AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) History Month has begun. It’s the perfect time to add to your reading list and expand your knowledge. As avid readers (or even casual readers), we know how much history, especially in literature, has an impact on our present-day circumstances.

Below is a comprehensive list of a book from every AAPI country allowing you to explore essential books that illuminate the complex and multifaceted stories of the AAPI population. From historical fiction to memoirs, these literary works provide a window into the lived experiences, cultural traditions, and enduring resilience of AAPI individuals and communities. Whether you’re a student, a history enthusiast, or simply curious about the rich tapestry of American diversity, these books offer a compelling starting point for understanding and appreciating the diverse narratives that shape AAPI heritage.

If you would like a free downloadable checklist of all these books, please click here!

I tried my best to include works from native authors. However, since publishers still favor white authors, this has proved to be a challenge further highlighting our global need to amplify diverse stories and writers. Remember: when you support these works, you’re sending a message to the publishing world that these voices and stories matter and we want to hear more. So, support in whatever way you can!

*Please note that every link with this asterisk means it is an affiliate link. There is no extra cost to you. It means that I make a little kickback from purchases through this link. These links will predominantly be from Bookshop.org as I think it’s great to support your local indie bookstores (instead of a billionaire’s moon missions). Happy reading!

Central Asia

Afghanistan: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini*

1970s Afghanistan: Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what would happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their lives. After the Russians invade and the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realises that one day he must return to an Afghanistan under Taliban rule to find the one thing that his new world cannot grant him: redemption.

Bonus Books for Further Reading:

• The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi*
• Games Without Rules: The Often Interrupted History of Afghanistan by Tamim Ansary*
• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini*

Armenia: The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian*

The Sandcastle Girls is a sweeping historical love story steeped in Chris Bohjalian’s Armenian heritage.

When Elizabeth Endicott arrives in Aleppo, Syria she has a diploma from Mount Holyoke, a crash course in nursing, and only the most basic grasp of the Armenian language. The year is 1915 and she has volunteered on behalf of the Boston-based Friends of Armenia to help deliver food and medical aid to refugees of the Armenian genocide. There Elizabeth becomes friendly with Armen, a young Armenian engineer who has already lost his wife and infant daughter. When Armen leaves Aleppo and travels south into Egypt to join the British army, he begins to write Elizabeth letters, and comes to realize that he has fallen in love with the wealthy, young American woman who is so different from the wife he lost.

Fast forward to the present day, where we meet Laura Petrosian, a novelist living in suburban New York. Although her grandparents’ ornate Pelham home was affectionately nicknamed “The Ottoman Annex,” Laura has never really given her Armenian heritage much thought. But when an old friend calls, claiming to have seen a newspaper photo of Laura’s grandmother promoting an exhibit at a Boston museum, Laura embarks on a journey back through her family’s history that reveals love, loss – and a wrenching secret that has been buried for generations.

Azerbaijan: Ali and Nino by Kurban Said*

First published in Vienna in 1937, this classic story of romance and adventure has been compared to Dr. Zhivago and Romeo and Juliet.  Its mysterious author was recently the subject of a feature article in the New Yorker, which has inspired a forthcoming biography. Out of print for nearly three decades until the hardcover re-release last year, Ali and Nino is Kurban Said’s masterpiece. It is a captivating novel as evocative of the exotic desert landscape as it is of the passion between two people pulled apart by culture, religion, and war.

It is the eve of World War I in Baku, Azerbaijan, a city on the edge of the Caspian Sea, poised precariously between east and west.  Ali Khan Shirvanshir, a Muslim schoolboy from a proud, aristocratic family, has fallen in love with the beautiful and enigmatic Nino Kipiani, a Christian girl with distinctly European sensibilities.   To be together they must overcome blood feud and scandal, attempt a daring horseback rescue, and travel from the bustling street of oil-boom Baku, through starkly beautiful deserts and remote mountain villages, to the opulent palace of Ali’s uncle in neighboring Persia.  Ultimately the lovers are drawn back to Baku, but when war threatens their future, Ali is forced to choose between his loyalty to the beliefs of his Asian ancestors and his profound devotion to Nino.  Combining the exotic fascination of a tale told by Scheherazade with the range and magnificence of an epic, Ali and Nino is a timeless classic of love in the face of war.

Georgia: The Knight in the Panther’s Skin by Shota Rustaveli*

The Knight in the Panther’s Skin is a Georgian medieval epic poem, consisting of over 1600 shairi quatrains, written in the 12th century by the Georgian epic poet Shota Rustaveli, the “crown and glory of the Georgian culture.” It is considered as the “masterpiece of the Georgian literature” which held for centuries a prominent place in the heart of Georgians, majority of whom is able to quote whole stanzas from the poem. 2] Until the early 20th century, a copy of this poem was part of the dowry of any bride. 3] 4] Rustaveli with the entire wealth of the old Georgian written culture by following the best traditions of the Georgian folklore, developed and raised the Georgian poetry to an unprecedented heights, poetry which would describe the highest ideals and aspirations of the Georgian nation.

Kazakhstan: The Silent Steppe: The Story of a Kazakh Nomad Under Stalin by Mukhamet Shayakhmetov

Documents the tragic story of the Kazakh nomads of central Asia under Stalin’s regime, offering insight into the culture’s Islamic and pagan heritage, the ancient traditions that established their nomadic way of life, and the author’s family’s struggle to relocate and survive after his father was fatally incarcerated within a prison camp.

Kyrgyzstan: The White Ship by Chingiz Aitmatov*

Deserted by his parents, a young boy finds himself alone in the often grotesque world or relatives who do not want to raise him. As daily events become more and more intolerable, the boy clings to the legends and religious traditions of the area for relief. When a hunting party forces his grandfather to kill the Horned Mother Deer that the boy believes sacred, the boy, filled with horror and disgust, commits an act he thinks will lead him to the love and affection he so desperately needs.

