May is Asian Heritage Month in Canada. What better way to mark the occasion than to read books written by Asian Canadian writers. Here are 10 books recommended by the TMR editorial team!
(P.S. May is also short story month, so you may find some stellar short story collections on this list, as well đź‘€.)
The Spirits Have Nothing to Do with Us: New Chinese Canadian Fiction, Edited by Dan K. Woo
Reviewed by Jocelyn Reekie, 2023
In Wolsak and Wynn’s new collection of stories by nine Chinese Canadian writers, the contributors use poetic language and powerful images to delve into the grim realities of the past, the facts of the present, and the hopes for the future of a diverse cast of characters connected by a common thread — the part traditional beliefs play in shaping their lives.
The House Filler by Tong Ge
reviewed by Heather McBriarty, 2024
This is a dark book, a story told of a dark time in China’s history. Ge unflinchingly paints a picture of political corruption and greed, an unflattering vision of China in the mid-20th century. It is not light reading, but it is eye-opening — an immersive look at Chinese culture in transition from ancient to modern times.
My Grief, the Sun by Sanna Wani
Reviewed by Alison Manley, 2022
My Grief, the Sun is a tribute to the current era and the complexity of grief. Wani writes with equal gravity about Princess Mononoke as she does about the grief of losing a sister, in the titular poem “My Grief, the Sun.” To me, this is the perfect choice for the title of the collection: it is truly a stunning blank verse poem, so crisp in its memories and pain, the apologies the narrator offers her sister and the way she experiences her grief, from the freshest moment to the guilt of not being to the grave more frequently.
One Giant Leap by Thao Lam
Reviewed by Christina Barber, 2024
One Giant Leap is a refreshing reminder of the child’s capacity for imagination and wonder, and about the enjoyment inventive play brings. Flights of fancy and imaginative play take the ordinary and make it extraordinary.
Hard Is the Journey: Stories of Chinese Settlement in British Columbia’s Kootenay by Lily Chow
Reviewed by Mala Rai, 2023
Lily Chow devoted much time in researching museum archives and travel to the BC Kootenay region (southeast corner of British Columbia bordering part of Alberta, Washington and Idaho states) tracking the history of countless Chinese settlers from the gold panning era, railway construction, and small town business and community development. Unearthing a balance of historical accomplishment and hardships in major cities and towns such as Revelstoke, Cranbrook, Nelson, and Rossland, Chow manages to provide an account of the discriminatory newcomer struggle whilst serving to enhance Canada’s development.
Chrysalis By Anuja Varghese
Reviewed by Laurie Burns, 2022
Chrysalis is a debut collection of short stories by Anuja Varghese. These stories are fantastical, surreal, complex and often quite sensual. The stories vary from one to the other, but all are powerful and draw on folklore and fairy tales while having an unwavering feminist lens.
Denison Avenue: A Novel by Christina Wong, Illustrated by Daniel Innes
Reviewed by Carrie Stanton, 2024
I hope that this book finds its way to classrooms, book clubs, and libraries, where it is so worthy of being. Pick up a copy and get lost between the pages and the streets of Denison Avenue. It is quite simply an unforgettable work.
The Perfect Sushi, by Emily Satago Seo, art by Mique Moriuchi
Reviewed by Melanie MĂ©tivier, 2023
This heartwarming tale of the appreciation for handmade gifts, sets such a wonderful example for children. Showing them that the best gifts, while maybe appearing imperfect, can often be the most appreciated. Pouring your heart and thoughtfulness into what you are making for someone is truly a wonderful gift on its own.
You Still Look the Same by Farzana Doctor
Reviewed by Rachel Fernandes, 2022
Introspective and thought-provoking, Doctor’s collection covers many themes including memory, changes, and the ways we must adapt to survive. The poems are profound, yet always approachable. If you enjoy Doctor’s fiction, you’ll delight in her poetry. It was a pleasure to read this collection and I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.
The Years of Loving Dangerously: Zuliakha by Niloufar-Lily Soltani
Reviewed by Steven Mayoff, 2024
Crisscrossing through various decades and locations within and beyond Iran — including Khuzestan (where much of Iran’s oil is located), Tehran, Ahvas, and Abadan — Niloufar-Lily Soltani’s debut novel Zulaikha is at its heart a family mystery hidden within the grand sweep of political upheaval and the trials of the heart.
The Family Code by Wayne Ng
Reviewed by Laura Patterson, 2023
The characters in this novel were real, so real that they seemed to leap off the page. They were raw, unforgiving, and vulnerable. The author has done an amazing job of making you love and hate the characters simultaneously.
Under a Kabul Sky: Short Fiction by Afghan Women, translated and edited by Elaine Kennedy
Reviewed by Ian Colford, 2022
12 stories by female writers from Afghanistan and neighbouring countries that chronicle lives of deprivation, torment and agonizing uncertainty. The authors, born between 1958 and 1984, are highly educated and most have published extensively. It will come as no surprise that the dominant motif here is war, or that many of these fraught narratives possess nightmarish qualities that make them hard to summarize … Under a Kabul Sky: Short Fiction by Afghan Women provides a vivid and terrifying glimpse into this reality, one that readers are not likely to forget anytime soon.
The Shadow List by Jen Sookfong Lee
Reviewed by Chris Banks, 2021
Desire runs like an underground river through Jen Sookfong Lee’s The Shadow List. The narrator says at one point “I bruise easily,” but it is us who come away from this poetry collection with the bruise of knowing, the mark of understanding that life is made of hard choices and even more difficult feelings, and we do not get everything we want, but it is enough if we wish it to be. These poems burn deep into your sinews so they become part of you. They go where you go.
