It’s May, and in the U.S. that means it’s Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, dedicated to celebrating the culture, history, and contributions of those with Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Island backgrounds.

This year, in honor of the monthlong celebration, we’ve compiled a collection of new adult fiction, nonfiction, and young adult fiction from authors of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage, published in the U.S. since the beginning of 2024 and through the end of May 2025. Of course, given the size of the API diaspora across the globe, this is by no means a comprehensive list, but it should offer you plenty of great books to add to your year-round What to Read shelf.

Some highlights: Acclaimed poet and novelist Ocean Vuong returns to the fiction well this month with a bighearted novel about chosen family. Makana Yamamoto offers up a sci-fi heist-slash-love-letter-to-Hawaii in Hammajang Luck. In the YA space, Randy Ribay's National Book Award–nominated Everything We Never Had follows four generations of Filipino American boys. And nonfiction authors ponder big topics like "how to tell when we will die" and "how a girl like me falls for a cult like that."

Click on the book cover images for more information about each title, and use the Want to Read button to add to your digital shelf.

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