Books from Vietnam
62 popular vietnamese books
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
The target of the Read Around The World Challenge is to read at least one book written by an author from each and every country in the world.
All books that are listed here as part of the "Read Around Asia Challenge" were written by authors from Vietnam.
Find a great book for the next part of your reading journey around the world from this book list. The following popular books have been recommended so far.
1.
36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem by Nam Le EN
Description:
An explosive, devastating debut book of poetry from the acclaimed author of The Boat In his first international release since the award-winning, best-selling The Boat, Nam Le delivers a shot across the bow with a book-length poem that honors every convention of diasporic literature—in a virtuosic array of forms and registers—before shattering the form itself. In line with the works of Claudia Rankine, Cathy Park Hong, and Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, this book is an urgent, unsettling reckoning with identity—and the violence of identity. For Le, a Vietnamese refugee in the West, this means the assum... continue
2.
A Banh Mi for Two by Trinity Nguyen EN
Description:
In this sweet sapphic romance about two foodies in love, Vivi meets Lan while studying abroad in Vietnam and they spend the semester unraveling their families' histories—and eating all the street food in Sài Gòn. In Sài Gòn, Lan is always trying to be the perfect daughter, dependable and willing to care for her widowed mother and their bánh mì stall. Her secret passion, however, is A Bánh Mì for Two, the food blog she started with her father, but has stopped updating since his passing. Meanwhile, Vietnamese American Vivi Huynh, has never been to Việt Nam. Her parents rarely even talk about the... continue
3.
A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, a History, A Memorial by Viet Thanh, Nguyen EN
Description:
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2024 'A triumphant memoir' Cathy Park Hong, author of MINOR FEELINGS, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize The highly original, blistering, and unconventional memoir by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sympathizer, which has now sold over one million copies worldwide With insight, humour, formal invention, and lyricism, in A Man of Two Faces Nguyen rewinds the film of his own life. He expands the genre of personal memoir by acknowledging larger stories of refugeehood, colonization, and ideas about Vietnam and America, writing with hi... continue
5.
At Home in the World : Stories and Essential Teachings from a Monk’s Life by Thich Nhat Hanh EN
Description:
Thich Nhat Hanh shares 81 personal life stories with his signature simplicity and humor—illustrating his most essential teachings on mindfulness, peace, and social engagement. Collected here for the first time, these personal, autobiographical stories from peace activist and Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh perfectly illustrate his most essential teachings. The beauty of these simple lessons is that readers do not need to be versed in meditation or Buddhist practices to find peace, sanctuary, and sustenance here. Told with his signature clarity and humor, these stories are drawn from the long span o... continue
6.
Banyan Moon : A Novel by Thao Thai EN
Description:
A sweeping, evocative debut novel following three generations of Vietnamese American women reeling from the death of their matriarch, revealing the family's inherited burdens, buried secrets, and unlikely love stories. When Ann Tran gets the call that her fiercely beloved grandmother, Minh, has passed away, her life is already at a crossroads. In the years since she's last seen Minh, Ann has built a seemingly perfect life--a beautiful lake house, a charming professor boyfriend, and invites to elegant parties that bubble over with champagne and good taste--but it all crumbles with one positive ... continue
7.
Be Free Where You Are by Thich Nhat Hanh EN
Description:
Freedom is not given to us by anyone; we have to cultivate it ourselves. This compendium of the core teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, based on a talk given at a prison, shows how mindfulness practice can cultivate freedom no matter where you are.
8.
Butterfly Yellow by Thanhhà Lai EN
Description:
Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction! Perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo, Ibi Zoboi, and Erika L. Sanchez, this gorgeously written and deeply moving own voices novel is the YA debut from the award-winning author of Inside Out & Back Again. 4 starred reviews! In the final days of the Việt Nam War, Hằng takes her little brother, Linh, to the airport, determined to find a way to safety in America. In a split second, Linh is ripped from her arms--and Hằng is left behind in the war-torn country. Six years later, Hằng has made the brutal journey from Việt Nam and is now in Texa... continue
9.
Catfish and Mandala : A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam by Andrew X. Pham EN
Description:
A collection of memoirs recounting the journey of a Vietnamese-American touring Vietnam and the Pacific rim in search of cultural identity.
10.
Description:
An abandoned package is discovered in the Paris Metro: the subway workers suspect it's a terrorist bomb. A Vietnamese woman sitting nearby, her son asleep on her shoulder, waits and begins to reflect on her life, from her constrained childhood in communist Hanoi, to a long period of study in Lenin-grad during the Gorbachev period, and finally to the Parisian suburbs where she now teaches English. Through everything runs her passion for Thuy, the father of her son, a writer who lives in Saigon's Chinatown, and who, with the shadow of the China-Vietnam border war falling darkly between them, she... continue