The ReadDown

New Books by Asian American Authors

While we can’t attend book launches physically right now, there are several ways to virtually stay connected and hear from our authors. We want to highlight our Asian American authors who have books coming out during this time. Celebrate these essays and stories, from nonfiction by Cathy Park Hong to fantasy by Marie Lu. If you’re looking for more recommendations, check out book picks by C Pam Zhang and Mira Jacob as well.

And join us on May 27 for a a night of cooking and conversations with the Boba Guys, Archana Mundhe, Andrea Nguyen, Anita Lo, Alana Kysar, and Deuki Hong. Find more information here.

1

New Waves

by Kevin Nguyen

With a fresh voice, biting humor, and piercing observations about human nature, Kevin Nguyen brings an insider’s knowledge of the tech industry to this imaginative novel. A pitch-perfect exploration of race and startup culture, secrecy and surveillance, social media and friendship, New Waves asks: How well do we really know one another? And how do we form true intimacy and connection in a tech-obsessed world?

Hardcover
$27.00

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2

The Kingdom of Back

by Marie Lu

From bestselling author Marie Lu comes a historical young adult fantasy about a musical prodigy and the dangerous lengths she’ll go to make history remember her–perfect for fans of Susanna Clarke and The Hazel Wood.

Hardcover
$18.99

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3

Minor Feelings

by Cathy Park Hong

With sly humor and a poet’s searching mind, Hong uses her own story as a portal into a deeper examination of racial consciousness in America today. This intimate and devastating book traces her relationship to the English language, to shame and depression, to poetry and female friendship. A radically honest work of art, Minor Feelings forms a portrait of one Asian American psyche—and of a writer’s search to both uncover and speak the truth.

Hardcover
$27.00

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4

Mimi Lee Gets a Clue

by Jennifer J. Chow

Mimi Lee is in over her head. There’s her new Los Angeles pet grooming shop to run, her matchmaking mother to thwart, her talking cat Marshmallow to tend to—oh, and the murder of a local breeder to solve…now if only Mimi hadn’t landed herself on top of the suspect list.

Paperback
$16.00

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5

Grown-Up Pose

by Sonya Lalli

A delightfully modern look at what happens for a young woman when tradition, dating, and independence collide, from acclaimed author Sonya Lalli.

Paperback
$16.00

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6

Good Talk

by Mira Jacob

New in paperback, this deeply relatable graphic memoir is a love letter to the art of conversation—and to the hope that hovers in our most difficult questions.

Paperback
$20.00

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7

How Much of These Hills Is Gold

by C Pam Zhang

Both epic and intimate, blending Chinese symbolism and re-imagined history with fiercely original language and storytelling, How Much of These Hills Is Gold is a haunting adventure story, an unforgettable sibling story, and the announcement of a stunning new voice in literature. On a broad level, it explores race in an expanding country and the question of where immigrants are allowed to belong. But page by page, it’s about the memories that bind and divide families, and the yearning for home.

Hardcover
$26.00

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8

Pizza Girl

by Jean Kyoung Frazier

In the tradition of audacious and wryly funny novels like The Idiot and Convenience Store Woman comes the wildly original coming-of-age story of a pregnant pizza delivery girl who becomes obsessed with one of her customers.

Hardcover
$24.95

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9

What We Carry

by Maya Shanbhag Lang

Absorbing, moving, and raw, What We Carry is a memoir about mothers and daughters, lies and truths, receiving and giving care, and how we cannot grow up until we fully understand the people who raised us. It is a beautiful examination of the weight we shoulder as women and an exploration of how to finally set our burdens down.

Hardcover
$27.00

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10

If I Had Your Face

by Frances Cha

A riveting debut novel set in contemporary Seoul, Korea, about four young women making their way in a world defined by impossible standards of beauty, after-hours room salons catering to wealthy men, ruthless social hierarchies, and K-pop mania.

Hardcover
$27.00

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11

The Farm

by Joanne Ramos

Soon in paperback, this gripping, provocative, and heartbreaking novel pushes to the extremes our thinking on motherhood, money, and merit and raises crucial questions about the trade-offs women will make to fortify their futures and the futures of those they love.

Paperback
$17.00

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