In May, Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage is brought center stage and gives us the opportunity to celebrate some deeply rich and beautiful stories. From complicated family dynamics shaped by culture to haunting paranormal experiences, insightful poetry and immersive fiction and extraordinary historical accounts, these enchanting stories are sure to stay with you for years to come.

Pool House by Mary HK Choi

Stevie desperately wants a new life away from her mother Moon, but her choices leave no options other than continuing to reside with her mom while working a menial job after leaving college. Moon has a mess of her own. She’s an actress without a job, an addict on the road to recovery, and a mistress grieving the death of her lover who also happened to be her TV character’s husband. Wrapped up in her own drama, she is blind to the turmoil her daughter faces. Financially bound together, Stevie and Moon eventually move into the pool house to rent out the primary residence to pay the bills they can hardly keep up with. Complications ensue at the funeral when Moon’s former TV son returns, who also happens to be Stevie’s longtime crush. Mom and daughter must move back into the main house to keep up appearances, but things are far from perfect.

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I Could Give You the Moon by Ann Liang

Chanel Cao is all manufactured smiles and perfect styles, and she is loved by all except Ares Yin. Though she looks perfect, her home life is certainly not with parents who recently separated. Ares is a loner who is immune to false charms and is struggling after his brother goes missing. Opposites come together when the two share a vision of Ares’s missing brother and of Chanel’s house burning to the ground, leading both to believe that the other is the solution to their problems. Young and desperate to put their lives back together, Channel and Ares find out the cost of trying to save what they love most.

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The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts by Kim Fu

Eleanor’s mother dies unexpectedly, leaving her drifting out of control. Her mother was her everything and she also controlled everything. Now Eleanor is forced to make her own decisions when she is left with her mother’s final request: Eleanor must buy a house with her inheritance. Focused on honoring her mother’s wish, Eleanor buys a house that becomes a literal nightmare that pushes her to the brink of a mental collapse. Flood water fills the house while turmoil fills Eleanor’s mind, forcing her to grapple with the ghosts of her past and the decisions that still haunt her.

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Maybe the Body by Asa Drake

An illuminating poetry collection examining the divides between what is, what should be, and what we can create. The poetry collection reveals that where we live shapes who we are and who we might become. Drawing from politics, to lineage, and to nature, Asa Drake inspires a melody of introspection while exploring the intricacies of society.

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The Fourth Princess by Janie Chang

The year is 1911 and situated in Shanghai is the Lennox Manor which is both the site of  Lisan’s new job, and Caroline Stanton’s new home. All is well until secrets of Lisan and Caroline begin to surface, and old wounds start to fester. The Manor becomes a place of great unrest and major conflict that leaves both women to deal with their secrets or remain bound to the land that brings nothing but distress.

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The First Step by Tao Wong

Long Wu Ying’s life is filled with studies, rice fields, and time at home with loved ones. One day the Army comes to the village to enlist Wu Ying and many others. The enlistment starts a journey that Wu Ying undertakes as he decides whether to return to his old life or begin a new one as an immortal cultivator.

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The Young Will Remember by Eve J. Chung

A young Chinese American journalist, Ellie Chang, is on a military flight that is shot down. Landing in the dangerous North Korean mountains, she meets a woman named Emma who claims Ellie is her own daughter to save her life. Among strangers, Ellie navigates new relationships that form strong bonds even without a language in common. As the war moves closer to their temporary shelter, Ellie must convince her new acquaintances to travel to the south to find safety and hopefully find Emma’s real missing daughter. Ellie finds out that the most unlikely moments can change your life forever.

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A Library of Flowers by L.C. Chu

Hua women are gifted in inexplicable ways and they have used their sway to maintain their power for generations. Hua women have influenced emperor courts and wealthy figures for eons with perfumes that function as a catalyst for passion and wealth. Produced only once every five generations is a Hua woman who can summon true love, and Lucy is one such gifted woman in her lineage, but her magic mysteriously malfunctions. Without magic, Lucy runs away to live an ordinary life until an untimely death forces her to return home to manage an unwanted inheritance and all the burdens that come with it. As the family secrets are revealed, Lucy learns more about who came before her, leading to a revelation that perhaps her magic is not gone, only slumbering until she decides whether she truly wants to be a daughter of the House of Hua.

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She Waits Where Shadows Gather by Michelle Tang

Avery Tam and Carlos Tam hold firm to the belief in logic over mysticism, but unanticipated challenges shift their line of thinking. Carlos is known for his reality show that claims that paranormal activity is nothing more than a hoax. On a trip to the family home in the Philippines, Avery and Carlos must grapple with strange things occurring around the property. A car accident leaves Carlos locked inside his own body without the ability to communicate or move all while Avery tends to his weakened body. The house becomes something alive speaking to Carlos in his comatose state. A lifetime of lies begin to resurface, and Avery must confront a disturbing past that seeks to prevent Avery and Carlos from moving forward.

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Indian 101: Real Indian Recipes Made Simple by Karan Gokani

Chef Karan Gokani is a food writer and brilliant cook who crafts approachable Indian recipes. Sticking to his Mumbai roots, Karan uses unconventional methods to cook traditional foods that make cooking less intimidating and so much more fun!

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Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Bake

Lee Turner wakes to find out that he killed his college roommate and has no memory of the event. Seeking to evade authorities, Lee leaves New York to find refuge with his father in Japan in a house brimming with ferns and wild ginger. Lee realizes something is strange when no wildlife will come near the house and a woman appears each night in the yard holding a sword seen only through the bedroom window. In October 1877, an exiled samurai named Sen hid from soldiers in a house surrounded by the sword ferns. In place of her father, a monster returned home from war. Sen seeks to please the being that looks like her father by doing its bidding, even using violence against her mother. Sen fears the soldiers will find and kill her family, and then a man appears outside the window. Only one of these stories is true and one of these two people is a ghost. In a house surrounded by sword ferns, Lee and Sen grapple with the consequences of walking onto an unnatural land.

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Before I Knew I Loved You by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Toshikazu Kawaguchi tells four stories that restore belief in love’s redemptive power in the Funiculi Funicula Cafe. A girl who is estranged from her mother, desperate for connection. A man who is left with unanswered questions after his girlfriend never replies. A woman who is restless in wanting to venture out and embrace all her future will entail. A student who travels to meet a father who has long since passed. As the stories are told and the coffee grows cold, the enduring power of love becomes something beyond the confines of space and time.

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