Join us in celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (also referred to as Asian Pacific Heritage Month), which takes place during the month of May. Generations of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have enriched the culture of the United States and are valuable members of our families and communities. This month is dedicated to celebrating that heritage.
The following list of recently released books and movies can help you celebrate and experience the works of AAPI authors and creators. Because the term "Asian" encompasses 75 countries, this list is by no means comprehensive, but is rather meant to serve as a starting point for learning and understanding.
Fiction
I Leave It Up to You by Jinwoo Chong: Complete with mouth-watering descriptions of food, this is a hilarious and heartwarming rom-com that proves that sometimes home is exactly where you belong.
Yin Yang Love Story by Lauren Kung Jessen: In this charming rom-com filled with Chinese traditions and a family curse, an herbalist fake dates a star musician in business scheme that doesn't go as planned.
Katabasis by R.F. Kuang: Two graduate students must set aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save their professor’s soul, perhaps at the cost of their own.
The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji: A darkly funny, life-affirming debut novel following five women from a once illustrious Iranian family as they grapple with revolutions personal and political.
The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar: Follow the river Liss to the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, and meet two sisters who cannot be separated, even in death.
The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen by Yuta Takahashi: Kotoko discovers the Chibineko Kitchen, where kagezen meals promise reunions with departed loved ones and a magical journey of eating and remembrance.
Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao: A woman inherits a pawnshop where you can sell your regrets, then embarks on a magical quest when a charming young physicist wanders into the shop.
Julie Chan Is Dead by Liann Zhang: A young woman steps into her deceased twin's influencer life, only to discover dark secrets hidden behind her social media façade.
Nonfiction
Daughters of the Bamboo Grove: From China to America, a True Story of Abduction, Adoption, and Separated Twins by Barbara DeMick: The heartrending story of twin sisters torn apart by China’s one-child policy and the rise of international adoption
I'll Love You Forever: Notes from a K-Pop Fan by Giaae Kwon: A meditation that blends memoir and cultural criticism to explore how the author’s love affair with K-pop has shaped her sense of self, charting K-pop’s complex coming-of-age through some of its biggest idols.
Dinner: 120 Vegan and Vegetarian Recipes for the Most Important Meal of the Day by Meera Sodha: Drawing on a wide range of Asian cuisines, this cookbook features quick recipes, one-pan meals, and hassle-free oven dishes.
Family Style: Elegant Everyday Recipes Inspired by Home and Heritage by Peter Som: From culinary creator, lifestyle expert, and fashion designer Peter Som, this cookbook features unique and creative flavor combinations, paying homage to his identity, heritage, and family.
Movies and TV Shows
Interior Chinatown: An action comedy-drama television series created by showrunner Charles Yu, based on his 2020 novel of the same name. The series stars Jimmy O. Yang as a waiter in Chinatown who discovers that he is merely a background character in a fictional police procedural. Watch with the Library's Hulu or Disney+ Rokus.
Love Hurts: An American action comedy film directed by Jonathan Eusebio. Its plot follows a former hitman-turned-realtor (Ke Huy Quan) who learns that his brother is hunting him when he reunites with his former partner.
Mickey 17: A science fiction black comedy film written, produced, and directed by Bong Joon Ho, based on the 2022 novel Mickey7 by Edward Ashton. The film stars Robert Pattinson as Mickey Barnes, a man who joins a space colony as an "Expendable", a disposable worker who gets cloned every time he dies.
Moana 2: An animated anthology musical adventure film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. After receiving an unexpected call from her way-finding ancestors, Moana (Auliʻi Cravalho) must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she's ever faced.
Shōgun: An historical drama television series created by Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks. It follows "the collision of two ambitious men from different worlds, John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), an English sailor who ends up shipwrecked in Japan, and Lord Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada), a powerful daimyo, at odds with his own dangerous political rivals. Watch with the Library's Hulu or Disney+ Rokus.
The Wedding Banquet: A remake of the 1993 film of the same name, this romantic comedy film directed by Andrew Ahn, and co-written by Ahn and James Schamus and follows a gay man (Bowen Yang) with a green card who proposes marriage to a female friend in exchange for paying for her IVF treatment.