Deborah | Bookstagram

I am so grateful to again be a part of the #ANHPIBookstaTour! Thank you so much to @bookish.millennial and @hyperfixatedreader for hosting and to @booknerdkat for creating it! Be sure to check out all the other stops on the tour including my tourmate today @rachaneelumayno ! I talked a bit about this last year, about how now as an adult, I have finally begun to embrace my heritage, learn more about our history, and be proud of being Asian American. As a child, I had very little visibility of what being Asian American was like. I did not see people that looked like me on TV. There were very few other Asian American kids in my school and we never talked about being Asian with each other. My family didn’t really mix with other Asian families in the area. I knew I was Asian because everyone else told me I looked different from them. But I didn’t really know what it meant to be Asian American. I was just a kid that was half Burmese/half Chinese and didn’t feel like I fit in and I didn’t look like anyone else so I felt like an outsider. Growing up on the East Coast, Asian American history was never taught in any of my classes. I had no idea anything about the history of Asians in American history. But as I’ve gotten older, I've learned and studied more on my own (also helps when you’re a history major). I learned about the Chinese Exclusion Act, I learned about Angel Island. I learned about Vincent Chin. I learned more about the Japanese American Internment. There is so much about Asian American history that.....just wasn’t mentioned and people to this day still do not know. (This is why I continually still harp on American Girl for not having a single historical main doll that is of Asian descent.) Because I’m a mixed Asian person, it’s hard for people to place what I am. They aren’t sure how to categorize me. That was hard for me as a kid. As an adult, I’m seeing that now as something I can use to help to show that we are not a monolith, that we all have rich and diverse cultures, and EVERYONE should be learning more about them as well. (cont.)

🎆2026 Bookstagram Goals🎆 This account is FOUR years old! (ok technically my anniversary was on January 1 but I always schedule my year in review on that day). Thank you to everyone who has followed me, read my reviews, shared my content, commented on my posts, or just said hello. I love talking about books all the time so this account has been a really fun way to connect with others about something I really have a passion about. When I started this account, I had just started my MLIS program. Now 4 years later, I’m almost a year in my first actual librarian job. We’ve come full circle! So where are we with this account? To start with, I honestly have given up on having my bookstagram ever becoming a BIG account. I don’t do reels as I’m not good with making videos and it takes me forever to edit them. Also admittedly my engagement could be better. I also don’t do engagement groups, follow trains, or giveaways. My pictures and graphics are also not as creative as other accounts. So really I have no one to blame but myself. BUT THAT’S OK. I have accepted this fate. I’m trying to learn to be content with what I have, to not be jealous of others, and to remember why I even started doing this in the first place. My plans for 2026: I plan on going to 3 reviews a week (MWF) and then using the weekends to highlight other bookish topics. As I’ve stated before, the main focus of this account is to showcase books from Asian voices and I want to discover, read and share more of them. I will give myself grace if I miss some days but my goal is try to hit 3 reviews a week for most of the year. I am excited because I am on a major literary awards committee that will be reading adult fiction from Asian American and Pacific Islander authors. This is going to help me discover a lot of new authors as well as push me out of my normal genres so I am really looking forward to this. I would like to connect more with other bookstagrammers of Asian descent so I’m hoping to find and follow more of those accounts so I can continue to keep getting book recommendations. So that’s my hopes for 2026! Thanks for joining me for this adventure and into this new year!

🎆2025 in the Books!🎆 📚462 books read 📚136,358 pages read 📚88% library books 📚33% BIPOC authors 📚69% adult, 11% YA, 20% Middle Grade So if you didn’t already know that I graduated from library school last December, I think it’s pretty obvious by the obvious increase of the number of books that I read this year compared to last year. Everyone asked me what I was going to do with all the spare time I had now that school was over. Clearly reading was the obvious answer. This is the most books I have read since 2010. Romance was by far the biggest genre I read with a whopping 36% of all the books I read. Give me all the books with illustrated covers. I am disappointed yet again that my percentage of BIPOC reads dropped this year. It still isn’t as much as I want it to be and even though I am intentionally reading more diverse reads, the books I am reading are dominated by white female authors. So I will really need to be even MORE intentional in making sure I am reading more diversely in 2026. Also while I do listen to audiobooks, I don't count them in my totals. However that is just my preference so please do note, that audiobooks do count as reading! I read a lot of fantastic books over the year and it was hard to choose just ten but the ten that came out on top were indeed tops. These were the books I was thinking about all year, long after I finished reading them. 🏆UNTETHERED by Angela Jackson-Brown 🏆LOVE AND OTHER CONSPIRACIES by Mallory Marlowe 🏆WORK IN PROGRESS by Kat Mackenzie 🏆DAUGHTERS OF SHANDONG by Eve J. Chung 🏆THE WOMEN OF OAK RIDGE by Michelle Shocklee 🏆CONTINENTAL DRIFTER by Kathy Macleod 🏆WARRIOR GIRL UNEARTHED by Angeline Boulley 🏆UPROOTED by Ruth Chan 🏆GROWN by Tiffany D. Jackson 🏆ELIZA, FROM SCRATCH by Sophia Lee To the authors I have tagged here, THANK YOU for writing such a wonderful book. Please know that I have been recommending your books to everyone all year. As you can see I read A LOT and your book stood out and meant a lot to me. Thank you again for sharing your words (and art)!!! Overall it was a good year for reading. Let’s do it again this year.

