Empire of Sand – The Bookish Mutant

Happy Monday, bibliophiles! I’m not fully back on schedule yet (still in the process of cleaning up my dorm), but I figured I would put out this post for the occasion.

Here in the U.S., May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! Among the many histories that America has been attempting to erase is that of the AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) community, even though they are a critical part of our country’s history. We’re so quick to dismiss the discrimination of Chinese immigrant laborers in the late 1800’s, the Japanese internment camps, and the bigotry faced by South Asian Americans, whether or not they were Muslim, as part of the rampant Islamophobia post-9/11. This history may not be in the spotlight as far as discrimination targets, but just because it’s getting less press doesn’t mean it’s there. Just look at Maggie Tokuda-Hall, who received requests from her publisher to remove specific mentions of racism from the author’s note of her picture book, Love in the Library, which takes place in the Japanese internment camps. (Good on her for not taking the licensing deal. Another reason to love Tokuda-Hall, who appears on this list!) Erasing the horrors of discrimination and racism from our shelves only serves to raise an uneducated, uncritical generation—the opposite of what we need right now.

Looking back on my previous lists, I noticed something. I’ve neglected the PI in AAPI, and that’s a mistake on my part. Books by Pacific Islanders rarely seem to get the spotlight, even during AAPI Heritage month, but that still doesn’t excuse me overlooking that part of the acronym—and the world. This is the first year that I actually do have a few great recommendations from Pacific Islander authors, but please let me know if you have any more recommendations! I’m on the lookout.

For my past lists, click below:

Let’s begin, shall we?

THE BOOKISH MUTANT’S BOOKS FOR AAPI HERITAGE MONTH (2025 EDITION)

FANTASY:

Water Moon – Samantha Sotto Yambao | Adult, magical realism | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The Teller of Small Fortunes – Julie Leong | Adult, cozy fantasy, high fantasy | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Tidesong – Wendy Xu | Middle grade, fantasy | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Water Outlaws – S.L. Huang | Adult, fantasy | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Dragonfruit – Makiia Lucier | YA, fantasy | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Worst Ronin – Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Faith Schaeffer | YA, fantasy, alternate history | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The Cat Who Saved Books – Sosuke Natsukawa | Adult, magical realism, books in translation | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Empire of Sand – Tasha Suri | YA, fantasy | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The Last Bloodcarver – Vanessa Le | YA, fantasy | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

FICTION:

If You Still Recognize Me – Cynthia So | YA, romance, LGBTQ+ | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Traveling Cat Chronicles – Hiro Arikawa | Adult, contemporary, books in translation | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

SCIENCE FICTION:

Hammajang Luck – Makana Yamamoto | Adult, LGBTQ+ | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
The Infinity Particle – Wendy Xu | YA, romance | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Road to Ruin – Hana Lee | Adult, LGBTQ+, romance | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Stardust Grail – Yume Kitasei | Adult, LGBTQ+, space opera | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Ministry of Time – Kailene Bradley | Adult, time travel, romance | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Camp Zero – Michelle Sterling | Adult, dystopia | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
Rakesfall – Vajra Chandrasekera | Adult, LGBTQ+ | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ocean’s Godori – Elaine U. Cho | Adult, LGBTQ+ | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

NONFICTION:

Uncommon Measure: A Journey Through Music, Performance, and the Science of Time – Natalie Hodges | Music, physics | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life – Alice Wong | Feminism, disability justice | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! Have you read any of the books on this list, and if so, what did you think of them? What are some of your favorite books by AAPI authors?

Today’s song:

That’s it for this list! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Happy Friday, bibliophiles!

Finally summer! Finally, more time to read…and most of what I’ve read this month has been good, I’d say.

Let’s begin, shall we?

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

Save for the first week of the month, May has been the first month where I’ve been able to relax somewhat! Finals were over and I’d moved out of my dorm before I knew it. Straight A’s and finally being free of my STEM requirements isn’t too shabby, I’d say! I’m so proud of what I’ve accomplished this year—and I’m so glad that I can have some downtime. And I’ve made good use of it so far—May has been my best month in terms of amount of books read (although the quality of…some of said books is another story), and I’ve definitely benefitted from the time spent reading! I’ve also been trying to focus more on art this summer, and consciously taking a slice out of each day to draw has been an adventure so far. I had a solid week where I had three or four blog posts all on the back burner simultaneously, so I unintentionally made a loose schedule for blogging every day as well, so I’m getting some writing in while I recover from writing two short stories and a 20,000 word novella all in one semester. I’ve also been pruning my Goodreads TBR…I’ve managed to cut it down from around 770 to around 720, so I’d say that’s been a success?

Other than that, I’ve just been cleaning things out of the dorm and bringing them back to my house, sleeping, watching Abbott Elementary (THEY FINALLY DID IT!!! THEY FINALLY LET THEM KISS!!!), Taskmaster, and Hacks (we love Jean Smart in this house), and relishing in the warm weather and the beginning of summer. I feel like every time I’m in the car with my family, I just pass the hills and feel the need to comment on how much I love that shade of green that summertime brings. But it’s so beautiful. Every single time. It never gets old. Thank you, shades of summer green.

READING AND BLOGGING:

I read 19 books this month! I’ve been oscillating between both ends of the spectrum this month, for sure—I read one of the worst books I’ve read this year, but also two of the very best. Somehow, it’s pretty evenly split as far as ratings go when I’ve lined them all up that way, but it’s been up and down all month, but on a track towards betterment midway through. I focused on AAPI books for May, and I found some fantastic books as a result from both familiar and new-to-me authors!

1 – 1.75 stars: