Popular Asian Contemporary Fiction Books
Find contemporary fiction books written by authors from Asia for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (102)
1.
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World by Elif Shafak EN
TurkeyDescription:
'In the first minute following her death, Tequila Leila's consciousness began to ebb, slowly and steadily, like a tide receding from the shore. Her brain cells, having run out of blood, were now completely deprived of oxygen. But they did not shut down. Not right away . . . ' Our brains stay active for ten minutes after our heart stops beating. For Tequila Leila, each minute brings with it a new memory- growing up with her father and his two wives in a grand old house in a quiet Turkish town; watching the women gossip and wax their legs while the men went to mosque; sneaking cigarettes and Wes... continue
2.
10 minutes et 38 secondes dans ce monde étrange by Elif Shafak FR
Description:
Et si notre esprit fonctionnait encore quelques instants après notre mort biologique ? 10 minutes et 38 secondes exactement. C'est ce qui arrive à Tequila Leila, prostituée brutalement assassinée dans une rue d'Istanbul. Du fond de la benne à ordures dans laquelle on l'a jetée, elle entreprend alors un voyage vertigineux au gré de ses souvenirs, d'Anatolie jusqu'aux quartiers les plus mal famés de la ville. En retraçant le parcours de cette jeune fille de bonne famille dont le destin a basculé, Elif Shafak nous raconte aussi l'histoire de nombre de femmes dans la Turquie d'aujourd'hui. A l'aff... continue
3.
Absent : A Novel by Betool Khedairi EN
IraqDescription:
Dalal is a young woman living in a crowded Baghdad apartment with the childless aunt and uncle who raised her. In the same building, Umm Mazin, a fortune-teller, offers her customers cures for their physical and romantic ailments, Saad the hairdresser attends to a dwindling number of female customers, and Ilham, a nurse, escapes the stark realities of her hospital job in dreams of her long-lost French mother. Despite the damaging effects of bombings and international sanctions on their world, all the residents try to maintain normal lives. Hoping to bring in much-needed cash by selling honey, ... continue
4.
Against the Loveless World : A Novel by Susan Abulhawa EN
KuwaitDescription:
From the internationally bestselling author of the “terrifically affecting” (The Philadelphia Inquirer) Mornings in Jenin, a sweeping and lyrical novel that follows a young Palestinian refugee as she slowly becomes radicalized while searching for a better life for her family throughout the Middle East, for readers of international literary bestsellers including Washington Black, My Sister, The Serial Killer, and Her Body and Other Parties. As Nahr sits, locked away in solitary confinement, she spends her days reflecting on the dramatic events that landed her in prison in a country she barely k... continue
5.
All of this is True by Lygia Day Peñaflor EN
Country: Asia / 
Philippines
Philippines
Description:
MIRI loves the novel Undertow like it's a living being. So when she and her friends get the chance to meet the author, Fatima Ro, they plot a way to get closer to her. As for what happened with Jonah ... Well, obviously none of that was Fatima's fault.SOLEIL wants to be a writer herself one day. She can't believe it when Fatima asks them to hang out with her - and having Jonah there makes it even better.PENNY is more than the party girl everyone thinks she is, and she's willing to share her darkest secrets with Fatima to prove it. But what will happen when Fatima finds out about Jonah? All of ... continue
6.
All This Could Be Different : A Novel by Sarah Thankam Mathews EN
IndiaDescription:
2022 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST A New York Times Editors' Choice Pick “One of the buzziest, most human novels of the year…breathless, dizzying, and completely beautiful.” —Vogue “Dazzling and wholly original...[written] with such mordant wit, insight, and specificity, it feels like watching a new literary star being born in real time.” –Entertainment Weekly From a brilliant new voice comes an electrifying novel of a young immigrant building a life for herself—a warm, dazzling, and profound saga of queer love, friendship, work, and precarity in twenty-first century America Graduating into the... continue
7.
Almost Transparent Blue by Ryu Murakami EN
JapanDescription:
This controversial novel touched the raw nerves of the Japanese and became a million seller within six months of publication. It is a semi-autobiographical tale of the author's youth spent amidst the glorious squalor of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll in 1970s Japan. Almost Transparent Blue is a brutal tale of lost youth in a Japanese port town close to an American military base. Murakami's image-intensive narrative paints a portrait of a group of friends locked in a destructive cycle of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll. The novel is all but plotless, but the raw and
8.
Description:
A riveting, suspenseful, and exuberant novel from the bestselling, Man Booker Prize–winning author of The White Tiger and Selection Day about a young illegal immigrant who must decide whether to report crucial information about a murder—and thereby risk deportation. Danny—formerly Dhananjaya Rajaratnam—is an illegal immigrant in Sydney, Australia, denied refugee status after he fled from Sri Lanka. Working as a cleaner, living out of a grocery storeroom, for three years he’s been trying to create a new identity for himself. And now, with his beloved vegan girlfriend, Sonja, with his hidden acc... continue
9.
An Abundance of Wild Roses by Feryal Ali-Gauhar EN
PakistanDescription:
In the Black Mountains of Pakistan, the discovery of an unconscious, unknown man is the first snowball in an avalanche of chaos. The head of the village is beset with problems – including the injured stranger – and failing to find his way out. His daughter receives a love letter and incurs her father’s wrath. A lame boy foretells disaster, but nobody is listening. Trapped in terrible danger, a wolf-dog is battling ice and death to save a soldier’s life. Beaten by her addict husband for bearing him only daughters, a woman is pregnant again – but can this child save her? As the elements turn on ... continue
10.
An Unlasting Home : A Novel by Mai Al-Nakib EN
Description:
The debut novel from an award-winning short story writer: a multigenerational saga spanning Lebanon, Iraq, India, the United States, and Kuwait that brings to life the triumphs and failures of three generations of Arab women. In 2013, Sara is a philosophy professor at Kuwait University, having returned to Kuwait from Berkeley in the wake of her mother's sudden death eleven years earlier. Her main companions are her grandmother's talking parrot, Bebe Mitu; the family cook, Aasif; and Maria, her childhood ayah and the one person who has always been there for her. Sara's relationship with Kuwait ... continue