has taken control of the Korean people and the resources of their country. People try to fight oppression from the Japanese invaders who confiscated their land and…

K.L. RomoJanuary 12, 2022

Fiction

Tune In, Drop Out, Read Tao Lin

"No one writes like Tao Lin." — Tommy Orange, author of There There —∞— "Warm, funny, hearteningly nonconformist." — Melissa Broder, author of Milk Fed —∞— As I write this, I am on a couple prescribed pharmaceuticals and a cannabis-infused espresso bean. In the bag next to me, there is…

Casey BarrettAugust 5, 2021

Book Club Network Book Club Network - Featured2 Fiction

“The Reading List” Is Book Therapy for Lovers of Literature

"A quietly beautiful novel about the magic of books and the joy of human connection.” —Newsweek —∞— "A lovely story about how a love of reading can transport us to other worlds and also bring us together.” —Toronto Star —∞— Sara Nisha Adams’ debut The Reading List (William Morrow) is…

Linda HitchcockAugust 3, 2021