Memorial Hall Library strives to be welcoming to all patrons, including those of Asian and Asian-American heritage. While our online access to leading national newspapers offers a source of factual reporting (see, for example, this story from the Wall St. Journal on the recent spike in violence against Asian Americans and this story from the New York Times about the film Minari), literature--whether fiction or non-fiction--offers a complementary perspective on the experiences of a wide range of people, whether similar to or different from our own lives. The list below offers a range of books for adults, including poetry, memoir, mystery, historical fiction, and more, that center the lives of Asians and Asian-Americans. All are available as physical books that can be requested from the library and as digital books that can be borrowed or placed on hold online. As always, for help access our e-resources, you can chat online with reference librarians, reach us by email (rdesk@mhl.org), or call the reference desk at 978-623-8430.
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The mountains sing : a novel
by Phan Quế Mai Nguyễn Years after a family is forced by Vietnam’s Communist Land Reforms to abandon their farm, a granddaughter comes of age as her loved ones depart for the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Borrow the e-book in Hoopla. Borrow the e-book in Overdrive/Libby. Borrow the e-audiobook in Hoopla. Borrow the e-audiobook in Overdrive/Libby. |
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Fairest : a memoir
by Meredith Talusan The award-winning journalist and activist presents a coming-of-age memoir that describes her experiences as a Filipino boy with albinism, a white immigrant Harvard student, a transgender woman, and an artist whose work reflects illusions in race, disability and gender. Borrow the e-book in Overdrive/Libby via partner network Minuteman. Borrow the e-audiobook in Overdrive/Libby via partner network NOBLE. |
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Everything Is Beautiful, and I'm Not Afraid : A Baopu Collection
by Yao Xiao This one-of-a-kind graphic novel, compiled from a collection on Autostraddle, explores the poetics of searching for connection, belonging, and identity through the fictional life of a young, queer immigrant. Inspired by the creator's own experiences as a queer, China-born illustrator living in the United States, this work has an undeniable memoir quality to its recollection and thought-provoking accounts of what it's like to navigate the complexities of seeking belonging--mentally and geographically. Borrow the e-book from Hoopla. |
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Knockout
by Mia Kang Mia Kang is many things: a sought-after model, an immigrant, an eating disorder survivor, and a Muay Thai fighter. In a charming, fierce, and intimate voice, Kang invites readers into her world. She once lived and died by her weight, but she is now defined by her confidence in being a woman who lives outside the mold of what we're taught is 'feminine.' Borrow the e-book in Hoopla. |
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21 immortals : Inspector Mislan and the yee sang murders
by Rozlan Mohd. Noor Inspector Mislan's final case after a long night's shift could be his last. Called to a wealthy neighborhood of Kuala Lumpur, he finds a crime scene unlike any he has encountered before: pristine, the victims a family seated at dinner, Mona Lisa smiles fixed to their faces, frozen mid-gesture around the traditional Chinese New Year dish of yee sang, signifying prosperity, longevity, many good things--though it's not that time of year. It makes an eerie, chilling tableau of death, but signifying what? Borrow the e-book in Hoopla. |
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Not here : poems
by Hieu Minh Nguyen Not Here is a flight plan for escape and a map for navigating home; a queer Vietnamese American body in confrontation with whiteness, trauma, family, and nostalgia; and a big beating heart of a book. Nguyen's poems ache with loneliness and desire and the giddy terrors of allowing yourself to hope for love and revel in moments of connection achieved. Borrow the e-book inHoopla. |
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Passage west : a novel
by Rishi Reddi In 1914, Ram Singh arrives in California's Imperial Valley on the Mexican border, reluctantly accepting his friend Karak's offer of work and partnership in a small cantaloupe farm. Ram is unmoored; fleeing violence in Oregon, he desperately longs to return to his wife and newborn son in Punjab, but he is duty bound to make his fortune first. The stakes are high and times are desperate: just one bad harvest or stolen crop could destabilize a family. And as anti- immigrant sentiment rises among white residents, the tensions of life in the west finally boil over in this story of a little-known moment in U.S. history. Borrow the e-book in Overdrive/Libby via our partner lender, SAILS. |
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The Eagles of Heart Mountain : a true story of football, incarceration, and resistance in World War II America
by Bradford Pearson A painstakingly researched account details the tragic and triumphant story of the Eagles, a high school football team from Cody, Wyoming's World War II Japanese-American incarceration camp. Borrow the e-audiobook in Overdrive/Libby. |
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Kim Jiyoung, born 1982 = : Palsip yi nyeon saeng Kim Jiyeong
by Nam-ju Cho A U.S. release of a feminist best-seller from Korea follows the experiences of a millennial from Seoul who suddenly manifests the bizarre symptom of being able to flawlessly impersonate and then become any woman, alive or dead. Borrow the e-book in Overdrive/Libby. |
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Minor feelings : an Asian American reckoning
by Cathy Park Hong An award-winning poet and essayist offers a ruthlessly honest, emotionally charged exploration of the psychological condition of being Asian American. Borrow the e-book in Overdrive/Libby. Borrow the e-audiobook in Overdrive/Libby via Boston Public Library. |
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Arid dreams : stories
by Dåưanwt Phimwan In thirteen stories that investigate ordinary and working-class Thailand, characters aspire for more but remain suspended in routine. They bide their time, waiting for an extraordinary event to end their stasis. A politician's wife imagines her life had her husband's accident been fatal, a man on death row requests that a friend clear up a misunderstanding with a prostitute, and an elevator attendant feels himself wasting away while trapped, immobile, at his station all day. Borrow the e-book in Hoopla. |
