8 Must-Read Books Releasing in September 2023 by Asian Authors
As September brings in the enchanting transition to fall, we're excited to present a selection of eight upcoming book releases by talented Asian authors. These diverse and compelling reads, spanning a range of genres including fiction, romance, mystery, and historical narratives, offer the perfect companionship for cozy autumn days. From the rustle of leaves to the warmth of a hot beverage, these must-reads will immerse you in captivating tales that reflect the beauty of the season.
Others Were Emeralds by Lang Leav
This debut adult novel combines her poetical lyricism and emotional acumen to create an enthralling coming of age narrative set against the backdrop of anti-Asian sentiment sweeping Australia in the late 90’s. A stirring portrayal of guilt, loss, and memory, Others Were Emeralds explores the inherent danger of allowing our misconceptions to shape our reality.
What comes first, the photograph or the memory?
The daughter of Cambodian refugees, Ai grew up in the small Australian town of Whitlam populated by Asian immigrants who once fled war-torn countries to rebuild their shattered lives. It is now the late 90’s and despite their parent’s harrowing past, Ai and her tightknit group of school charismatic Brigitte, sweet, endearing Bowie, shy, inscrutable Tin, and politically minded Sying, lead seemingly ordinary lives, far removed from the unimaginable horrors suffered by their parents.
But that carefree innocence is shattered in their last year of school when Ai and her friends encounter a pair of racist men whose cruel acts of intimidation spiral into senseless violence. Grappling with the magnitude of her grief at such a young age, Ai leaves Whitlam for college before her trauma has a chance to fully resolve. In her second year of college Ai suffers a mental health crisis, driving her back home to Whitlam, a place she swore never to return. There, she reconnects with those she left behind and together they are compelled to look back on the tragedy that shaped their adolescence and examine the role they may have unwittingly played.
Release Date: September 5, 2023
Genres: Poetry, Fiction, Contemporary, Adult, Literary Fiction
What's the Book About? "Others Were Emeralds" offers a compelling and evocative exploration of the impact of anti-Asian sentiment on a group of diverse friends in late 90s Australia. Through poetic storytelling and emotional depth, the novel delves into themes of identity, trauma, and the lasting effects of prejudice. As the characters navigate their coming-of-age journeys against a backdrop of historical and personal turmoil, the book invites readers to reflect on the power of memory, the complexity of relationships, and the urgent relevance of understanding our shared past to shape a more empathetic future.
Made in Taiwan: Recipes and Stories from the Island Nation by Clarissa Wei
An in-depth exploration of the vibrant food and culture of Taiwan, including never-before-seen exclusive recipes and gorgeous photography.
Taipei-based food journalist Clarissa Wei presents Made in Taiwan , a cookbook that celebrates the island nation’s unique culinary identity—despite a refusal by the Chinese government to recognize its sovereignty. The expansive book contains deeply researched essays and more than 100 recipes inspired by the people who live in Taiwan today.
For generations, Taiwanese cuisine has been miscategorized under the broad umbrella term of Chinese food. Backed with historical evidence and interviews, Wei makes a case for why Taiwanese food should get its own spotlight. Made in Taiwan includes classics like Peddler Noodles, Braised Minced Pork Belly, and Three-Cup Chicken, and features authentic, never-before-seen recipes and techniques like how to make stinky tofu from scratch and broth tips from an award-winning beef noodle soup master.
Made in Taiwan is an earnest reflection of what the food is like in modern-day Taiwan from the perspective of the people who have lived there for generations. It is the story of a proud nation—a self-sufficient collective of people who continue to forge on despite unprecedented ambiguity.
Release Date: September 19, 2023
Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking
What's the Book About? Dive into the captivating world of Taiwanese cuisine and culture with "Made in Taiwan." This cookbook, authored by Taipei-based food journalist Clarissa Wei, offers an immersive experience through its rich essays, over 100 unique recipes, and stunning photography. Beyond merely presenting recipes, the book sheds light on Taiwan's distinct culinary heritage, defying misconceptions and highlighting the nation's resilience. From traditional favorites to exclusive dishes like homemade stinky tofu and insights from acclaimed chefs, "Made in Taiwan" provides an authentic and heartfelt portrayal of a proud nation's food and people, making it a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of Taiwanese gastronomy and history.
Foul Hearts Huntsman (Foul Lady Fortune #2) by Chloe Gong
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends comes the second book in the captivating Foul Lady Fortune duology following an immortal assassin in 1930s Shanghai as she races to save her country and her love.
Winter is drawing thick in 1932 Shanghai, as is the ever-nearing threat of a Japanese invasion.
Rosalind Lang has suffered the worst possible fate for a national spy: she’s been exposed. With the media storm camped outside her apartment for the infamous Lady Fortune, she’s barely left her bedroom in weeks, plotting her next course of action after Orion was taken and his memories of Rosalind wiped. Though their marriage might have been a sham, his absence hurts her more than any physical wound. She won’t rest until she gets him back.
