Popular Asian Memoir Books
Find memoir books written by authors from Asia for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (90)
21.
Friend of my Youth by Amit Chaudhuri EN
IndiaDescription:
A novelist named Amit Chaudhuri visits his childhood home of Bombay. The city, reeling from the memory of the 2008 terrorist attacks, weighs heavily on Amit's mind, as does the unexpected absence of his childhood friend Ramu, a drifting, opaque figure who is Amit's last remaining connection to the city he once called home.
22.
JordanDescription:
In her coming-of-age memoir, refugee advocate Luma Mufleh writes of her tumultuous journey to reconcile her identity as a gay Muslim woman and a proud Arab-turned-American refugee. With no word for “gay” in Arabic, Luma may not have known what to call the feelings she had growing up in Jordan during the 1980s, but she knew well enough to keep them secret. It was clear that not only would her family have trouble accepting her, but trapped in a conservative religious society, she could’ve also been killed if anyone discovered her sexuality. Luma spent her teenage years increasingly desperate to ... continue
23.
From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey by Pascal Khoo Thwe EN
MyanmarDescription:
A former Burma student rebel leader describes his tribal upbringing, experiences with political turmoil and poverty, participation in the insurrection of 1988, and flight to England, where he attended Cambridge University.
24.
Funny in Farsi : A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas EN
IranDescription:
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Finalist for the PEN/USA Award in Creative Nonfiction, the Thurber Prize for American Humor, and the Audie Award in Biography/Memoir This Random House Reader’s Circle edition includes a reading group guide and a conversation between Firoozeh Dumas and Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner! “Remarkable . . . told with wry humor shorn of sentimentality . . . In the end, what sticks with the reader is an exuberant immigrant embrace of America.”—San Francisco Chronicle In 1972, when she was seven, Firoozeh Dumas and her family moved from Iran to Southern California... continue
25.
Geisha : A Life by Mineko Iwasaki EN
JapanDescription:
A Kyoto geisha describes her initiation into an okiya at the age of four, the intricate training that made up most of her education, her successful career, and the traditions surrounding the geisha culture.
26.
Growing Up bin Laden : Osama's Wife and Son Take Us Inside Their Secret World by Najwa bin Laden, Omar bin Laden, Jean Sasson EN
SyriaDescription:
From the New York Times bestselling author of Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia In their own words, Osama bin Laden's wife and son tell the astonishing story of the man they knew—or thought they knew—before September 11, 2001. The world knows Osama bin Laden as the most wanted terrorist of our time. But people are not born terrorists, and bin Laden has carefully guarded the details of his private life—until now, when his first wife and fourth-born son break the silence to take us inside his strange and secret world. In spine-tingling detail, Jean Sasson tells their... continue
27.
Honor Lost : Love and Death in Modern-day Jordan by Norma Khouri EN
Description:
Dalia was a young, beautiful, Arabian Muslim living with her family in Amman, Jordan. This text gives a harrowing account by a Jordanian woman of the honour-killing of her lifelong friend at the hands of her own father, after she fell in love with a young Catholic man.
28.
Horse Barbie : A Memoir by Geena Rocero EN
Country: Asia / 
Philippines
Philippines
Description:
The heartfelt memoir of a trans pageant queen from the Philippines who went back into the closet to model in New York City—until she realized that living her truth was the only way to step into her full power. “Packed with grit, ferocity, and grace, Geena Rocero’s story proves that embracing who you are—in all your complexity, and in a world that often seems to think you’re simply not allowed—is a truly revolutionary act.”—Gabrielle Union-Wade As a young femme in 1990s Manila, Geena Rocero heard, “Bakla, bakla!,” a taunt aimed at her feminine sway, whenever she left the tiny universe of her es... continue
29.
House of Stone : A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East by Anthony Shadid EN
LebanonDescription:
Culture and institutions.
30.
I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai EN
PakistanDescription:
I come from a country which was created at midnight. When I almost died it was just after midday. When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education. On Tuesday 9 October 2012, she almost paid the ultimate price. Shot in the head at point blank range while riding the bus home from school, few expected her to survive. Instead, Malala's miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in Northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen,... continue