Read Around Asia Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Asia.
Best books from Asia (1348)
1301.
Vietnam1302.
Fire Road : The Napalm Girl's Journey Through the Horrors of War to Faith, Forgiveness, and Peace by Kim Phuc Phan Thi, Kim Phúc EN
Description:
Get out! Run! We must leave this place! They are going to destroy this whole place! Go, children, run first! Go now! These were the final shouts nine year-old Kim Phuc heard before her world dissolved into flames--before napalm bombs fell from the sky, burning away her clothing and searing deep into her skin. It's a moment forever captured, an iconic image that has come to define the horror and violence of the Vietnam War. Kim was left for dead in a morgue; no one expected her to survive the attack. Napalm meant fire, and fire meant death. Against all odds, Kim lived--but her journey toward he... continue
1303.
Sigh, Gone : A Misfit's Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight to Fit In by Phuc Tran EN
Description:
For anyone who has ever felt like they don't belong, Sigh, Gone shares an irreverent, funny, and moving tale of displacement and assimilation woven together with poignant themes from beloved works of classic literature. In 1975, during the fall of Saigon, Phuc Tran immigrates to America along with his family. By sheer chance they land in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, a small town where the Trans struggle to assimilate into their new life. In this coming-of-age memoir told through the themes of great books such as The Metamorphosis, The Scarlet Letter, The Iliad, and more, Tran navigates the push and... continue
1304.
The Crystal Messenger by Thị Hoài Phạm EN
Description:
This award winning book has been described as the 'renaissance of Vietnamese literature'. Written by a young woman in her twenties at the end of an era when Vietnam closed itself off from the world, it is widely regarded as one of the most important works of fiction ever to come out of that country. Ostensibly, The Crystal Messenger is a magical and moving story of two sisters' journeys to emotional and sexual maturity. But it is also a powerful allegory about the fate of North and South Vietnam, the struggle with reunification after the war, and the effect of consumerism and westernisation on... continue
1305.
The Lover by Marguerite Duras EN
Description:
Set in prewar Indochina, this is the haunting tale of a tumultuous affair between an adolescent French girl and her Chinese lover. The author evokes life on the margins of Saigon in the waning days of France's colonial empire, and its representation in the passionate relationship between two unforgettable outcasts.
1306.
Sea Sirens by Amy Chu EN
Description:
Dive into this visually stunning, middle-grade graphic novel about a spunky Vietnamese American surfer girl and her cantankerous talking cat who plunge into a fantasy world of oceanic marvels . . . and mayhem! Trot, a Vietnamese American surfer girl, and Cap'n Bill, her cranky one-eyed cat, catch too big a wave and wipe out, sucked down into a magical underwater kingdom where an ancient deep-sea battle rages. The beautiful Sea Siren mermaids are under attack from the Serpent King and his slithery minions--and Trot and her feline become dangerously entangled in this war of tails and fins. This ... continue
1307.
The Zenith : A Novel by Duong Thu Huong EN
Description:
Memory is the one who builds you a permanent court of justice. Memory is the one at your side from whom you cannot run... A sweeping tale of thwarted love, political intrigue, and the price of power—“The Doctor Zhivago of Vietnam” (Boston Globe)—about Ho Chi Minh, the founding father of modern Vietnam, a man beloved by millions but shrouded in controversy and mystery Vietnam's most popular dissident writer, Duong Thu Huong has won acclaim for her exceptional lyricism and psychological acumen, as well as for her unflinching portraits of modern Vietnam and its culture and people. Built on 15 yea... continue
1308.
The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen EN
Description:
A collection of stories written over a twenty-year period that examines the Vietnamese experience in America as well as questions of home, family, and identity.
1309.
Catfish and Mandala : A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam by Andrew X. Pham EN
Description:
A collection of memoirs recounting the journey of a Vietnamese-American touring Vietnam and the Pacific rim in search of cultural identity.
1310.
Dust Child by Que Mai Phan Nguyen EN
Description:
From the internationally bestselling author of The Mountains Sing, a propulsive and moving tale of wartime love, family, and loss, as an American GI, two Vietnamese bargirls, and an Amerasian man are forced to make decisions during and after the Việt Nam War that will reverberate throughout each other’s lives.