Read Around Asia Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Asia.
Best books from Asia (1972)
1771.
The Blind Earthworm in the Labyrinth by Wīraphō̜n Nitipraphā EN
ThailandDescription:
"Mesmerizing and unputdownable - a virtuoso translation of what must surely be one of the best Thai novels to make it into English." - Lawrence Osborne, author of Hunters in the Dark and Only to Sleep "At its core, this novel from Veeraporn Nitiprapha has a simple dynamic: the tension between two sisters, and the young man whose life interweaves with each of theirs. What makes this novel unique is its attention to the granular, whether it's the music that several of its characters obsess over or its author's tendency to fill in the history or future of a specific character at a moment's notic... continue
1772.
The Sad Part was by Prāpdā Yun EN
Description:
Winner of a PEN Translates! grant. Selected as a 'book to look out for in 2017' by The Guardian and BuzzFeed Books. In these witty, postmodern stories, Yoon riffs on pop culture, experiments with punctuation, flirts with sci-fi and, in a metafictional twist, mocks his own position as omnipotent author. Highly literary, his narratives offer an oblique reflection of contemporary Bangkok life, exploring the bewildering disjunct and oft-hilarious contradictions of a modernity that is at odds with many traditional Thai ideas on relationships, family, school and work. Praise for The Sad Part Was 'Ev... continue
1773.
The Moon Represents My Heart by Pim Wangtechawat EN
Description:
Soon to be a major Netflix series, The Moon Represents My Heart is a lush, hopeful novel, for fans of The Immortalists and Everything I Never Told You, that follows a Chinese-British family of time travelers as they seek connections over borders--both national borders and those created by time. A love lost in time. An eternity to find it. The Wang family is hiding a secret--they all have the ability to time travel. When parents Joshua and Lily depart for the past and never return, their children Tommy and Eva are forced to deal with their grief alone. Eva tries to find her place in the present... continue
1774.
The Understory by Saneh Sangsuk EN
Description:
A novel of man's relationship with nature, power, and the vitality of storytelling, from beloved Thai author Saneh Sangsuk. The lovable, yarnspinning monk Luang Paw Tien, now in his nineties, is the last person in his village to bear witness to the power and plenitude of the jungle before agrarian and then capitalist life took over his community. Nightly, he entertains the children of his village with tales from his younger years: his long pilgrimage to India, his mother’s dreams of a more stable life through agriculture, his proud huntsman father who resisted those dreams, and his love, who l... continue
1775.
Sea of Strangers by Lang Leav EN
Description:
This completely original collection of poetry and prose will not only delight her avid fans but is sure to capture the imagination of a whole new audience. With the turn of every page, Sea of Strangers invites you to go beyond love and loss to explore themes of self-discovery and empowerment as you navigate your way around the human heart.
1776.
A True Good Thai by Sunisa Manning EN
Description:
In 1970s Thailand, three young people meet each other with fateful results. Det has just lost his mother, the granddaughter of a king. He clings to his best friend Chang, a smart boy from the slums, as they go to college; while there, Det falls for Lek, a Chinese immigrant with radical ideals. Longing for glory, Det journeys into his friends’ political circles, and then into the Thai jungle to fight. During Thailand’s most famous period of political and artistic openness, these three friends must reconcile their deep feelings for one another with the realities of perilous political... continue
1777.
La sombra blanca : retrato del artista canalla by Saneh Sangsuk ES
Description:
Un auténtico descubrimiento. Una novela-monstruo, furiosa, fulgurante y venenosa, de un extraño lirismo, que pulveriza los clichés occidentales sobre Bangkok. Recluido en una cabaña en medio de ningún sitio, un hombre decide confesar. Acuciado por la urgencia, como si la muerte estuviera cercana, empieza a hablar. Pero lo que al principio parece una simple declaración amorosa, va transformándose a lo largo de las páginas en un terrible retorno al pasado.
La sombra blanca es una novela autobiográfica en la que Saneh Sangsuk emprend... continue
1778.
Welcome Me to the Kingdom : Stories by Mai Nardone EN
Description:
An immersive debut set across the temples, slums, and gated estates of late-twentieth century Bangkok, Welcome Me to the Kingdom tells the story of three families striving to control their own destinies in a merciless, sometimes brutally violent, metropolis. We came with the drought. From the window of the train, the rich brown of the Chao Phraya River marked the turn from the northeast into the central plains. We came for Bangkok on the delta. The thin tributaries that laced the provinces found full current at the capital. And in the city, we’d heard, the wealth was wide and deep. In 1980, yo... continue
1779.
Arid Dreams : Stories by Duanwad Pimwana EN
Description:
From Thailand's preeminent contemporary female writer, Duanwad Pimwana's first English-language collection is a social realist exploration of Thai culture.
1780.
The Latehomecomer : A Hmong Family Memoir by Kao Kalia Yang EN
Description:
One Hmong family's harrowing escape from war in Laos to the uncertainty of a new home as refugees in Minnesota.