Read Around Asia Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Asia.
Best books from Asia (1986)
1441.
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
1442.
Tasting the Sky : A Palestinian Childhood by Ibtisam Barakat EN
Description:
"When a war ends it does not go away," my mother says."It hides inside us . . . Just forget!" But I do not want to do what Mother says . . . I want to remember. In this groundbreaking memoir set in Ramallah during the aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War, Ibtisam Barakat captures what it is like to be a child whose world is shattered by war. With candor and courage, she stitches together memories of her childhood: fear and confusion as bombs explode near her home and she is separated from her family; the harshness of life in the Middle East as a Palestinian refugee; her unexpected joy when she di... continue
1443.
Country: Asia / 
Philippines
Philippines
Description:
‘A dazzling and virtuosic adventure’ Joseph O’Connor, author of Star of the Sea Internationally Bestselling Winner of the Man Asian Literary Prize 2008 ‘With Ilustrado, Miguel Syjuco obliges us to remake the canons of our great classics of contemporary literature. Ilustrado is, literally, a masterpiece’ Alberto Manguel It begins with a body. One anonymous winter day, the corpse of Crispin Salvador is pulled from the Hudson River. Gone is the controversial giant of Asian literature. And missing is the only manuscript of his final book, an exposé of the corrupt roots of the ruling Filipino famil... continue
1444.
Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) by Jose Rizal EN
Country: Asia / Philippines
Philippines
Description:
The great novel of the Philippines In more than a century since its appearance, José Rizal's Noli Me Tangere has become widely known as the great novel of the Philippines. A passionate love story set against the ugly political backdrop of repression, torture, and murder, "The Noli," as it is called in the Philippines, was the first major artistic manifestation of Asian resistance to European colonialism, and Rizal became a guiding conscience—and martyr—for the revolution that would subsequently rise up in the Spanish province. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher... continue
1445.
State of War by Ninotchka Rosca EN
Country: Asia / Philippines
Philippines
Description:
An endless festival amidst an endless war is the central image of this novel of the Philippines of the time of Marcos. Three young people seek relief from the suffocating repression and brutality of the Dictatorship by joining an ancient festival in the island of K----. They find instead that the war has followed them and that the festival is but a metaphor for an entire society and culture in conflict. The three find distinct destinies of death, liberation, affirmation and ultimately, salvation. This book is now considered a classic of Philippine literature.
1446.
The Mango Bride by Marivi Soliven EN
Country: Asia / Philippines
Philippines
Description:
Two women, two cultures, and the fight to find a new life in America, despite the secrets of the past… Banished by her wealthy Filipino family in Manila, Amparo Guerrero travels to Oakland, California, to forge a new life. Although her mother labels her life in exile a diminished one, Amparo believes her struggles are a small price to pay for freedom. Like Amparo, Beverly Obejas—an impoverished Filipina waitress—forsakes Manila and comes to Oakland as a mail-order bride in search of a better life. Yet even in the land of plenty, Beverly fails to find the happiness and prosperity she envisioned... continue
1447.
Smaller and Smaller Circles by F.H. Batacan EN
Country: Asia / Philippines
Philippines
Description:
This harrowing mystery, winner of the Philippine National Book Award, follows two Catholic priests on the hunt through Manila for a brutal serial killer Payatas, a 50-acre dump northeast of Manila’s Quezon City, is home to thousands of people who live off of what they can scavenge there. It is one of the poorest neighborhoods in a city whose law enforcement is already stretched thin, devoid of forensic resources and rife with corruption. So when the eviscerated bodies of preteen boys begin to appear in the dump heaps, there is no one to seek justice on their behalf. In the rainy summer of 1997... continue
1448.
Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay EN
Country: Asia / Philippines
Philippines
Description:
A NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST "Brilliant, honest, and equal parts heartbreaking and soul-healing." --Laurie Halse Anderson, author of SHOUT "A singular voice in the world of literature." --Jason Reynolds, author of Long Way Down A powerful coming-of-age story about grief, guilt, and the risks a Filipino-American teenager takes to uncover the truth about his cousin's murder. Jay Reguero plans to spend the last semester of his senior year playing video games before heading to the University of Michigan in the fall. But when he discovers that his Filipino cousin Jun was murdered as part of Presi... continue
1449.
Bibliolepsy by Gina Apostol EN
Country: Asia / Philippines
Philippines
Description:
Moving, sexy, and archly funny, Gina Apostol’s Philippine National Book Award-winning Bibliolepsy is a love letter to the written word and a brilliantly unorthodox look at the rebellion that brought down a dictatorship Gina Apostol’s debut novel, available for the first time in the US, tells of a young woman caught between a lifelong desire to escape into books and a real-world revolution. It is the mid-eighties, two decades into the kleptocratic, brutal rule of Ferdinand Marcos. The Philippine economy is in deep recession, and civil unrest is growing by the day. But Primi Peregrino has her ow... continue
1450.
The Night Tiger : A Novel by Yangsze Choo EN
Country: Asia / Philippines
Philippines
Description:
The Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “A sumptuous garden maze of a novel that immerses readers in a complex, vanished world.” —Kirkus (starred review) An utterly transporting novel set in 1930s colonial Malaysia, perfect for fans of Isabel Allende and Min Jin Lee Quick-witted, ambitious Ji Lin is stuck as an apprentice dressmaker, moonlighting as a dancehall girl to help pay off her mother’s Mahjong debts. But when one of her dance partners accidentally leaves behind a gruesome souvenir, Ji Lin may finally get the adventure she has been longin... continue