Popular Asian Memoir Books

Find memoir books written by authors from Asia for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (126)

111.

The Year of the Rabbit by Tian Veasna EN

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Cambodia flag Cambodia
Description:
One family's quest to survive the devastation of the Khmer Rouge Year of the Rabbit tells the true story of one family’s desperate struggle to survive the murderous reign of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge seized power in the capital city of Phnom Penh. Immediately after declaring victory in the war, they set about evacuating the country’s major cities with the brutal ruthlessness and disregard for humanity that characterized the regime ultimately responsible for the deaths of one million citizens. Cartoonist Tian Veasna was born just three days after the Khmer Rouge take... continue

112.

They Called Me a Lioness : A Palestinian Girl's Fight for Freedom by Ahed Tamimi, Dena Takruri EN

0 Ratings
Country: Asia / Palestine flag Palestine
Description:
A Palestinian activist jailed at sixteen after a confrontation with Israeli soldiers illuminates the daily struggles of life under occupation in this moving, deeply personal memoir. “I cannot even begin to convey the clarity, the intensity, the power, the photographic storytelling of They Called Me a Lioness.”—Ibram X. Kendi, internationally bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Kirkus Reviews “What would you do if you grew up seeing your home repeatedly raided? Your parents arrested? Your mother shot? Your uncle killed? Try, for just a moment, to ima... continue

113.

Tomorrow I'm Dead : How a Seventeen-year-old Killing Field Survivor Became the Cambodian Freedom Army's Greatest Soldier by Bun Yom EN

0 Ratings
Country: Asia / Cambodia flag Cambodia
Description:
In 1975, US troops had withdrawn from Cambodia, leaving the people defenseless against Pol Pot’s army, the Khmer Rouge. As the army took over Cambodia, thousands of innocent people were ordered out of their homes. In April 1975, fourteen-year-old Bun Yom was forced at gunpoint, along with his family, to march toward the steaming jungle. After a soldier separated Yom from his family, he had no idea he would not see them again for nine years. In his account of his involuntary journey from a normal childhood to enslavement in conditions so inhumane it seemed only death could free him, Yom shares ... continue

114.

Treasures of the Thunder Dragon : A Portrait of Bhutan by Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck EN

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Bhutan flag Bhutan
Description:
Long regarded as the Forbidden Land, Bhutan-or DrukYul, the Land of the Thunder Dragon-is often described as the Last Shangri La. It is still a country of pristine forests, alpine valleys and glacial lakes, rich in rare flora and fauna such as the blue poppy, the golden langur and the red panda. As spectacular as its natural beauty are the architecture of its towering dzongs (fortresses) and the art treasures that fill its monasteries and temples. Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck shares with us her delight in some of the hidden treasures of her country, which she discovered during her journeys on f... continue

115.

Until We Are Free by Shirin Ebadi EN

0 Ratings
Country: Asia / Iran flag Iran
Description:
'POWERFUL AND SOMETIMES SHOCKING ...' SUNDAY TIMES In this powerful book, Dr Shirin Ebadi, Iranian human rights lawyer and activist, tells of her fight for reform inside Iran, and the devastating backlash she faced after winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Having fought tirelessly for democracy, equality before the law and freedom of speech, Ebadi became a global voice of inspiration. Yet, inside her own country, her life has been plagued by surveillance, intimidation and violence. Until We Are Free tells shocking stories of how the Iranian authorities eventually forced her into exile. Her sister a... continue

116.

Walking Since Daybreak by Modris Eksteins EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Latvia flag Latvia
Description:
Part history, part autobiography, Eksteins relates the tragic story of the Baltic nations before, during, and after World War II through personal stories from his family. Photos and map.

117.

Wave by Sonali Daraniyagala FR

0 Ratings
Country: Asia / Sri Lanka flag Sri Lanka
Description:
The book opens and we are inside the wave: thirty feet high, moving at twenty-five mph, racing two miles inland. And from there into the depths of the author's despair: how to live now that her life has been undone? Sonali Deraniyagala tells her story - the loss of her two boys, her husband, and her parents - without artifice or sentimentality. In the stark language of unfathomable sorrow, anger, and guilt: she struggles through the first months following the tragedy -- someone always at her side to prevent her from harming herself, her whole being furiously clenched against the reality she ca... continue

118.

We Are Still Here : Afghan Women on Courage, Freedom, and the Fight to Be Heard by Nahid Shahalimi EN

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Afghanistan flag Afghanistan
Description:
A collection of first-hand accounts from courageous Afghan women who refuse to be silenced in the face of the Taliban, to be published for the first anniversary of the US leaving Afghanistan. After decades of significant progress, the prospects of women and girls in Afghanistan are once again dependent on radical Islamists who reject gender equality. When the United States announced the end of their twenty-year occupation and the Taliban seized control of the country on August 15th, 2021, so began a steep regression of social, political, and economic freedoms for women in the country. But just... continue

119.

We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I : A Palestinian Memoir by Raja Shehadeh EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Palestine flag Palestine
Description:
Aziz Shehadeh was many things: lawyer, activist, and political detainee, he was also the father of bestselling author and activist Raja. In this new and searingly personal memoir, Raja Shehadeh unpicks the snags and complexities of their relationship. A vocal and fearless opponent, Aziz resists under the British mandatory period, then under Jordan, and, finally, under Israel. As a young man, Raja fails to recognise his father's courage and, in turn, his father does not appreciate Raja's own efforts in campaigning for Palestinian human rights. When Aziz is murdered in 1985, it changes Raja irre... continue

120.

We Have Always Been Here by Samra Habib EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Pakistan flag Pakistan
Description:
Triumphant and uplifting - a queer Muslim memoir about forgiveness and freedom. 'Revolutionary' Mona Eltahawy * 'Exquisite, powerful and urgent' Stacey May Fowles * 'I fell in love with this book' Shani Mootoo A memoir of hope, faith and love, Samra Habib's story starts with growing up as part of a threatened minority sect in Pakistan, and follows her arrival in Canada as a refugee, before escaping an arranged marriage at sixteen. When she realized she was queer, it was yet another way she felt like an outsider. So begins a journey that takes her to the far reaches of the globe to uncover a tr... continue