Popular Asian Biography Books
Find biography books written by authors from Asia for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (132)
11.
A Thousand Miles to Freedom : My Escape from North Korea by Ŭn-ju Kim, Eunsun Kim, Sébastien Falletti EN
Country: Asia / 
North Korea
North Korea
Description:
A woman who escaped North Korea as a girl with her mother relates the harrowing story of her nine-year journey to freedom.
12.
Afghanistan, Where God Only Comes to Weep by Siba Shakib EN
IranDescription:
One woman’s harrowing story about life under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Shirin-Gol was just a young girl when her village was levelled by the Russians in 1979. When the men in her family joined the resistance, she fled with the other women and children to Kabul, and so began a life of day-to-day struggle in her war-torn country. A life that included a Pakistani refugee camp, a forced marriage to pay off her brother’s gambling debts, selling her body and begging for money to feed her growing family, an attempted suicide and an unsuccessful attempt to leave Afghanistan for Iran after the... continue
13.
Singapore14.
Armenian Golgotha by Grigoris Balakian EN
TurkeyDescription:
On April 24, 1915, Grigoris Balakian was arrested along with some 250 other leaders of Constantinople’s Armenian community. It was the beginning of the Ottoman Empire’s systematic attempt to eliminate the Armenian people from Turkey—a campaign that continued through World War I and the fall of the empire. Over the next four years, Balakian would bear witness to a seemingly endless caravan of blood, surviving to recount his miraculous escape and expose the atrocities that led to over a million deaths. Armenian Golgotha is Balakian’s devastating eyewitness account—a haunting reminder of the firs... continue
15.
Armenian Golgotha by Grigoris Balakian EN
ArmeniaDescription:
On April 24, 1915, Grigoris Balakian was arrested along with some 250 other leaders of Constantinople’s Armenian community. It was the beginning of the Ottoman Empire’s systematic attempt to eliminate the Armenian people from Turkey—a campaign that continued through World War I and the fall of the empire. Over the next four years, Balakian would bear witness to a seemingly endless caravan of blood, surviving to recount his miraculous escape and expose the atrocities that led to over a million deaths. Armenian Golgotha is Balakian’s devastating eyewitness account—a haunting reminder of the firs... continue
16.
Aung San Suu Kyi : Politician, Prisoner, Parent by Wendy Law-Yone EN
MyanmarDescription:
A portrait of one of the most charismatic, but unknown, world leaders Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and crusader for democracy in Myanmar, is once again behind bars. Her resounding victory at the polls, and re-election to office as civilian head of state, was overturned by the February 2021 military coup - a move with ruinous consequences. Myanmar today is a country in extremis, war-torn and seemingly without salvation for the multitudes seeking an end to military rule. Aung San Suu Kyi has been here before. The first half of her political career was spent under house arrest. Bu... continue
17.
Autobiography of a Geisha by Sayo Masuda, G. G. Rowley EN
JapanDescription:
A geisha describes her sale to a geisha house at the age of six, her traditional training, her debut in 1940 at the age of sixteen, and her work at a hot-springs resort, where the realities of everyday life were far removed from the more recognized glamorous geisha quarter of Japan.
18.
Balcony on the Moon : Coming of Age in Palestine by Ibtisam Barakat EN
PalestineDescription:
“Endearing . . . lyrical . . . depicts an adolescence that will be simultaneously familiar to readers . . . and very different in its backdrop of 1970s Palestine.” —School Library Journal A Junior Library Guild Selection A Palestine Book Award Shortlist Selection A VOYA Nonfiction Honor Roll Selection A Skipping Stones Honor Book An Arab-American National Museum Honor Book A Bank Street College of Education Best Book An American Library Association/Amelia Bloomer Project Top Ten Book A Notable Book for a Global Society A News & Observer Newspaper’s Wilde Best Book Award Winner A Middle East Bo... continue
19.
Banker To The Poor : Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty by Muhammad Yunus EN
Country: Asia / 
Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Description:
Muhammad Yunus is that rare thing: a bona fide visionary. His dream is the total eradication of poverty from the world. In 1983, against the advice of banking and government officials, Yunus established Grameen, a bank devoted to providing the poorest of Bangladesh with minuscule loans. Grameen Bank, based on the belief that credit is a basic human right, not the privilege of a fortunate few, now provides over 2.5 billion dollars of micro-loans to more than two million families in rural Bangladesh. Ninety-four percent of Yunus's clients are women, and repayment rates are near 100 percent. Arou... continue
China