Mongolia: The Blue Sky by Galsan Tschinag*

In the high Altai Mountains of northern Mongolia, a young shepherd boy comes of age, tending his family’s flocks on the mountain steppes and knowing little of the world beyond the surrounding peaks. But his nomadic way of life is increasingly disrupted by modernity.

This confrontation comes in stages. First, his older siblings leave the family yurt to attend a distant boarding school. Then the boy’s grandmother dies, and with her his connection to the old ways. But perhaps the greatest tragedy strikes when his dog, Arsylang–“all that was left to me”–ingests poison set out by the boy’s father to protect his herd from wolves. “Why is it so?” Dshurukawaa cries out in despair to the Heavenly Blue Sky, to be answered only by the wind.

Rooted in the oral traditions of the Tuvan people, The Blue Sky weaves the timeless story of a boy poised on the cusp of manhood with the story of a people on the threshold.

Tajikistan: The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi*

Winner of the Prix Goncourt, The Patience Stone is the tale of a woman caring for her brain-damaged husband, who was shot in the neck during a petty conflict. After years of living in a society of Islamic fundamentalism, she finds herself strangely liberated by her husband’s condition. She tells him her innermost thoughts and secrets, many of them dark and deeply repressed, never knowing whether he’s able to hear her or not.

Turkmenistan: The Tale of Aypi by Ak Welsapar*

The Tale of Aypi follows the fate of a group of Turkmen fishermen dwelling on the coast of the Caspian Sea. The fear of losing their ancestral home looms over the entire village. This injustice is being made to look like a voluntary initiative on the part of the fishermen themselves, whilst the ruling powers cynically attempt to confiscate their land. One brave fisherman from the village rises up to confront them and fights for his native shore, as a response to an act of cruelty inflicted on a defenceless young woman centuries ago. This unjustly executed soul returns as a ghost during this troubled time to exact a terrible revenge on the men of the village.
The relationships among the characters mirror the eternal opposition between the forces of nature, with the intervention of mystical forces ratcheting up the tension.

Uzbekistan: The Railway by Hamid Ismailov*

Set mainly in Uzbekistan between 1900 and 1980, this compelling novel introduces to us the inhabitants of the small town of Gilas on the ancient Silk Route. Among those whose stories we hear are Mefody-Jurisprudence, the town’s alcoholic intellectual; Father Ioann, a Russian priest; Kara-Musayev the Younger, the chief of police; and Umarali-Moneybags, the old moneylender. Their colorful lives offer a unique and comic picture of a little-known land populated by outgoing Mullahs, incoming Bolsheviks, and a plethora of Uzbeks, Russians, Persians, Jews, Koreans, Tatars, and Gypsies. At the heart of both the town and the novel stands the railway station–a source of income and influence, and a connection to the greater world beyond the town. Rich and picaresque, The Railway is highly sophisticated yet contains a naive delight in its storytelling, chronicling the dramatic changes felt throughout Central Asia in the early 20th century.

East Asia

China: To Live by Yu Hua*

Originally banned in China but later named one of that nation’s most influential books, a searing novel that portrays one man’s transformation from the spoiled son of a landlord to a kindhearted peasant.

From the author of Brothers and China in Ten Words this celebrated contemporary classic of Chinese literature was also adapted for film by Zhang Yimou. After squandering his family’s fortune in gambling dens and brothels, the young, deeply penitent Fugui settles down to do the honest work of a farmer. Forced by the Nationalist Army to leave behind his family, he witnesses the horrors and privations of the Civil War, only to return years later to face a string of hardships brought on by the ravages of the Cultural Revolution. Left with an ox as the companion of his final years, Fugui stands as a model of gritty authenticity, buoyed by his appreciation for life in this narrative of humbling power.

Bonus Books for Further Reading:

• The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See*
• The Last Rose of Shanghai by Weina Dai Randel*
• Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang*

Japan: Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami*

A magnificent coming-of-age story steeped in nostalgia, “a masterly novel” (The New York Times Book Review) blending the music, the mood, and the ethos that were the sixties with a young man’s hopeless and heroic first love.

Toru, a serious young college student in Tokyo, is devoted to Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman, but their mutual passion is marked by the tragic death of their best friend years before. As Naoko retreats further into her own world, Toru finds himself drawn to a fiercely independent and sexually liberated young woman.

Stunning and elegiac, Norwegian Wood first propelled Haruki Murakami into the forefront of the literary scene.

Bonus Books for Further Reading:

• The Typhoon Lover by Sujata Massey*
• The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama*
• The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire by John Toland*

North Korea: The Accusation: Forbidden Stories from Inside North Korea by Bandi*

An international publishing milestone, The Accusation is a collection of searing and heart-wrenching stories by an anonymous North Korean writer who is still living in the country, which was smuggled out and now published in seventeen countries.

The Accusation is a deeply moving and eye-opening work of fiction that paints a powerful portrait of life under the North Korean regime. Set during the period of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il’s leadership, the seven stories that make up The Accusation give voice to people living under this most bizarre and horrifying of dictatorships. The characters of these compelling stories come from a wide variety of backgrounds, from a young mother living among the elite in Pyongyang whose son misbehaves during a political rally, to a former Communist war hero who is deeply disillusioned with the intrusion of the Party into everything he holds dear, to a husband and father who is denied a travel permit and sneaks onto a train in order to visit his critically ill mother.

Written with deep emotion and writing talent, The Accusation is a vivid depiction of life in a closed-off one-party state, and also a hopeful testament to the humanity and rich internal life that persists even in such inhumane conditions.

