This year’s subjective list of books we thought worthy of particular mention over the past 12 months: fiction (in translation and not), poetry, short stories, graphic novels, history, biography, literature, culture, politics, society and children’s books covering Asia from the Pacific to the Mediterranean, from Siberia to India and Turkey.
The year refers to the date of review, not of publication. Click on the title for the review.
Non-fiction
- Stranger in the Shogun’s City: A Japanese woman and her world by Amy Stanley (podcast)
- Who We’re Reading When We’re Reading Murakami by David Karashima
- Impostures by al-Ḥarīrī, translated by Michael Cooperson
- The Merchant’s Tale: Yokohama and the Transformation of Japan by Simon Partner
- The Deoliwallahs: The True Story of the 1962 Chinese-Indian Internment by Joy Ma and Dilip D’Souza
- Stories of the Sahara by Sanmao
- Tales from the Life of Bruce Wannell: Adventurer, Linguist, Orientalist, edited by Barnaby Rogerson and Rose Baring
- The Hidden History of Burma: Race, Capitalism, and the Crisis of Democracy in the 21st Century by Thant Myint-U
- The Emperor Who Never Was: Dara Shukoh in Mughal India by Supriya Gandhi
- Rebel City: Hong Kong’s Year of Water and Fire, edited by Zuraidah Ibrahim and Jeffie Lam
- Blockchain Chicken Farm: And Other Stories of Tech in China’s Countryside by Xiaowei Wang (podcast)
- China Bound: John Swire & Sons and Its World, 1816-1980 by Robert Bickers
- The Scientist and the Spy: A True Story of China, the FBI, and Industrial Espionage by Mara Hvistendahl
- The Moth and the Mountain: A True Story of Love, War, and Everest by Ed Caesar
Fiction in translation
- Friend: A Novel from North Korea by Paek Nam-nyong
- Bluebeard’s First Wife, stories by Ha Seong-Nan
- The Aosawa Murders by Riku Onda
- Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo
- Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami
- People from My Neighborhood by Kawakami Hiromi
- I Live in the Slums by Can Xue
- Second Sister by Chan Ho-Kei
- Hunter School by Sakinu Ahronglong
- The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar
- Estuary by Perumal Murugan
- Ship of Sorrows by Qurratulain Hyder
- Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin
- Three Apples Fell From the Sky by Narine Abgaryan
- The Wandering by Intan Paramaditha
Fiction in English
- A Lover’s Discourse by Guo Xiaolu
- Bestiary by K-Ming Chang
- The Glass Kingdom by Lawrence Osborne (podcast)
- The Cat and the City by Nick Bradley
- How Much of These Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang
- How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa
- Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
- Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara
- Then the Fish Swallowed Him: A Novel by Amir Ahmadi Arian
Poetry
- Rain in Plural: Poems by Fiona Sze-Lorrain
- Flèche by Mary Jean Chan
- A Nail the Evening Hangs On by Monica Sok
- Shahr-e Jaanaan: The City of the Beloved by Adeeba Shahid Talukder
- Saffron Jack by Rishi Dastidar
Graphic novels
- Moms by Yeong-shin Ma
- The Wolf of Baghdad: Memoir of a Lost Homeland by Carol Isaacs
- Year of the Rabbit by Tian Veasna
Children’s books
- Every Color of Light: A Book about the Sky by Hiroshi Osada
- The Ocean Calls: A Haenyeo Mermaid Story by Tina Cho
- The Hungry Ghost by HS Norup
- Parachutes by Kelly Yang
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