Name: Crying in H Mart
ISBN: 9781529033793

Michelle Zauner

From the indie rockstar Japanese Breakfast and author of the viral 2018 New Yorker piece, a deeply moving memoir on identity and belonging, grief and joy.

Crying in H Mart

Laura Wilson

lily

Kaia Mann

Stavros Kosmas

Sometimes my grief feels as though I've been left alone in a room with no doors. Every time I remember that my mother is dead, it feels like I'm colliding with a wall that won't give. There's no escape, just a hard surface that I keep ramming into over and over, a reminder of the immutable reality that I will never see her again.

Lucía RG

Sophia Alicia

Rheanne Wong 

audrey 🪐

kari <33

An unflinching, powerful memoir about growing up Korean American, losing her mother, and forging her own identity.

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.

A Memoir

"and all my devotion, turns violentttt...."

I wound up reading this book out of pure luck! my friend pulled a random book out of a random shelf and I freaked out because I had been eyeing this book for a while but never had to motivation to go and look for it (as for 80% of anything I say I'll get around to reading...)

you know, for a book based on a musician's life idk why I was surprised to see a lot of music references. mount eerie, MODEST MOUSE ?!! (my username is literally a modest mouse reference.) I did really like the paragraph dedicated to them lol. bright eyes and its chokehold on live journal bios, nirvana covers everywhere... etc etc.

her description of korean food / culture was very personal and I really liked reading about her connection with it to her mom. I don't usually read nonfiction and especially memoirs/autobiographies so seeing a glimpse into a real person's memories, feelings, all the ugly thoughts you wouldn't say out loud laid down was a real new experience for me. her mourning translated very well across the pages. I did appreciate the diary-like writing from her because it conveys the sort of mindset you get as a child who's lost without your mother well, even though she's grown up... you are always your mother's child no matter how old you are, etc etc.

I also wasn't expecting how much of her life co-existed with mine? like Philadelphia, Vietnam??? OKAYYYYYYYY. I also feel like her experience growing up asian american is also relatable in a lot of ways even though my experience is nothing like hers. there is the typical "what are you" / wanting to assimilate to whiteness sentiments that exist here too (I know she experiences this more heavily since she's mixed) and it's definitely one of my gripes in Asian works but it feels kinda wrong to criticize this because it's just her recounting her life. (I do wish the newer gen of Asian Americans drop the proximity to whiteness/model minority thing, tho this does serve to convey the social view of asian americans around this time.) I did really like the talk about representation/Asian girls in music as it was specific to her/her career AND also something I don't really see talked about either.

I do want to read more nonfiction this year so i'm slowly developing different mindsets while reading+forming opinions on, and a work that I can connect to myself a little was a good start!! 

"and all my devotion, turns violentttt...."

I wound up reading this book out of pure luck! my friend pulled a random book out of a random shelf and I freaked out because I had been eyeing this book for a while but never had to motivation to go and look for it (as for 80% of anything I say I'll get around to reading...)

you know, for a book based on a musician's life idk why I was surprised to see a lot of music references. mount eerie, MODEST MOUSE ?!! (my username is literally a modest mouse reference.) I did really like the paragraph dedicated to them lol. bright eyes and its chokehold on live journal bios, nirvana covers everywhere... etc etc.

her description of korean food / culture was very personal and I really liked reading about her connection with it to her mom. I don't usually read nonfiction and especially memoirs/autobiographies so seeing a glimpse into a real person's memories, feelings, all the ugly thoughts you wouldn't say out loud laid down was a real new experience for me. her mourning translated very well across the pages. I did appreciate the diary-like writing from her because it conveys the sort of mindset you get as a child who's lost without your mother well, even though she's grown up... you are always your mother's child no matter how old you are, etc etc.

I also wasn't expecting how much of her life co-existed with mine? like Philadelphia, Vietnam??? OKAYYYYYYYY. I also feel like her experience growing up asian american is also relatable in a lot of ways even though my experience is nothing like hers. there is the typical "what are you" / wanting to assimilate to whiteness sentiments that exist here too (I know she experiences this more heavily since she's mixed) and it's definitely one of my gripes in Asian works but it feels kinda wrong to criticize this because it's just her recounting her life. (I do wish the newer gen of Asian Americans drop the proximity to whiteness/model minority thing, tho this does serve to convey the social view of asian americans around this time.) I did really like the talk about representation/Asian girls in music as it was specific to her/her career AND also something I don't really see talked about either.

