Read Around Asia Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Asia.
Best books from Asia (1405)
321.
Selected Short Stories by Rabindranath Tagore EN
IndiaDescription:
Poet, novelist, painter and musician, Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) is the grand master of Bengali culture. Written during the 1890s, the stories in this selection brilliantly recreate vivid images of Bengali life and landscapes in their depiction of peasantry and gentry, casteism, corrupt officialdom and dehumanizing poverty. Yet Tagore is first and foremost India's supreme Romantic poet, and in these stories he can be seen reaching beyond mere documentary realism towards his own profoundly original vision.
322.
A Burning by Megha Majumdar EN
Description:
For readers of Tommy Orange, Yaa Gyasi, and Jhumpa Lahiri, an electrifying debut novel about three unforgettable characters who seek to rise-to the middle class, to political power, to fame in the movies-and find their lives entangled in the wake of a catastrophe in contemporary India. This is an electrifying debut novel about three unforgettable characters who find their lives entangled in the wake of a catastrophe. They seek to rise-to the middle class, to political power, to fame in the movies. One is Jivan, a Muslim girl from the slums accused of executing a terrorist attack on a train bec... continue
323.
No Presents Please by Jayant Kaikini EN
Description:
No Presents Please is a vivid evocation of city life, exploring the sub-locales and spatial identities of Mumbai and the struggles of small-town migrants. Jayant Kaikini's gaze takes in the people living on the margins - a bus driver who, when denied annual leave, steals the bus to travel home; a slum dweller who catches cats and sells them for pharmaceutical testing; a father at his wit's end who takes his mischievous son to a reform institution. From Irani cafes to chawls, old cinema halls to local trains, the author seeks out and illuminates moments and feelings of existential anxiety, path... continue
324.
Joseph Anton : A Memoir by Salman Rushdie EN
Description:
The extraordinary story of how a writer was forced underground, moving from house to house, with the constant presence of an armed police protection team. The story of one of the crucial battles, in our time, for freedom of speech.
325.
The Enchantress of Florence : A Novel by Salman Rushdie EN
Description:
A tall, yellow-haired young European traveller calling himself 'Mogor dell'Amore', the Mughal of Love, arrives at the court of the real Grand Mughal, the Emperor Akbar, with a tale to tell that begins to obsess the whole imperial capital. The stranger claims to be the child of a lost Mughal princess, the youngest sister of Akbar's grandfather Babar: Qara K÷z, 'Lady Black Eyes', a great beauty believed to possess powers of enchantment and sorcery, who is taken captive first by an Uzbek warlord, then by the Shah of Persia, and finally becomes the lover of a certain Argalia, a Florentine soldier ... continue
326.
Age of Vice : A Novel by Deepti Kapoor EN
Description:
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK This is the age of vice, when money, pleasure and power are everything, and the family ties that bind can also kill New Delhi, 3 a.m. A speeding Mercedes jumps the curb and in the blink of an eye, five people are dead. It’s a rich man’s car, but when the dust settles there is no rich man at all, just a shell-shocked servant who can’t explain the strange series of events that led to this crime, or foresee the dark drama that is about to unfold. Deftly shifting through time and perspective in contemporary India, Age of Vi... continue
327.
The Ministry of Upmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy EN
Description:
LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2018 AND THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2017 'A sprawling kaleidoscopic fable' Guardian, Book of the Year * 'A dazzling return to form' Independent THE SUNDAY TIMES #1 BESTSELLER FROM THE BOOKER-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS 'An astonishing intimate epic. This is the novel one hoped Arundhati Roy would write about India' Daily Telegraph 'At magic hour; when the sun has gone but the light has not, armies of flying foxes unhinge themselves from the Banyan trees in the old graveyard and drift across the city like smoke . . .' So begins The Ministry o... continue
328.
Twilight in Delhi : A Novel by Ahmed Ali EN
Description:
Set during the early years of this century this book recaptues the texture of family life in Delhi.
329.
Baumgartner's Bombay by Anita Desai EN
Description:
A German Jew flees Germany to live in India. After a relatively successful business career, her retires to a rather impoverished life in the company of a pack of stray cats.
330.
Description:
In the Bhagavad Gita, Prince Arjuna asks direct, uncompromising questions of his spiritual guide on the eve of a great battle. In this expanded edition of the most famous —and popular — of Indian criptures, Eknath Easwaran contextualizes the book culturally and historically and explains the key concepts of Hindu religious thought and the technical vocabulary of yoga. Chapter introductions, notes, and a glossary help readers understand the book’s message. Most importantly, this translation uses simple, clear language to impart the poetry, universality, and timelessness of the Gita’s teachings.... continue