Bonus Book for Further Reading:

• The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson*

South Korea: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee*

There could only be a few winners, and a lot of losers. And yet we played on, because we had hope that we might be the lucky ones.

In the early 1900s, teenaged Sunja, the adored daughter of a crippled fisherman, falls for a wealthy stranger at the seashore near her home in Korea. He promises her the world, but when she discovers she is pregnant–and that her lover is married–she refuses to be bought. Instead, she accepts an offer of marriage from a gentle, sickly minister passing through on his way to Japan. But her decision to abandon her home, and to reject her son’s powerful father, sets off a dramatic saga that will echo down through the generations.

Richly told and profoundly moving, Pachinko is a story of love, sacrifice, ambition, and loyalty. From bustling street markets to the halls of Japan’s finest universities to the pachinko parlors of the criminal underworld, Lee’s complex and passionate characters–strong, stubborn women, devoted sisters and sons, fathers shaken by moral crisis–survive and thrive against the indifferent arc of history.

Bonus Books for Further Reading:

• The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See*
• Human Acts by Han Kang*
• When My Name Was Keoko by Linda Sue Park*

Taiwan: Green Island by Shawna Yang Ryan*

As an uprising rocks Taiwan, a young doctor in Taipei is taken from his newborn daughter by Chinese Nationalists, on charges of speaking out against the government. Although the doctor eventually returns to his family, his arrival is marked by alienation from his loved ones and paranoia among his community.

Years later, this troubled past follows his youngest daughter to America, where, as a mother and a wife, she too is forced to decide between what is right and what might save her family–the same choice she witnessed her father make many years before.

The story of a family and a nation grappling with the nuances of complicity and survival, Green Island raises the question: how far would you go for the ones you love?

Tibet: Like a Waking Dream by Geshe Lhundub Sopa*

Among the generation of elder Tibetan lamas who brought Tibetan Buddhism west in the latter half of the twentieth century, perhaps none has had a greater impact on the academic study of Buddhism than Geshe Lhundub Sopa. He has striven to preserve Tibetan religious culture through tireless work as a professor and religious figure, establishing a functioning Buddhist monastery in the West, organizing the Dalai Lama’s visits to the U.S., and offering countless teachings across the country. But prior to his thirty-year career in the first ever academic Buddhist studies program in the United States – a position in which he oversaw the training of many among the seminal generation of American Buddhist studies scholars – Geshe Sopa was the son of peasant farmers, a novice monk in a rural monastery, a virtuoso scholar-monk at one of the prestigious central monasteries in Lhasa, and a survivor of the Tibetan uprising and perilous flight into exile in 1959.

In Like a Waking Dream, Geshe Sopa frankly and observantly reflects on how his life in Tibet – a monastic life of yogic simplicity – shaped and prepared him for the unexpected. His is a tale of an exemplary life dedicated to learning, spiritual cultivation, and the service of others from one of the greatest living masters of Tibetan Buddhism.

Hawai’i and the Pacific Islands

Fiji: Tales of the Tikongs by Epeli Hau’ofa*

In this lively satire of contemporary South Pacific life, we meet a familiar cast of characters: multinational experts, religious fanatics, con men, “simple” villagers, corrupt politicians. In writing about this tiny world of flawed personalities, Hau’ofa displays his wit and range of comic resource, amply exercising what one reviewer called his “gift of seeing absurdity clearly.”

Bonus Book for Further Reading

• The Frangipani Hotel by Violet Kupersmith*

Guam: Daughters of the Island by Saina Laura Souder*

The book focuses on the women who have made a positive impact on Guam society as organizers. The people of Guam, increasingly conscious of their indigenous identity as Chamorros, have produced a generation who are defending their right to self-determination. Organizing toward these ends are Chamorro women. The historical Catholic Church in this small island nation struggles to protect a cultural identity and a way of life which must change, but at what cost? These Chamorro women provide leadership, defend their language, battle for their land, and fight to control social institutions in the public sector so as to insure the continuity of a way of life which is under seige.

Hawai’i: Island Wisdom: Hawaiian Traditions and Practices for a Meaningful Life by Annie Daly and Kainoa Daines*

More than just a beautiful paradise, Hawai’i has a rich culture, deeply rooted in tradition. Native Hawaiian and cultural expert Kainoa Daines has spent many years teaching visitors to the islands about this time-honored wisdom, and now he has teamed up with journalist Annie Daly to share that knowledge with you. Island Wisdom is an inspirational and rewarding journey through traditional Hawaiian teachings that have stood the test of time, from how to be pono (live a balanced life) to how to mālama ‘āina (preserve and protect the land). Filled with the voices and guidance of Hawaiian elders, regional folklore, and ancient teachings—plus gorgeous local photography and illustrations throughout— Island Wisdom is a celebration of Hawaiian culture, language, and values that will give you a deeper understanding, appreciation, and respect for Hawai’i and the Hawaiian way of life.

Perfect for

– Fans of the New York Times bestseller The Little Book of Hygge
– Travelers who have visited or are thinking of visiting Hawai’i
– Readers curious to learn about Hawaiian culture and language
– Anyone seeking a more thoughtful and balanced life

Bonus Books for Further Reading:

• Moloka’i by Alan Brennert*
• The Aloha Spirit by Linda Ulleseit*
• Shark Dialogues by Kiana Davenport*

Kosrae: Letters from the Sleeping Lady – The Kindling of Two Teachers and Kosrae Island by Malcolm Lindquist and Tarry Lindquist

