Asia is a vast continent, encompassing countries as diverse as China, Kazakhstan and India. In 2024 I decided to focus my readings in discovering this continent.
Latest Reviews of Asian Books
![When Reality is Bloodier Than fiction [Book Review]](https://i0.wp.com/larissaveloso.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/poppy_war_featured.png?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
![A Treaty on Female Friendship Betrayal [Book Review]](https://i0.wp.com/larissaveloso.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/yellowface_featured.png?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Famous Authors from Asia
Salman Rushdie (India)
Booker Prize–winning author, known for his dazzling prose and use of magical realism to capture the complexities of history, politics, and identity.
Main works: Midnight’s Children; The Satanic Verses
Han Kang (South Korea)
Nobel-winning novelist whose works explore violence, memory, and the human condition. She gained international recognition with her haunting novel The Vegetarian.
Main works: The Vegetarian; Human Acts
Haruki Murakami (Japan)
Internationally acclaimed for his blend of surrealism, pop culture, and deep human emotion. His works explore loneliness, memory, and parallel realities.
Main works: Norwegian Wood; Kafka on the Shore
See also: R. F. Kuang, Yōko Ogawa, Bandi, Kamila Shamsie, Min Jin Lee, Mirinae Lee
Asian Books by Country
Browse key books and authors from every country in Asia. This list updates regularly, and titles highlighted in yellow are the ones I’ve already read as part of my own Read the World Challenge.
Click any link for reviews and details. Icons show prizes, longlists, or inclusion in essential works. See the awards page for more.
Copy the full list here
| Country | Author | Book Title |
| AFGHANISTAN | Homeira Qaderi | Dancing in the Mosque |
| Khaled Hosseini | The Kite Runner 📃 | |
| ARMENIA | ||
| AZERBAIJAN | ||
| BANGLADESH | Zia Haider Rahman | In the Light of What We Know |
| BHUTAN | ||
| BRUNEI | ||
| CAMBODIA | Loung Un | First They Killed My Father |
| CHINA | Dorothy Tse | Owlish 🏅 |
| Eileen Chang | Love in a Fallen City and Other Stories 📃 | |
| Gao Xingjian 🏆 | Soul Mountain | |
| Mo Yan 🏆 | Red Sorghum | |
| R. F. Kuang | Babel | |
| Yellowface | ||
| Yan Ge | Strange Beasts of China 🏅 | |
| Zhang Yueran | Cocoon 🏅 | |
| GEORGIA | Diana Anphimiadi | Why I No Longer Write Poems 🏅 |
| Nana Ekvtimishvili | The Pear Field 🏅 | |
| Nino Haratischvili | The Eighth Life 🏆 | |
| INDIA | Aravind Adiga | The White Tiger 📃 |
| Arundhati Roy | The God of Small Things 📃 | |
| G. V. Desani | All About H. Hatterr 📃 | |
| Geetanjali Shree | Tomb of Sand 🏆 | |
| R.K. Narayan | Malgudi Days | |
| Salman Rushdie | Haroun and the Sea of Stories | |
| Knife | ||
| INDONESIA | Eka Kurniawan | Man Tiger |
| JAPAN | Hiroko Oyamada | The Factory🏅 |
| Hiromi Kawakami | People from My Neighbourhood 🏅 | |
| Record of a Night Too Brief 🏅 | ||
| Kazuo Ishiguro 🏆 | Never Let Me Go | |
| Kyoko Nakajima | Things Remembered and Things Forgotten 🏅 | |
| Mieko Kanai | Mild Vertigo 🏅 | |
| Mieko Kawakami | Breasts and Eggs 🏅 | |
| Sayaka Murata | Convenience Store Woman🏅 | |
| Yasunari Kawabata | Thousand Cranes 📃 | |
| Yōko Ogawa | The Memory Police | |
| Yoko Tawada | Memoirs of a Polar Bear 🏆 | |
| Yukiko Motoya | Picnic in the Storm 🏅 | |
| Yuko Tsushima | Of Dogs and Walls 🏅 | |
| Yūko Tsushima | Territory of Light 📃 | |
| KAZAKHSTAN | Rollan Seisenbayev | The Dead Wander in the Desert |
| KYRGYZSTAN | Chingiz Aitmatov | Jamila |
| LAOS | ||
| MALAYSIA | Tan Twan Eng | The Garden of Evening Mists |
| The House of Doors | ||
| MALDIVES | ||
| MONGOLIA | ||
| MYANMAR | ||
| NEPAL | ||
| NORTH KOREA | Bandi | The Accusation |
| PAKISTAN | Daniyal Mueenuddin | In Other Rooms, Other Wonders 📃 |
| Kamila Shamsie | Best of Friends | |
| Home Fire | ||
| Malala Yousafzai | I Am Malala | |
| PHILIPPINES | Gina Apostol | La Tercera |
| SINGAPORE | Balli Kaur Jaswal | Now You See Us |
| SOUTH KOREA | Han Kang 🏆 | Greek Lessons 🏅 |
| The Vegetarian | ||
| The White Book 🏅 | ||
| Min Jin Lee | Free Food for Millionaires | |
| Pachinko | ||
| Mirinae Lee | 8 Lives of a Century Old Trickster | |
| SRI LANKA | Anuk Arudpragasam | Passage North |
| TAIWAN | ||
| TAJIKISTAN | ||
| THAILAND | Duanwad Pimwana | Arid Dreams 🏅 |
| TIMOR-LESTE | ||
| TURKMENISTAN | ||
| UZBEKISTAN | Hamid Ismailov | The Dead Lake |
| We Computers | ||
| VIETNAM | Thich Nhat Hanh | The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching |
| Thuận | Chinatown 🏅 |
Interested? You can buy the books clicking on the images below.
Every purchase supports indie bookstores and helps me keep the blog running.
