The best books to read to discover Asian and South Asian cultures

Why am I passionate about this?

My debut duet came out of necessity to handle the grief of losing our first child almost thirty years ago. As part of my writing journey, I searched for stories by people like me, migrants who draw on their upbringing and living with their heritage in their adopted country. One thing I came across was the use of the language, the food, and the many family gatherings and music. I enjoyed reading of people from all communities and liked exploring new cultures and these books do just that for me. They take me to families who embrace the joy of their life in a foreign land.


I wrote...

My Heart Sings Your Song

By Saz Vora,

Book cover of My Heart Sings Your Song

What is my book about?

A romance featuring the life of East African Gujarati families set in the ‘80s in multicultural Britain.

When Reena met Nikesh, she ignored her instinct and fell madly, deeply in love with the charming playboy from an influential wealthy family. However, their match wasn’t ideal. She was a daughter of a factory worker and his family matriarch had other plans for the youngest son of the family. During the summer break of their second year, Nikesh travels to India whilst Reena processes a decision that will haunt her for the rest of her life. Can the two overcome their differences and will they get their Bollywood style happily ever after? The book continues with Where Have We Come.

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee

Saz Vora Why did I love this book?

Syal’s story centres on three childhood friends who grow up in East London. Tania is under pressure to create a cutting-edge documentary on Asian marriages for her employer and is reassessing her life, as a girlfriend to Martin, and a dutiful daughter to her ailing father. While Sunita faces an age-related crisis, her dismal job, her lifeless marriage, and self-harming. The only one who has her life in order is Chila, a naïve, dutiful wife and daughter. As the story unfolds, we find that living in a migrant community and keeping to traditional values is complicated. A poignant insight into the lives of the Punjabi community in the UK and first-generation children who struggle with cross-cultural clashes while keeping their toes in their heritage in different ways.

By Meera Syal,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

At home, Meera Syal's women "walk in small steps, talk in sweet tones, pour dainty cupfuls, and refill plates in the shake of a dupatta," but at work, they "kick ass across courtrooms and computer screens." In a book somewhere between Waiting to Exhale and Bridget Jones's Diary, Syal has created an indelible portrait of a close-knit group of Indian women living in London. Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee is the story of Chila, a nice Punjabi girl married to the urbane Deepak, and her two childhood confidants: Sunita, the former activist law student, now an overweight, depressed…


Book cover of The Heart Principle

Saz Vora Why did I love this book?

Hoang’s writing throws light on autism. Violinist Anna is an internet sensation who is experiencing burnout. When her serious boyfriend suggests an open relationship before they marry. Anna’s ASD diagnosis and her anger propel her to change her life. In steps Quan, a tattooed motorcyclist, the classic bad boy for a one-night stand. However, Quan is fighting his own demons, a cancer survivor who’s dating again. In Quan, Anna finds a man who understands her uniqueness and blossoms until a family tragedy thrusts Anna into life with no control. Quan and Anna’s relationship takes a back seat. Hoang’s book opens the world of Asian families and Anna’s loss of autonomy as her family coerces her to step up as a caregiver, as is often experienced in the migrant community.

By Helen Hoang,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Heart Principle as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A woman struggling with burnout learns to embrace the unexpected—and the man she enlists to help her—in this new New York Times bestselling romance by Helen Hoang.

When violinist Anna Sun accidentally achieves career success with a viral YouTube video, she finds herself incapacitated and burned out from her attempts to replicate that moment. And when her longtime boyfriend announces he wants an open relationship before making a final commitment, a hurt and angry Anna decides that if he wants an open relationship, then she does, too. Translation: She's going to embark on a string of one-night stands. The more…


Book cover of Crazy Rich Asians

Saz Vora Why did I love this book?

Kwan’s book is an introduction to the life of Chinese migrants in Singapore. Nicholas takes his American Chinese girlfriend, Rachal, to Singapore for his best friend’s wedding. Rachel discovers the lavish lifestyle of the Young family in Singapore and the excesses of crazy rich Asians. It is a story of prejudices, from Rachel’s American attitude that going back means witnessing poverty and from Nick’s mother that Rachel’s single parent modest upbringing will never fit with Nick’s wealthy upbringing. It is a story of arranged marriages, a family’s influence on children’s lives. It is about wealthy upper-class Chinese families and their scheming behaviour when one of their own breaks with tradition and how the younger generation is rebelling against tradition.

By Kevin Kwan,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Crazy Rich Asians as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Crazy Rich Asians is the outrageously funny debut novel about three super-rich, pedigreed Chinese families and the gossip, backbiting and scheming that occurs when the heir to one of the most massive fortunes in Asia brings home his ABC (American-born Chinese) girlfriend to the wedding of the season.

When Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, she envisions a humble family home, long drives to explore the island, and quality time with the man she might one day marry. What she doesn't know is that Nick's family home happens to look like a…


Book cover of The Bollywood Bride

Saz Vora Why did I love this book?