What began with the simple idea of sharing some old letters with our granddaughters became a unique look into a little known bit of South Pacific history.The letters were written during our two years on one of the most remote islands in the South Pacific. In 1964 we had accepted elementary teaching positions in a local village school on an island named Kosrae. It is an island in Micronesia then known as the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Little was known about Micronesia and even less about Kosrae. It was several years before we had any real understanding of the history of these islands. Kosrae (then spelled Kusaie), an island of 49 sq miles, 300 miles from its nearest neighbor, 1200 miles from the nearest grocery store or hospital, and 5,000 miles from the nearest city. Our contact with the rest of the world was extremely limited – no newspapers, no telephones, no radios, no television – only a ship that came every 4 to 8 weeks. The fundamental facilities of the island were also extremely limited – no electricity or running water, no hardware stores, no clothing stores, no drug stores, no gas stations, no grocery stores, no restaurants, or simply, no stores period. The only places called “stores” were the house or two in each village that sold some basics – seldom more than rice, flour, sugar, kerosene, and mosquito coils. We knew most of this before leaving our home in the northwest United States, but missed by a mile what living there would be like. For example, it never occurred to us what we would eat or how we would get it.Never had we thought that we would be the center of attention. In addition to being a village novelty we were at times the village idiots. Neither of us had ever ridden a motorbike, let alone paddled a canoe. Teaching we expected, but not flying fish fishing, mangrove crab hunting, tramping through tropical jungles and finding a pirates ship. A whole lexicon of words were added to our vocabulary. Swimming over a coral reef was in Malcolm’s dreams, but never in Tarry’s. Above all else, there was the discovery that the two of us were a good team.We learned to teach with nothing – no books, no paper, no pencils and mostly no curriculum. We developed strategies and styles of instruction to solve problems most teachers are never faced with. This culminated in a summer of full time teacher training. We had to help the Micronesians teachers answer the question “How does a teacher without resources, who has not graduated from high school, teaching in a language they are not familiar with, be effective in the classroom?”We watched the beginning of the dynamic change the Kusaiens were undertaking. They had been almost totally isolated from the rest of the world. In the 1920’s the Japanese closed Micronesia to the rest of the world. After World War II the United States kept the door closed until 1963. In the years after the war the Micronesians had received very little help or support for their schools. The Kosraians governed their island and schools without much outside interference. This all changed dramatically during those two years.

Marshall Islands: Strangers in Their Own Land: A Century of Colonial Rule in the Caroline and Marshall Islands by Francis X. Hezel*

“Hezel has written an authoritative and engaging narrative of [a] succession of colonial regimes, drawing upon a broad range of published and archival sources as well as his own considerable knowledge of the region. This is a ‘conventional’ history, and a very good one, focused mostly on political and economic developments. Hezel demonstrates a fine understanding of the complicated relations between administrators, missionaries, traders, chiefs and commoners, in a wide range of social and historical settings.” –Pacific Affairs

“The tale [of Strangers in Their Own Land] is one of interplay between four sequential colonial regimes (Spain Germany, Japan, and the United States) and the diverse island cultures they governed. It is also a tale of relationships among islands whose inhabitants did not always see eye-to-eye and among individuals who fought private and public battles in those islands. Hezel conveys both the unity of purpose exerted by a colonial government and the subversion of that purpose by administrators, teachers, islands, and visitors…. [The] history is thoroughly supported by archival materials, first-person testimonies, and secondary sources. Hezel acknowledges the power of the visual when he ends his book by describing the distinctive flags that now replace Spanish, German, Japanese, and American symbols of rule. the scene epitomizes a theme of the book: global political and economic forces, whether colonial or post-colonial, cannot erode the distinctiveness each island claims.”–American Historical Review

Bonus Books for Further Reading:

• Eating Fire and Drinking Water by Arlene J. Chai
• Children of the Atomic Bomb: An American Physician’s Memoir of Nagasaki, Hiroshima, and the Marshall Islands by James N. Yamazaki and Louis B. Fleming*
• Coral and Concrete: Remembering Kwajalein Atoll between Japan, America, and the Marshall Islands by Greg Dvorak*

Niue: The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera*

Eight – year – old Kahu craves her great – grandfather’s love and attention. But he is focused on his duties as chief of a Maori tribe in Whangara, on the East Coast of New Zealand – a tribe that claims descent from the legendary ‘whale rider’. In every generation since the whale rider, a male has inherited the title of chief. But now there is no male heir – there’s only kahu. She should be the next in line for the title, but her great – grandfather is blinded by tradition and sees no use for a girl. Kahu will not be ignored. And in her struggle she has a unique ally: the whale rider himself, from whom she has inherited the ability to communicate with whales. Once that sacred gift is revealed, Kahu may be able to re – establish her people’s ancestral connections, earn her great – grandfather’s attention – and lead her tribe to a bold new future.

North Mariana Islands (Saipan, Tinian, and Rota): Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn*

In 1995 Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on a rare family vacation, seven-year-old Nainoa Flores falls overboard a cruise ship into the Pacific Ocean. When a shiver of sharks appears in the water, everyone fears for the worst. But instead, Noa is gingerly delivered to his mother in the jaws of a shark, marking his story as the stuff of legends.

Nainoa’s family, struggling amidst the collapse of the sugarcane industry, hails his rescue as a sign of favor from ancient Hawaiian gods–a belief that appears validated after he exhibits puzzling new abilities. But as time passes, this supposed divine favor begins to drive the family apart: Nainoa, working now as a paramedic on the streets of Portland, struggles to fathom the full measure of his expanding abilities; further north in Washington, his older brother Dean hurtles into the world of elite college athletics, obsessed with wealth and fame; while in California, risk-obsessed younger sister Kaui navigates an unforgiving academic workload in an attempt to forge her independence from the family’s legacy.

When supernatural events revisit the Flores family in Hawai’i–with tragic consequences–they are all forced to reckon with the bonds of family, the meaning of heritage, and the cost of survival.

