Read Around Asia Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Asia.
Best books from Asia (1981)
1111.
The Dead Wander in the Desert by Rollan Seisenbayev EN
Country: Asia / 
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Description:
From Kazakhstan's most celebrated author comes his powerful and timely English-language debut about a fisherman's struggle to save the Aral Sea, and its way of life, from man-made ecological disaster. Unfolding on the vast grasslands of the steppes of Kazakhstan before its independence from the USSR, this haunting novel limns the struggles of the world through the eyes of Nasyr, a simple fisherman and village elder, and his resolute son, Kakharman. Both father and son confront the terrible future that is coming to the poisoned Aral Sea. Once the fourth-largest lake on earth, it is now an impen... continue
1112.
Amanat: Women's Writing from Kazakhstan by Zaure Batayeva, Shelley Fairweather-Vega EN
Country: Asia / Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Description:
An unprecedented collection of women's voices from the heart of Central Asia. From the foreword by Gabriel Mcguire: "I cannot think of anything quite like ... Amanat." A man is arrested for a single typo, a woman gets on buses at random, and two friends reunite in a changed world.... Diverse in form, scope and style, Amanat brings together the voices of thirteen female Kazakhstani writers, to offer a glimpse into the many lives, stories, and histories of one of the largest countries to emerge from the breakup of the Soviet Union. The twenty-four stories in Amanat, translated into English from ... continue
1113.
THE TRAGEDY OF A BASTARD by Saule Doszhan EN
Country: Asia / Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Description:
Poignant and poetic novel, it tells the story of Nurzhan, the clever young medic son of a single mother, banned from marrying Moldir the love of his life, because of his lack of paternal ancestry.
1115.
A Life at Noon by Talasbek Asemkulov EN
Country: Asia / Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Description:
"Azhigerei is growing up in Soviet Kazakhstan, learning the ancient art of the kuy from his musician father. But with the music comes knowledge about his country, his family, and the past that is at times difficult to bear. Based on the author's own family history, A Life at Noon provides us a glimpse into a time and place Western literature has rarely seen as the first post-Soviet novel from Kazakhstan to appear in English"--
1116.
To Hell with Poets by Baqytgul Sarmekova EN
Country: Asia / Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Description:
The first English-language collection from the rising star of a new generation of Kazakh writers.
Vivid, hilarious and unsettling, the tragicomic characters of To Hell with Poets reflect the inner discord of the modern Kazakh. The stories move between the city and the aul, postsocialist and capitalist worlds, tradition and modernity. Incisive and unapologetic, Sarmekova refuses to hold back, offering a sharp and honest rendering of daily life in Kazakhstan.
Winner, 2023 English PEN Translates Award
1117.
The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko EN
Country: Asia / Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Description:
Walking the streets of Moscow, indistinguishable from the rest of its population, are the Others. Possessors of supernatural powers and capable of entering the Twilight, a shadowy parallel world existing in parallel to our own, each Other owes allegiance either to the Dark or the Light. The Night Watch, first book in the Night Watch series, follows Anton, a young Other owing allegiance to the Light. As a Night Watch agent he must patrol the streets and metro of the city, protecting ordinary people from the vampires and magicians of the Dark. When he comes across Svetlana, a young woman under a... continue
1118.
Ballad of Forgotten Years by Abish Kekilbayev EN
Country: Asia / Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Description:
Here is a novella of ancient times, of savage retribution - of torture and hostage-taking - between the feuding Kazakhs and Turkmen. It tells of crude chieftainly honor and vengeance. Its material is drawn from the oral tradition and folk memory of today's Kazakhs, whose nomadic way of life was sacrificed to Communism generations ago. It is a product of meticulous research. The single redemptive theme is that of music, specifically the lute in the hands of a young Turkman heir to the chieftaincy, Daulet, who strives to end the vendetta by the beauty of his art. The consequences of Daulet's end... continue
1120.
Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa EN
KuwaitDescription:
A heart-wrenching, powerfully written novel, spanning three generations of a Palestinian family through love and loss, war and oppression OVER A MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE THE 15TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION 'A powerful and passionate insight into what many Palestinians have had to endure' Michael Palin 'Abulhawa possesses the heart of a warrior' Alice Walker _____________________________________ Palestine, 1948. A mother clutches her baby son as Israeli soldiers march through the village of Ein Hod. In a split second, he is snatched from her arms – and the fate of the Abulheja family is changed f... continue