But with her identity in the open, the task is near impossible. The only way to leave the city and rescue Orion is under the guise of a national tour. It’s easy to convince her superiors that the countryside needs unity more than ever, and who better than an immortal girl to stir pride and strength into the people?
When the tour goes wrong, however, everything Rosalind once knew is thrown up in the air. Taking refuge outside Shanghai, old ghosts come into the open and adversaries turn to allies. To save Orion, they must find a cure to his mother’s traitorous invention and take this dangerous chemical weapon away from impending foreign invasion—but the clock is ticking, and if Rosalind fails, it’s not only Orion she loses, but her nation itself.
Release Date: September 26, 2023
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Romance, Mystery
What's the Book About? Experience a riveting tale of espionage, love, and sacrifice in the second installment of the Foul Lady Fortune duology by the #1 New York Times bestselling author. Set in 1930s Shanghai amid the looming threat of a Japanese invasion, the novel follows Rosalind Lang, an exposed immortal assassin and national spy, as she navigates a treacherous journey to save both her country and her lost love. As the stakes rise, Rosalind's desperate mission takes unexpected turns, leading her to confront past ghosts, form unlikely alliances, and race against time to thwart a dangerous chemical weapon and safeguard her nation's future.
Wednesday's Child: Stories by Yiyun Li
A new collection—about loss, alienation, aging, and the strangeness of contemporary life—by the award-winning, and inimitable, author of The Book of Goose.
A grieving mother makes a spreadsheet of everyone she’s lost. Elsewhere, a professor develops a troubled intimacy with her hairdresser. And every year, a restless woman receives an email from a strange man twice her age and several states away. In Yiyun Li’s stories, people strive for an ordinary existence until doing so becomes unsustainable, until the surface cracks and the grand mysterious forces—death, violence, estrangement—come to light. And even everyday life is laden with meaning, studded with indelible details: a filched jar of honey, a mound of wounded ants, a photograph kept hidden for many years, until it must be seen.
Li is a truly original writer, an alchemist of opposites: tender and unsentimental, metaphysical and blunt, funny and horrifying, omniscient and unusually aware of just how much we cannot know. Beloved for her novels and memoirs, she returns here to her earliest form, gathering pieces that have appeared in The New Yorker, Zoetrope, and elsewhere. Taken together, the stories in Wednesday's Child, written over the span of a decade, articulate the cost, both material and emotional, of living—exile, assimilation, loss, love—with her trademark unnerving beauty and wisdom.
Release Date: September 5, 2023
Genres: Short Stories, Fiction
What's the Book About? Delve into the thought-provoking world of "Wednesday's Child," a collection of stories by acclaimed author Yiyun Li. With her trademark blend of tenderness and stark reality, Li explores themes of loss, alienation, aging, and the complexities of contemporary life. Through a series of meticulously crafted narratives, characters grapple with ordinary existence until it becomes untenable, revealing the profound forces of death, violence, and estrangement that shape their lives. Li's stories, often centered on seemingly insignificant details, unveil the inherent meaning in everyday life, inviting readers to contemplate the mysteries that lie beneath the surface. In this compilation, Li showcases her unique storytelling style, offering a poignant and enlightening exploration of the human experience.
When a Brown Girl Flees by Aamna Qureshi
After Zahra Paracha makes a decision at odds with her beliefs, her mother forces Zahra to make an impossible choice about her future. So Zahra runs away. A train and a plane ride later, she finds herself in New York, where she relinquishes her past in favor of a new future. There, she must learn who she is without the marionette strings of control in her mother's hands. There, she must learn who she wishes to become.
On Long Island, Zahra stays at a bed & breakfast, unsure of her place in the world. Anxious, depressed, and grappling with guilt, she wanders aimlessly. She eventually visits the local masjid, where she is befriended by two sisters and drawn into the welcoming Muslim community there.
It is in this place of safety that Zahra's healing truly begins--but can she create a home for herself when the foundation is built on lies she's spun to protect her from the past? When a family friend recognizes her, will everything come crashing down? As Zahra tries to build a life for herself in this new place, the heart of the matter becomes clear: she can't run away forever. Can she close the rift in her family and truly, fully heal?
In this powerful novel from new voice Aamna Qureshi, a Muslim teen goes on a breathtaking journey to find her home and--more importantly--herself.
Release Date: September 19, 2023
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
What's the Book About? Aamna Qureshi's compelling novel follows Zahra Paracha's brave journey of self-discovery as she flees her past and controlling family, ultimately finding refuge and belonging in a welcoming Muslim community on Long Island, New York. After making a difficult decision conflicting with her beliefs, Zahra escapes to the United States, leaving behind guilt and uncertainty. At a local masjid, she forms friendships that aid her healing process, but her hidden truths threaten to unravel her newfound identity. Qureshi's poignant narrative explores Zahra's quest to reconcile her past, mend family relationships, and forge a genuine sense of home amidst a journey of growth and transformation.