Dev’s book is an escape into the exuberance of migrant families from India. Ria is a reclusive Bollywood actress, who betrays Vikram, her childhood sweetheart, to protect him from the same fate as her father. Ten years later, Ria returns to Chicago for her cousin Nik’s wedding, knowing she will meet Vik again. For Ria, the loving embrace of her family and found family provides the safety and love she needs to reassess her life in Bollywood. For Vik meeting Ria again brings back all the pain he thought he had recovered from after her betrayal. In the two weeks, Ria and Vik rekindle the love they have both denied. A beautifully written story of migrants who embrace their life in America but still hold on to their Indian heritage.

By Sonali Dev,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Bollywood Bride as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"A fresh new voice." --Susan Elizabeth Phillips, New York Times bestselling author

Ria Parkar is Bollywood's favorite Ice Princess--beautiful, poised, and scandal-proof--until one impulsive act threatens to expose her destructive past. Traveling home to Chicago for her cousin's wedding offers a chance to diffuse the coming media storm and find solace in family, food, and outsized celebrations that are like one of her vibrant movies come to life. But it also means confronting Vikram Jathar.

Ria and Vikram spent childhood summers together, a world away from Ria's exclusive boarding school in Mumbai. Their friendship grew seamlessly into love--until Ria made…


Book cover of Take a Chance on Me

Saz Vora Why did I love this book?

Bhog’s Sehgal saga takes you to the world of India’s mega-rich. Kabier Sehgal returns to India to take over the running of Sehgal Systems from his grandfather, Janak Sehgal. Janak is a loveable grandfather figure, who keeps a close eye on his grandchildren and is a mentor to many of their friends too. Keya Karia is one of the trio known as Janak’s Angels, the other being Sheena Sehgal and Raashi Dewan. In this enemy-to-lover romance, Kabier suspects Keya of selling company secrets, but their instant chemistry plays havoc with their lives. As Sheena’s wedding nears, they admit their feelings. Bhog’s books take you to the world of found families and the joy of lifelong friendships and to the world of crazy rich South Asians.

By Sapna Bhog,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Take a Chance on Me as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"A must reader for all the romantic people out there." - Amazon Reader

Enter a world of glamour, wealth and beautiful people. Enter the world of the Sehgals!

He made a mistake and now he will pay the price for it...with his heart.
KABIER SEHGAL, scion of the Sehgal empire, has returned to India to take over the helm of his companies from his grandfather. His first mission is to find out who is selling his company's secrets. When the suspicion falls on KEYA KARIA, he decides to work closely with her to expose her fraud. He accuses her of…


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Who Is a Worthy Mother?: An Intimate History of Adoption

By Rebecca Wellington,

Book cover of Who Is a Worthy Mother?: An Intimate History of Adoption

Rebecca Wellington Author Of Who Is a Worthy Mother?: An Intimate History of Adoption

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I am adopted. For most of my life, I didn’t identify as adopted. I shoved that away because of the shame I felt about being adopted and not truly fitting into my family. But then two things happened: I had my own biological children, the only two people I know to date to whom I am biologically related, and then shortly after my second daughter was born, my older sister, also an adoptee, died of a drug overdose. These sequential births and death put my life on a new trajectory, and I started writing, out of grief, the history of adoption and motherhood in America. 

Rebecca's book list on straight up, real memoirs on motherhood and adoption

What is my book about?

I grew up thinking that being adopted didn’t matter. I was wrong. This book is my journey uncovering the significance and true history of adoption practices in America. Now, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, the renewed debate over women’s reproductive rights places an even greater emphasis on adoption. As a mother, historian, and adoptee, I am uniquely qualified to uncover the policies and practices of adoption.

The history of adoption, reframed through the voices of adoptees like me, and mothers who have been forced to relinquish their babies, blows apart old narratives about adoption, exposing the fallacy that adoption is always good.

In this story, I reckon with the pain and unanswered questions of my own experience and explore broader issues surrounding adoption in the United States, including changing legal policies, sterilization, and compulsory relinquishment programs, forced assimilation of babies of color and Indigenous babies adopted into white families, and other liabilities affecting women, mothers, and children. Now is the moment we must all hear these stories.

Who Is a Worthy Mother?: An Intimate History of Adoption

By Rebecca Wellington,

What is this book about?

Nearly every person in the United States is affected by adoption. Adoption practices are woven into the fabric of American society and reflect how our nation values human beings, particularly mothers. In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, the renewed debate over women's reproductive rights places an even greater emphasis on adoption. As a mother, historian, and adoptee, Rebecca C. Wellington is uniquely qualified to uncover the policies and practices of adoption. Wellington's timely-and deeply researched-account amplifies previously marginalized voices and exposes the social and racial biases embedded in the United States' adoption industry.…


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