Books To Read for the Year of the Rabbit and the Cat
Get ready to celebrate the Lunar New Year with these fantastic books that embody the Year of the Rabbit, according to the Chinese zodiac, and the Cat, according to the Vietnamese zodiac. Rabbits and Cats are gentle, cautious, and responsible, but that does mean that they are meek, because these animals are also quick, skillful, ambitious, and know how to get ahead in the world. This year, tap into your sensitive side with these Lunar New Year reads!
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Add to BookshelfStay True
by Hua Hsu
From the New Yorker staff writer Hua Hsu, a gripping memoir on friendship, grief, the search for self, and the solace that can be found through art. A coming-of-age story that details both the ordinary and the extraordinary, Stay True is a bracing memoir about growing up, and about moving through the world in search of meaning and belonging.Â
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2
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The Heart Principle
by Helen Hoang
A woman struggling with burnout learns to embrace the unexpected – and the man she enlists to help her – in this New York Times bestselling romance by Helen Hoang.
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3
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Chemistry
by Weike Wang
At first glance, the quirky narrator of Weike Wang’s debut novel seems to be on the cusp of a perfect life: she is studying for a prestigious Ph.D. that will make her Chinese parents proud (or at least satisfied), and her successful boyfriend has just proposed to her. But instead of feeling hopeful, she is wracked with ambivalence. When it all becomes too much, she finds herself on a new path of discoveries about everything she thought she knew. Smart, moving, and always funny, this unique coming-of-age story is certain to evoke a winning reaction.Â
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4
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Time Is a Mother
by Ocean Vuong
In this deeply intimate second poetry collection, Ocean Vuong searches for life among the aftershocks of his mother’s death, embodying the paradox of sitting within grief while being determined to survive beyond it. Bold and prescient, and a testament to tenderness in the face of violence, Time Is a Mother is a return and a forging forth all at once.
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5
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Know My Name
by Chanel Miller
Universally acclaimed, rapturously reviewed, and an instant New York Times bestseller, Chanel Miller’s breathtaking memoir “gives readers the privilege of knowing her not just as Emily Doe, but as Chanel Miller the writer, the artist, the survivor, the fighter” (The Wrap). Know My Name will forever transform the way we think about sexual assault, challenging our beliefs about what is acceptable and speaking truth to the tumultuous reality of healing. Entwining pain, resilience, and humor, this memoir will stand as a modern classic.
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6
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In the Country
by Mia Alvar
In these nine globe-trotting tales, Mia Alvar gives voice to the women and men of the Philippines and its diaspora. From teachers to housemaids, from mothers to sons, Alvar’s stories explore the universal experiences of loss, displacement, and the longing to connect across borders both real and imagined. In the Country speaks to the heart of everyone who has ever searched for a place to call home.
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7
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Frankly in Love
by David Yoon
When Frank Li falls in love for the very first time (with a non-Korean girl), he’s forced to confront the fact that while his parents sacrificed everything to raise him in the land of opportunity, their traditional expectations don’t leave a lot of room for him to be a regular American teen. Desperate, Frank turns to family friend Joy Song, who is in a similar bind. Together, they come up with a plan to help each other and keep their parents off their backs. Two friends. One fake dating scheme. What could possibly go wrong?Â
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8
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Shoko’s Smile
by Choi Eunyoung
In crisp, unembellished prose, Choi Eunyoung paints intimate portraits of the lives of young women in South Korea, balancing the personal with the political. In the tradition of Sally Rooney, Banana Yoshimoto, and Marilynne Robinson – writers from different cultures who all take an unvarnished look at human relationships and the female experience – Choi Eunyoung is a writer to watch.
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9
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Beautiful Country: A Read with Jenna Pick
by Qian Julie Wang
The moving story of an undocumented child living in poverty in the richest country in the world – an incandescent debut from an astonishing new talent. Inhabiting her childhood perspective with exquisite lyric clarity and unforgettable charm and strength, Qian Julie Wang has penned an essential American story about a family fracturing under the weight of invisibility, and a girl coming-of-age in the shadows, who never stops seeking the light.Â
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10
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Things We Lost to the Water
by Eric Nguyen
A captivating novel about an immigrant Vietnamese family who settles in New Orleans and struggles to remain connected to one another as their lives are inextricably reshaped. This stunning debut is “vast in scale and ambition, while luscious and inviting … in its intimacy” (The New York Times Book Review).Â
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11
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Eat a Peach
by David Chang and Gabe Ulla
From the chef behind Momofuku and star of Netflix’s Ugly Delicious–an intimate account of the making of a chef, the story of the modern restaurant world that he helped shape, and how he discovered that success can be much harder to understand than failure.Â
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12
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Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
by Gabrielle Zevin
In this exhilarating novel, two friends–often in love, but never lovers – come together as creative partners in the world of video game design. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.
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13
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Black Water Sister
by Zen Cho
When Jessamyn Teoh starts hearing a voice in her head, she chalks it up to stress. Closeted, broke, and jobless, she’s moving back to Malaysia with her parents – a country she last saw when she was a toddler. She soon learns the new voice isn’t hers, it’s the ghost of her estranged grandmother who is determined to settle a score, and she’s decided Jess is going to help her do it, whether Jess wants to or not. This reluctant medium will discover the ties that bind can unleash a dangerous power in this compelling contemporary fantasy.Â
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14
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Build Your House Around My Body
by Violet Kupersmith
Part puzzle, part revenge tale, part ghost story, this ingenious novel spins half a century of Vietnamese history and folklore into “a thrilling read, acrobatic and filled with verve” (The New York Times Editors’ Choice).
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