The Traveling Cat Chronicles – 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 Monday, bibliophiles!

Some years make it difficult to focus on the good things. It would be easy for me to look back at this year and see that it’s been ruled by anxiety, because…well, a good portion of it was. I was incredibly anxious about a number of things this year, I’m on the precipice of some big transitions in my life, and we’re entering a dark time in our country’s history. It can be so all-consuming that I forgot that it did not, in fact, consume all. I do have some pretty proud achievements to count towards myself this year, but most of all, I got through it. Whatever gripped me, whether or not I should have been worrying about it, I got through it. And I’m here. And I’ll be here through 2025.

The amount of books I’ve read gets smaller every year, but it’s allowed me to be more selective. Sure, my 5-star reads shrink every year, but it’s proportional to how much I actually read. I’m more selective now that I have less time to read—that doesn’t mean that bad books slip through, but I feel like the amount of stinkers I’ve read has decreased, and I’ve expanded my DNF criteria to just mean books that aren’t egregiously bad, but that I don’t want to continue with simply because life is short. My 5-star reads this year consisted of the return of old favorites, anticipated sequels, and new-to-me books that blew me out of the water—a diverse patchwork of a rocky but ultimately fruitful year—and they were a part of what made this year good.

NOTE: I will not be including re-reads on this post; I re-read The Galaxy, and the Ground Within as well as the entire WondLa trilogy this year—obvious 5-star reads.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️THE BOOKISH MUTANT’S 5-STAR READS OF 2024⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Crumrin Chronicles, vol. 1: The Charmed and the Cursed – Ted Naifeh – Courtney Crumrin returns…WE ARE SO BACK. | Read my review here!
The Crumrin Chronicles, vol. 2: The Lost and the Lonely – Ted Naifeh – see my comments for vol. 1.
The Crumrin Chronicles, vol. 3: The Wild and the Innocent – Ted Naifeh – again, see above, but this time, add a buff, gay camp counselor named after a Magnetic Fields song. Do wonders never cease…
The Brightness Between Us (The Darkness Outside Us, #2) – Eliot Schrefer – I never thought that a sequel to The Darkness Outside Us was necessary, but Schrefer blew it out of the water with this one. I don’t think the emotional heights of book 1 can ever be reached again, but damn, this one sure came close. | Read my review here!
Radiohead: Climbing Up the Walls – Tom Sheehan – it’s a bunch of behind the scenes photos of Radiohead…do I really have to explain?
Beautyland – Marie-Helene Bertino – a brilliant exploration of alien identity, longing for a home you’ve never had, and being human. | Read my review here!
The Stardust Grail – Yume Kitasei – art theft, creatures abound, and a deeply emotional story of preserving history and friendships. | Read my review here!
The Traveling Cat Chronicles – Hiro Arikawa – essential reading for anyone who has ever loved a cat. Had me crying in my bed. | Read my review here!
Squire – Nadia Shammas and Sara Alfageeh – an unflinching tale of imperialism from the eyes of an eager young girl. | Read my review here!
Sister Outsider – Audre Lorde – Audre Lorde. Need I say more?

HONORABLE MENTIONS (4.5 stars)

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! Have you read any of these books, and if so, did you enjoy them as much as I did? What were your favorite reads of the year? Let me know in the comments!

Today’s song:

That’s it for my favorite books of 2024! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Tag: The Traveling Cat Chronicles

The Bookish Mutant’s Books for AAPI Heritage Month (2025 Edition)

The Bookish Mutant’s 5-Star Reads of 2024