21 "Couldn't Put Down" Books By AAPI Authors That Bookworms 100% Recommend Reading
BuzzFeed | Dannica Ramirez | May 31, 2024
BuzzFeed features two D&Q cartoonists in their AAPI author roundup
Reading and centering diverse stories are important — not only because they help us learn through others' perspectives but also because some of us see pieces of ourselves represented in such stories. As we celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, BuzzFeed staff members shared the books written by AAPI and API authors that they absolutely loved and still think about to this day. Here are the books we 100% recommend checking out:
10. Killing and Dying by Adrian Tomine
Cartoonist Tomine has a knack for creating unlikeable characters you care about, and Killing and Dying might be his opus. This book collects six short stories about ordinary people and introduces the real-world weight of each character, delving into issues of identity, grief, sports, and love. Its realism is drawn with such passion and care. Each story holds this distinct emptiness that feels so profound that when the tale’s over, you’ll think about it for weeks.
17. Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths by Shigeru Mizuki
Originally published in Japan in 1973 before being translated into English in 2011, Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths is a brutally honest and important autobiographical World War II graphic novel. The book recounts Muziki’s time as a 21-year-old in Rabaul, a city on New Britain Island in Papua New Guinea, where he depicts his experience with losing comrades, engaging in combat, and losing his own arm. At times, the artwork is cartoonishly crude, but its abrupt bouts of seriousness hit best when Mizuki illustrates life-like drawings of explosions, island beauty, danger, and death. I’m not typically a war reader, but I truly think this is an important novel.
Check out the full list here!
10. Killing and Dying by Adrian Tomine
Cartoonist Tomine has a knack for creating unlikeable characters you care about, and Killing and Dying might be his opus. This book collects six short stories about ordinary people and introduces the real-world weight of each character, delving into issues of identity, grief, sports, and love. Its realism is drawn with such passion and care. Each story holds this distinct emptiness that feels so profound that when the tale’s over, you’ll think about it for weeks.
17. Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths by Shigeru Mizuki
Originally published in Japan in 1973 before being translated into English in 2011, Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths is a brutally honest and important autobiographical World War II graphic novel. The book recounts Muziki’s time as a 21-year-old in Rabaul, a city on New Britain Island in Papua New Guinea, where he depicts his experience with losing comrades, engaging in combat, and losing his own arm. At times, the artwork is cartoonishly crude, but its abrupt bouts of seriousness hit best when Mizuki illustrates life-like drawings of explosions, island beauty, danger, and death. I’m not typically a war reader, but I truly think this is an important novel.
Check out the full list here!