💍HOW TO FIND A GUY IN FIVE WEDDINGS by Cynthia Timoti💍 Kim has had the worst luck with bad dates. When we first meet her, she’s in the middle of a horrible date (woof it was bad) and manages to get rescued midway by Rob. He offers to be a matchmaker for her and vows to find her the perfect guy as long as she attends five weddings with him over the course of the next few months. I’m not going to lie. I’m glad I've passed that stage in life where I have to attend multiple weddings every year. While I’m usually very happy for the married couple, it can get very draining both financially and emotionally when you see it happening to everyone else but not to you. Trying to find dates at weddings is even more stressful. I know that Kim is on a deadline to find someone because of the clause in her grandmother’s will but wow, that’s a lot of pressure. As someone is of mixed Asian heritage, it was very nice to see a character who is also of two different Asian cultures. Even though Kim does not know much about the Japanese side of her family, she still recognizes that her heritage straddles both and that she is grateful for it. I love her relationship with her grandfather and how much she took care of him and how much he tried to show his appreciation for her. I also was a fan of how her relationship with her father was handled. The yarn shop also sounds like a delight to visit. Even as a non knitter, it is a great place for the community and why small/local businesses are vital. I’m a huge slow burn fan and this book gave me exactly what I wanted. I like the slowest of slow burns that stretches out until you think it’s not going to happen at all in the book and then all of a sudden BAM! Kim and Rob had great chemistry and having them build it up for the entire book was worth the wait. I really enjoyed this book and now I need to go back and read the first book in this universe. The story was so fun and delightful and I love diverse romances like this.  Thank you so much to @TheReadPagesBT , @BrambleRomance and @CynthiaTimoti for including me on the tour and for a review copy of the book! #HowToFindAGuyInFiveWeddings #CynthiaTimoti #BrambleRomance #TheReadPagesBT

📚Library Haul📚 I saw a post on Reddit where people were angry with someone for checking out a stack of books from the library and called them rude and disrespectful for taking out all the books. They complained that this was why you never could find anything on the shelf because people are hoarding all the titles and not leaving anything for people to browse.  LOOK. First off, PLEASE check out all the books. Circulation numbers are one of the ways that libraries are tracked on how well they are doing and if they need more funding. If titles are left on the shelf, and no one checks them out, then funding will get cut. Second, there’s such a thing as placing books on hold. Sure you might have to wait a bit but you will eventually get the book. If you are unsure about how to do that, ask a library worker and they’ll be glad to help you. Third, why are we shaming people for using the library and being excited about books? If you’re angry that your library doesn’t have a big selection of books, has weird hours, and doesn’t fit all your needs, then look into voting candidates that do support libraries and not treat them like an afterthought.  Anywho. I’m sorry if my library haul makes you angry. I’m happy.  This week’s checkouts: 📚HARBOR POINTE by Irene Hannon 📚THE LANGUAGE OF LIARS by S.L. Huang 📚THE QUEEN OF WISHFUL THINKING by Milly Johnson 📚MS. MEBEL GOES BACK TO THE CHOPPING BLOCK by Jesse Q. Sutanto 📚THE MANHATTAN CONFESSIONS by Jocelyn Green 📚A BREWED AWAKENING by Pepper Basham 📚THE A TO Z OF EVERYTHING by Debbie Johnson 📚YOUR NEXT LIFE IS NOW by NAMRATA PATEL 📚BIRDS ON A WIRE by Katie Powner 📚HAPPY ENDING by Chloe Liese 📚THIS SONG IS ABOUT ME by Melissa De La Cruz 📚THE YOUNG WILL REMEMBER by Eve J. Chung Have you read any of these books? #libraryhaul #librarybooks #libraryreads #bookhaul

🌠STARS, STRIPES AND SUMMER NIGHTS by Celeste Dador🌠 Oh I wish I lived in this timeline where the US has elected a female Asian American president and it’s just considered normal and it’s not a big deal because it’s just a regular thing that happened. As an elder millennial, this book reminded me of those 2004 movie classics, First Daughter and Chasing Liberty about other presidential daughters who just wanted to live normal lives and not have everything be scrutinized by the media. There’s also a very Gilmore Girls feel about this book as well. Abby is the daughter of the President of the United States and  just wants to have a normal summer before heading off to college the next year and she has everything already planned out. But after a meet cute with a guy changes her summer plans she finds herself in small town Virginia vs the Hawaiian vacation she thought she was going to have. Abby and Gabe got off to a rocky start but when Abby realizes that she has to stick with him throughout her summer, she realizes they are going to have to get along. When she finds out that he has a passion for photography and his family’s inn needs saving, she comes up with a plan that will hopefully benefit them both.  What then follows is a wonderful story about just being able to be a teen girl and enjoying life. From trying out new foods, taking new adventures, and finding love, this book has it all. I would also love to read a book about Abby’s sister Elle as well. She’s like the Princess Margaret to Abby’s Elizabeth, as she’s more carefree and less serious because she’s the younger sister. This is such a cute and perfect for the summer YA romance. It’s fun, sweet, and swoony and gives you a very cozy vibe while you’re reading it. I would love to read more diverse YA romances like this and I can’t wait to read more books from the author! Thank you so much to @topplingstackstours and @celestedador  for including me on the tour and for a review copy of the book! #StarsStripesAndSummerNights #CelesteDador #DelacorteRomance #StarsStripesandSummerNightsTour #topplingstackstours

🎉I LOVE YOU DON’T DIE by Jade Song🎉 I’ve been going outside my reading norms a lot this year. This book is not normally the type of book I tend to gravitate towards. It’s filled with angst, anxiety, worry, longing, and can be seen as quite morose. Yet I also think that it’s a very accurate depiction about what many people are going through right now in this time we live in. Vicky reads very much as someone with an avoidant attachment personality and goes through life not forming much attachment to anyone other than her best friend Jen.  That’s how she gets involved with being in throuple relationships. I don’t read a lot of books with poly relationships so having a throuple in this book is a bit of a new experience for me. I found it interesting but also felt like Vicky had much more of a connection to Angela vs Kevin. In fact, I sometimes forgot Kevin existed because the focus seemed to be on Angela instead.  Vicky’s relationship with Jen seems to be an accurate representation about what a best friend in your 20s is like.  Even when you’re at your darkest and lowest point, you still have that one person who is there for you but also will call you out on the things that need calling out. They are not afraid to be raw and vulnerable with you, and will support you when you need them and vice versa. There are times when I feel like Vicky depends way more on Jen than the other way around and that Jen is the more self-reliant of the pair. However, I think that their relationship will continue and they have the balance they are comfortable with in order for it to thrive.  Overall I am glad I read this book because for me, it’s a different way to handle grief and loneliness and gives a new insight into what others are feeling.  Trigger warnings - there is a lot of talk about death, suicide and depression throughout the story. It affects all the characters and is a huge focus of the book.  #ILoveYouDontDie #JadeSong #WilliamMorrowBooks

🎉RANI DESHPANDE TAKES THE WHEEL by Arushi Avachat🎉 Rani had a lot of big plans and has convinced herself that she can do ALL the things during this one summer. The summer after your first year of college is so different from any other summer you’ve had before and it can be a time of renewal and refreshment. Yet Rani wants to spend time with her best friend, learn how to drive, and complete an intense work project for college that includes working at a library AND writing a 20+ page paper. I’m already exhausted. This was such a delightful and lovely book to read. I’ve been reading a lot of heavy books lately and it was very nice to take a breather and read something lighter and cheerful. The romance in this book is very pleasant and sweet. I’m actually pleased that there was not a lot of conflict or miscommunication. There is a little drama but not so much that it becomes so heavy handed on the story. As a librarian, I loved how Rani worked in a library for her school project. That conversation she had with the patron about not having a book in at the moment and them wanting her to do the copying for her are legit frustrating conversations I have had with patrons. I loved her Early Reader book club idea and while I think she got a realistic eye opener at how library programs work, I think that would be a great program down the road. I really loved how supportive Rani’s family is towards her. I’ve read (and known) about so many Desi parents who are very strict and can be very hard on their kids. But even if they are concerned about what she is going to do, they aren’t pushy or annoying and you can tell they support what she does. While her parents do tend to make her take care of her younger brothers a lot, it’s also clear that her brothers genuinely love her and respect her. This book was such fun to read and it really made me happy to finish it. It’s the perfect read for summer so make sure to grab it as your next vacation read. Thank you so much to @coloredpagesbt , @wednesdaybooks and @arushi.24 for including me on the tour and for a copy of the book! #RaniDeshpandeTakesTheWheel #ArushiAvachat #coloredpagesbooktours #RaniDespanadeTakesTheWheelTour

