#asian book recommendations

[princessofbookaholics]

presenting the prettiest book cover I've ever seen 💛

[cdo499]

looking for asian dark academia book recommendations if anyone has them!

[mrinafria]

Look at me,

Break my heart.

Break it a thousand times

if you like.

It was only ever yours

to break anyway.

- (TO)

[arthistoryanimalia]

Its #BatAppreciationDay so please appreciate this awesome 19th century Japanese kosode decorated with embroidered lucky bats, photographed in 2019 at The Life of Animals in Japanese Art exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in DC:

Kosode with Bats Japan, Edo - Meiji periods, 19th century silk twill, paste-resist dyed, embroidery, 67⅜ × 48⅞ in. National Museum of Japanese History, Chiba Prefecture

“In the West, bats - nocturnal in habit and denizens of dark places tend to be viewed as unlucky, but in China they have long been considered an auspicious motif (one of the characters used to write the word "bat" is a homonym for good fortune). The Kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjüro VII (1791-1859) used bat motifs in his costumes, and the perception of these animals as a chic design element spread rapidly throughout Japan in the nineteenth century. Here a great number of them are arranged in right-left symmetry from the base of the collar to the hem.”

The above info is from the official exhibition catalog - this bat kosode is on p. 124:

The Life of Animals in Japanese Art (2019)

[princessofbookaholics]

Asian Readathon 2023 Wrap Up

I participated in the Asian Readathon again this year and it was a great time. I got an opportunity to read from some great authors and would like to share them with you: The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu Author’s ethnicity: Chinese A historical fantasy about Mozart’s forgotten sister Maria Anna Mozart and how she was a child prodigy way before her brother. Rating: 4.5/5 stars Exes and O’s by…

[princessofbookaholics]

Asian Readathon is BACK AGAIN 🏮

Asian Readathon Recs + TBR

The Asian Readathon is a month-long readathon from May 1st to 31st dedicated to reading books by Asian authors or with Asian characters and I'm definitely participating! I thought I should make a post with all the recommendations I have for the readathon and also all the Asian books I have on my entire TBR. My goal is to read as many Asian books as I can throughout the month.

Details about the readathon:

google doc with all details: read here

[UPDATE 2022: currently using this as a personal master list for all asian books that I recommend + the ones on my TBR; under the cut]

So let's go on to the book recs:

young adult contemporary:

-> recommendations:

to all the boys i've loved before series by jenny han

when dimple met rishi by sandhya menon

a match made in mehendi by nandini bajpai

i believe in a thing called love by maureen goo

my so-called bollywood life by nisha sharma

a pho love story by loan le

xoxo by axie oh

you've reached sam by dustin thao

summer bird blue by akemi dawn bowman

starfish by akemi dawn bowman

a time to dance by padma venkatraman

everyone hates kelsie miller by meredith ireland

-> to be read:

the astonishing color of after by emily x. r. pan

noteworthy by riley redgate

kings, queens and in-betweens by tanya boteju

darius the great is not okay by adib khorram

parachutes by kelly yang

tokyo ever after by emiko jean

general fiction:

-> recommendations:

if i had your face by frances cha

the travelling cat chronicles by hiro arikawa

a thousand splendid suns by khaled hosseini

girls burn brighter by shobha rao

mika in real life by emiko jean

almond by won-pyoung sohn

-> to be read:

days of distraction by alexandra chang

on earth we're briefly gorgeous by ocean voung

graphic novel/manga:

-> recommendations:

anya's ghost by vera brosgol

the prince and the dressmaker by jen wang

death note series by tsugumi ohba and takeshi obata

quiet girl in a noisy world by debbie tung

they called us enemy by george takei

orange series by ichigo takano

persepolis by marjane satrapi

stargazing by jen wang

tidesong by wendy xu

spy x family series by tatsuya endo

pilu of the woods by mai k. nguyen

-> to be read:

laura dean keeps breaking up with me by mariko tamaki

this one summer by mariko tamaki

anthology:

-> recommendations:

wise and otherwise by sudha murty

a thousand beginnings and endings by ellen oh and elsie chapman

an unrestored woman by shobha rao

no man is an island by ruskin bond

how to pronounce knife by souvankham thammavongsa

before the coffee gets cold by toshikazu kawaguchi

-> to be read:

once upon an eid by s. k. ali and aisha saeed

diary of a murderer by young-ha kim

mystery/thriller:

