Books by Asian Authors that I Love

The pandemic we’re still currently experiencing isn’t just because of a virus, but of hate. Hate is an even worse form of virus that greatly affects many, regardless of sex, identity, race, culture, or beliefs. While we are on the path to stopping the spread of a deadly and contagious virus, we are all still heavily struggling on stopping all forms of hate among humans. Hence it’s a great feat to be able to abolish this, and educate people continuously.

The recent dreadful event that happened in the US greatly affected not only the Asian community within the country, but also made a negative impact towards other fellow Asians all over the world, like me. No race is more superior than the other, since we are all humans with equal rights, voices, and freedom.

With this, I am highly encouraging everyone to check out and help spread the cause of preventing further crimes and hate towards Asians everywhere by any means possible. This Stop Asian Hate Cardd is full of resources that aims to help the affected victims and communities, as well as educate as many people as possible.

As a member of the book community, especially the Asian & Filipino book community, I hope to encourage fellow readers to consider reading books written by Asian authors. I do believe that Asian authors and content creators are the best portrayers of the many cultures and situations of their fellow citizens in books, as they have the first-hand knowledge and experience in tackling these things. Supporting Asian authors would also help promote that they, too, deserve a rightful place and acknowledgements within the writing space, and that they are just as amazing writers.

I compiled a short list of books by Asian authors that I absolutely enjoyed and loved over the years. Please note that majority of these books are fantasy and science fiction (since these are my go-to genres), but there are a few titles that can cater those who love contemporary and historical fiction.

• Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay – Inspired by the true events currently happening in the Philippines because of President Rodrigo Duterte’s ongoing campaign to end drug use and trafficking, a son of a Filipino immigrant decides to fly back to the Philippines in order to know the truth about the “shushed about” death of his cousin.
• Tabi Po series by Mervin Malonzo – A horror graphic novel tale that showcases the Filipino aswang (a mythical being similar to a vampire or spirit), and how a trio of aswang tries to make a living and survive among humans during the Spanish colonization period.
• UGH by Hulyen – A quick yet highly relatable and comedic comic book featuring the all too-real life struggles of a Filipina going through different changes in her young life.
• Please Pick Me by Reina Regina – This is a self-published collection of poems and short stories featuring a lot of themes on love and personal growth written by a Filipina bookworm and professional tarot card reader.

---

• The Poppy War trilogy by R.F. Kuang – This epic, grimdark fantasy inspired by the Opium Wars and the Sino-Japanese War focuses on one girl’s struggle to get into the country’s most prestigious military academy, not expecting to be thrust into a world full of magic and on the brink of another war exploding.
• Jade City by Fonda Lee – This urban fantasy series is set in a world of two warring clans and wherein jade is considered as the most valuable commodity and power tool.
• The Scions of the Black Lotus series by J.C. Kang – A collection of short novellas set in an Asian-inspired world that features a group of assassin courtesans and their quests to discover a lot of different secrets and schemes in the Floating World.
• The Singing Hills Cycle series by Nghi Vo – Another short novella series that showcases a non-binary scribe and their record-keeping bird in the quest of looking for different tales across the country and preserving them for the next generations.

---

• Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan – A saphhic fantasy series about a girl unexpectedly finding herself becoming one of the emperor’s palace courtesans, and her fight against her newfound status with the threat of a rebellion in the horizon.
• Spin the Dawn duology by Elizabeth Lim – A Mulan meets Project Runway story of a girl saving her family’s reputation and struggling business by pretending to be a man to enter the emperor’s contest in search for the royal family’s newest tailor, and how she comes across powers apart from her own love for the craft.
• Forest of A Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao – A dark and twisted retelling of Snow White‘s Evil Queen about a girl’s ambition to become the next empress and her clever yet wicked ways to attain her goal.
• The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Adhieh – This A Thousand Nights retelling tells about a story of a girl preventing herself from having the similar fate to the other girls who had previously married the dark king by telling him different stories every night.

---

• The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy – This is a historical fiction story about a pair of twins who were separated from each other due to many dire circumstances, but find themselves back into that familiar world and the family that they grew up with, and then discovers a lot of shocking secrets and tragedies that might have had a hand in their upbringing.
• Penryn and the End of Days trilogy by Susan Ee – This post-apocalyptic science fantasy series that follows the immediate aftermath of the destruction of the world by warrior angels, and then a girl suddenly finds herself alone and struggling to survive while bribing a warrior angel with his sawed-off wings in order for him to take her to the place where her captured sister was taken.
• Warcross duology by Marie Lu – A dystopian science fiction series about a girl who hacks into the world’s biggest gaming competition for a quick cash grab, but unexpectedly finds herself landing a job at the game’s headquarters by becoming a spy and the newest team player in the competition.
• An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir – A high fantasy series full of magic, lore, and military-esque world that features a girl who joins a rebellion in order to save his captured brother by becoming a spy in the world’s most elite military academy, and a boy who excels in a lot of aspects with his military training yet finds the thought of killing repulsive and constrictive.

Currently in my TBR

I also decided to showcase some books by Asian authors that I already have in my tbr shelves in both my Kindle and bookshelves that I am hopefully able to read soon. You guys might be familiar (and interested to check out) these titles. You can even let me know your thoughts down below in the comments if you’ve read any of these!