📚Book Mail📬 Thank you so much to the tagged publishers for these new and upcoming reads! I am super thankful for the Asian representation in the books I received. Kid me would have been so thrilled to see so many people who looked like her back then. I know I say this all the time but representation is so so so important. Books are one of the best ways to this and I hope this continues and grows in the future. #bookmail #upcomingbooks #2025reads #2026reads #simonkidscrew

📚May Aardvark Book Club box is here📚 This month's box from @aardvarkbookclub has an author that is always an instant-read for me. I've been reading Rainbow Rowell's books for years and no matter what she writes, I have to read it. So glad to be able to add this newest book to my collection! May's box is 📚CHERRY BABY by Rainbow Rowell What did you get in your box? #aardvarkbookclub #booksubscriptionbox #buybooks #bookmail

🏯JAPANESE GOTHIC by Kylie Lee Baker🏯 Oh wait, what’s that? I’m reading yet another horror book? What is going on? I don’t know. I’m trying to figure this out. But I can tell you that I really enjoyed this book. Lee is in October 2026 and is currently living with his father in Japan. He also can’t remember why he killed his college roommate and what he did with the body. Sen is in October 1877 and has been learning the way of the samurai. She will try to do anything to please her father, no matter what the cost. These two lives seem completely disconnected until they both appear as ghostly figures to each other and they realize they are living in the same house across different time periods. Lee and Sen need to find out why they are connected and what secrets the house holds no matter how disturbing the results might be.  There were several things off hand I really enjoyed about this book. It’s a dual timeline story until it isn’t. It deals with both Asian and Asian American culture and identity. There is a focus on what it means to be a woman in a male dominated society. There is talk about mental health. The story is beautifully written and the imagery is just gorgeous. It’s very gothic horror but with a different setting and I am all for that.  No spoilers but the ending is wild. Once we find out everything that has been happening and how it all ties together, it’s like how did I miss all of that? I really enjoyed it. This is the perfect kind of horror for me. It’s not gory, it’s just eerie and creepy. It’s the right kind of supernatural and just layer and layers of atmospheric environment. This is also a highly emotional book. I think the scariest part of the book is the layers of generational trauma and how it will haunt you for years even after you’re gone. It will stay there forever like a curse until someone decides to finally end it.  This is my first book from the author and I’m going to need to go back and read her other books now.  #JapaneseGothic #KylieLeeBaker #HanoverSquarePress

🎉HE’S SO POSSESSED WITH ME by Corey Liu🎉 I’m really surprised at how much horror I’ve been reading lately. Again, this is not a genre I normally choose (TBH I am not a fan of the cover) but these kinds of stories keep appearing in my TBR pile for a variety of reasons and so here we are again.  At first I was like, is this going to be another one of those books where the main character is secretly in love with their best friend and they are jealous when the other starts dating someone else? Because I was worried that this was going to be a fairly predictable story. But surprisingly no! Colin and Ren are simply just best friends who both happen to be gay. Their experiences are sorta similar but also different at the same time and because of that they are able to bond together and just be really good friends.  After the encounter with the boys who harassed them, Colin knows that Ren is different but he can’t figure out what has changed. It feels like Ren is pulling away and it’s more than just a normal growing apart. Colin soon realizes that there may be supernatural forces that are taking over Ren and he needs to do what he can to save his best friend. I really like the scenes when they meet up with the medium. I found all that to be a hoot.  While the main focus of the book is about the friendship between the two boys and each of their journeys to finding and accepting their sexuality, I was also pleased to see that there was a lot of the book dedicated to the experience of being the children of Asian immigrants as well and the struggles with culture clashes and parental expectations. The book deals a lot with homophobia and racism and some of that comes from the families of the boys themselves.  The ending was satisfying for me. No spoilers but I felt that the book concludes in a way that is beneficial to all the characters involved, leaves room for growth, and is actually rather realistic. This is the author’s debut and it’s really well done.  This book was the 2026 honor book of the American Library Association's Stonewall Awards for Young Adult Literature and it is so well deserved! #HesSoPossessedWithMe #CoreyLiu #TheNovl