Published January 24, 2023; Counterpoint
Genre: Literary, Fiction, Contemporary, Asian Literature
Publisher: Eighteen-year-old Shelley, shunned by richer members of his Zheng extended family in China, heads to San Francisco to live with his "rich" uncle, confident in the powers of the "Chinese groove," the unspoken bonds between countrymen that transcend time and borders.
But Shelley soon discovers that his extended family in the U.S. are not about to help him longer than the two weeks he was originally promised. How he manages to survive and be in a position to later help his uncle is the gist of the novel.
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Published April 20, 2021; Knopf, library book
Genre: memoir, biography, Asian literature
Publisher:
Michelle Zauner tells of growing up one of the few Asian American kids at school in Eugene, Oregon; of struggling with her mother's high expectations of her; of a painful adolescence; of months spent in her grandmother's apartment in Seoul, where she and her mother would bond, late at night, over heaping plates of food.
As she grew up, Michelle's Koreanness began to feel ever more distant, even as she found the life she wanted to live. It was her mother's terminal cancer that forced a reckoning and brought her to reclaim the gifts of taste, language, and history her mother had given her.
Michelle Zauner tells of growing up one of the few Asian American kids at school in Eugene, Oregon; of struggling with her mother's high expectations of her; of a painful adolescence; of months spent in her grandmother's apartment in Seoul, where she and her mother would bond, late at night, over heaping plates of food.
As she grew up, Michelle's Koreanness began to feel ever more distant, even as she found the life she wanted to live. It was her mother's terminal cancer that forced a reckoning and brought her to reclaim the gifts of taste, language, and history her mother had given her.
by Mae Bunseng Taing, James Taing
Published February 7, 2023; Greenleaf Book Group Press
Publisher:
Forced from his home by the Khmer Rouge, teenager Mae Taing struggles to endure years of backbreaking work, constant starvation, and ruthless cruelty from his captors—supposed freedom fighters who turned against their own people. Mae risks torture and death to escape into the dark tropical jungles, trekking across a relentless wilderness crawling with soldiers....it is only his willpower to survive and dreams of a better country that give Mae the strength to face the dangers ahead.
This memoir, written with Mae’s son, James, is an incredible story of survival, and a testament to the human spirit’s capacity in us all to endure and prevail in spite of great adversity. Under the Naga Tail will find its place among the most epic true stories of personal triumph.
Mae Bunseng Taing now lives in Connecticut; his son James lives in the metro New York area
In the Shadow of the Banyan by Cambodian American novelist Vaddy Ratner
Published: August 7, 2012; Simon & Schuster
Genre: historical fiction, Cambodian history, Southeast Asia
An award winning novel about a family losing a father and narrowly escaping the Cambodian war and the Khmer Rouge atrocities.
A literary work of poetic, lyrical beauty, this novel is based on the real experiences of the writer as a child living through the time of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the writing, the author's use of poetic words and descriptions to tell this story of survival, loss, and emotion.
May Is Asian Heritage Month in Canada
It is interesting that Canada has also named each May as Asian Heritage Month, "celebrating the diverse culture and history of people of Asian origin in Canada". Their theme this year is "Stories of Determination."
This book fits the Canadian theme of "Stories of Determination."
Publication: July 4, 2023, Atria Books
Sunshine Nails by Mai Nguyen is a humorous novel about a Vietnamese Canadian family in Toronto who have built a nail salon that they have relied on thus far. Things change when an "ultra glam high end salon opens up across the street." They "will do whatever it takes to protect their no-frills nail salon - even if it tears the family apart."
More reading: 22 More books for AAPI Month and Beyond, recommendations by Novel Suspects
Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon, Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday
