About the book, from Penguin Random House:

“In this exquisite story of family, food, grief, and endurance, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a dazzling singer, songwriter, and guitarist. With humor and heart, she tells of growing up one of the few Asian American kids at her school in Eugene, Oregon; of struggling with her mother’s particular, high expectations of her; of a painful adolescence; of treasured months spent in her grandmother’s tiny apartment in Seoul, where she and her mother would bond, late at night, over heaping plates of food.

As she grew up, moving to the East Coast for college, finding work in the restaurant industry, and performing gigs with her fledgling band–and meeting the man who would become her husband–her Koreanness began to feel ever more distant, even as she found the life she wanted to live. It was her mother’s diagnosis of terminal cancer, when Michelle was twenty-five, that forced a reckoning with her identity and brought her to reclaim the gifts of taste, language, and history her mother had given her.

Vivacious and plainspoken, lyrical and honest, Zauner’s voice is as radiantly alive on the page as it is onstage. Rich with intimate anecdotes that will resonate widely, and complete with family photos, Crying in H Mart is a book to cherish, share, and reread.”

About the Author, Michelle Zauner:

“MICHELLE ZAUNER is best known as a singer and guitarist who creates dreamy, shoegaze-inspired indie pop under the name Japanese Breakfast. She has won acclaim from major music outlets around the world for releases like Psychopomp (2016) and Soft Sounds from Another Planet (2017).“

Why I selected Crying in H Mart for the May 2023 Giveaway:

• In recognition of AAPI Heritage Month, I wanted to share a book by an AAPI author who doesn’t shy away from discussing the challenges of straddling two different cultural identities. In this memoir, Michelle writes, “Am I even Korean anymore if there’s no one left in my life to call and ask which brand of seaweed we used to buy?”
• Crying in H Mart includes some AMAZING food imagery! The author uses food as a unifying theme throughout the book, reflecting on many of the good times that she had with her mother… and the foods they enjoyed and appreciated together. You might come away from this book ready to eat at your favorite Korean restaurant.
• If you’ve ever had the experience of losing someone important to you, then you will probably relate to the author’s unflinchingly honest portrayal of grief – and the nature of memory and honesty – – – and, finally, the importance of remembering people for who they were, not just who you hoped they had been (or would have been).
• And finally, last year’s hiding theme (Memoirs at Murals in May) was also such a hit with all of you (and made for some GORGEOUS photos) that I was super excited to see if I could, again, find a great memoir that would fit with this month’s theme! Success!