I do want to read more nonfiction this year so i'm slowly developing different mindsets while reading+forming opinions on, and a work that I can connect to myself a little was a good start!! 

"From the indie rock star of Japanese Breakfast fame, and author of the viral 2018 New Yorker essay that shares the title of this book, an unflinching, powerful memoir about growing up Korean-American, losing her mother, and forging her own identity. In this exquisite story of family, food, grief, and endurance, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a dazzling singer, songwriter, and guitarist. With humour and heart, she tells of growing up the only Asian-American kid 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, 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 pancreatic 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, Michelle 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".

An honest, comforting story about family, told through food.

Cassandra Tang

wow. the last chapter felt like it was when michelle started to write the book then i realized wait it is. that is the secret to writing good stories: to write up until your present life as you remember it: a series of memories collapsing into each other. then the book ended. michelle zauner is a genius. i need to listen to japanese breakfast immediately. and to tell my mom i love her.

shaye

read with quinn tess xan colin 

wow. the last chapter felt like it was when michelle started to write the book then i realized wait it is. that is the secret to writing good stories: to write up until your present life as you remember it: a series of memories collapsing into each other. then the book ended. michelle zauner is a genius. i need to listen to japanese breakfast immediately. and to tell my mom i love her.

This book made me realise I enjoy reading memoirs. It also put the bar very high for future reads.

Chloé Dupèré

very interesting to read about something so close to me—literally, because the hmart she writes about is across my house. i think the way zauner explores her relationship with her mother through food is something many first and second gen kids can empathize with, and the feelings she grapples with towards her mother and her subsequent loss is very well written. i wish her success in her future creative endeavors! 

jade shen

The first book I downloaded on my kindle back in 2021 but didn’t get to read until today, in 2025 and it was for a timely reason because I never would’ve appreciated its contents years ago, having lived my life almost parallel to this story—pertaining to her relationship with her mother and to everything that happened afterward. It felt like I was looking through a mirror and had to take deep pauses in between chapters because it felt too real, visceral even. Plus points because it made me soooo hungry, I love Korean food!!! Fantastic book, will definitely be rereading!!! 

maderinn⟢

This was actually a little bit difficult to rate. I found this book so compelling in some parts and so difficult to move forwards in some others.

The depiction of grief is so heartbreaking and somehow powerful. 

I also found refreshing the way food was incorporated throughout the narrative and a way to connect not only with her mother but also with her culture. 

The mother-daughter relationship was so relatable in an unexpected way for me. 

Overall, a heartbreaking and stunning narration.

This was actually a little bit difficult to rate. I found this book so compelling in some parts and so difficult to move forwards in some others.

The depiction of grief is so heartbreaking and somehow powerful. 

I also found refreshing the way food was incorporated throughout the narrative and a way to connect not only with her mother but also with her culture. 

The mother-daughter relationship was so relatable in an unexpected way for me. 

Overall, a heartbreaking and stunning narration.

Kerry McHugh West

Michelle's story touched me in so many ways. It was a beautiful read about grief, growing up mixed and trying to belong (while it seems you belong nowhere), creative expression, and the importance of our roots - whether through the words we use or the food we eat. The kind of book I was sure it would make me cry and I was right.

Arissa

This was a difficult read for me because of how painfully relatable it is. I share far too many sentiments with Zauner about cancer and her relationship with her mum, so it really hurt to read this one. I first picked it up in 2013 but had to put it down—it was just too much for me at the time.

That said, I truly admire how Zauner was able to beautifully express such an unfortunate situation—something I’ve personally struggled with a lot. The book resurfaced my own trauma from dealing with my mum’s cancer. It helped me remember her, it made me miss her, and it made me cry like hell from start to finish -  I was a hot mess. 

But honestly, I’m so proud of myself for finally making it through this book in 2025. It’s a beautiful memoir, and I especially loved the Korean food and Maangchi references 🥺🫂

Aurelia Pinker

This was a difficult read for me because of how painfully relatable it is. I share far too many sentiments with Zauner about cancer and her relationship with her mum, so it really hurt to read this one. I first picked it up in 2013 but had to put it down—it was just too much for me at the time.