If I Have to Be Haunted by Miranda Sun
Cemetery Boys meets Legendborn in this thrillingly romantic, irresistibly fun YA contemporary fantasy debut following a teenage Chinese American ghost speaker who (reluctantly) makes a deal to raise her nemesis from the dead.
Cara Tang doesn’t want to be haunted.
Look, the dead have issues, and Cara has enough of her own. Her overbearing mother insists she be the “perfect” Chinese American daughter—which means suppressing her ghost-speaking powers—and she keeps getting into fights with Zacharias Coleson, the local golden boy whose smirk makes her want to set things on fire.
Then she stumbles across Zach’s dead body in the woods. He’s even more infuriating as a ghost, but Cara’s the only one who can see him—and save him.
Agreeing to resurrect him puts her at odds with her mother, draws her into a dangerous liminal world of monsters and magic—and worse, leaves her stuck with Zach. Yet as she and Zach grow closer, forced to depend on each other to survive, Cara finds the most terrifying thing is that she might not hate him so much after all.
Maybe this is why her mother warned her about ghosts.
Delightful and compulsively readable, this contemporary fantasy has something for every reader: a snarky voice, a magnetic enemies-to-lovers romance, and a spirited adventure through a magical, unpredictable world hidden within our own.
Release Date: September 14, 2023
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Paranormal
What's the Book About? In a captivating YA contemporary fantasy debut, reminiscent of "Cemetery Boys" and "Legendborn," a teenage Chinese American ghost speaker named Cara Tang reluctantly strikes a deal to bring her nemesis, Zacharias Coleson, back from the dead. Struggling with her own issues and her mother's expectations, Cara discovers Zach's lifeless body in the woods and embarks on a perilous journey that involves monsters, magic, and a growing connection between them. As they navigate this liminal world and rely on each other for survival, Cara's initial hatred for Zach begins to shift, revealing a snarky and magnetic enemies-to-lovers dynamic, and a spirited adventure filled with romance and intrigue.
Mammoths at the Gates (The Singing Hills Cycle #4) by Nghi Vo
The Hugo and Crawford Award-Winning Series!
The wandering Cleric Chih returns home to the Singing Hills Abbey for the first time in almost three years, to be met with both joy and sorrow. Their mentor, Cleric Thien, has died, and rests among the archivists and storytellers of the storied abbey. But not everyone is prepared to leave them to their rest.
Because Cleric Thien was once the patriarch of Coh clan of Northern Bell Pass--and now their granddaughters have arrived on the backs of royal mammoths, demanding their grandfather’s body for burial. Chih must somehow balance honoring their mentor’s chosen life while keeping the sisters from the north from storming the gates and destroying the history the clerics have worked so hard to preserve.
But as Chih and their neixin Almost Brilliant navigate the looming crisis, Myriad Virtues, Cleric Thien’s own beloved hoopoe companion, grieves her loss as only a being with perfect memory can, and her sorrow may be more powerful than anyone could anticipate. . .
The novellas of The Singing Hills Cycle are linked by the cleric Chih, but may be read in any order, with each story serving as an entrypoint.
Release Date: September 12, 2023
Genres: Fantasy, Novella, Adult, LGBTQ, Fiction
What's the Book About?
The award-winning series features the returning Cleric Chih, who revisits the Singing Hills Abbey after years away. The passing of their mentor, Cleric Thien, prompts both joy and sorrow, but unrest emerges as Thien's granddaughters from the Coh clan demand his body for burial. Chih faces the challenge of honoring their mentor while preventing the sisters from disrupting the abbey's history. As crisis looms, Chih and their companion Almost Brilliant navigate this dilemma, all while the grief of Myriad Virtues, Cleric Thien's avian companion, takes an unexpected and potent form. The interconnected novellas of The Singing Hills Cycle, led by Chih, offer flexible entry points into this compelling narrative.
At Night He Lifts Weights by Kang Young-sook, Janet Hong (Translator)
A disquieting vision of ecological dystopia in a collection by a major Korean writer.
An artist is plagued by desire for her mysterious double as disease spreads through an uncanny suburban landscape. An elderly woman suspects the old man who lifts weights in her neighborhood playground of being responsible for a spate of murders. While elsewhere, a woman who believes she’s been exposed to radioactive radiation inherits a warehouse where those fleeing the city can store their possessions.
Beneath the calm surface of the stories collected here, Kang Young-sook offers a disquieting vision of a society grappling with ecological catastrophe and unplaceable forms of loss.
Release Date: September 12, 2023
Genres: Short stories, Translated Fiction
What's the Book About? In this collection by acclaimed Korean writer Kang Young-sook, an unsettling ecological dystopia unfolds through a series of interconnected stories. As disease engulfs an eerie suburban landscape, an artist is consumed by desire for her enigmatic double. Suspicion arises around an elderly woman's neighbor, a weightlifting old man linked to a string of murders. Meanwhile, a woman exposed to radioactive radiation inherits a storage warehouse for city evacuees. Amid these narratives, Kang Young-sook delves into uncharted realms of loss and environmental crisis, crafting a quietly disconcerting exploration of a society on the brink of collapse.