Palau: The History of Palau: From Prehistory to the Present by Einar Felix Hansen, Elias Adalbert Chin

Discover the rich history and culture of Palau in this comprehensive book that takes readers on a journey through the island nation’s fascinating past and present.From the prehistoric era to the modern day, this book explores the key events and cultural practices that have shaped Palauan society over time. Learn about the early settlement and archaeological evidence of Palau’s prehistoric era, the oral traditions and cultural practices of ancient Palau, and the governance and society of the pre-colonial era.Explore Palau’s encounters with European powers, including Spanish colonization and German administration, and the impact of World War I and II on the islands. Learn about Palau’s path to independence and its contemporary society, including its traditional culture, religion, art, and music.This book also explores the critical issues facing Palau today, including climate change, economic development, and environmental protection. Discover Palau’s efforts to build resilience and sustainability in the face of these challenges, and the lessons that can be drawn from Palau’s history for the world.Whether you’re a history buff, a culture enthusiast, or simply interested in learning more about this fascinating island nation, this book is the perfect choice for you. It’s a must-read for anyone interested in the history and culture of Palau. Order your copy today and start your journey through Palau’s rich and complex history.

Papua New Guinea: The Crocodile by Vincent Eri

Considered the first novel written by a Papua New Guinean author, “The Crocodile” explores the clash between tradition and modernity in a remote village, as seen through the eyes of a young man returning home after studying abroad.

Samoa: Where We Once Belonged by Sia Figiel*

A bestseller in New Zealand and winner of the prestigious Commonwealth Prize, Sia Figiel’s debut marks the first time a novel by a Samoan woman has been published in the United States. Figiel uses the traditional Samoan storytelling form of su’ifefiloi to talk back to Western anthropological studies of Samoan women and culture. Told in a series of linked episodes, this powerful and highly original narrative follows 13-year-old Alofa Filiga as she navigates the mores and restrictions of her village and comes to terms with her own search for identity.

Bonus Books for Further Reading:

• Loud: Accept Nothing Less Than the Life You Deserve by Drew Afualo*
• Afakasi Woman by Lani Wendt Young*
• Leaves of the Banyan Tree by Albert Wendt*

Tokelau: Mauri Ola: Contemporary Polynesian Poems in English edited by Albert Wendt, Reina Whaitiri, and Robert Sullivan*

This unique anthology of contemporary indigenous Polynesian poetry collects poems written over the last 20 years from more than 60 poets in Hawaii, Tonga, Samoa, Aotearoa/New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, and Rotuma. Well-known poets such as Hone Tuwhare, Alistair Te, Ariki Campbell, and Haunani-Kay Trask are joined by talented young voices in a way that presents both an overall Polynesian identity and a focus on individual style. Traditional laments mix with street-smart rap rhythms, and images of seascape and landscape mingle with portraits of urban slums. Political anger is a powerful force in these poems, but many are personal and particular. Sometimes the impact is visual as well as verbal, with design and drawing matching the words. The impression of the anthology as a whole is of an active, changing, varied, creative scene that confronts both a complex colonial past and a fast-moving global present with energy, courage, and vitality.

Tonga: My Urohs by Emelihter Kihleng*

The first collection of poetry by a Pohnpeian poet, Emelihter Kihleng’s My Urohs is described by distinguished Samoan writer and artist Albert Wendt as “refreshingly innovative and compelling, a new way of seeing ourselves in our islands, an important and influential addition to our [Pacific] literature.”

Yap State: The Hired Man by Aminatta Forna*

An NPR, Boston Globe, and San Francisco Chronicle best book of the year, The Hired Man–now available in paperback–is an incisive, powerful novel of a small Croatian town and its dark wartime secrets, unwittingly brought into the light by a family of outsiders. Duro Kolak, a stoic lifelong resident of the Croatian village of Gost, is off on a morning’s hunt when he discovers that a British family has taken up residence in a house Duro knows well. He offers his assistance getting their water working again, and soon he is at the house every day, helping get it ready as their summer cottage, and serving as their trusted confidant. But the other residents of Gost are not as pleased to have the interlopers, and as the friendship deepens, the volatile truths about the town’s past and the house’s former occupants whisper ever louder. A masterpiece of storytelling haunted by lost love and a restrained menace, The Hired Man confirms Aminatta Forna as one of our most important writers.

Southeast Asia

Brunei: The Fisherman King by Kathrina Mohd Daud*

Eight years ago, Lisan the fisherman, who has always believed he was descended from royalty, left his wife and the Water Village. Now he’s back, and he says he can prove it. Six hundred years ago, a forbidden relationship between the royal children of Brunei set into motion a chain of events that will end with the death of a king…or the death of a god. As the story of Lisan’s true intentions – and what he was really doing in those years away – unravels, the story of those doomed royal children also spins to its inevitable conclusion.

Cambodia: In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner*

A beautiful celebration of the power of hope, this New York Times bestselling novel tells the story of a girl who comes of age during the Cambodian genocide.You are about to read an extraordinary story, a PEN Hemingway Award finalist “rich with history, mythology, folklore, language and emotion.” It will take you to the very depths of despair and show you unspeakable horrors. It will reveal a gorgeously rich culture struggling to survive through a furtive bow, a hidden ankle bracelet, fragments of remembered poetry. It will ensure that the world never forgets the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge regime in the Cambodian killing fields between 1975 and 1979, when an estimated two million people lost their lives. It will give you hope, and it will confirm the power of storytelling to lift us up and help us not only survive but transcend suffering, cruelty, and loss. For seven-year-old Raami, the shattering end of childhood begins with the footsteps of her father returning home in the early dawn hours, bringing details of the civil war that has overwhelmed the streets of Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital. Soon the family’s world of carefully guarded royal privilege is swept up in the chaos of revolution and forced exodus. Over the next four years, as the Khmer Rouge attempts to strip the population of every shred of individual identity, Raami clings to the only remaining vestige of her childhood–the mythical legends and poems told to her by her father. In a climate of systematic violence where memory is sickness and justification for execution, Raami fights for her improbable survival. Displaying the author’s extraordinary gift for language, In the Shadow of the Banyan is a brilliantly wrought tale of human resilience.