That said, I truly admire how Zauner was able to beautifully express such an unfortunate situation—something I’ve personally struggled with a lot. The book resurfaced my own trauma from dealing with my mum’s cancer. It helped me remember her, it made me miss her, and it made me cry like hell from start to finish -  I was a hot mess. 

But honestly, I’m so proud of myself for finally making it through this book in 2025. It’s a beautiful memoir, and I especially loved the Korean food and Maangchi references 🥺🫂

down 0.25 stars for something that is completely my own fault! This book is really good, but i HATE, like it makes me physically sick, when books include a lot of descriptions of food and people eating, and i should have predicted that happening in this one! my bad! but it was probably one of the worst reading experiences i've had lately bc of this, and how often it happened. 

Stas

rating this feels inappropriate but I did not enjoy it. Sped through it since it’s my book club read for the month just so I wouldn’t procrastinate and get in the way of other things on my tbr. Easy read. A touching tribute to her mother. 

Liyah 🤎

Robi

THE NO 2 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the indie rockstar Japanese Breakfast, an unflinching, powerful, deeply moving memoir about growing up mixed-race, Korean food, losing her Korean mother, and forging her own identity. In this exquisite story of family, food, grief, and endurance, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a dazzling singer, songwriter, and guitarist. With humour and heart, she tells of growing up the only Asian-American kid 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, 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 pancreatic 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, Michelle Zauner’s voice is as radiantly alive on the page as it is onstage. Rich with intimate anecdotes that will resonate widely, Crying in H Mart is a book to cherish, share, and reread.

This is the first memoir I have actually genuinely really enjoyed! I can’t imagine how touching this would be for someone who shares her culture & would feel the comfort of the food, mother & family she grew up with ♥️

Mariah crawford

From the indie rock sensation known as Japanese Breakfast, an unforgettable memoir about family, food, grief, love, and growing up Korean American—“in losing her mother and cooking to bring her back to life, Zauner became herself” (NPR) • CELEBRATING OVER ONE YEAR ON THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER LIST

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.

What a beautiful but sad book. It just made me appreciate my mom even more and cry the day after reading. Just an emotional roller coaster and I can relate a lot to Michelle in certain aspects of the book. My heart sank at one point that I had to take a break for a while from this book. I definitely recommend this memoir.

Kayla Pham

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 the only Asian-American kid 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, 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 pancreatic 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, Michelle Zauner's voice is as radiantly alive on the page as it is onstage. Rich with intimate anecdotes that will resonate widely, Crying in H Mart is a book to cherish, share, and reread. PRAISE FOR CRYING IN H MART 'The book's descriptions of jjigae, tteokbokki, and other Korean delicacies stand out as tokens of the deep, all-encompassing love between Zauner and her mother, a love that is charted in vivid descriptions of her mother after death; in a time when people around the world are reckoning with untold loss due to COVID-19, Zauner's frankness around death feels like an unexpected yet deeply necessary gift.' Vogue 'Zauner's writing is powerful in its straight-forwardness, though some turns of phrases are as beautiful as any song lyric... but it is her ability to convey how her mother's simple offering of a rice snack was actually an act of the truest love that leaves the most indelible impression.' Refinery 29 'Poignant . . . A tender, well-rendered, heart-wrenching account of the way food ties us to those who have passed. The author delivers mouthwatering descriptions of dishes like pajeon, jatjuk, and gimbap, and her storytelling is fluid, honest, and intimate . . . Zauner's ability to let us in through taste makes her book stand out- she makes us feel like we are in her mother's kitchen, singing her praises.' Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

The author recounts and reflects on her relationship with her mother, and subsequently reconciles with her identity and grief. 

Lindy

🌞Laur🌞

I have a hardbound copy of this book, bought a year before I started 

 to it, which I experimented on in terms of annotating: using highlighters instead of just underlining sentences and enclosing paragraphs in brackets; practicing spelling the Korean words and phrases in Hangul on the margins (and failing big time) and because I am me, the change in the way I interacted with the book kind of put me off which resulted in shelving it for months (it’s not you, it’s me).

Then I found out that the audiobook came free with a premium subscription on this music app and I thought I’d give it a try (even when I’m not really a fan of audiobooks).

