Read Around Asia Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Asia.
Best books from Asia (907)
Iran302.
Afghanistan, Where God Only Comes to Weep by Siba Shakib EN
Description:
One woman’s harrowing story about life under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Shirin-Gol was just a young girl when her village was levelled by the Russians in 1979. When the men in her family joined the resistance, she fled with the other women and children to Kabul, and so began a life of day-to-day struggle in her war-torn country. A life that included a Pakistani refugee camp, a forced marriage to pay off her brother’s gambling debts, selling her body and begging for money to feed her growing family, an attempted suicide and an unsuccessful attempt to leave Afghanistan for Iran after the... continue
303.
Then the Fish Swallowed Him : A Novel by Amir Ahmadi Arian EN
Description:
An critically-acclaimed Iranian author makes his American literary debut with this powerful and harrowing psychological portrait of modern Iran--an unprecedented and urgent work of fiction with echoes of The Stranger, 1984, and The Orphan Master's Son--that exposes the oppressive and corrosive power of the state to bend individual lives. Yunus Turabi, a bus driver in Tehran, leads an unremarkable life. A solitary man since the unexpected deaths of his father and mother years ago, he is decidedly apolitical--even during the driver's strike and its bloody end. But everyone has their breaking poi... continue
304.
Everything Sad Is Untrue : (A True Story) by Daniel Nayeri EN
Description:
"At the front of a middle school classroom in Oklahoma, a boy named Khosrou (whom everyone calls "Daniel") stands, trying to tell a story. His story. But no one believes a word he says. But Khosrou's stories are beautiful, and terrifying, from the moment his family fled Iran in the middle of the night with the secret police moments behind them, back to the refugee camps of Italy, and further back to Isfahan."--
305.
The Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam by Omar Khayyam EN
Description:
Philosopher, astronomer and mathematician, Khayyam as a poet possesses a singular originality. His poetry is richly charged with evocative power and offers a view of life characteristic of his stormy times, with striking relevance to the present day. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introduction... continue
306.
De hemel is altijd paars by Sholeh Rezazadeh NL
Description:
Arghavan is een jonge Iraanse vrouw die nog maar kort in Nederland woont. Terwijl ze worstelt om een nieuw leven op te bouwen, wordt ze geplaagd door herinneringen aan haar jeugd in Iran. Een jeugd die paradijselijk begon maar een negatieve wending nam toen haar moeder van de ene op de andere dag vertrok en haar vader, haar steun en toeverlaat, verslaafd raakte aan opium. Ze nam daarop een radicaal besluit: ze liet het rauwe, bergachtige landschap van Iran definitief achter zich en vertrok naar het platste land ter wereld: Nederland. 0Arghavan werkt in een tweedehandswinkel in Amsterdam, waar ... continue
307.
Funny in Farsi : A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas EN
Description:
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
308.
Laughing Without an Accent : Adventures of an Iranian American, at Home and Abroad by Firoozeh Dumas EN
Description:
The author continues the story of her Iranian-American family and their experiences at home and abroad, from dealing with her French husband's Christmas traditions to taking fifty-one Iranian family members on a cruise to Alaska.
309.
I Hid My Voice by Parīnūsh Sanīʻī EN
Description:
Four-year-old Shahaab has not started talking. The family doctor believes there is no cause for concern; nevertheless, Shahaab is ridiculed by others who call him dumb. In his innocent and deeply hurt child s mind, he begins to believe that the good and intelligent children like his older brother are their fathers sons. On the other hand, children like him who are clumsy and problematic are their mothers sons. No one in the family can understand Shahaab except his maternal grandmother, who seems to possess the understanding and the kindness he so desperately craves. Their growing bond leads to... continue
310.
MARTYR! by Kaveh Akbar EN
Description:
Cyrus Shams is lost. The orphaned son of Iranian immigrants, Cyrus never knew his mother. Killed when her plane was shot down over the Persian Gulf in a senseless accident, Cyrus has spent his life grappling with the meaningless nature of his mother's death. Now he is set to learn the truth of her life. When Cyrus's obsession with the lives of the martyrs - Bobby Sands, Joan of Arc - leads him to a chance encounter with a dying artist, he finds himself drawn towards the mysteries of his past: an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields dressed as the Angel of Death; and toward his mother, w... continue