Bonus Books for Further Reading:

• First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers by Loung Ung*
• The Rent Collector by Camron Wright*
• Slow Noodles: A Cambodian Memoir of Love, Loss, and Family Recipes by Chantha Nguon*

Indonesia: This Earth of Mankind by Pramoedya Ananta Toer*

Minke is a young Javanese student of great intelligence and ambition. Living equally among the colonists and colonized of 19th-century Java, he battles against the confines of colonial strictures. It is his love for Annelies that enables him to find the strength to embrace his world.

Laos: Escaping the Tiger by Laura Manivong*

Vonlai knows that soldiers who guard the Mekong River shoot at anything that moves, but in oppressive Communist Laos, there’s nothing left for him, his spirited sister, Dalah, and his desperate parents. Their only hope is a refugee camp in Thailand—on the other side of the river.

When they reach the camp, their struggles are far from over. Na Pho is a forgotten place where life consists of squalid huts, stifling heat, and rationed food. Still, Vonlai tries to carry on as if everything is normal. He pays attention in school, a dusty barrack overcrowded with kids too hungry to learn. And, to forget his empty stomach, he plays soccer in a field full of rocks. But when someone inside the camp threatens his family, Vonlai calls on a forbidden skill to protect their future—a future he’s sure is full of promise, if only they can make it out of Na Pho alive.

In her compelling debut, Laura Manivong has written an evocative story that is vividly real, strongly affecting, and, at its heart, about hope that resonates in even the darkest moments.

Malaysia: The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng*

Malaya, 1951. Yun Ling Teoh, the scarred lone survivor of a brutal Japanese wartime camp, seeks solace among the jungle-fringed tea plantations of Cameron Highlands. There she discovers Yugiri, the only Japanese garden in Malaya, and its owner and creator, the enigmatic Aritomo, exiled former gardener of the emperor of Japan. Despite her hatred of the Japanese, Yun Ling seeks to engage Aritomo to create a garden in memory of her sister, who died in the camp. Aritomo refuses but agrees to accept Yun Ling as his apprentice “until the monsoon comes.” Then she can design a garden for herself. As the months pass, Yun Ling finds herself intimately drawn to the gardener and his art, while all around them a communist guerilla war rages. But the Garden of Evening Mists remains a place of mystery. Who is Aritomo and how did he come to leave Japan? And is the real story of how Yun Ling managed to survive the war perhaps the darkest secret of all?

Myanmar (Burma): The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh*

Set in Burma during the British invasion of 1885, this masterly novel tells the story of Rajkumar, a poor boy lifted on the tides of political and social chaos, who goes on to create an empire in the Burmese teak forest. When soldiers force the royal family out of the Glass Palace and into exile, Rajkumar befriends Dolly, a young woman in the court of the Burmese Queen, whose love will shape his life. He cannot forget her, and years later, as a rich man, he goes in search of her. The struggles that have made Burma, India, and Malaya the places they are today are illuminated in this wonderful novel by the writer Chitra Divakaruni calls “a master storyteller.”

Philippines: Touch Me Not by José Rizal*

The great novel of the Philippines.

In more than a century since its appearance, José Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere has become widely known as the great novel of the Philippines. A passionate love story set against the ugly political backdrop of repression, torture, and murder, “The Noli,” as it is called in the Philippines, was the first major artistic manifestation of Asian resistance to European colonialism, and Rizal became a guiding conscience–and martyr–for the revolution that would subsequently rise up in the Spanish province.

Singapore: If We Dream Too Long by Goh Poh Seng*

Published in 1972 and widely regarded as the first Singapore novel, If We Dream Too Long explores the dilemmas and challenges faced by its hero, Kwang Meng, as he navigates the difficult transitional period between youthful aspirations and the external demands of society and family. Shy and sensitive, he feels detached from mainstream life and is unable to identify with the values that animate his friends. Kwang Meng takes refuge in dreams of exotic faraway places, and imagines merging himself with the sea, which he loves. Yet amid this uncertainty, the reader feels that all is not lost, that the young dreamer will eventually find his way. Kwang Meng’s experiences reflect Goh Poh Seng’s fascination with the question of self amid the dreariness and aimlessness of an increasingly urbanized and materialistic Asian society. The book also provides a fascinating portrait of Singapore as it was in the 1960s, a landscape and society that have since undergone many changes but remain faintly visible in modern Singapore. This new edition restores the author’s original typographic design and has an updated introduction by Koh Tai Ann.

Timor-Leste: The Redundancy of Courage by Timothy Mo*

Winner of the E.M. Forster Award and shortlisted for the Booker Prize, this brutal and beautiful narration of the guerrilla war against the Indonesians in Timor, praised by Fretilin Foreign Minister and Nobel prize-winner Jose Ramos-Hortafor its ‘perfect authenticity’, reappears now in this handsome edition at a topical moment in history as Timor fully joins the UN at last.

