Read Around Asia Challenge

Read at least one book by an author from each country in Asia.

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Best books from Asia (1429)
671.

Heaven by Mieko Kawakami EN

Rating: 4 (3 votes)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
"Shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize. From the bestselling author of Breasts and Eggs and international literary sensation Mieko Kawakami, a sharp and illuminating novel about the impact of violence and the power of solidarity. A bold foray into new literary territory, Kawakami’s novel is told in the voice of a 14-year-old student subjected to relentless torment for having a lazy eye. Instead of resisting, the boy chooses to suffer in complete resignation. The only person who understands what he is going through is a female classmate who suffers similar treatment at the hands o... continue

672.

All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami EN

Rating: 4 (4 votes)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
FINALIST for the 2022 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction A BEST BOOK OF 2022 Oprah Daily・TIME Magazine・Washington Post・Publishers Weekly・Lit Hub Bestselling author of Breasts and Eggs Mieko Kawakami invites readers back into her immediately recognizable fictional world with this new, extraordinary novel and demonstrates yet again why she is one of today's most uncategorizable, insightful, and talented novelists. Fuyuko Irie is a freelance copy editor in her mid-thirties. Working and living alone in a city where it is not easy to form new relationships, she has little regular contac... continue

673.

Rental Person Who Does Nothing : A Memoir by Shoji Morimoto EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
Profiled in The Times, The Independent and by BBC Reels I’m starting a service . . . available for any situation in which all you want is a person to be there. Maybe there’s a restaurant you want to go to, but you feel awkward going on your own. Maybe a game you want to play, but you’re one person short. Or perhaps you’d like someone to keep a space in the park for your cherry blossom viewing party . . . Shoji Morimoto was constantly being told by his boss that he contributed nothing to the company he worked for and that it made no difference whether he showed up or not. He began to wonder whe... continue

674.

Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi EN

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
A graphic novel featuring the further adventures of Bunny, Luna, Tuxedo Mask, and the Scouts.

675.

The Cat Proposed by Dento Hayane EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
Matoi Souta is an overworked office worker tired of his life. Then, on his way home from a long day of work one day, he decides to watch a traditional Japanese play. But something strange happens. He could have sworn he saw one of the actors has cat ears. It turns out that the man is actually a bakeneko -- a shapeshifting cat from Japanese folklore. And then, the cat speaks: "From now on, you will be my spouse."

676.

Go For It, Nakamura!! by Syundei EN

Rating: 3 (2 votes)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
Nakamura loves a boy in his class--now he just has to keep himself together! Nakamura is a shy boy who falls in love at first sight with another boy--his dreamy high school classmate Hirose. But there's a problem: they haven’t met yet. And Nakamura is a total klutz who might bungle things before they even begin! In this endearing Boy’s Love comedy about the trials of high school, follow Nakamura’s hilarious attempts to cling to happiness.

677.

Masks by Fumiko Enchi EN

Rating: 2 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
Published for the first time in the UK, one of Japan's greatest modern female writers Ibuki loves widow Yasuko who is young, charming and sparkling with intelligence as well as beauty. His friend, Mikamé, desires her too but that is not the difficulty. What troubles Ibuki is the curious bond that has grown between Yasuko and her mother-in-law, Mieko, a handsome, cultivated yet jealous woman in her fifties, who is manipulating the relationship between Yasuko and the two men who love her.

678.

After Dark by Haruki Murakami EN

Rating: 3 (5 votes)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
From the New York Times bestselling author—a gripping novel of late night encounters that’s “hypnotically eerie, sometimes even funny, but most of all … [a book] that keeps ratcheting up the suspense” (The Washington Post Book World). Now with a new introduction by the author. Nineteen-year-old Mari is waiting out the night in an anonymous Denny’s when she meets a young man who insists he knows her older sister, thus setting her on an odyssey through the sleeping city. In the space of a single night, the lives of a diverse cast of Tokyo residents—models, prostitutes, mobsters, and musicians—co... continue

679.

Shipwrecks by Akira Yoshimura EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
"A thrilling tale of murder and retribution set on the wild seacoast of medieval Japan"--Cover.

680.

The Thief by Fuminori Nakamura EN

Rating: 3 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
The Thief is a seasoned pickpocket. Anonymous in a tailored suit, he weaves through Tokyo crowds smoothly stealing wallets from nameless, faceless strangers. He has no family, friends or connections, but his past catches up with him when his old partner offers him a job he can't refuse. Tie up an old rich man and steal the contents of his safe. Only afterwards does he learn the man was a prominent politician, who was brutally murdered after the robbery. This tangle might be too difficult for even the Thief to escape.