Read Around Asia Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Asia.
Best books from Asia (1403)
1231.
The Shell : Memoirs of a Hidden Observer by Moustafa Khalifa EN
SyriaDescription:
The work of a moder-day Sozhenitsyn that exposes acts of violence and brutality committed by the Syrian regime. This compelling first novel is the astonishing story of a Syrian political prisoner of conscience—an atheist mistaken for a radical Islamist—who was locked up for 13 years without trial in one of the most notorious prisons in the Middle East. The novel takes the form of a diary which Musa keeps in his head and then writes down upon his release. In Tadmur prison, the mood is naturally bleak and yet often very beautifully captured. The narrator, a young graduate, is defiant and stoical... continue
1232.
Death is Hard Work by Khaled Khalifa EN
Description:
FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR TRANSLATED LITERATURE A dogged, absurd quest through the nightmare of the Syrian civil war Khaled Khalifa’s Death Is Hard Work is the new novel from the greatest chronicler of Syria’s ongoing and catastrophic civil war: a tale of three ordinary people facing down the stuff of nightmares armed with little more than simple determination. Abdel Latif, an old man from the Aleppo region, dies peacefully in a hospital bed in Damascus. His final wish, conveyed to his youngest son, Bolbol, is to be buried in the family plot in their ancestral village of Anabiya... continue
1233.
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
Description:
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
1234.
The Sea Cloak & other stories by Nayrouz Qarmout EN
Description:
A collection of 14 stories by the author, journalist, and women's rights campaigner, Nayrouz Qarmout. Drawing from her own experiences growing up in a Syrian refugee camp, as well as her current life in Gaza, these stories stitch together a patchwork of different perspectives into what it means to be a woman in Palestine today. Whether following the daily struggles of orphaned children fighting to survive in the rubble of recent bombardments, or mapping the complex, cultural tensions between different generations of refugees in wider Gazan society, these stories offer rare insights into one of... continue
1235.
The Proof of the Honey by Salwa Al Neimi EN
Description:
A Syrian scholar working in Paris is invited to contribute to a conference on the subject of classic erotic literature in Arabic. The invitation provides occasion for her to evoke memories from her own life, to exult in her personal liberty, her lovers, her desires, and to revisit moments of shared intimacy with other women as they discuss life, love, and sexual desire. Far more than an erotic novel, The Proof of the Honey is a surprising and illuminating voyage into the history of Arabic literature. Borrowing inspiration from The Thousand and One Nights, erudite asides are woven into the fabr... continue
1236.
My Country : A Syrian Memoir by Kassem Eid EN
Description:
'Powerful ... A humbling and important first-hand account of a brutal civil war in which as many as 500,000 people have died' Guardian'A memoir of resistance and survival unique in the annals of modern war ... If the shedding of blood can be beautiful in words, he makes it so' Wall Street JournalBorn to Palestinian refugees, Kassem Eid grew up in the small town of Moadamiya on the outskirts of the ancient city of Damascus, playing in streets perfumed with jasmine. But it didn't take long for Kassem to realise that he was treated differently at school because of his family's resistance to the b... continue
1237.
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh EN
Description:
An epic, emotional, breathtaking story of love and loss set amid the Syrian revolution. Burning with the fires of hope and possibility, AS LONG AS THE LEMON TREES GROW will sweep you up and never let you go. _______________ SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS DISCOVER BOOK OF THE YEAR 'This is an important book. Everyone should read it' - Elizabeth Laird, award-winning author of Welcome to Nowhere 'Wrenching and lyrical' - Samira Ahmed, New York Times bestselling author of Internment 'Hauntingly beautiful ... a must read' - Huda Fahmy, author of Huda F Are You _______________ Salama Kassab... continue
1238.
Eine Hand voller Sterne by Rafik Schami DE
Description:
Über 2 Jahre hinweg berichtet ein 14-jähriger Syrer über sein Leben als Schüler, Handlanger und Mitstreiter einer Untergrundzeitung in Damaskus.
1239.
A Sky So Close to Us : A novel by Shahla Ujayli EN
Description:
A multigenerational tale of love, loss, exile, and rebirth, shortlisted for the 2016 International Prize for Arabic Fiction. As children sleeping on the rooftop of their ancestral family home in Raqqa on warm summer nights, Joumane and her sisters imagine the sky is so close they can almost touch it. Years later, Joumane lives as an expatriate in Jordan, working for a humanitarian agency, while her sisters remain trapped in war-torn Syria. Living alone as she fights her own battle with cancer, she contemplates the closeness of the same sky, despite the sharply delineated borders that now separ... continue
1240.
In Praise of Hatred by Khaled Khalifa EN
Description:
1980s Syria. Our young narrator is living a secluded life behind the veil in the vast and perfumed house of her grandparents. Her three aunts bring her up with the aid of their ever-devoted blind servant. Soon the high walls of the family home are unable to protect her from the social and political upheavals outside.