Maybe it’s because it was narrated by Michelle Zauner herself that it resonated deeply with me even when the loss I’ve personally experienced is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from hers. It also gave me this newfound appreciation of audiobooks.

It is a daughter’s bargain, to immortalize the memory of her mother through melodies (Psychopomp by Japanese Breakfast) and sing about it repeatedly in front of crowds who could never know the pain it came from.

It is a woman’s desperation, to reiterate that grief through a written account and print it on pages for everyone, who may not understand the incessant yearning tucked in between the lines, to read.

It is a human’s nature, to bravely tell the same story out loud—carving more spaces for this Love to occupy because that’s how it goes: when you lose someone, something important, nothing is ever enough to fill in and replace the now-emptiness they used to be in.

So, you keep remembering—whatever form it may take.

Grief is many, many things persevering. But in Crying in H Mart, it is Love, specifically.

 I initially rated this book but after reaching a certain point in my current read, Stay True by Hua Hsu (also a memoir revolving around the loss of a loved one and what grief is), it felt wrong to 

 someone’s recount of a painful memory even if it’s purely based on technicalities. I’m making a rule for myself now: nonfiction books will not be rated in a quantifiable manner.

frances

I have a hardbound copy of this book, bought a year before I started listening to it, which I experimented on in terms of annotating: using highlighters instead of just underlining sentences and enclosing paragraphs in brackets; practicing spelling the Korean words and phrases in Hangul on the margins (and failing big time) and because I am me, the change in the way I interacted with the book kind of put me off which resulted in shelving it for months (it’s not you, it’s me).

Then I found out that the audiobook came free with a premium subscription on this music app and I thought I’d give it a try (even when I’m not really a fan of audiobooks).

Maybe it’s because it was narrated by Michelle Zauner herself that it resonated deeply with me even when the loss I’ve personally experienced is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from hers. It also gave me this newfound appreciation of audiobooks.

It is a daughter’s bargain, to immortalize the memory of her mother through melodies (Psychopomp by Japanese Breakfast) and sing about it repeatedly in front of crowds who could never know the pain it came from.

It is a woman’s desperation, to reiterate that grief through a written account and print it on pages for everyone, who may not understand the incessant yearning tucked in between the lines, to read.

It is a human’s nature, to bravely tell the same story out loud—carving more spaces for this Love to occupy because that’s how it goes: when you lose someone, something important, nothing is ever enough to fill in and replace the now-emptiness they used to be in.

So, you keep remembering—whatever form it may take.

Grief is many, many things persevering. But in Crying in H Mart, it is Love, specifically.

ADDENDUM: I initially rated this book but after reaching a certain point in my current read, Stay True by Hua Hsu (also a memoir revolving around the loss of a loved one and what grief is), it felt wrong to ‘rate’ someone’s recount of a painful memory even if it’s purely based on technicalities. I’m making a rule for myself now: nonfiction books will not be rated in a quantifiable manner.

"i hope this grief stays with me because it's all the unexpressed love that i didn't get to tell her. and i told her every day."

Gianna Kristen

"i hope this grief stays with me because it's all the unexpressed love that i didn't get to tell her. and i told her every day."




This is honestly the first book that made me cry so much, having to pause a bit before continuing. It’s written beautifully from talking to small things her mom did to show affection, to how she dealt with things during and after her death. 

Yanna Alghamdi

I appreciated how Zauner talked about her experiences on grief and love, but I had mixed feelings with her description of the abusive relationship with her mother. She somehow brushed it off as her mother’s way of showing love, which didn't sit right with me.

Elizabeth 

i read the e-book version a long time ago but didn't finish it, and i continued to read it again after bought the physical book. idk but this book is so dear to me, since i lost my dad years ago. i could relate to many parts, especially how to deal with grief.

"Food was how my mother expressed her love." i think i can see that from how Michelle described about foods in this book. it might be my best read in 2024!

i read the e-book version a long time ago but didn't finish it, and i continued to read it again after bought the physical book. idk but this book is so dear to me, since i lost my dad years ago. i could relate to many parts, especially how to deal with grief.

"Food was how my mother expressed her love." i think i can see that from how Michelle described about foods in this book. it might be my best read in 2024!