Read Around Asia Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Asia.
Best books from Asia (1403)
141.
Sky burial by Xinran EN
ChinaDescription:
As a young girl in China Xinran heard a rumour about a soldier in Tibet who had been brutally fed to the vultures in a ritual known as a sky burial: the tale frightened and fascinated her. Several decades later Xinran met Shu Wan, a Chinese woman who had spent years searching for her missing husband who had been serving as a doctor in Tibet; her extraordinary life story would unravel the legend of the sky burial. For thirty years she was lost in the wild and alien landscape of Tibet, in the vast and silent plateaus and the magisterial mountain ranges, living with communities of nomads moving w... continue
142.
Description:
Gao Jialin, a stubborn, idealistic and ambitious young man from a small country village, life is upended when corrupt local politics cost him his beloved job as a schoolteacher, prompting him to reject rural life and try to make it in the big city.
143.
Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R.F. Kuang EN
Description:
From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal retort to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British empire. Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal. 1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he'll enroll in Oxford Univer... continue
144.
The Last Quarter of the Moon by Chi Zijian EN
Description:
‘A long-time confidante of the rain and snow, I am ninety years old. The rain and snow have weathered me, and I too have weathered them’. At the end of the twentieth-century an old woman sits among the birch trees and thinks back over her life, her loves, and the joys and tragedies that have befallen her family and her people. She is a member of the Evenki tribe who wander the remote forests of north-eastern China with their herds of reindeer, living in close sympathy with nature at its most beautiful and cruel. An idyllic childhood playing by the river ends with her father’s death and the gro... continue
145.
Description:
For the millions who log in every day, Warcross isn't just a game - it's a way of life. Struggling to make ends meet, teenage hacker Emika Chen works as a bounty hunter, tracking down players who bet on the game illegally. When Emika hacks into Warcross, she is shocked when she gets a call from the game's creator with an irresistible offer. He needs a spy on the inside of this year's tournament in order to uncover a security problem . . . and he wants Emika for the job. In this sci-fi thriller, #1 New York Timesbestselling author Marie Lu conjures an immersive, exhilarating world where choosin... continue
146.
How Much of These Hills Is Gold by C. Pam Zhang EN
Description:
Two siblings are on the run in an unforgiving landscape, trying not just to survive but to find a home. Along the way, they must battle their own secrets, the illusion of the American dream, and each other
147.
Invisible Planets by Ken Liu EN
Description:
Here are thirteen short stories from the new frontiers of Chinese science fiction, selected and translated by Hugo, Nebula, Locus and World Fantasy Award-winner Ken Liu. Hao Jingfang's Hugo-Award-Winning 'Folding Beijing' takes place in a near-future dystopia where the title city's buildings fold into and out of the earth, allowing three different strata of society to spend part of the day above ground. Xia Jia's 'Night Journey of the Dragon-Horse' describes a post-apocalyptic world where machines have outlived the humans who engineered them. In 'Taking Care of God' by Liu Cixin - author of Th... continue
148.
Love in a Fallen City by Eileen Chang EN
Description:
Masterful short works about passion, family, and human relationships by one of the greatest writers of 20th century China. A New York Review Books Original “[A] giant of modern Chinese literature” –The New York Times "With language as sharp as a knife edge, Eileen Chang cut open a huge divide in Chinese culture, between the classical patriarchy and our troubled modernity. She was one of the very few able truly to connect that divide, just as her heroines often disappeared inside it. She is the fallen angel of Chinese literature, and now, with these excellent new translations, English readers c... continue
149.
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao EN
Description:
An instant #1 New York Times bestseller! Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid's Tale in this blend of Chinese history and mecha science fiction for YA readers. The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn't matter that the girls often die from the mental strain. When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it's to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister's death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through th... continue
150.
A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo EN
Description:
Communication is proving tricky for Ziao, a young woman fresh off the plane from China. When she finds herself pitched headlong into an affair, and living with her English boyfriend, she decides to write her very own dictionary, a Chinese-English dictionary for lovers. But will her new love survive the cultural chasms between East and West?