Read Around Asia Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Asia.
Best books from Asia (1981)
1021.
The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon by Sei Shōnagon EN
JapanDescription:
The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon is a fascinating, detailed account of Japanese court life in the eleventh century. Written by a lady of the court at the height of Heian culture, this book enthralls with its lively gossip, witty observations, and subtle impressions. Lady Shonagon was an erstwhile rival of Lady Murasaki, whose novel, The Tale of Genji, fictionalized the elite world Lady Shonagon so eloquently relates. Featuring reflections on royal and religious ceremonies, nature, conversation, poetry, and many other subjects, The Pillow Book is an intimate look at the experiences and outlook o... continue
1022.
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto FR
Description:
Que faire à vingt ans, après la mort d'une grand-mère, quand on se retrouve sans famille et qu'on aime les cuisines plus que tout au monde? Se pelotonner contre le frigo, chercher dans son ronronnement un prélude au sommeil, un remède à la solitude. Cette vie semi-végétative de Mikage, l'héroïne de Kitchen, est un jour troublée par un garçon. Yûichi Tanabe, qui l'invite à partager l'appartement où il loge avec sa mère. Mikage s'installe donc en parasite chez les Tanabe : tombée instantanément amoureuse de leur magnifique cuisine, elle est séduite par Eriko, la " mère " de Yûichi. Eriko, person... continue
1023.
La mort en été by Yukio Mishima FR
Description:
Dix nouvelles sont ici rassemblées. Elles reflètent tout à la fois la diversité des talents de Mishima - art du détail comme du développement thématique, art de la description comme de l'ellipse - et de la diversité des univers qu'il pénètre. Les hommes d'affaires et leurs épouses, les geishas, les gens du peuple, les acteurs du kabuki, le vieux prêtre du temple de Shiga et les soldats finissent par composer un Japon moderne en butte à ses traditions séculaires. Et tout est là : l'amour vénal, l'amour sublime et sacrilège ; la perversion des femmes et du monde de l'argent ; les superstitions e... continue
1024.
1025.
Description:
'Kanae Minato is a brilliant storyteller' Emily St John Mandel, author of Station Eleven When a group of young girls are approached by a stranger, they cannot know that the encounter will haunt them for the rest of their lives. Hours later, Emily is dead. The surviving girls alone can identify the killer. But not one of them remembers his face... Driven mad by grief, the victim's mother demands the girls find the murderer or else atone for their crimes. If they do neither, she will have her revenge. She will make them pay... From the critically acclaimed author of Confessions, Penance is a dar... continue
1026.
The Samurai by Shusaku Endo EN
Description:
Winner of the 1980 Noma Literary Prize - a darkly absorbing portrayal of the first ever Japanese voyage to cross the Pacific Ocean by the author of Silence In 17th-century Japan, a diplomatic mission sets sail for the West. Among those facing the combined perils of the sea and foreign courts are ambitious Spanish missionary Pedro Velasco, and Hasekura Rokuemon, a disregarded samurai determined to recover his family's standing. They travel to Mexico City, Rome and back - but Japan's new rulers are persecuting Christians, and if the men survive the journey, they may not survive their homecoming.... continue
1027.
Spy x Family, Vol. 1 by Tatsuya Endo EN
Description:
An action-packed comedy about a fake family that includes a spy, an assassin and a telepath! Master spy Twilight is unparalleled when it comes to going undercover on dangerous missions for the betterment of the world. But when he receives the ultimate assignment—to get married and have a kid—he may finally be in over his head! Not one to depend on others, Twilight has his work cut out for him procuring both a wife and a child for his mission to infiltrate an elite private school. What he doesn’t know is that the wife he’s chosen is an assassin and the child he’s adopted is a telepath!... continue
1028.
Description:
Novelist Hiromi Goto effortlessly blends wry, observational slice-of-life literary fiction with elements of the fantastic in the tender and gripping graphic novel Shadow Life, with haunting art from debut artist Ann Xu. When Kumiko’s well-meaning adult daughters place her in an assisted living home, the seventy-six-year-old widow gives it a try, but it’s not where she wants to be. She goes on the lam and finds a cozy bachelor apartment, keeping the location secret even while communicating online with her eldest daughter. Kumiko revels in the small, daily pleasures: decorating as she pleases, e... continue
1029.
Formosan Vampire : From the Chronicles of Seth Ardelean the Cro-magnon Vampire by Amadeus Rockefeller EN
Description:
The Award Winning epic novel about the life of a 42,000 year old Cro-Magnon man who became a vampire king and ruled the most fearsome empire in history. In the shadowy depths of Taiwan's infamous Lyudao Island Prison, a figure shrouded in enigma and terror awaits his fate on death row. Known to a few as Seth, the formidable leader of the Dark Order, a clandestine legion of vampires, this entity's true identity remains a mystery. Why would a being of such power and darkness willingly surrender to mortal chains? It isn't until Eunice Wang, a tenacious young paralegal, steps into the cell of this... continue
1030.
Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami EN
Description:
High-class call girls billed to Mastercard. A psychic 13-year-old dropout with a passion for Talking Heads. A hunky matinee idol doomed to play dentists and teachers. A one-armed beach-combing poet, an uptight hotel clerk and one very bemused narrator cau