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 (985)
941.

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

0 Ratings
Country: Asia / Vietnam flag Vietnam
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


943.

The Mountains Sing by Que Mai Phan Nguyen EN

Rating: 5 (15 votes)
Country: Asia / Vietnam flag Vietnam
Description:
The International Bestseller New York Times Editors’ Choice SelectionWinner of the 2020 Lannan Literary Awards Fellowship "[An] absorbing, stirring novel . . . that, in more than one sense, remedies history." —The New York Times Book Review “A triumph, a novelistic rendition of one of the most difficult times in Vietnamese history . . . Vast in scope and intimate in its telling . . . Moving and riveting.” —VIET THANH NGUYEN, author of The Sympathizer, winner of the Pulitzer Prize With the epic sweep of Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko or Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing and the lyrical beauty of Vaddey Ratner’s In... continue

944.

Peace Is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh EN

0 Ratings
Country: Asia / Vietnam flag Vietnam
Description:
Lucidly and beautifully written, PEACE IN EVERY STEP contains commentaries and meditations, personal anecdotes and stories from Nhat Hanh's experiences as a peace activist, teacher, and community leader. It begins where the reader already is - in the kitc

945.

The Tale of Kieu : A Bilingual Edition of Nguyen Du's Truyen Kieu by Nguyen Du EN

Rating: 4 (4 votes)
Country: Asia / Vietnam flag Vietnam
Description:
Since its publication in the early nineteenth century, this long narrative poem has stood unchallenged as the supreme masterpiece of Vietnamese literature. Thông’s new and absorbingly readable translation (on pages facing the Vietnamese text) is illuminated by notes that give comparative passages from the Chinese novel on which the poem was based, details on Chinese allusions, and literal translations with background information explaining Vietnamese proverbs and folk sayings.

946.

The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen EN

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Vietnam flag Vietnam
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.

947.

The Zenith : A Novel by Duong Thu Huong EN

0 Ratings
Country: Asia / Vietnam flag Vietnam
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

948.

Catfish and Mandala : A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam by Andrew X. Pham EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Vietnam flag Vietnam
Description:
A collection of memoirs recounting the journey of a Vietnamese-American touring Vietnam and the Pacific rim in search of cultural identity.

949.

Butterfly Yellow by Thanhhà Lai EN

0 Ratings
Country: Asia / Vietnam flag Vietnam
Description:
Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction! Perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo, Ibi Zoboi, and Erika L. Sanchez, this gorgeously written and deeply moving own voices novel is the YA debut from the award-winning author of Inside Out & Back Again. 4 starred reviews! In the final days of the Việt Nam War, Hằng takes her little brother, Linh, to the airport, determined to find a way to safety in America. In a split second, Linh is ripped from her arms--and Hằng is left behind in the war-torn country. Six years later, Hằng has made the brutal journey from Việt Nam and is now in Texa... continue

950.

Paradise of the Blind : A Novel by Thu Huong Duong EN

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Vietnam flag Vietnam
Description:
Paradise of the Blind is an exquisite portrait of three Vietnamese women struggling to survive in a society where subservience to men is expected and Communist corruption crushes every dream. Through the eyes of Hang, a young woman in her twenties who has grown up amidst the slums and intermittent beauty of Hanoi, we come to know the tragedy of her family as land reform rips apart their village. When her uncle Chinh‘s political loyalties replace family devotion, Hang is torn between her mother‘s appalling self–sacrifice and the bitterness of her aunt who can avenge but not forgive. Only by fre... continue