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May 2022 Reading Recommendations
Bookshop List
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Celebrate and honor AAPI voices with our list of short story collections, children’s fiction, and adult memoirs.
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See and purchase all the books HERE!
1. At Least You Have Your Health by Madi Sinha
Genre: Fiction
Blurb: Behind the chic veneer of a wellness clinic lies a dangerous secret, in this compelling women's fiction novel from the author of The White Coat Diaries. – Bookshop.org
2. The Peanutbutter Sisters and Other American Stories by Rumi Hara
Genre: Short story collection
Blurb: An immigrant weaves a new, surreal Americana, complete with bubblegum fights and bomb queens. – Bookshop.org
3. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpra Lahiri
Genre: Short story collection
Blurb: This stunning debut collection flawlessly charts the emotional journeys of characters seeking love beyond the barriers of nations and generations. – Bookshop.org
4. Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay
Genre: YA Fiction
Blurb: As gripping as it is lyrical, Patron Saints of Nothing is a page-turning portrayal of the struggle to reconcile faith, family, and immigrant identity. – Bookshop.org
5. Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese American by Laura Gao
Genre: Graphic Memoir
Blurb: Insightful, original, and hilarious, toggling seamlessly between past and present, China and America, Gao's debut is a tour de force of graphic storytelling. –Bookshop.org
6. I Hope You Get This Message by Farah Naz Rishi
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Blurb: In this high concept YA novel debut that's We All Looked Up meets The Sun Is Also a Star, three teens must face down the mistakes of their past after they learn that life on Earth might end in less than a week. – Bookshop.org
7. Forced Out: A Nikkei Woman’s Search for a Home in America by Judy Y. Kawamoto
Genre: Nonfiction
Blurb: Forced Out: A Nikkei Woman's Search for a Home in America offers insight into "voluntary evacuation," a little-known Japanese American experience during World War II, and the lasting effects of cultural trauma. – Bookshop.org
8. Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
Genre: YA Fiction
Blurb: Adib Khorram's brilliant debut is for anyone who's ever felt not good enough--then met a friend who makes them feel so much better than okay. – Bookshop.org
9. The Collected Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang
Genre: Essays
Blurb: An intimate, moving book written with the immediacy and directness of one who still struggles with the effects of mental and chronic illness, The Collected Schizophrenias cuts right to the core. – Bookshop.org
10. Amina’s Song by Hena Khan
Genre: Middle Grade Fiction
Blurb: In the companion novel to the beloved and award-winning Amina's Voice, Amina once again uses her voice to bridge the places, people, and communities she loves--this time across continents. – Bookshop.org
11. ‘Ohana Means Family by Ilima Loomis
Genre: Picture Book
Blurb: Acclaimed illustrator and animator Kenard Pak's light-filled, dramatic illustrations pair exquisitely with Ilima Loomis' text to celebrate Hawaiian land and culture. – Bookshop.org
12. Queen of the Tiles by Hanna Alkaf
Genre: YA Mystery
Blurb: They Wish They Were Us meets The Queen's Gambit in the world of competitive Scrabble when a teen girl is forced to investigate the mysterious death of her best friend a year after the fact when her Instagram comes back to life with cryptic posts and messages. – Bookshop.org
LIZA'S HEALING
SELECTIONS
The Healing Reads List is a reading list that goes beyond anti-racism books. This list is all about healing and uplifting within and across communities. The books shared on this list have been sources of healing for us throughout this year. This is a rolling list so stay tuned for new healing reads being added!
Liza Michelle Bevams is a writer and multimedia artist exploring life in the Rocky Mountains. She is currently working on her first novel.
Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi
Fiction
“An extraordinarily powerful and very different kind of physical and psychological migration story."
