Books by Filipino Authors to Add to Your Reading List This Year

For Independence Day weekend and beyond

ICYMI, Filipino-made comic-turned-series blockbuster Trese is now streaming on Netflix. With Independence Day in our midst, there’s a vast collection of media—from films to television series and books—to celebrate, proudly made by Pinoys.

If you’re on the lookout for your next read just in time for the weekend (and beyond), look no further. 

"Patron Saints of Nothing" by Randy Ribay 

A coming-of-age story about grief, guilt and the risks a Filipino-American teenager takes to uncover the truth about his cousin's murder.

"Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion" by Jia Tolentino

Jia Tolentino is a peerless voice of her generation, tackling the conflicts, contradictions and sea changes that define us and our time. Now, in this dazzling collection of nine entirely original essays, written with a rare combination of give and sharpness, wit and fearlessness, she delves into the forces that warp our vision, demonstrating an unparalleled stylistic potency and critical dexterity.

"In The Country: Stories" by Mia Alvar

These nine globe-trotting, unforgettable stories from Mia Alvar, a remarkable new literary talent, vividly give voice to the women and men of the Filipino diaspora. Here are exiles, emigrants and wanderers uprooting their families from the Philippines to begin new lives in the Middle East, the United States and elsewhere—and, sometimes, turning back again.

"Never Have I Ever" by Isabel Yap

Spells and stories, urban legends and immigrant tales: the magic in Isabel Yap’s debut collection jumps right off the page, from the joy in her new novella, “A Spell for Foolish Hearts” to the terrifying tension of the urban legend “Have You Heard the One About Anamaria Marquez?”

"Like Lines On A Map" by Isa Garcia 

This book is about the people that you come across once, just once, yet profoundly affect you in ways that stay with you even after the years have passed. It’s about the ones that haunt you, the ghosts you couldn’t forget if you tried; it’s about the ones you’d return to if you could.

This is a book about home existing in different people at different times and the joy that comes with knowing that there are people we can seek shelter in when the real places fail.

Looking for more books to add to your never-ending reading list? We recap some of the riveting titles this 2021 so far. Happy reading, bookworm!