Although this post comes a week late of AAPI heritage month, I wanted to write it anyways as to celebrate this month I have been trying to read more books by Asian-American authors.
First off, I recently read The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu. This collection of short stories describes the relationship between Jack, who is a biracial Chinese American boy, and his Chinese immigrant mother. When Jack was upset as a child, she made magical paper animals for him to play with. The story then follows Jack and his mother’s relationship as Jack stops talking to her when he is a teenager and then she eventually passes away, leaving behind a letter detailing the struggles she has gone through in her life. I would highly recommend this book as it is honestly one of the best books that I have ever read. It hits super close to home and is a really emotional and heart wrenching read. I cried so much when I first read this.
Some other books by Asian-American authors that are on my list include On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong and Crying In H Mart by Michelle Zauner.
