For Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage month I’ve decided to… do what I always do and give you a rundown of all the Asian authors that I’ve been reading this month. I could try and do something different, but really why try to fix something that isn’t broken?
Manga and Graphic Novels
The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen is a really beautiful story about an immigrant boy trying to make his way through life in America. It uses fairy tale retellings interwoven with the memories of his mother’s escape from Vietnam and modern day middle school experiences to weave together a complete story about one boy’s life. We read this for one of my book clubs and the general consensus was “I didn’t expect to be crying, but here I am”.
Tune in to the Midnight Heart is the story of a boy who used to listen to a call-in radio show where the DJ was a young girl about his age. The show helped him get through a rough point in his life, and one night before he hung up, he told the girl that he loved her. The show never aired again and he made it his life mission to find the girl and apologize and ask her to please delete any recording of that incident so that it won’t show up to embarrass him later in life. Fast forward a few years and he is in a new high school where 4 girls run a media club and he is certain that one of them is the girl from the radio show. But which one? I really enjoyed this cute manga despite how annoying the male lead is.
GAEA-TIMA: The Gigantis is the story of a small town that was destroyed by a Kaiju only to become revitalized as a tourist destination and a wealthy fishing spot when the death of the kaiju causes the nearby waters to become especially fertile fishing grounds. A few years later, our main character Miyako is making a living off her kaiju artwork when more kaiju begin to appear in the bay. Miyako appears to have an odd connection to the kaiju, and when the original GAEA-TIMA returns, it throws her whole world out of whack. I am so invested in this story and I truly hope that we get an anime version someday, because the story and the artwork are pretty wild and fun.
The Dashing Zaddy and his Icy Protégé is a fun, sexy BL office romance manga about a boss who is suffering from erectile disfunction, and the younger staff member who is more than willing to help him find a cure for his problem. The boss in this story is about 15 years older than his employee, and that will be a sticking point for some readers because they did meet when the younger one was around 10 years old. HOWEVER, they did not stay in each other’s lives at all, and if the boss remembers that kid from his past, he does not remember that this employee is that kid. There’s nothing creepy going on here, just hilarious romance.
Fantasy & Magical Realism
Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao is a haunting and beautiful tale about a woman who inherits her family’s magical pawn shop. On the first day where she takes over the business, she awakes to find that the shop has been ransacked, one of the valuable items is gone, and her retired father has apparently gone after the thief. But all is not as it seems, and Hana must embark on a journey through her magical homeworld with a man from earth who mysteriously arrives on her doorstep that morning. The story is weird and romantic, and a little creepy too. I really enjoyed it.
Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame is a debut novella by Neon Yang. It is a sapphic tale about a woman who has been trained to hunt dragons since she was a young girl. She has lived her life always wearing a literal mask and armour in public. One day she is ordered to go as an envoy to a neighbouring country. Her real mission is to see if this country is harbouring dragons which would give her emperor an excuse to invade. The story is mainly about the dragon hunter’s journey of self discovery in a new land where she is unknown. I enjoyed the tale, but it is unfortunately missing the details in her relationship with The Girl King which would have lent more weight and emotion to the romance.
Heir of Light by Michelle Sagara is the second book in her new series The Academia Chronicles which is a sister series to The Chronicles of Elantra. I love the Chronicles of Elantra series, and this series is a more enjoyable off-shoot for me than the author’s other related series Wolves of Elantra. This series takes place in a sort of magical university and revolves around a young student who has arrived there somewhat accidentally. The university building is alive, the chancellor is a dragon, and there are deadly politics which threaten the boy’s chances at survival. I am really enjoying this series and only wish that the books could come out closer together.
The Baby Dragon Cafe by A.T. Qureshi is a low stakes romance set in a world where the elite can raise and ride dragons. The female lead is an orphan who runs a café where baby dragons are welcome with their owners. The male lead is from a wealthy dragon rider family. It all sounds good, but in execution, this book is a somewhat boring, extremely average romance between a café owner and a dog owner where the author has switched out dogs for dragons in order to capitalize on the cozy fantasy craze. It’s not terrible, but it’s not good either, and I won’t be reading more books by this author.
Cookbooks
Maricel’s Simply Asian Cookbook is a collection of recipes from many different countries. It begins with a focus on Gentile’s Filipino heritage and her traditional comfort foods and goes on to include recipes from all over Asia. If you are looking for a cookbook with great variety, this will be a useful addition to your kitchen. I wouldn’t recommend it for folks who simply like to collect pretty cookbooks. The photos are fine but nothing too exciting, and the stories that accompany the book are fairly average. The book sort of reads like a boring cooking blog where you have to skim through a dull story in order to get to the good stuff. If you’re looking for the good stuff, then this book is for you. If you like the story part of a cooking blog, I’d look for a different cookbook.
How were your May reads? Did you try to add more Asian authors to your reading to celebrate AAPI Heritage month? Did you read something that you want to recommend to me? I love to hear about authors I haven’t checked out yet. Please leave me a comment with any recommendations you have.
Funny thing. I saw Water Moon checked out, and I knew it was yours! It felt like a “you” or “me” book. The Magic Fish was top notch, I loved it, and 100% agree with your review.
It was so unexpected. That cover art does not fully express the book inside