Hello fellow bookworms ❤ In honor of Asian Heritage Month (which takes place in May) I wanted to share the Books by Asian Authors on my TBR that I most want to read right now! I picked out 8 books to highlight in this post and thought it would be a great idea to attribute them to a certain reading mood they fit. In the past years I have become more of a mood reader than ever before and I thought it would be helpful to have a wide variety of books to choose from when it comes to their vibes/mood – so I always find something to read that suits me 🥰 If you’re looking for recommendations I did a post with my favorite books by Asian Authors last year and also shared more resources/rec lists 💕
😭 Sad/Heartbreaking 😭
You’ve Reached Sam (Dustin Thao) ➽ I was fortunate enough to get an eArc of this book and I hope to read it this month, as I already saw many positive reviews! According to my fellow reviewers this book will break my heart, which is not surprising, given what it’s about 🥺 You’ve Reached Sam is about a young girl called Julie, who just lost her boyfriend Sam to an accident, but has the unexpected chance to talk to him again when she calls his old cellphone. It’s a bittersweet situation, as this won’t bring Sam back and Julie still has to deal with her grief. I’m personally ready for some tears and will keep tissues nearby 😥
🥺 Emotional/Reflective 🥺
Darius the Great Deserves Better (Adib Khorram) ➽ This is actually the sequel to Darius the Great Is Not Okay, a book I highly recommend as it touches upon being biracial, family and friendship dynamics and living with depression. It also fits the emotional/reflective theme as it really touched me by how authentic and raw it was. I was super happy to see that there was a sequel planned as I love Darius and would like to follow his new journeys, this time more about first love, heartbreak and growing up. I cannot wait to dive back into this world and see Darius and his friends & family again 🥰
🥰 Swoonworthy 🥰
Make Up Break Up (Lily Menon) ➽ I know I just recently talked about Sandhya Menon’s adult debut, but it immediately came to mind when I thought about a swoonworthy book! Make Up Break Up is about two rivaling app developers who compete in a pitch contest and have completely different life philosophies. I love me a good enemies to lovers romance and have thoroughly enjoyed Menon’s YA romances, so I’m excited to follow her into the adult age category 💗 I suspect that this will be a bit more steamy because it’s adult, so swoony fits perfectly as a mood!
😱 Dramatic 😱
Tokyo Ever After (Emiko Jean) ➽ This book is close to coming out (May 18) and it already was on my most anticipated releases list, as the premise sounds so fantastic! Tokyo Ever After is about Izumi, who finds out that she’s actually a long lost Japanese princess and is now expected to fit into the royal world in Japan 😱 I can already feel the oncoming drama, as there is talk of hungry paparazzi and cunning family members that the main character cannot really trust. I’m also incredibly excited for the bodyguard romance that was teased, it’s such a good trope ❤
💗 Romantic 💗
XOXO (Axie Oh) ➽ I adored Axie Oh’s sci-fi debut (Rebel Seoul – highly recommended!), so her newest release immediately found its way on my anticipated releases list! XOXO comes out July 13th and is about a young cello prodigy who finds out that the stranger she connected with is a member of a big K-Pop band … who is forbidden from dating anyone. I hadn’t read a book about k-pop so far, but I know that it’s a beloved and big fandom, so I’m curious to learn more! The forbidden love trope is also one of my favorites, so I cannot wait to see where this story goes 🥰
😊 Inspiring 😊
I’ll be the One (Lyla Lee) ➽ This is actually another k-pop book that I have seen is very beloved! The cover alone is portraying such happiness and positivity that I was immediately drawn to it 💛 I’ll be the One is about Skye, who wants to become the first fat K-pop star by winning an internationally televised competition! Skye has to deal with the “fat-phobic beauty standards of the Korean pop entertainment industry” but from what I can tell this is a very body positive book, as the main character is determined to show that fat girls can do anything they like!
⚔ Adventerous ⚔
We Hunt the Flame (Hafsah Faizal) ➽ I had We Hunt the Flame on my TBR for quite some time and I’m still very excited for it, as it sounds like the kind of fantasy book I love! The book is about Zafira, a hunter trying to feed her people and Nasir, the Prince of Death who assassinates anyone who dares defy his father. This already sounds like an interesting dynamic, especially as both main characters are sent on the same quest to find a lost artefact that will undoubtedly bring them together 👀 I have this book waiting for me on my Kindle and I hope that I can read it soon!
💓 Hopeful 💓
Summer Bird Blue (Akemi Dawn Bowman) ➽ I really liked Akemi’s debut novel Starfish (though it also broke my heart) and sadly I wasn’t able to read any more of her books yet! Summer Bird Blue is the one that appeals to me the most right now because it seems like a very emotional story. The book is about Rumi, a young girl who just lost her sister and was sent to live with her aunt in Hawaii. Rumi is still grieving and feeling abandoned, but also finds solace in the boy next door and an old man mired in his own grief. This will be a sad story but it also has a hopeful note of the main character rediscovering herself and returning to her love of music 🥺
Have you read any of the Books on my list? What Books by Asian Authors do you like and what mood would they fit? 💕
OO I really love this list!! Especially the sad one, and the adventurous one!