Thailand: Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap*

One of the most widely reviewed debuts of the year, Sightseeing is a masterful story collection by an award-winning young author. Set in contemporary Thailand, these are generous, radiant tales of family bonds, youthful romance, generational conflicts and cultural shiftings beneath the glossy surface of a warm, Edenic setting. Written with exceptional acuity, grace and sophistication, the stories present a nation far removed from its exoticized stereotypes. In the prize-winning opening story “Farangs,” the son of a beachside motel owner commits the cardinal sin of falling for a pretty American tourist. In the novella, “Cockfighter,” a young girl witnesses her proud father’s valiant but foolhardy battle against a local delinquent whose family has a vicious stranglehold on the villagers. Through his vivid assemblage of parents and children, natives and transients, ardent lovers and sworn enemies, Lapcharoensap dares us to look with new eyes at the circumstances that shape our views and the prejudices that form our blind spots. Gorgeous and lush, painful and candid, Sightseeing is an extraordinary reading experience, one that powerfully reveals that when it comes to how we respond to pain, anger, hurt, and love, no place is too far from home.

Vietnam: The Sorrow of War by Bảo Ninh*

The daring and controversial novel that took the world by storm–a story of politics, selfhood, survival, and war.

Heart-wrenching, fragmented, raw, former North Vietnamese solder Bao Ninh’s The Sorrow of War provides a strikingly honest look at how the Vietnam War forever changed his life, his country, and the people who live there. Kien, a lone survivor from the Glorious 27th Youth brigade of the Vietcong, revisits the haunting sites of battles and relives a parade of horrors, as he grapples with his ghosts, his alcoholism and attempts to arrange his life in writing. Originally published against government wishes in Vietnam because of its nonheroic, non-ideological tone, Ninh’s now classic work has won worldwide acclaim and become an international bestseller.

South Asia

Bangladesh: A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam*

As young widow Rehana Haque awakes one March morning, she might be forgiven for feeling happy. Her children are almost grown, the city is buzzing with excitement after recent elections. Change is in the air.

But no one can foresee what will happen in the days and months that follow. For this is East Pakistan in 1971, a country on the brink of war. And this family’s life is about to change forever.

Set against the backdrop of the Bangladesh War of Independence, ‘A Golden Age’ is a story of passion and revolution, of hope, faith, and unexpected heroism. In the chaos of this era, everyone must make choices. And as she struggles to keep her family safe, Rehana will be forced to face a heartbreaking dilemma.

Bhutan: The Circle of Karma by Kunzang Choden

Caught in the everyday reality of household life, fifteen-year-old Tsomo is suddenly called upon to travel when her mother dies. She makes her first journey to a faraway village to light the ritual butter lamps in her mother’s memory. Beginning here, her travels take her to distant places, across Bhutan and into India. As she faces the world, a woman alone, Tsomo embarks on what becomes a life journey, in which she begins to find herself, and to grow as a person and a woman.

The first novel by a woman to come out of the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, The Circle of Karma, written in English, is rich in detailed descriptions of ritual life in Bhutan. The measured pace of its prose, the many nuances of the story, the different levels at which the narrative works, weave a complex tapestry of life in which the style and content are closely interwoven, each informing and enriching the other.

India: The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy*

The year is 1969. In the state of Kerala, on the southernmost tip of India, a skyblue Plymouth with chrome tailfins is stranded on the highway amid a Marxist workers’ demonstration. Inside the car sit two-egg twins Rahel and Esthappen, and so begins their tale…. Armed only with the invincible innocence of children, they fashion a childhood for themselves in the shade of the wreck that is their family – their lonely, lovely mother, Ammu (who loves by night the man her children love by day), their blind grandmother, Mammachi (who plays Handel on her violin), their beloved uncle Chacko (Rhodes scholar, pickle baron, radical Marxist, bottom-pincher), their enemy, Baby Kochamma (ex-nun and incumbent grandaunt), and the ghost of an imperial entomologist’s moth (with unusually dense dorsal tufts). When their English cousin, Sophie Mol, and her mother, Margaret Kochamma, arrive on a Christmas visit, Esthappen and Rahel learn that Things Can Change in a Day. That lives can twist into new, ugly shapes, even cease forever, beside their river “graygreen. With fish in it. With the sky and trees in it. And at night, the broken yellow moon in it.”

Bonus Books:

• The Windfall by Diksha Basu*
• One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter by Scaachi Koul*
• Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel*

Maldives: Folk Tales of the Maldives translated by Xavier Romero-Frias

This book was written with two groups of readers in mind. i trust that you belong to one or both of thes. First, you may be one of those people interested to learn more about the Maldives and with luck visit that beautiful country.
The stories found here offer insights into the lives, culture and history of the Maldivians not found in any guidebook.
Altematively, you may be a scientist – say, an anthropolo-gist, folklorist, linguist or Islande scholar. The technical in­ formation and introduction that follow were written with you in mind and the stories themselves are annotated to add to their meaning.
Whichever type of reader you are, I hope that you enjoy reading this volume as much as i hâve done researching and
writing it over the years.
The stories in this book were compiled between 1979 and 2007. Many people helped me during the long process of collecting the texts over the years. In the end the stories were very useful, allowing me to understand and appreciate the language, customs, values and complex courtesy of the Maldives.–The Author–

Nepal: The Guru of Love by Samrat Upadhyay*

Writing of Samrat Upadhyay’s story collection, critics raved: “like a Buddhist Chekhov . . . speak[s] to common truths . . . startlingly good” (San Francisco Chronicle) and “subtle and spiritually complex” (New York Times). Upadhyay’s novel showcases his finest writing and his signature themes. The Guru of Love is a moving and important story–important for what it illuminates about the human need to love as well as lust, and for the light it shines on the political situation in Nepal and elsewhere.

Ramchandra is a math teacher earning a low wage and living in a small apartment with his wife and two children. Moonlighting as a tutor, he engages in an illicit affair with one of his tutees, Malati, a beautiful, impoverished young woman who is also a new mother. She provides for him what his wife, who comes from a privileged background, does not: desire, mystery, and a simpler life. Complicating matters are various political concerns and a small city bursting with the conflicts of modernization, a static government, and a changing population. Just as the city must contain its growing needs, so must Ramchandra learn to accommodate both tradition and his very modern desires.