-> recommendations:

confessions by kanae minato

penance by kanae minato

can you see me now by trisha sakhlecha

the decagon house murders by yukito ayatsuji

the master key by masako togawa

detective kosuke kindaichi series by seishi yokomizo

the butcher by jennifer hillier

detective kaga series by keigo higashino

the tokyo zodiac murders by soji shimada

-> to be read:

the good son by you-jeong jeong

everything i never told you by celeste ng

miracle creek by angie kim

the widows of malabar hill by sujata massey

middle grade:

-> recommendations:

the village by the sea by anita desai

other words for home by jasmine warga

amal unbound by aisha saeed

kiki's delivery service by eiko kadono

malgudi days by r. k. narayan

the night diary by veera hiranandini

front desk by kelly yang

-> to be read:

sidekick squad series by c. b. lee

eva evergreen, semi-magical witch by julie ab

romance:

-> recommendations:

the kiss quotient series by helen hoang

marriage game series by sara desai

modern love series by alisha rai

dating dr. dil by nisha sharma

twisted series by ana huang

the unmatchmakers by jackie lau

awkward in october by teresa yea

the influencer series by amy lea

-> to be read:

jasmine and jake rock the boat by sonya lalli

donut fall in love by jackie lau

booked on a feeling by jayci lee

fantasy:

-> recommendations:

shiva trilogy by amish tripathi

warcross duology by marie lu

the daevabad trilogy by s. a. chakraborty

the poppy war trilogy by r. f. kuang

the green bone saga by fonda lee

-> to be read

wicked fox by kat cho

star daughter by shveta thakrar

the kingdom of back by marie lu

spin the dawn duology by elizabeth lim

we hunt the flame duology by hafsah faizal

non-fiction:

-> recommendations:

know my name by chanel miller

ace by angela chen

i'm afraid of men by vivek shraya

white tears/brown scars by ruby hamad

in order to live by yeonmi park

-> to be read:

minor feelings by cathy park hong

LET'S READ ASIAN BOOKS, BABY!

[belle-keys]

Superior Subgenre: Race Satire by WOC

Here are my recommendations for satirical contemporary books by women of colour about racial fetishization and white neoliberals. Highly recommend these three books if you want to laugh, introspect, and marinate on how American society and institutions are being cooked by the culture war.

[lazehaze]

I definitely buy more books than I should…

I got this after hearing some amazing reviews from some peers at a book club. It got me really intrigued, so here it is.

When I’m reading it? Oh, I have no idea.

[thencomethecherryblossoms]

After reading the agggtm trilogy for the first time, I’m in dire need of books with south Asian leads

[chanelslibrary]

🌙𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰🌙

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

@xiranjayzhao

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Zetian is set on avenging her sister’s death. Which is why she volunteers as a concubine pilot in the Huaxian army with the hopes of pairing up with the male pilot that killed her sister! Fortunate is on her side when they are matched, and Zetian must learn how to operate Chrysalises, giant robots meant to battle aliens, while mentally fighting the psychic link to the male pilot that has decimated so many other girls. She gets her revenge by being the only one to survive the battle—but she is now labeled the Iron Widow—and with that title is paired with the strongest and deadliest male pilot, Li Shimin. Who will survive their next battle, and what happens when Zetian digs deeper into the pilot system and wonders why only females are sacrificed during battles?

This book was such a whirlwind! It was giving Handmaid’s Tale vibes but with a dash of science fiction and a Chinese setting. I loved how Zhao drew on Chinese history to paint the backdrop for this story, and it almost seems like Huaxia could be China hundreds of years from now. The main character Zetian is the epitome of a badass female character—strong physically (even with broken feet!) and mentally, opinionated, fierce, and willing to fight for the underdogs—while acknowledging that she needs help sometimes. I also liked that there was a little love triangle (spoiler alert✨) but it wasn’t cliche and felt very organic. This story showed how men/boys are prioritized over girls/women even when war and safety should be the main concern in this battle ravaged country. I loved listening to the audiobook because getting the hear the authentic pronunciation of each of the characters names and some of the dialogue was great! This was a total 5 star read and I’m anxiously awaiting the sequel

Read if you love:

🤖Science fiction

❤️Love triangle

🏳��‍🌈LGBTQ rep

✊🏼AAPI rep

[mysweetsinfulobsessions]

…

…

//The Girl From The Sea: A Graphic Novel

By Molly Knox Ostertag

[bookaddict24-7]

AUTHOR FEATURE:

﹒EMILY X.R. PAN﹒

TWO BOOKS BY THIS AUTHOR:

An Arrow to the Moon

The Astonishing Color of After

___

Happy reading!

