Read Around Asia Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Asia.
Best books from Asia (1973)
271.
Owlish by Dorothy Tse EN
ChinaDescription:
With your face covered, sneaking into a city you thought you knew, are you still yourself? Or have you crossed to another world, where the streets are unpredictable and the people strangers, where you might at any moment run into some unknown dream version of yourself? In a city called Nevers, there lives a professor of literature called Q. He has a dull marriage and a lacklustre career, but also a scrumptious collection of antique dolls locked away in his cupboard. And soon Q lands his crowning acquisition- a music box ballerina named Aliss who has tantalisingly sprung to life. Guided by his ... continue
272.
Falling Leaves : The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah EN
Description:
The emotionally wrenching yet ultimately uplifting memoir of a Chinese woman struggling to win the love and acceptance of her family. Born in 1937 in a port city a thousand miles north of Shanghai, Adeline Yen Mah was the youngest child of an affluent Chinese family who enjoyed rare privileges during a time of political and cultural upheaval. But wealth and position could not shield Adeline from a childhood of appalling emotional abuse at the hands of a cruel and manipulative stepmother. Determined to survive through her enduring faith in family unity, Adeline struggled for independence as she... continue
273.
Empress Orchid by Anchee Min EN
Description:
From a master of the historical novel, Empress Orchid sweeps readers into the heart of the Forbidden City to tell the fascinating story of a young concubine who becomes China's last empress. Min introduces the beautiful Tzu Hsi, known as Orchid, and weaves an epic of a country girl who seized power through seduction, murder, and endless intrigue. When China is threatened by enemies, she alone seems capable of holding the country together. In this "absorbing companion piece to her novel Becoming Madame Mao" (New York Times), readers and reading groups will once again be transported by Min's lav... continue
275.
276.
The Crazed : A Novel by Ha Jin EN
Description:
Professor Yang, a respected teacher of literature, has had a stroke and it falls to Jian Wan - who is also engaged to Yang's daughter - to care for him. It initially seems a simple duty until the professor begins to rave, pleading with invisible tormentors and denouncing his family... Are these just manifestations of illness, or is Yang spewing up the truth? In a China convulsed by the Tiananmen uprising, those who listen to the truth are as much at risk as those who speak it. Lyrical and heart-breaking, The Crazed is an incisive portrait of modern Chinese society.
277.
Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang EN
Description:
NATIONAL BESTSELLER A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK Finalist for the New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award Longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Award Longlisted for the Carol Shields Prize Longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NPR, HARPER'S BAZAAR, TOWN & COUNTRY, KIRKUS REVIEWS, ESQUIRE, ELECTRIC LITERATURE, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN AND MORE! “One of the most pleasurable, inventive reads of the year… fiendishly, deliciously fun."—San Francisco Chronicle "A profound exploration of human nature, the allure of pleasure and the choices we make in the ... continue
278.
Invisible Kitties by Yu Yoyo EN
Description:
'Cat was everywhere at once, splayed in all directions but too soft to get in our way...' Discover this captivating, inventive debut, perfect for fans of The Guest Cat and If Cats Disappeared from the World.
279.
Sidetracks by Bei Dao EN
Description:
A lyrical masterpiece by the internationally renowned poet with a "Whitman-like rhetorical immensity coupled with a passionately eccentric sensibility" (Carol Muske Dukes, Los Angeles Times)
280.
Description:
The sweeping history of modern China through the lens of the nation's controversial one-child policy. Frog opens with a playwright nicknamed Tadpole who plans to write about his aunt. In her youth, Gugu-- the beautiful daughter of a famous doctor and staunch Communist-- is revered for her skill as a midwife. But when her lover defects, Gugu's own loyalty to the Party is questioned. She decides to prove her allegiance by strictly enforcing the one-child policy, keeping tabs on the number of children in the village, and performing abortions on women as many as eight months pregnant.--