Washington: USA Today unveiled its Best-Selling Books list, with dozens of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) writers among the group honored, including 11 Indian Americans. From memoirs and fiction to romances and humor, their works are as diverse and dynamic as the authors themselves. AAPI authors represent an important part of the ever-expanding and evolving American literary canon, USA Today wrote in its report.
Among the writers included were Kiran Desai, Dr Sanjay Gupta, Vice President Kamala Harris, Meena Harris, Mindy Kaling, Jhumpa Lahiri, Fatima Farheen Mirza, Siddhartha Mukherjee, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Reshma Saujani and Thrity Umrigar.
The neurosurgeon, reporter and writer Gupta first hit the bestseller list in 2007 with his book, "Chasing Life: New Discoveries in the Search for Immortality to Help You Age Less Today." He returned in 2012 with novel "Monday Mornings" and in 2021 with "Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age," USA Today said. Vice President Harris was also a USA Today bestselling author with two books. The first, "The Truths We Hold: An American Journey," explores her life as the daughter of immigrants. A lawyer, entrepreneur and author, Meena Harris is also the niece of Kamala Harris. She hit the list recently with two children's books: "Kamala and Maya's Big Idea," inspired by a true story of sisters Kamala and Maya Harris as children working with their community to effect change; and "Ambitious Girl," about a young girl who sees the challenges faced by women when she sees a strong woman labeled as "too assertive" and "too ambitious," the report noted.
Actress, humorist and writer Kaling wrote two bestselling collections of essays: "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)" and "Why Not Me?" Both books include her observations on life, romance, friendship and Hollywood. The daughter of Indian immigrants who emigrated to the UK, Lahiri moved to the US with her family when she was 3. Most of the author's notable works have been USA Today bestsellers, beginning with her Pulitzer Prize-winning "Interpreter of Maladies." Other bestsellers include "The Namesake," "Unaccustomed Earth," "The Lowland" and this year's "Whereabouts," an English translation of a story she originally wrote and published in Italian.
Mirza’s debut novel, "A Place for Us," hit the bestseller list in 2018. Readers follow the story of an Indian Muslim family in California on the eve of their eldest daughter's wedding. The Indian American physician Mukherjee, won the Pulitzer Prize for his bestselling non-fiction work, 2010's "The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer." The daughter of a Filipina mother and South Indian father, the prize-winning poet and Guggenheim Fellow Nezhukumatathil published her non-fiction debut "World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks and Other Astonishment" in 2020.
An attorney, activist and founder-CEO of Girls Who Code, Saujani published "Brave, Not Perfect: Fear Less, Fail More, and Live Bolder," which landed on the bestsellers list in 2019. Umrigar's "The Space Between Us" was released in 2006 and hit the list in 2018.