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Thank you so much, Saniya! I’m so happy to hear that 🥰
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I haven’t read any of these but I have my eyes on XOXO. I definitively look forward to reading that one! Adding Tokyo Ever After to my list because it sounds really good 🙂 I was thinking of reading You’ve Reached Sam but I don’t think I will be able to, I don’t do good with sad books.
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I’m very excited for XOXO, as I loved the author’s debut novel 🥰 I heard Tokyo Ever After has a bodyguard romance so that has me intrigued as well! You’ve Reached Sam is a great book – I’ve read it by now – but I totally understand that sad books can be so tough to read!
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I love Summer Bird Blue and I’ll Be the One. They were favorites of 2018 and 2020!
Tokyo Ever After is the next audiobook I’m planning on picking up and I’m so excited to get so it.
Great recommendations
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I’m happy to hear that you liked Summer Bird Blue and I’ll Be the One, as I have such high hopes for them 🥰 I hope you end up liking Tokyo Ever After!
Thank you for reading 😊
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I actually just finished it yesterday! It was so funny, I laughed out loud like 5 times.
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ahh great post, you mentioned a lot of wonderful books!! i hope that you’ll end up enjoying them ❤ i've read I'll Be the One and i 100% agree that it's very empowering and positive :)) it made me smile so much!
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Thank you so much, Dezzy! ❤ I’m very excited to read them and already finished You’ve Reached Sam, which I loved 🥰 Happy to hear that you liked I’ll be the One, it already has such a positive cover, I cannot wait to read the story 🙂
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love this list! a lot of these books are on my tbr as well, so hopefully we both love them when we get around to reading them 💙 Summer Bird Blue and We Hunt the Flame especially have been on my tbr for wayyy too long haha
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Thank you so much! I hope we both end up liking the books as well! I already read You’ve Reached Sam by now and it was such a good (but sad) book 🥰 Oh yes, those have been on my TBR for ages as well, I need to read them 😄
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i love the way you set up this post, caro! i’m really excited to read i’ll be the one, i love all the bisexual asian rep and it definitely looks like it’ll have an empowering message. and i hope you enjoy darius the great deserves better! i loved the first book a bit more than the sequel, but it’s still such a strong book 💓💓 hope you get around to all these books and love them all!
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Thank you so much, May! ❤ I have heard such great things about I’ll Be the One, the cover alone is giving off positive, empowering vibes, I cannot wait to read the story! I’m also excited for the Darius sequel! Thank you, I have high hopes for all of them 🥰
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I’m currently reading You’ve Reach Sam and while I think it’s super sweet and sad, idk something is just not working 😦 I hope it will get better as I read on though!
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Oh no, I’m sorry to hear that you’re not quite enjoying You’ve Reached Sam 🥺 I finished it last week and in the end, I really liked it! It’s a slower, more character-driven story but that appealed to me a lot 🙂
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Seeing Summer Bird Blue on this list makes me so happy!! I read it last year but I still think about it, it means so much to me!! Hope you’ll love it. But yes, it’s a heartbreaking book. 😭
I’m also excited for Xoxo, You’ve Reached Sam!
Great post! 💕
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I’m so happy to hear that you loved Summer Bird Blue so much! I have a feeling that I’ll like it a lot as well & I’m excited to read it 🥰 I read You’ve Reached Sam by now and it was such a great, emotional story 🙂
Thank you, Morgan! ❤
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I haven’t read any of these but a few I’m excited to get to! We Hunt The Flames has been on my tbr forever!!
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Oh yes, I’ve had We Hunt the Flame on my TBR for so long, so I hope to finally read it soon! I have the e-book waiting on my Kindle for me 😄
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Ahh I love that you describe the mood for each of this, since I think that’s such an important part of a recommendation! Tokyo Ever After DOES sound dramatic and very Princess Diaries-esque 😀 And I love the sound of I’ll Be the One!
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Thank you so much, Margaret! 🥰 Tokyo Ever After truly sounds like so much fun and has many tropes that I really enjoy! I also hope to read I’ll Be the One soon 😊
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I read Summer Bird Blue earlier this year and it was so good! Really sad, but good. I hope you get to read it soon!
I’m also hopefully going to be reading We Hunt the Flame soon! It sounds like it’s going to be really good, especially considering the character dynamics 😀
Great post Caro! This is such a unique and helpful way to categorise the books!
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I’m super excited to read Summer Bird Blue, it sounds so good & I’m happy to hear that you liked the book 🥰 We Hunt the Flame has many of my favorite tropes and I’m looking forward to the character dynamics as well 😊
Thank you so much, Sabrina!! 💕
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Ahh- I love what you did there, as i’m a mood reader also! So cool to have them categorized by their moods 🥰
Few were on my list, but i’ve added Xoxo & make up break up. Thank you xx
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Thank you, Kristina! I’m happy to hear that you’ve also added XOXO and Make Up Break Up 🥰 I hope we both enjoy the books! 🙂
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