Why do we say that we hate work and need time away from work, but continue to throw ourselves into more work when free time is presented? Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about work-life balance and specifically, on why free time feels so uncomfortable.

Anyone who works with creativity can tell you—it’s fickle and hard to control. There are times when the inspiration flows and ideas come easily, and alternatively, there are times when you sit there for hours and get absolutely nothing done. As an exercise, I’m taking today to just reflect on tactics that I use to combat creative blocks.

With the recent attacks on the elderly Asian population in America, there’s been an outcry for the acknowledgment of the Asian American experience. As someone who is hoping to do the work of unpacking the internalized racism and prejudices that I hold, I’m starting with educating myself on this shared (and also nuanced) experience. Here are 8 books by Asian Americans, for Asian Americans.