Recommendations from Your Favorite Asian American Influencers

Justin H. Min, Actor: “I read Hanya Yanagihara’s 720-page novel A Little Life in just under 72 hours, an occasional trip to the bathroom sprinkled in between chapters. The story, following the lives of four men spanning decades, is as gut-wrenching as it is beautiful. And though it was not easy to bear witness to her characters’ persistent and intense sufferings, I found comfort in the universality of pain and its ability to bind us to one another. The empathy I gained from Yanagihara’s words, I carry to this day. ”  

Amy Okuda, Actress: “This book is about a lot of things— mental health, family, love. But the part that struck me the most about it is the unbreakable bond between sisters. My sister and I are best friends and partners in life, and this book was the first time I felt like a sibling relationship reflected the way my sister and I live our lives for each other.”  

Angry Asian Man, Journalist, and Philip Wang, Filmmaker, Co-Founder of Wong Fu Productions: Angry Asian Man: “Jamie Ford’s sweet and moving debut novel melted my hardened heart. You think you’ve read and heard everything about this dark moment in our nation’s history, but Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet deftly melds vivid period detail and realism with tenderness and a beating human heart. In terms of historical fiction, this book is one of Asian America’s finest.” Philip Wang: “I recently read Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. I’m a little ashamed to admit it’s the first book in years that I actually finished, but it was well worth it. I felt so connected to the characters because of our shared cultures and struggles depicted in the story. I also forgot what it was like to have a book move me to tears, I’m glad the book could remind me.”

Mike Bow, Actor: “Sun Tzu is the OG Asian writer who made a classic that not only affected Eastern philosophy but Western philosophy as well! I love it because it’s practical advice that helps not only in military but in everyday challenges as well and encourages you to be a better thinker.”  

Osric Chau, Actor, and Amanda Suk, Actor, Dancer and Children’s Book Author: Osric Chau: “I’m a very slow reader but I blew through Everything I Never Told You faster than I knew was possible. Through much of it, Celeste had me breathing quick shallow breaths, in tears; the character James in particular had me reflecting on my own life to discover some ugly truths that I had buried deep within myself.” Amanda Suk: “One of my favorite books by, not just an AAPI author, but any author is Celeste Ng’s Everything I Never Told You. This is the book that sparked my personal mission to read more books by AAPI authors, specifically female AAPI authors. It didn’t dawn on me until after I was swept up in the story that this was one of the first reads I could remember as an adult by an Asian author with Asian characters as the main characters of the story. Celeste seamlessly weaves the story of this 1970’s midwestern Chinese American family through different character perspectives. It is subtly gripping, figuratively and literally, as I could not put the book down. I’m proud to have an entire bookshelf dedicated to AAPI authors thanks to Celeste Ng.”

Sierra Katow, Comedian, and Andrew Fung, Fung Bros, Actors & Comedians: Sierra Katow: “Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior has stuck with me as one of the few books I got to read in college as part of an Asian American Literature class. (Shout out to Prof. Ju Yon Kim!) I loved being a part of that class to not only read books by AAPI authors that I’d wished I’d learned about sooner, but also to see how sprawling and multi-faceted the AAPI experience truly is. As students, we went in thinking we’d get to finally be navel-gazey about ourselves and our families for a change, but soon learned to challenge our own narrow ideas of what it means to be AAPI.” Andrew Fung: “I first read The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston back in my first high school English class as I was running track, playing on the school basketball team and rapping to impress the cute brunette girl in the marketing club. It opened my eyes to the depth of Asian American stories that I wasn’t exposed to at the time (it’s common for Asian parents to not share traumatizing stories with their kids….none of my friends knew much at the time). Being a young man whose desires aligned more with the major leagues than the ivy leagues, it sparked a lot of thoughts of “How did we get here? Why are we like this?” and “Where should we go from now?” With the help of my big bro and a never ending cycle of only-Asian guys-here type life situations, it’s lead us down the path to where we’re at today. A lot of our YouTube channel has been and still is about unpacking the issues of our community, culture and identity whether in a comedic or sometimes brutally honest voice (which is still kinda funny). Like Mrs. Kingston, we’re not afraid but we don’t have the answers. Hopefully all the work from great Asian authors to Asian creators helps push discussions and provides a breadth of perspective for those seeking. Read stuff, it’s good for you.”  

Christine Chen, Life Coach: “Amy Tan is one of my favorite authors of all time. All of her books have made a significant impact on my life as not only a woman but also as an Asian American daughter trying to better understand where I belong between my cultural heritage and creating my own identity here in America. Turns out Amy Tan was right. ‘They know where happiness lies, not in a cave or a country, but in love and the freedom to give and take what has been there all along.'”

Wesley Chan, Filmmaker, Co-Founder of Wong Fu Productions: “I love how Ted Chiang introduces the notion that language shapes reality. Even in my own work, I’ve always been fascinated and compelled to shift perspectives in narrative to challenge the audience. Questioning reality doesn’t have to be frightening– it can be uplifting and inspiring. Chiang’s writing is beautiful in that does exactly that. “