This past year was rough. Longtime readers of the blog may have noticed that I’ve taken multiple hiatuses. I’m still in the process of catching up on reviews that I need to write.
But if I (re)learned one thing during the pandemic, I need to schedule time to do things for myself. Like reading non-review books. Following are 10 books—which I purchased, was gifted, or won in a giveaway—I hope to read this summer.
10 Books on My Summer TBR
Bestiary by K-Ming Chang
One evening, Mother tells Daughter a story about a tiger spirit who lived in a woman’s body. She was called Hu Gu Po, and she hungered to eat children, especially their toes. Soon afterwards, Daughter awakes with a tiger tail. And more mysterious events follow: Holes in the backyard spit up letters penned by her grandmother; a visiting aunt arrives with snakes in her belly; a brother tests the possibility of flight. All the while, Daughter is falling for Ben, a neighborhood girl with strange powers of her own. As the two young lovers translate the grandmother’s letters, Daughter begins to understand that each woman in her family embodies a myth–and that she will have to bring her family’s secrets to light in order to change their destiny.
Why I want to read it: Three generations of Taiwanese American women, magical realism, and Hu Gu Po.
Days of Distraction by Alexandra Chang
The plan is to leave. As for how, when, to where, and even why—she doesn’t know yet. So begins a journey for the twenty-four-year-old narrator of Days of Distraction. As a staff writer at a prestigious tech publication, she reports on the achievements of smug Silicon Valley billionaires and start-up bros while her own request for a raise gets bumped from manager to manager. When her longtime boyfriend, J, decides to move to a quiet upstate New York town for grad school, she sees an excuse to cut and run.
Moving is supposed to be a grand gesture of her commitment to J and a way to reshape her sense of self. But in the process, she finds herself facing misgivings about her role in an interracial relationship. Captivated by the stories of her ancestors and other Asian Americans in history, she must confront a question at the core of her identity: What does it mean to exist in a society that does not notice or understand you?
Why I want to read it: I can relate to being twenty-four and lacking certainty with my life, being Asian American, and being in an interracial relationship. Plus, I love the cover!
Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto
When Meddelin Chan ends up accidentally killing her blind date, her meddlesome mother calls for her even more meddlesome aunties to help get rid of the body. Unfortunately, a dead body proves to be a lot more challenging to dispose of than one might anticipate, especially when it is accidentally shipped in a cake cooler to the over-the-top billionaire wedding they’re working, at an island resort on the California coastline. It’s the biggest job yet for their family wedding business, and nothing, not even an unsavory corpse, will get in the way of her auntie’s perfect buttercream cake flowers.
Things go from inconvenient to downright torturous when Meddy’s great college love—and biggest heartbreak—makes a surprise appearance amid the wedding chaos. Is it possible to escape murder charges, charm her ex back into her life, and pull off a stunning wedding all in one weekend?
Why I want to read it: This book looks over-the-top funny with murder x family drama x rom com. Frankly, I was sold at meddlesome aunties.
How Much of These Hills Is Gold by C Pam Zhang
Ba dies in the night; Ma is already gone. Newly orphaned children of immigrants, Lucy and Sam are suddenly alone in a land that refutes their existence. Fleeing the threats of their western mining town, they set off to bury their father in the only way that will set them free from their past. Along the way, they encounter giant buffalo bones, tiger paw prints, and the specters of a ravaged landscape as well as family secrets, sibling rivalry, and glimpses of a different kind of future.
Why I want to read it: Having spent my early years in California, I learned about the Gold Rush in school. But I never read a book set during the Gold Rush that featured people that look like me. So, I’m stoked to read this one.
Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones
Walking through his own house at night, a twelve-year-old thinks he sees another person stepping through a doorway. Instead of the people who could be there, his mother or his brother, the figure reminds him of his long-gone father, who died mysteriously before his family left the reservation. When he follows it he discovers his house is bigger and deeper than he knew.
The house is the kind of wrong place where you can lose yourself and find things you’d rather not have. Over the course of a few nights, the boy tries to map out his house in an effort that puts his little brother in the worst danger, and puts him in the position to save them . . . at terrible cost.
Why I want to read it: I want to start reading more horror books. The premise intrigues me, and I love the writing style.
Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee
Gyen Jebi isn’t a fighter or a subversive. They just want to paint.
One day they’re jobless and desperate; the next, Jebi finds themself recruited by the Ministry of Armor to paint the mystical sigils that animate the occupying government’s automaton soldiers. But when Jebi discovers the depths of the Razanei government’s horrifying crimes—and the awful source of the magical pigments they use—they find they can no longer stay out of politics.
What they can do is steal Arazi, the ministry’s mighty dragon automaton, and find a way to fight….
Why I want to read it: I loved Yoon Ha Lee’s Dragon Pearl (MG science fiction), and this book has mecha dragons. And my book club is reading it this month!
Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor
The day Fatima forgot her name, Death paid a visit. From hereon in she would be known as Sankofa–a name that meant nothing to anyone but her, the only tie to her family and her past.
Her touch is death, and with a glance a town can fall. And she walks–alone, except for her fox companion–searching for the object that came from the sky and gave itself to her when the meteors fell and when she was yet unchanged; searching for answers.
But is there a greater purpose for Sankofa, now that Death is her constant companion?
Why I want to read it: (1) Nnedi Okorafor. (2) Cover love. (3) Beautiful writing. (4) What happens next?
Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark
D. W. Griffith is a sorcerer, and The Birth of a Nation is a spell that drew upon the darkest thoughts and wishes from the heart of America. Now, rising in power and prominence, the Klan has a plot to unleash Hell on Earth.
Luckily, Maryse Boudreaux has a magic sword and a head full of tales. When she’s not running bootleg whiskey through Prohibition Georgia, she’s fighting monsters she calls “Ku Kluxes.” She’s damn good at it, too. But to confront this ongoing evil, she must journey between worlds to face nightmares made flesh–and her own demons. Together with a foul-mouthed sharpshooter and a Harlem Hellfighter, Maryse sets out to save a world from the hate that would consume it.
Why I want to read it: P. Djèlí Clark has been on my TBR since someone recommended The Black God’s Drums to me. (Which I also need to read, but I found Ring Shout in a bookstore first.) Traveling Cloak from FanFiAddict recommended it on Twitter.
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
Shanghai Girls #1
In 1937, Shanghai is a city of great wealth and glamour, the home of millionaires and beggars, gangsters and gamblers, patriots and revolutionaries, artists and warlords. Thanks to their father’s prosperous rickshaw business, twenty-one-year-old Pearl Chin and her younger sister, May, are having the time of their lives . . . until their father tells them that he has gambled away their wealth and that in order to repay his debts he must sell the girls as wives to suitors who have traveled from California to find Chinese brides.
As Japanese bombs fall on their beloved city, Pearl and May set out on the journey of a lifetime, one that will take them through the Chinese countryside, in and out of the clutch of brutal soldiers, and across the Pacific to the shores of America. In Los Angeles they begin a fresh chapter, trying to find love with the strangers they have married, brushing against the seduction of Hollywood, and striving to embrace American life even as they fight against discrimination, brave Communist witch hunts, and find themselves hemmed in by Chinatown’s old ways and rules.
Why I want to read it: Lisa See has been on my TBR for years now. This summer, I’m buddy reading Shanghai Girls with a friend.
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
What if men built a tower from Earth to Heaven—and broke through to Heaven’s other side? What if we discovered that the fundamentals of mathematics were arbitrary and inconsistent? What if there were a science of naming things that calls life into being from inanimate matter? What if exposure to an alien language forever changed our perception of time? What if all the beliefs of fundamentalist Christianity were literally true, and the sight of sinners being swallowed into fiery pits were a routine event on city streets? These are the kinds of outrageous questions posed by the stories of Ted Chiang.
Why I want to read it: One of my favorite professors recommended Ted Chiang to me. Then I found out that the title story was adapted into the film Arrival, which I love.
Let’s Chat
What do you plan to read this summer? Do we share any in common?
Let me know if you’re interested in buddy reading one of these books!
Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight says
Love your choices! Ring Shout and Remote Control are both on my “must read ASAP” list as well. I am reading Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones at the moment, and I am definitely going to be looking to add more of his books. Aunties also sounds so fun. Hope you enjoy these!
Crystal says
Thanks, Shannon! Sounds like I need to read The Only Good Indians ASAP!
Joyousreads says
I read How Much of These Hills Are Gold last month, and have enjoyed it. Totally different from any Historical Fiction I’ve read in the past.
I hope you’ll enjoy!
Crystal says
Thanks. I’m really looking forward to it!
CurlyGeek says
I haven’t read any of these, but I’ve read one book by Lisa See and I’d like to read more! The Alexandra Chang book sounds intriguing. I keep hearing good things about Aunties and I’m very much enjoying diverse romances these days, and happy there are so many to choose from. I’m sorry it’s been a tough year, but glad you’re still reading and writing!
Crystal says
I hope you enjoy the Alexander Chang book and Aunties if you read them! And yes to more Lisa See books. I’ve heard great things about her work. I have a couple more lined up after Shanghai Girls.
Natalie Aguirre says
Loved seeing your list. I’m super excited for Six Crimson Cranes and Box in the Woods. Natalie @ Literary Rambles
Crystal says
Thanks, Natalie. I hope you enjoy your reads!
Sam@WLABB says
I really liked Dial A for Aunties. It was ridiculous and heartwarming. I hope you enjoy all these books!
Crystal says
Great to hear you enjoyed Dial A for Aunties. I’m really looking forward to it!