Best Asian American Studies Books of 2026

Stay True: A Memoir by Hua Hsu is a poignant coming-of-age story about friendship, loss, grief, and the quest for self-discovery. The book follows the friendship between Hua, a son of Taiwanese immigrants, and Ken, a Japanese-American, who initially appear to have nothing in common. However, they become close friends, sharing their struggles and joys, until Ken's untimely death. Hua turns to writing to preserve his memories of Ken, resulting in this beautifully written memoir. Stay True is a powerful and moving tribute to friendship and the search for one's identity.

Permission to Come Home: Reclaiming Mental Health as Asian Americans by Dr. Jenny T. Wang is a necessary read for Asian Americans and the diaspora who are seeking to reclaim their mental health. Through her personal experiences and expertise as a clinical psychologist, Wang empowers readers to question cultural narratives that have shaped their assimilation into American culture and offers evidence-based tools to help them take control of their mental health. As the racial reckoning continues, this book provides a roadmap for the journey to wholeness and acceptance. Overall, this book is a groundbreaking resource for Asian Americans and a valuable addition to the self-help genre.

Biting the Hand: Growing Up Asian in Black and White America is a poignant memoir that explores the complexities of racial identity and complicity in America. Julia Lee's story is a powerful journey of racial reckoning, atonement, and self-discovery. Through her experiences, Lee argues that Asian Americans must work towards lasting social change alongside Black and brown communities to combat the scarcity culture of white supremacy through abundance and joy. Lee's prose is scathing and heart-wrenching, laying bare the disorientation and shame that stem from America's imposed racial hierarchy. Overall, this memoir is a beautiful incantation for the ongoing project of Asian American identity in America.

Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and National Book Critics Circle Award winner that explores Asian American consciousness through a blend of memoir, cultural criticism, and history. The author's theory of "minor feelings" describes the dissonance that occurs when American optimism contradicts one's own racial identity. Hong's vulnerability and humor make this collection both provocative and relatable. The book's exploration of family, friendship, art, politics, identity, and individuality is relentless and riveting. Minor Feelings is a must-read for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of racial consciousness in America today.

Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now is a must-read for anyone interested in Asian American history and culture. The book offers a vivid scrapbook of voices, emotions, and memories from an era in which Asian American culture was forged and transformed. Jeff Yang, Phil Yu, and Philip Wang chronicle how we’ve arrived at today’s unprecedented diversity of Asian American creators, performers, entrepreneurs, execs, and influencers. The book is not only informative but also entertaining and frequently hilarious. Overall, this book is essential for understanding the contributions of Asian Americans to pop culture and society at large.

"See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love" is a powerful book that explores the concept of revolutionary love and how it can transform the world we live in. Valarie Kaur takes readers through her own journey and shares her experiences as a Sikh activist, filmmaker, and civil rights lawyer. She challenges readers to extend love to others, our opponents, and ourselves, and to see no stranger in anyone. This book is an inspirational and radical call to action that encourages readers to imagine new ways of being with each other and ourselves. Overall, "See No Stranger" is a must-read for those seeking personal transformation and a better world.

Tastes Like War: A Memoir is a finalist for the 2021 National Book Award for Nonfiction and a winner of the 2022 Asian/Pacific American Award in Literature. Grace M. Cho's book is an evocative memoir of food and family history that explores the roots of her mother's schizophrenia. The book is a hybrid text that combines a daughter's search for her mother's past with sociological investigation, and it is a potent personal history. The book is a powerful account of the long-term effects of the immigrant experience. Overall, Tastes Like War is an exquisite commemoration and a potent reclamation of family history and the immigrant experience.

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick is a powerful and eye-opening account of life in one of the world's most repressive regimes. The book follows the lives of six North Korean citizens over fifteen years, providing a deep insight into the country's totalitarianism, the devastating famine that killed one-fifth of the population, and the disillusionment of its people with the government. The author's meticulous and sensitive reporting brings to life the struggles, ambitions, and emotions of her subjects. This book is an excellent read that humanizes the long-suffering people of North Korea and provides a unique perspective on their lives and hopes.

"No-No Boy has the honor of being among the first of what has become an entire literary canon of Asian American literature," writes novelist Ruth Ozeki in her new foreword. First published in 1957, No-No Boy was virtually ignored by a public eager to put World War II and the Japanese internment behind them. It was not until the mid-1970s that a new generation of Japanese American writers and scholars recognized the novel's importance and popularized it as one of literature's most powerful testaments to the Asian American experience. . No-No Boy tells the story of Ichiro Yamada, a fictional version of the real-life "no-no boys." Yamada answered "no" twice in a compulsory government questionnaire as to whether he would serve in the armed forces and swear loyalty to the United States. Unwilling to pledge himself to the country that interned him and his family, Ichiro earns two years in prison and the hostility of his family and community when he returns home to Seattle. As Ozeki writes, Ichiro's "obsessive, tormented" voice subverts Japanese postwar "model-minority" stereotypes, showing a fractured community and one man's "threnody of guilt, rage, and blame as he tries to negotiate his reentry into a shattered world.". The first edition of No-No Boy since 1979 presents this important work to new generations of readers.

The Making of Asian America: A History is a comprehensive book that explores the long-forgotten history of Asian Americans and their contributions to American life. The book sheds light on the struggles and triumphs of Asian immigrants and their American-born descendants over the past five centuries. Erika Lee, one of the nation’s foremost scholars on the subject, offers an eye-opening account of the complexities of race, immigration, and the American experience. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the history of Asian Americans and their place in American society.