Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Reading Update

That just rolls off of the tongue, doesn't it?

I have previously only done one specific Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage month. I questioned how well I was doing it at the time, though it did mainly stick to the one month.

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2018/06/asian-pacific-american-heritage-month.html

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2018/06/apahm-2018-reading-and-asian-pacific.html 

Then, things fell apart more, but I did take notes when I read other things that I meant to get to.

This year, with increased violence against Asian Americans, it felt more important to practice and celebrate, but also, I am so behind where I want to be.

I have notes on books that I read in 2019 and 2020, and now even some that I have read in 2021. I am also not going to stop reading off of my list after this week of blogging. 

This week is just going to be about different things that have struck me, even as I read at least two relevant books this week that will probably not make it into this round of writing.

For the record, today I started one of 43 books left to read after having finished two others. I have at least three movies and a play I want to watch, after having finished four movies quite recently. 

My intention is that I will have completed all of those before next May. Then I will just dive into books by Margaret Dilloway and Gail Tsukiyama. Maybe binge the Fresh Off Boat television series, though maybe only the first three seasons? That would require some research.

Regardless, for all of the ways that I overextend myself and get too ambitious, that does feel achievable. The question then becomes whether I write about all of those at once. One of them is a physics book, and one is on permaculture. It's not always simple, but I always admit that.

I don't know quite how it will go. I do form little subsections. For example, some of the books seem to focus on the difficulty of relationships with your parents, and I will probably try reading those around the same time. They may inspire their own thoughts. 

Doing this has been an ongoing process. When I started with my first Black History month, it could easily have just been four books a month, one month a year. It wasn't, because I started realizing how much more there is to know and understand. Some of that is me being me, but I think many people could find similar effects.

That is one reason why I am now going through and looking at my old posts and coming up with a better list of recommendations. If you want a basic timeline of the history of slavery and its results, what books are good for that? What books are good for building empathy on a specific topic? That is a project that is still taking shape.

For now I will mention a few books that were not really a part of intended reading, but came up in other ways, reminding us of the messiness.

The Moral Economy of the Peasant: Rebellion and Subsistence in Southeast Asia by James C. Scott, finished July 9th, 2020.

I picked this up in the PSU bookstore many years ago, when I would just sometimes stop by and look around (between 1994 and 1996). I picked up too many books on impulse to read them all, but when I was doing some other economics reading I threw it in. It was in fact really interesting, with thoughtful comparisons made and good research data. For the record, economics is not always interesting.

Know My Name by Chanel Miller, finished August 15th, 2020.

Like many people I was touched by Jane Doe's letter to her rapist, Brock Turner. I am sure I would have read her book anyway. As it was, I read it in the middle of some feminist reading, specifically about rape culture, where it fit well. This is a good, human, and important book.

The Rainbow People written by Lawrence Yep, finished May 4th, 2021.

Perfect timing for this year's reading, but it happened because as I near the end of my Caldecott Medalist perusal, I was reminded of my love for David Wiesner's Tuesday. I decided to just check out whatever the library had that he had illustrated. That included this book of tales told by Chinese immigrants in the late 19th century. Serendipity.

And, for the most questionable one...

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat and illustrated by Wendy McNaughton. 

I finished the book on October 1st, 2017, and did not think of it as relevant reading. I signed up for Netflix to watch (among other things) Always Be My Maybe. Seeing there was a series for the book, I wanted to watch it, but also wondered if it would relate.

Nosrat was born in the United States, but her parents come from Iran. That is the Middle East. Does that go with the Far East? Afghanistan used to be considered to belong more with India and Pakistan.

Arab American Heritage Month is sometimes celebrated in April (I just learned that), but Persians are not Arabs. Sometimes Persians get March, but March is Women's History already. 

I could argue that that there is a need for a lot more understanding of all of the peoples and the history between them in the Middle East. 

It gets tricky. I know that, and I will keep working at it.

Sometimes it is amazing how much it takes.