Jana’s Book Recs

Happy AAPI Month Friends!

Here are some book recommendations for the month, more to come!

• Burn the Sea by Mona Tewari
  My first book by this author, not my last. I was blown away by this historical Indian fantasy that reimagines the 16th century Portuguese attacks on South India.

• Sword of Kaigen by M. L. Wang
  Feminine rage at its best, this standalone fantasy was my favorite read of last year!

• Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis
  Debut novel that follows Nadia, a British academic who takes a UN job in Iraq.

• Julie Chan is Dead by Liann Zhang
  A satirical thriller about a supermarket cashier who assumes the identity of her deceased influencer twin sister Chloe to escape her own life.

• We Dance upon Demons by Vaishnavi Patel
  Contemporary fantasy novel with an iconic cover. A burnt out reproductive health worker gains supernatural powers.

• If we cannot go at the speed of light by Kim Choyeop
  A collection of Korean sci-fi stories that will take you on such an amazing journey.

• Cleo Dang would rather be dead by Mai Nguyen
  Dark humor explores a grieving mother who deals with the loss of her daughter and struggles to heal.

• The Photonic Effect by Mike Chen
  Space opera? Say less.

Cleanup on Aisle Five by Ann Larson out 6/9/26

This is such an incredible, powerful educational book. I’m so glad I picked this up and hope others do too.
“It is next to impossible not to become as indifferent or brutal as the system in which one is caught” - Simone Weil

Here are just a handful of topics covered in this book:

• Poor mental health is a result of exploitation inherent in wage labor.
• Black shoppers and power dynamics in the 1920’s and 1930’s where diseased food wasn’t discarded but instead sold to black consumers.
• Poverty is a constant state of emergency.
• Chain stores did not eliminate discrimination. Centralization ended some longstanding racist customers.
• SNAP benefits.
• Abundance can make the supermarket seem like capitalism’s greatest achievement.

"All labor has dignity".