Read Around Asia Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Asia.
Best books from Asia (1246)
181.
The Handsome Monk and Other Stories by Tsering Dondrup EN
ChinaDescription:
Tsering Döndrup is one of the most popular and critically acclaimed authors writing in Tibetan today. In a distinct voice rich in black humor and irony, he describes the lives of Tibetans in contemporary China with wit, empathy, and a passionate sense of justice. The Handsome Monk and Other Stories brings together short stories from across Tsering Döndrup’s career to create a panorama of Tibetan society. With a love for the sparse yet vivid language of traditional Tibetan life, Tsering Döndrup tells tales of hypocritical lamas, crooked officials, violent conflicts, and loyal yaks. His nomad ch... continue
182.
The Secret Talker by Geling Yan EN
Description:
"Hongmei is the perfect Asian wife: beautiful, diligent, and passive. She lives a quiet life in Northern California with her husband, Glen, an intelligent and caring college professor. But when a mysterious person begins to email her, Hongmei can't resist and soon finds herself enthralled in a psychological cat-and-mouse game. Who is stalking her? And why does s/he know her deepest, darkest secrets? As Hongmei is forced to confront her own dark past in China, her perfect life begins to fall apart. Desperate and self-destructive, she embarks on an investigation into her emailer's secret history... continue
183.
Ninth Building by Zou Jingzhi EN
Description:
Ninth Building is a fascinating collection of vignettes drawn from Zou Jingzhi's experience growing up during the Cultural Revolution, first as a boy in Beijing and then as a teenager exiled to the countryside. Zou poetically captures a side of the Cultural Revolution that is less talked about--the sheer tedium and waste of young life, as well as the gallows humor that accompanies such desperate situations. Jeremy Tiang's enthralling translation of this important work of fiction was awarded a PEN/Heim Grant.
184.
Dream of Ding Village by Yan Lianke EN
Description:
A previously banned work based on a true scandal finds an impoverished village targeted by a blood-selling operation that leads to a catastrophic outbreak of AIDS and decimates an entire community.
185.
The Day the Sun Died by Yan Lianke EN
Description:
From "China's most feted and most banned author" (Financial Times), an unforgettable tale of a village that descends into a sleepwalking spell as the sun threatens to never rise again
186.
The Four Books by Yan Lianke EN
Description:
In the ninety-ninth district of a sprawling reeducation compound, freethinking artists and academics are detained to strengthen their loyalty to Communist ideologies. They are forced to carry out grueling physical work and are encouraged to inform on each other for dissident behavior. The prize: winning the chance at freedom. They're overseen by preadolescent supervisor, the Child, who delights in reward systems and excessive punishments. When agricultural and industrial production quotas are raised to an unattainable level, the ninety-ninth district dissolves into lawlessness. And then, as in... continue
187.
Ghost Music by An Yu EN
Description:
From the author of the "original and electric" Braised Pork (Time), An Yu's enchanting and contemplative novel of music and mushrooms follows a former concert pianist searching for the truth about a vanished musician For three years, Song Yan has filled the emptiness of her Beijing apartment with the tentative notes of her young piano students. She gave up on her own career as a concert pianist many years ago, but her husband Bowen, an executive at a car company, has long rebuffed her pleas to have a child. He resists even when his mother arrives from the southwestern Chinese region of Yunnan ... continue
188.
AI 2041 : Ten Visions for Our Future by Kai-Fu Lee, Chen Qiufan EN
Description:
How will AI change our world within twenty years? A pioneering technologist and acclaimed writer team up for “an invaluable and entertaining vision of the future” (Ray Dalio, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Principles). Named a best book of the year by The Wall Street Journal • The Washington Post • Financial Times Long before the advent of ChatGPT, Kai-Fu Lee and Chen Qiufan understood the enormous potential of artificial intelligence to transform our daily lives. But even as the world wakes up to the power of AI, many of us still fail to grasp the big picture. Chatbots and large lang... continue
189.
English: A Novel by Wang Gang EN
Description:
"I loved this book and can't stop talking about it. . . . Transcendent." —Carolyn See, The Washington Post In the tradition of Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, Wang Gang's English is a captivating coming-of-age novel about the power of language to launch a journey of self-discovery. When a new teacher—a tall, elegantly dressed man from Shanghai carrying an English dictionary under his arm—comes to Urumqi, the capital of China's far west region of Xinjiang, twelve-year-old Love Liu turns away from Chairman Mao's little red book and toward the teacher's big blue book for answers to his ... continue
190.
We Uyghurs Have No Say : An Imprisoned Writer Speaks by Ilham Tohti EN
Description:
The words of China’s most famous political prisoner In Xinjiang, the large northwest region of China, the government has imprisoned more than a million Uyghurs in reeducation camps. One of the incarcerated—whose sentence, unlike most others, has no end date—is Ilham Tohti, an intellectual and economist, a prolific writer, and formerly the host of a website, Uyghur Online. In 2014, Tohti was arrested; accused of advocating separatism, violence, and the overthrow of the Chinese government; subjected to a two-day trial; and sentenced to life. Nothing has been heard from him since. Here are Tohti’... continue