Read Around Asia Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Asia.
Best books from Asia (1975)
301.
Bronze and Sunflower by Cao Wenxuan EN
ChinaDescription:
A beautifully written, timeless tale by Cao Wenxuan, best-selling Chinese author and 2016 recipient of the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award. Sunflower is an only child, and when her father is sent to the rural Cadre School, she has to go with him. Her father is an established artist from the city and finds his new life of physical labor and endless meetings exhausting. Sunflower is lonely and longs to play with the local children in the village across the river. When her father tragically drowns, Sunflower is taken in by the poorest family in the village, a family with a son named Bro... continue
302.
Description:
Narrated by Maple, a less than passionate Maoist whose father is imprisoned for a minor crime, a powerful story of desire during the time of the Cultural Revolution follows Wild Ginger, who, due to tragic circumstances, embraces Maoism and soon becomes a national model for Maoism, which prohibits romantic love, forcing her to make a difficult decision when she falls in love with a young man. Reprint.
303.
To the Sky Kingdom by Tang Qi EN
Description:
When the immortal Bai Qian finally meets her intended husband, the heir to the Sky Throne, she considers herself in luck--until an old enemy returns to threaten everything she holds dear.... When a mortal woman enters the immortal world to be with her true love, she sparks a jealousy that ends in tragedy.... And when a war god depletes his spiritual energy, his devoted student sustains his body with her own heart's blood until the god's scattered soul reassembles.... Spanning a thousand years of tangled lives, To the Sky Kingdom is a story of epic battles, passion, evil, and magic. In its jour... continue
304.
A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas EN
Description:
USA Today bestselling author Sherry Thomas turns the story of the renowned Sherlock Holmes upside down in the first novel in this Victorian mystery series.... With her inquisitive mind, Charlotte Holmes has never felt comfortable with the demureness expected of the fairer sex in upper class society. But even she never thought that she would become a social pariah, an outcast fending for herself on the mean streets of London. When the city is struck by a trio of unexpected deaths and suspicion falls on her sister and her father, Charlotte is desperate to find the true culprits and clear the fam... continue
306.
The Double Life of Benson Yu by Kevin Chong EN
Description:
"In a Chinatown housing project lives twelve-year-old Benny, his ailing grandmother, and his strange neighbor Constantine, a man who believes he's a reincarnated medieval samurai. When his grandmother is hospitalized, Benny manages to survive on his own until a social worker comes snooping. With no other family, he is reluctantly taken in by Constantine and soon, an unlikely bond forms between the two. At least, that's what Yu, the narrator of the story, wants to write. The creator of a bestselling comic book, Yu is struggling with continuing the poignant tale of Benny and Constantine and can'... continue
308.
Description:
Un escritor chino, cuyo matrimonio se ha desmoronado, viaja al Tíbet. Mientras deambula por la campiña, presencia el entierro celestial de una mujer tibetana fallecida durante el parto, comparte una tienda de campaña con un nómada que camina hacia una montaña sagrada para pedir perdón por acostarse con su hija, conoce a un platero que ha colgado el cadáver de su amante, secado al viento, en las paredes de su cueva, y escucha la historia de una joven lama encarnada que murió durante un rito de iniciación budista. En el aire enrareci... continue
309.
Raise the Red Lantern: Three Novellas by Su Tong EN
Description:
Lotus, a young college student is forced by her father's death to give up her studies and marry into wealth. RAISE THE RED LANTERN is her hauntingly beautiful, nightmarish tale, and that of the other three concubines who are competing for the sexual attentions of their master in a stifling, 1930s rural clan house. It explores a world where relationships rarely reach fruition, as emotionally stunted men thoughtlessly destroy the women in their lives. The conflicts that emerge as a result of this oppression and claustrophobia are seemingly insurmountable. But Lotus, the Fourth mistress, is defia... continue
310.
If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang EN
Description:
"Utterly unique, thought-provoking, and wonderfully written... a thrilling ride that hooked me from start to finish." --Gloria Chao, author of American Panda and Rent a Boyfriend In this genre-bending, speculative YA debut, a Chinese American girl monetizes her strange new invisibility powers by discovering and selling her wealthy classmates' most scandalous secrets. Alice Sun has always felt invisible at her elite Beijing international boarding school, where she's the only scholarship student among China's most rich and influential teens. But then she starts uncontrollably turning invisible--... continue