Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Book List

We all have an obligation as human beings in an unequal world to recognize and value lives unlike our own. Reading diverse books widens our perspective of the world, hopefully encourages us to progress in our everyday lives with greater empathy and esteem for the expansive array of existence we participate in.

May is a convergence of three important, month-long observances: Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month; Jewish American Heritage Month; and Mental Health Awareness Month. This is one of three book lists of recommended reads for these observances.

There is an unfairly vast number of countries, peoples, cultures, and perspectives distilled into the six-letter acronym AANHPI – and not just for the purposes of curating a recommended reading list, either. The Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) community’s struggles are statistically higher than Asian’s and Asian American’s–with more fatalities due to the COVID-19 pandemic and (barring the pandemic) elevated probability of developing health issues. 

This does not negate the continuing inequality and in some cases worsening discrimination of Asian Americans in our country. Most notably: Asian American hate crimes rose 11% across the country in 2021.  

There aren’t enough days, much less months, in a year to celebrate and acknowledge the many important communities, cultures, and topics in our diverse world. Because of that, a series that is dedicated to only one or two booklists per month will often have to disregard several important topics. And although change is slow in the publishing world when it comes to diversity, we can see a lot of hope in the books that are published with diverse stories in mind.

If you have additional books you’d recommend to add to the lists, please email us.