Books from Indonesia
17 popular indonesian books
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
The target of the Read Around The World Challenge is to read at least one book written by an author from each and every country in the world.
All books that are listed here as part of the "Read Around Asia Challenge" were written by authors from Indonesia.
Find a great book for the next part of your reading journey around the world from this book list. The following popular books have been recommended so far.
11.
Potions and Paper Cranes by Lan Fang EN
Description:
Sulis is a young woman selling potions in Surabaya's harbor district. She meets Sujono, a coolie with dreams of becoming a freedom fighter, and whose passion for Matsumi, a geisha called to Java by a Japanese general, is destined to ruin all of them. In Potions and Paper Cranes, each tells the story of their lives during the end of World War II and Indonesia's transition from a Dutch colony to an independent republic.
12.
Shackles: Novel by Armijn Pane EN
Description:
Doctor Sukartono, able and devoted to his work, and his wife, Tini, a beautiful and independent woman, find their marriage devoid of communication and warmth. Tini feels herself the victim of her husbands medical practice and refuses to play the role of devoted and self-sacrificing wife. Sukartono is unable to understand his wife's rebellion and, in the mists of this inner confusion, meets Rohayah, a woman who is ready to give him the security he lacks at home. Sukartono, Tini, and Rohayah, the love triangle of this story, illustrate the confusion that was felt by the pre-war and pre-independe... continue
13.
The Majesties : A Novel by Tiffany Tsao EN
Description:
In this “bold and dramatic portrayal of characters on the cusp of an impossible choice” (Publishers Weekly), two sisters from a wealthy Chinese-Indonesian family grapple with secrets and betrayal after one of them poisons their entire family. Gwendolyn and Estella have always been as close as sisters can be. Growing up in a wealthy, eminent, and sometimes deceitful family, they’ve relied on each other for support and confidence. But now Gwendolyn is lying in a coma, the sole survivor of Estella’s poisoning of their whole clan. As Gwendolyn struggles to regain consciousness, she desperately ret... continue
14.
The Rainbow Troops by Andrea Hirata EN
Description:
Andrea Hirata is an Indonesian novelist. His debut novel The Rainbow Troops (known as Laskar Pelangi in Indonesia) shattered national sales records, making him the best selling author in Indonesia to date, reached over 5 millions readers, and contributed significantly to the development of modern Indonesian literature. The Rainbow Troops, set on Belitong Island, Indonesia, tells the story of a tight-knit group of students and their teachers fighting for education and dignity, even as they face continual hardship. Fabulously rich in natural resources, Belitong is also home to chronic poverty an... continue
15.
The Ten Thousand Things by Maria Dermout EN
Description:
In Wild, Cheryl Strayed writes of The Ten Thousand Things: "Each of Dermoût’s sentences came at me like a soft knowing dagger, depicting a far-off land that felt to me like the blood of all the places I used to love.” And it's true, The Ten Thousand Things is at once novel of shimmering strangeness—and familiarity. It is the story of Felicia, who returns with her baby son from Holland to the Spice Islands of Indonesia, to the house and garden that were her birthplace, over which her powerful grandmother still presides. There Felicia finds herself wedded to an uncanny and dangerous world, full ... continue
16.
This Earth of Mankind by Pramoedya Ananta Toer EN
Description:
Minke is a young Javanese student of great intelligence and ambition. Living equally among the colonists and colonized of 19th-century Java, he battles against the confines of colonial strictures. It is his love for Annelies that enables him to find the strength to embrace his world.
17.
Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto EN
Description:
A lonely shopkeeper takes it upon herself to solve a murder in the most peculiar way in this captivating mystery by Jesse Q. Sutanto, bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties. Vera Wong is a lonely little old lady—ah, lady of a certain age—who lives above her forgotten tea shop in the middle of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Despite living alone, Vera is not needy, oh no. She likes nothing more than sipping on a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy detective work on the Internet about what her Gen-Z son is up to. Then one morning, Vera trudges downstairs to find a curious thing—a dead man in ... continue