—Edwidge Danticat, The New Yorker
The Sentences That Create Us: Crafting a Writer’s Life in Prison
Edited by Caits Meissner, Pen America
Nonfiction
“This book is unlike anything I’ve ever read.” —Liza
Craft in the Real World by Matthew Salesses
Nonfiction
"A real eye opener . . . It unpacks the seemingly 'universal' lessons we learn about what makes fiction good to reveal how whiteness and maleness have shaped those values." -Kumari Devarajan, Code Switch, NPR
The Book of Delights by Ross Gay
Nonfiction Essays
"The delights he extols here (music, laughter, generosity, poetry, lots of nature) are bulwarks against casual cruelties. As such they feel purposeful and imperative as well as contagious in their joy." -The New York Times Book Review
Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Animals by Alexis Pauline Gumbs
Nonfiction
“A masterpiece.” -Liza Bevams
Wounds of Passions: A Writing Life by bell hooks
Nonfiction
“This book speaks to the heart.” -Liza Bevams
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
Sci-fi/Fantasy
“A prophetic and transformative novel.”
-Liza Bevams
The Magic My Body Becomes: Poems by Jess Rizkallah
Poetry
"The Magic My Body Becomes is an extraordinary collection that captures the beauty and complexities of identity." —Liza
George M. Johnson- All Boys Aren't Blue
YA Nonfiction
"An absolute necessity . . . the personal stories and the healing and reconciliation of self in this title are all undeniably honest and relatable--a reminder of our shared imperfection and humanity." -Booklist
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde
Autobiographical Novel
“This book is a gift of radical love that keeps unfolding and unfolding.” -Liza Bevams
Mouths of Rain: An Anthology of Black Lesbian Thought- Briona Simone Jones (Editor)
Nonfiction
"This collection of multi-generational writing is a demonstration of how radical and transformative love, self-love, can be." —Liza
Bernardine Evaristo- Girl, Woman, Other
Fiction
"Girl, Woman, Other, the intermingling stories of generations of black British women told in a gloriously rich and readable free verse, will surely be seen as a landmark in British fiction."
-The Guardian
The Body is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love by Sonya Renee Taylor
Nonfiction
"This book took my breath away. It's an unexpected and urgent embrace of truth." --Brené Brown, Ph.D., author of the New York Times #1 bestseller, Dare to Lead
Natalie Diaz- Postcolonial Love Poem
Poetry
"Diaz's collection is no doubt one of the most important poetry releases in years, one to applaud for its considerable demonstration of skill, its resistance to dominant perspectives and its light wrought of desire."- The New York Times Book Review
Leslie Marmon Silko- Storyteller
Fiction and Poetry
"A source of healing, inspiration, and community." -Liza
Kiese Laymon- Heavy: An American Memoir
Nonfiction
"Reading this book gave me a new perspective on writing, love, forgiveness, and facing things that are difficult and uncomfortable to acknowledge. Kiese Laymon is a brilliant wordsmith." -Liza
Toi Derricotte- The Black Notebooks: An Interior Journey
Nonfiction
"This is an insightful, courageous, and vibrant book. Derricotte's words linger and touch your soul." -Liza
Key Ballah- Preparing My Daughter For Rain
Poetry
"There is so much forgiveness and freedom in this book."- Liza
Toni Morrison- The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations
Nonfiction
"Morrison is more than the standard bearer of American literature. She is our greatest singer. And this book is perhaps her most important song" -The New York Times
Ibi Zoboi- My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich
Middle Grade
"Highlights the importance of imagination and learning to celebrate what it means to be different in a world that demands conformity."- Horn Book
Upile Chisala- Nectar
Poetry
These poems celebrate, encourage, and offer the reader a new perspective on hope and self-love.
Black Imagination - Curated by Natasha Marin
Anthology
"(D)on't think for one minute that Black Imagination is easy. As you will read here, it is hard-earned and sometimes dangerous, but it's necessary, and radical, to claim and work towards. Listening to my people in this book gave me so much life, and I'm pretty sure, dear reader, you're in for the same."- from the Foreword by Steven Dunn
Yrsa Daley-Ward- bone
Poetry
Yrsa Daley-Ward's collection bone captures desire, vulnerability, and joy beautifully. This book is a place to find solace..