[the-greatest-fool]

Oh fuck, it’s almost June. Okay, here’s a quick and dirty Asian American literature sweep I recommend for AAPI month. Note this is not meant to cover all of AAPI—obviously, because they’re different ethnic groups and it barely even makes sense to combine the categories to begin with—but instead blast out some of the most famous works that, IMO, should already be household names outside of AsAm lit/studies. I also, just based off my own interests, included works that look at the interplay between race and gender and sexuality.

I included “trending” writers, but I also wanted to redirect some attention to work and writings that have been in this field for literally decades. This is off the top of my head and written on my phone, plus I doubt anyone will read this. I may return to this in the future.

Essayists & Memoirs:

Eric Liu, Notes of a Native Speaker

Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior

Alexander Chee, How to Write an Autobiographical Novel

Cathy Park Hong, Minor Feelings

Jia Tolentino, Trick Mirror

Jay Caspian Kang, The Loneliest Americans

Hua Hsu, Stay True

Playwrights:

David Henry Hwang: Chinglish, Yellow Face, M. Butterfly

Novelists/Authors:

Louis Chu, Eat a Bowl of Tea

Amy Tan, Joy Luck Club

Gene Luen Yang, American Born Chinese

Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer

Charles Yu, Interior Chinatown

Elaine Hsieh Chou, Disorientation

Ling Ma, Severance

RF Kuang, Yellow Face

Poets:

Theresa Hak Kyung Chu

Arthur Sze

Justin Chin

Timothy Liu

Cathy Park Huang

Ocean Vuong

Other:

David L. Eng, Racial Castration

[elliepassmore]

Brides of High Hill review

5/5 stars Recommended if you like: fantasy, novellas, queer characters, light horror

Empress of Salt and Fortune review

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain review

Into the Riverlands review

Mammoths at the Gates review

Big thanks to Netgalley, Tordotcom, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

In this volume of Cleric Chih's journey, they're accompanying a young woman and her family to the woman's wedding. While the bride-to-be is charming, her parents are more suspicious of Chih than anything, and the groom's household is filled with mystery.

As usual, the story opens with Chih traveling and being with people who have the potential of a story. In this case, Chih sticks with the young woman, Nhung, as she explores what is to likely be her new home. Chih does attempt to talk to the kitchen staff and other workers, but they all shun them for reasons unknown. I was definitely curious because it seemed to have something to do with Chih's proximity to the Phams (bride's family) but more about the Phams' position at the household than the family themselves.

Nhung was charming and vivacious, and I liked her eagerness. She also showed compassion to the groom's "mad" son when everyone else seemed more disgusted or willing to dismiss him. For all her liveliness, she's still young and worries about things in dark corners and the rafters.

Zhihao was an interesting character in this one. He was written off as "mad" by his father and the workers of the household, but Chih clues in immediately that the young man isn't mad but has something else going on. While he does come across as rather abrasive, I think he genuinely was trying to warn Chih and the others.

I'll say this, I knew something was up, not just with the groom's household (which was obvious) but with Chih, I just didn't know what. I'll also say that Chih made some decisions that I was questioning but which made sense once the whole picture had been revealed.

I think this novella is most similar to When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain since both novellas feature some light gore (I actually think there's more in Tiger than this one but similar ideas). I'd seen another review mention horror elements but I was still pleasantly surprised at the turn of events. It felt like it was going more in the direction of Rabbit's story (re: her lover) from Empress but then things took a turn and we got to meet some devourers of flesh.

Overall I really enjoyed this addition to the Singing Hills Cycle. All the characters are pretty likeable even when they don't appear they will be at first. I really liked how the story ramped up and the light horror elements that were added to the latter parts of the book. I'm definitely looking forward to the next installment of Chih and Almost Brilliant's adventures!

[good-books-to-read]

If you like, try..

Why: both books are set within an Asian style fantasy which have high stakes and an amazing romance and let’s not forget demons and nearly impossible quests.

Left book: Song of Silver, Flame like Night by Amélie Wen Zhao

Right book: Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim

[tempestclerics]

the archive undying is a book that was made so precisely for me to enjoy and i know this because i tried to tell my best friend about it and i literally couldn’t because they kept being like “that’s exactly what i thought you’d say that’s exactly what i thought you’d say” over every single word starting from the title