Read Around Asia Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Asia.
Best books from Asia (1972)
1751.
Da waren Tage : Roman by Luna Ali DE
SyriaDescription:
Aras nimmt die syrische Revolution zunächst aus der Entfernung wahr, geboren in Aleppo, aufgewachsen in Deutschland, ist er 2011 im ersten Semester seines Jurastudiums. Doch mit der Entgrenzung der Gewalt in Syrien wird der Konflikt mehr und mehr zum Teil seines Alltags. Im Hörsaal und in der Ausländerbehörde, beim Praktikum in Jordanien oder als Gast einer politischen Talkshow erlebt er den Jahrestag der Revolution jedes Jahr aufs Neue als Wechselspiel zwischen Realität und Imagination.
In ihrem eindrucksvollen Debütroman erzählt Luna Ali, wie sich die Erei... continue
1752.
Damascus Nights by Rafik Schami EN
Description:
Rafik Schami's award-winning novel. In the classical Arab tradition of tale-telling, here is a magical book that celebrates the power of storytelling, delightfully transformed for modern sensibilities by an award-winning author. The time is present-day Damascus, and Salim the coachman, the city's most famous storyteller, is mysteriously struck dumb. To break the spell, seven friends gather for seven nights to present Salim with seven wondrous "gifts"—seven stories of their own design. Upon this enchanting frame of tales told in the fragrant Arabian night, the words of the past grow fainter, as... continue
1753.
Crooked Teeth: A Queer Syrian Refugee Memoir by Danny Ramadan EN
Description:
FINALIST FOR THE GOVERNER GENERAL'S LITERARY AWARD FOR NON-FICTION SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2025 EVERGREEN AWARD AN AUDIBLE BEST BOOK OF 2024 A queer Syrian refugee reckons with a life spent out of place. “Writing this memoir is a betrayal.” So begins this electrifying personal account from Danny Ramadan, a celebrated novelist who has long enjoyed the shield his fiction provides. Now, to tell the story of his life, he must revisit dark corners of his past he’d rather forget and unearth memories of a city he can no longer return to. Starting with his family’s humble beginnings in Damascus, he takes ... continue
1754.
No One Prayed Over Their Graves by Khaled Khalifa EN
Description:
From the National Book Award finalist Khaled Khalifa, the story of two friends whose lives are altered by a 1907 flood that devastates their Syrian village. On a terrible December morning in 1907, two close friends, Hanna and Zakariya, return to their village near Aleppo after a night of drunken carousing in the city, only to discover that there has been a massive flood. Their neighbors, families, children—nearly all of them are dead. Their homes, shops, and places of worship are leveled. Their lives will never be the same. Hanna was once a wealthy libertine landowner who had built a famed cit... continue
1756.
Selamlik by Khaled Alesmael EN
Description:
An emotional and unflinching story about Arab masculinity and homoeroticism Furat, a Syrian in his early 20s, visits Sibki Park in Damascus, which serves as a gathering place for gay men from all over the city. He learns about the Hammams, secret meeting places for gays located throughout the old city. Inside these public baths, the air is thick with the scent of bay laurel soap, and naked men hide in the steam. Despite society, religion and regime disapproval, Furat finds the love he seeks just before being forced to flee as his world changes. Later on, Furat wakes up in a cold sweat at an as... continue
1757.
Sharon and My Mother-in-law : Ramallah Diaries by Suad Amiry EN
Description:
Based on diaries and e-mail correspondence that Amiry kept to maintain her sanity in the Occupied Territories from 1981 to 2004, this series of vignettes describes the frustrations, cabin fever, and downright misery of daily life in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
1758.
Oswald: Return of the King by Edoardo Albert EN
Description:
The second book in the series The Northumbrian Thrones. After the death of Edwin, who slew his father, the young prince Oswald seeks to regain the throne.
1759.
Sour Grapes by Zakaria Tamer EN
Description:
Set in the Syrian neighborhood of al-Qaweyq, Sour Grapes is a collection of fifty-nine wry, satirical short stories loosely connected by a cast of rotating characters living at society’s margins. Tamer captures their everyday lives, weaving the attendant cruelties and ironies of living under an oppressive regime with the residents’ irreverence and small acts of defiance. Inspired by the heroines of Arab mythology, the women of al-Qaweyq navigate the patriarchal community with brash confidence and dark humor while the younger generation of children inherit a bitter cynicism from their fathers. ... continue
1760.
My Road from Damascus by Jamal Saeed EN
Description:
Humorous, witty, horrific, and poetic, Jamal Saeed's story is Syria's story: surviving 12 years in brutal military prisons, an enchanted childhood, his loves, Syria's deadly upheavals, and his family's escape.