Hi there! I originally had this planned for the very start of the year but now we're in March and it's still sitting in my drafts.... I was inspired to come up with this list after seeing Caz from Little Book Owl post a video titled 30 Books That Changed My Life and it got me thinking about some books that have stayed with me long after I finished reading them. Since my birthday was in January and Google now classifies my age as "late 20s," I figured it'd be interesting to see what titles helped to shape the first half of my 20s.

      

the astonishing color of after by emily x.r. pan
I remember picking this up solely because the synopsis mentioned Taiwan and I hadn't read anything before that centered around Taiwanese culture. The story itself centers around grief and learning about the different layers of one's cultural identity which opened up a new understanding of my own Asian American heritage. I loved recognizing familiar places and foods as Leigh discovers Taiwan for the first time and just remembered finishing this book with a newfound love and nostalgia for my parents' homeland.

light from uncommon stars by ryka aoki
I constantly claim that this book made me fall back in love with classical music and years later, I still stand by that statement. Ryka Aoki manages to encompass themes of musical healing, queer identity, and hope into this beautifully written story and I remember finishing this and just needing to sit in silence to feel all the emotions it gave me. I adore the cast of characters with my whole heart and truly have a better love for classical music that I didn't have during my entire undergrad experience as a music major.
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babel by r.f. kuang
R.F. Kuang truly rewired my brain chemistry with Babel in a way that I wasn't expecting. The world and its magic is so incredibly complex and intriguing to the point where it sometimes reads like a textbook but in the best way possible. I loved even getting just a glimpse of R.F. Kuang's mind and her understanding of the nuances of language - not to mention that the characters and their experiences at the prestigious Oxford University highlighted the inequalities and additional pressures that minority students faced in academia. 

      

the poppy war by r.f. kuang
I had to put The Poppy War trilogy as well because it truly opened my eyes to the horrors of a history I hadn't learned about in school. In my history classes, we probably had a paragraph or two dedicated to anything not Eurocentric and reading about the events that inspired certain scenes absolutely broke me. The main character's arc as well was so intriguing to follow and really highlighted the heavy expectations of war alongside the degrading racial superiority as an effect of white imperialism.
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the winternight trilogy by katherine arden
If you ever dive into my blog archives and look at any recommendations list, you're bound to find some mention of The Winternight Trilogy. Picking up The Bear and the Nightingale from my local library was a completely random decision during my freshmen year winter break and one of the best decisions because it introduced me to the world of Russian folklore. 
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the bone witch trilogy by rin chupeco
Another trilogy that I pretty much made my entire personality throughout college that I picked up on a whim at the library. Following Tea who finds out that she's a bone witch when accidentally resurrecting her brother, the trilogy is told through a dual-POV of past and present. I fell in love with the characters and their relationships with each other and remember really getting to connect with other readers over this trilogy which is what made it all the more memorable.
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piranesi by susanna clarke
Piranesi is a book that just feels comforting to me - something about reading the main character's explorations through his journal entries feels so nostalgic. The writing style is the perfect blend of intriguing and whimsical that just kept me hooked from start to finish even if the first part just documented Piranesi roaming the halls. As the plot itself unfolds, the slower pace of everything just felt oddly comforting and left me feeling a sense of wonder.
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daughter of the moon goddess by sue lynn tan
Growing up, there was this Taiwanese puppet drama that I vividly remember watching with my cousins when visiting them over the summer. It's also a huge part of why I even understand the dialect and I remember being absolutely engrossed with the storyline. There were complex political schemes, a heartbreaking love story, and action scenes that left my jaw hanging. Daughter of the Moon Goddess captured all of that in book-form and I absolutely loved it. Reading this felt like awakening a part of my childhood and following Xingyin on her epic journey was so much fun.
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picture us in the light by kelly loy gilbert
I saved this one for last because of just hoe much this story broke me. Following a Chinese American high schooler who has to find the balance between his own passions and the expectations of his immigrant parents hit a lot closer than I anticipated. I remember just wanting to cry so many times while reading this because I felt so represented and quickly went on to read all of the author's books Kelly Loy Gilbert just captures the Asian American experience so well and it felt like each of her main characters held a piece of me that I didn't expect to see in a story - it felt like they were holding up a mirror to my heart.