One year ago we were celebrating #AsianAugust. Crazy Rich Asians was about to hit theaters, creating a showcase for Henry Golding, Constance Wu, and Awkwafina. That same month, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, based on Jenny Han’s novel, hit Netflix.
The ensuing year gave us Always Be My Maybe starring Ali Wong and Randall Park, with an unforgettable cameo from Keanu Reeves; Sandra Oh hosting the Golden Globes with Andy Samberg; Plus One, an indie rom-com starring Maya Erskine, and bestsellers like Jean Kwok’s Searching for Sylvie Lee.
August 8 (8/8) is an auspicious day, so I’ll just mention that Wu Assassins starts today/tonight on Netflix. The Stephen Fung directed series is about a chef in San Francisco who becomes the next protector of the mystical Wu powers.
If books are more your speed, here are 10 recent & upcoming book releases by Asian authors to celebrate #AsianAugust:
While first generation American stories are dominating shelves, This Time Will Be Different stands out with a coming of age story that recognizes the experience of fourth and fifth-generation Japanese Americans and the legacy of the Internment. CJ Katsuyama is 17 and working in her family’s flower shop with her auntie Hannah. Her mom decides to sell the shop to the McAllisters, the same family who took advantage of the Internment and cheated the Katsuyamas out of the flower shop for a fraction of its value. When she discovers the McAllisters transgressions go even further, CJ finds a cause worth fighting for. Her struggle with balancing her own desires and her mother’s expectations is super relatable, particularly from an Asian American perspective.
Get This Time Will Be Different on Bookshop.org |IndieBound| Amazon | Add it on Goodreads
Part romance, part finding yourself, I Love You So Mochi follows artist Kimi Nakamura to Kyoto, where she meets her estranged family and falls for a local med student. While in Kyoto for Spring Break, she has the chance to escape her life and as the blurb says, “…sometimes you have to lose yourself in something you love to find your Ultimate self.”
Get I Love You So Mochi at The Ripped Bodice | Bookshop.org | IndieBound| Amazon
Trashed is the second book in Mia Hopkins’ Eastside Brewery series, and follows Eddie and Carmen’s romance in a story that’s ultimately about culture, community and the happily ever after we all deserve. Eddie’s six months out of prison and trying to get his life on track. The two meet at a restaurant where Carmen is a chef and Eddie attempts to be a dishwasher. Then, they both get fired. What Carmen needs is a man she can depend on, and as Eddie faces the ghosts of his past, he’s working to be the man Carmen believes he is.
Get Trashed on Amazon | Add it on Goodreads
Two competing dating app creators face off in Alisha Rai’s latest, The Right Swipe. After one unforgettable night together, pro football player Samson Lima ghosted Rhiannon Hunter. When the two meet again, the question is will Rhi give him a second chance?
Get the Right Swipe on Bookshop.org| IndieBound| Amazon | Add it on Goodreads
For the de la Rosa sisters, happily ever after isn’t just a nice idea, it’s their business. As wedding planners, they’re in charge of giving their clients the most perfect day of their lives. Sweet and uplifting, The Key to Happily Ever After is like the perfect marriage between a wedding planning reality show and a family drama.
Get The Key to Happily Ever After on Bookshop.org| IndieBound| Amazon| Add it on Goodreads
Natalie’s been traveling the world and comes back to San Francisco after the death of her mother. The neighborhood she once knew as thriving and vibrant is a shadow of its former self. As Natalie attempts to reconnect, she discovers her grandmother’s cookbook and feels compelled to re-open her restaurant in an effort to rejuvenate not just the neighborhood, but the neighbors themselves. Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune perfectly captures the connection between food and love in Asian cultures, and the complicated relationships we sometimes have with familial expectations. Full review.
Get Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune on Bookshop.org| IndieBound| Amazon | Add it on Goodreads
Playing House, the first book in Ruby Lang’s new Uptown series, features an Asian-American hero and heroine who are city planners in a fake relationship, posing as husband and wife. And as they geek out together over architecture and real estate, the ruse starts to feel like something real. If you love some House Hunters and HGTV in general, it sounds like this one might be for you. Coming August 12.
Get Playing House on Bookshop.org| IndieBound| Amazon | Add it on Goodreads
Valerie Chow and Peter So’s meet cute isn’t cute so much as stinky. She spills durian ice cream on him. But he’s so taken with her, he agrees to pose as her fake boyfriend. Valerie’s family thinks the boyfriend is a doctor, it turns out Peter is a landscaper. If he pulls off the ruse, maybe, just maybe Valerie will want him to her real boyfriend…right? Coming August 27.
Get Man vs. Durian on Amazon | Add it on Goodreads
COOKBOOKS TO CELEBRATE #ASIANAUGUST
Food is a huge part of Asian culture, so we’ve got to include a few cookbooks.
If you’ve shied away from cooking Vietnamese food because you’d have to make a trip to a specialty grocery, Andrea Nguyen delivers a collection of Viet recipes you can pull off with just a trip to your standard supermarket. The Shaking Beef and its tofu variant, the Crispy Caramelized Pork Crumbles and Coconut Kissed Chicken and Chile are among my favorites.
Get Vietnamese Food Any Day on Bookshop.org| IndieBound| Amazon
Hsiao-Ching Chou is known for her dumplings, but for me, it’s the stir fries in Chinese Soul Food that have transformed my Chinese cooking at home. Chou’s parents owned a Chinese restaurant in Missouri when she was growing up, and there’s a nice variety of recipes inspired by the dishes they served there. They may not all be “authentic,” but they are delicious. We love the dry-fried green beans, the Kung Pao chicken, the Beef with Asparagus, and the Stir-Fried Rice Cakes with Chicken and Chinese Broccoli among others.
Get Chinese Soul Food on Bookshop.org|IndieBound| Amazon
Diana Kuan’s Red Hot Kitchen takes a pan-Asian approach to the hot sauces that key to Asian cooking. The book delivers more than 100 recipes using nine Asian chile sauces from sriracha to chili oil to sweet chili sauce. I’ve been waiting for chile season to dive into this one, but I did make her peanut noodles with Sichuan chile oil and it was absolutely delicious.
Get Red Hot Kitchen on Bookshop.org| IndieBound| Amazon
