Happy #VietnameseFamilyDay! Here are five book recommendations by Vietnamese authors to read today, this week, and always.

Things We Lost to the Water by Eric Nguyen

In this debut novel, Nguyen tells the story of a mother and her children who are forced to emigrate to New Orleans and assimilate to a new culture, all while leaving their father behind in Vietnam.

Monkey Bridge by Lan Cao

Lan Cao uses a monkey bridge –a thin bridge made out of bamboo– used by Vietnamese peasants, as an analogy for the Vietnamese-American immigrant experience. Hailed by critics and writers as powerful, important fiction, Monkey Bridge charts the unmapped territory of the Vietnamese American experience in the aftermath of war.

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

In this 2016 Pulitzer Prize Winner, Nguyen tells the story of a South Vietnamese army captain who is spying on his fellow soldiers and reporting back to a higher-up back in Vietnam.

The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui

In this debut illustrated memoir, Bui tells her own story of emigrating from war torn South Vietnam in the 70s to America. 

Water/Tongue by Mai C. Doan

In Water/Tongue, Doan uses poetry to discuss themes of loss, grief, and the memory of her war torn country, Vietnam, following her grandmother's death.