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Sigh, gone : a misfit's memoir of great books, punk rock, and the fight to fit in
by Phuc Tran In this coming-of-age memoir told through the themes of great books such as The Metamorphosis, The Scarlet Letter, The Iliad, and more, Tran navigates the push and pull of finding and accepting himself despite the challenges of immigration, feelings of isolation, teenage rebellion, and assimilation, all while attempting to meet the rigid expectations set by his immigrant parents. Borrow the e-book in Overdrive/Libby via partner network NOBLE. Borrow the e-audiobook in Overdrive/Libby via partner network OCLN. |
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Fifty words for rain : a novel
by Asha Lemmie Abandoned by a mother who instructs her never to fight or ask questions, an illegitimate child of mixed heritage in 1948 Kyoto forges a powerful bond with her older half-brother against the wishes of their formidable grandparents. Borrow the e-book in Overdrive/Libby via partner network CLAMS. Borrow the e-audiobook in Overdrive/Libby. |
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Know my name : a memoir
by Chanel Miller Brock Turner had been sentenced to just six months in county jail after he was found sexually assaulting "Emily Doe" on Stanford's campus. Her victim impact statement was posted on BuzzFeed, where it instantly went viral, was translated globally, and read on the floor of Congress. It inspired changes in California law and the recall of the judge in the case. Now Miller reclaims her identity to tell her story of trauma, transcendence, and the power of words. Borrow the e-book in Overdrive/Libby via partner network OCLN. Borrow the e-audiobook in Overdrive/Libby. |
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The last story of Mina Lee
by Nancy Jooyoun Kim Suspecting foul play in the wake of her mother’s accidental death, Margot Lee investigates her mother’s past as a Korean War orphan and undocumented immigrant before uncovering profound secrets. Borrow the e-book in Overdrive/Libby via partner network CLAMS. Borrow the e-audiobook in Hoopla. |
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Family in six tones : a refugee mother, an American daughter
by Lan Cao The author of Monkey Bridge describes her experiences of being a refugee immigrant and mother, reflecting on how her family has been impacted by war while exploring how cultural differences have shaped her relationship with her American daughter. Borrow the e-book in Overdrive/Libby via partner network SAILS. Borrow the e-audiobook in Overdrive/Libby via Boston Public Library. |
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Braised pork
by An Yu Discovering her husband’s dead body beside a pencil sketch of a mysterious figure, Jia Jia launches an odyssey across contemporary Beijing before discovering unexpected love with a jaded bartender. Borrow the e-book in Overdrive/Libby. Borrow the e-book in Hoopla. |
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The body papers : a memoir
by Grace Talusan Born in the Philippines, young Grace Talusan moves with her family to a New England suburb in the 1970s. At school, she confronts racism as one of the few kids with a brown face. At home, the confusion is worse: her grandfather's nightly visits to her room leave her hurt and terrified, and she learns to build a protective wall of silence that maps onto the larger silence practiced by her Catholic Filipino family. Talusan learns as a teenager that her family's legal status in the country has always hung by a thread. And she discovers another devastating family thread: cancer. Not every family legacy is destructive. From her parents, Talusan has learned to tell stories in order to continue. The generosity of spirit and literary acuity of this debut memoir are a testament to her determination and resilience. Borrow the e-book from partner network. Borrow the e-audiobook in Hoopla. |
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How much of these hills is gold
by C Pam Zhang Two orphaned Chinese immigrant siblings flee the threats of their gold rush mining town across an unforgiving landscape where their survival is tested by family secrets, sibling rivalry, and disparate goals. Borrow the e-book in Overdrive/Libby via partner network CLAMS. Borrow the e-audiobook in Overdrive/Libby. |
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Dear girls : intimate tales, untold secrets & advice for living your best life
by Ali Wong Collects the standup comedian’s humorous and heartfelt letters to her daughters, covering everything they need to know in life, like the unpleasant details of dating, how to be a working mom in a male-dominated profession, and how she trapped their dad. Borrow the e-book in Overdrive/Libby. Borrow the e-audiobook in Overdrive/Libby. |
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On earth we're briefly gorgeous : a novel
by Ocean Vuong Brilliant, heartbreaking, tender, and highly original, poet Ocean Vuong's debut novel is a sweeping and shattering portrait of a family and a testament to the redemptive power of storytelling. It is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family's history that began before he was born--a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam--and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation. Borrow the e-book in Overdrive/Libby via partner network Minuteman. Borrow the e-audiobook in Overdrive/Libby via partner network CLAMS. |
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After the last border : two families and the story of refuge in America
by Jessica Goudeau Mu Naw, a Christian from Myanmar struggling to put down roots with her family, was accepted to the U.S. after decades in a refugee camp. Hasna, a Muslim from Syria, agrees to relocate as a last resort for the safety of her family--only to be cruelly separated from her children by a sudden ban on refugees from Muslim countries. Writer and activist Jessica Goudeau tracks the human impacts of America's ever-shifting refugee policy as both women narrowly escape from their home countries and begin the arduous but lifesaving process of resettling in Austin, Texas--a city that would show them the best and worst of what America has to offer. Borrow the e-book in Overdrive/Libby via partner network C/W MARS. |
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Sex and vanity : a novel
by Kevin Kwan The iconic author of the bestselling phenomenon Crazy Rich Asians returns with a glittering tale of love and longing as a young woman finds herself torn between two worlds: the WASP establishment of her father's family and George Zao, a man she is desperately trying to avoid falling in love with. Borrow the e-book in Overdrive/Libby. Borrow the e-audiobook in Overdrive/Libby. |