Absolutely absorbing yet deceptively simple, this novel cements Upadhyay’s emerging status as one of our most exciting writers.

Pakistan: I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai*

“I come from a country that was created at midnight. When I almost died it was just after midday.”

When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education.

On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive.

Instead, Malala’s miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she became a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize.

I AM MALALA is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls’ education, of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons.

I AM MALALA will make you believe in the power of one person’s voice to inspire change in the world.

Bonus Books for Further Reading:

• A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif*
• Exit West by Mohsin Hamid*
• Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed*
• All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir*

Sri Lanka: Anil’s Ghost by Michael Ondaatje*

With his first novel since the internationally acclaimed The English Patient, Booker Prize–winning author Michael Ondaatje gives us a work displaying all the richness of imagery and language and the piercing emotional truth that we have come to know as the hallmarks of his writing.

Anil’s Ghost transports us to Sri Lanka, a country steeped in centuries of tradition, now forced into the late twentieth century by the ravages of civil war. Into this maelstrom steps Anil Tissera, a young woman born in Sri Lanka, educated in England and America, who returns to her homeland as a forensic anthropologist sent by an international human rights group to discover the source of the organized campaigns of murder engulfing the island. What follows is a story about love, about family, about identity, about the unknown enemy, about the quest to unlock the hidden past-a story propelled by a riveting mystery. Unfolding against the deeply evocative background of Sri Lanka’s landscape and ancient civilization, Anil’s Ghost is a literary spellbinder-Michael Ondaatje’s most powerful novel yet.

West Asia

West Asia is also frequently referred to as the Middle East. However, as the Middle East is not it’s own continent, these countries are also considered to be Asian.

Bahrain: Yummah by Elizabeth Sirriyeh

Khadeeja is a child who is forced into womanhood early. She is compelled to marry a man much older than she through arranged marriage and lives a world of hardships from then on. Her mother dies soon after her wedding, leaving her with a husband she hardly knows and two brothers she knows nothing of. Khadeeja learns to love her husband and win his love in return, but just as she thought her life was a beautiful love story her precious son dies from a scorpion bite. Grief and sadness become her new best friends. Her husband, whom she can’t live without, abandons her without warning and she is left to raise and support eight children while pregnant with the ninth. Her brother, who finds out about his sister’s misfortune and the truth behind his brother-in-law’s actions, returns to Bahrain to take care of Khadeeja, but when he finds out about his cheating wife falls ill with sadness and grief and soon dies. Khadeeja forces herself to survive with the faith and patience she has inherited from her late mother and faces life’s war with strength, courage and pride. She grows with her children; she grows with time; she grows with history – her country’s history. She succeeds in raising wonderful children who go through their own share of happiness and misfortune. Her husband, who married another woman for money, returns filled with regret and in a wheelchair. Though Khadeeja was hurt and angry she opens her arms for him with love and forgiveness, but watching him die in her arms takes her back in time as she goes through the grief all over again. As a great-grandmother Khadeeja sits back to watch her triumph, her success and dies with dignity, leaving behind a legend to be remembered by many.

Iraq: The Corpse Exhibition: And Other Stories of Iraq by Hassan Blasim*

The first major literary work about the Iraq War from an Iraqi perspective–by an explosive new voice hailed as “perhaps the best writer of Arabic fiction alive” (The Guardian)–The Corpse Exhibition shows us the war as we have never seen it before. Here is a world not only of soldiers and assassins, hostages and car bombers, refugees and terrorists, but also of madmen and prophets, angels and djinni, sorcerers and spirits.

Blending shocking realism with flights of fantasy, The Corpse Exhibition offers us a pageant of horrors, as haunting as the photos of Abu Ghraib and as difficult to look away from, but shot through with a gallows humor that yields an unflinching comedy of the macabre. Gripping and hallucinatory, this is a new kind of storytelling forged in the crucible of war.

Bonus Books for Further Reading:

• A Sky So Close by Betool Khedairi*
• The Epic of Gilgamesh by Anonymous*
• The Librarian of Basra by Jeanette Winter*
• The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State by Nadia Murad*

Iran: Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi*

“The 50 Best Memoirs of the Past 50 Years”

In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the coming-of-age story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.

Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran and of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life. Marjane’s child’s-eye view of dethroned emperors, state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the revolution allows us to learn as she does the history of this fascinating country and of her own extraordinary family. Intensely personal, profoundly political, and wholly original, Persepolis is at once a story of growing up and a reminder of the human cost of war and political repression. It shows how we carry on, with laughter and tears, in the face of absurdity. And, finally, it introduces us to an irresistible little girl with whom we cannot help but fall in love.

Bonus Books for Further Reading:

• The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani*
• The Stationary Shop of Tehran by Marjan Kamali*
• Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi*

Israel: Ten Myths About Israel by Ilan Pappé*

The outspoken and radical Israeli historian Ilan Pappe examines the most contested ideas concerning the origins and identity of the contemporary state of Israel.

The “ten myths”–repeated endlessly in the media, enforced by the military, and accepted without question by the world’s governments–reinforce the regional status quo and include:

– Palestine was an empty land at the time of the Balfour Declaration.
– The Jews were a people without a land.
– There is no difference between Zionism and Judaism.
– Zionism is not a colonial project of occupation.
– The Palestinians left their Homeland voluntarily in 1948.
– The June 1967 War was a war of ‘No Choice’.
– Israel is the only Democracy in the Middle East.
– The Oslo Mythologies
– The Gaza Mythologies
– The Two-State Solution

For students, activists, and anyone interested in better understanding the news, Ten Myths About Israel is another groundbreaking study of the Israel-Palestine conflict from the author of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine.

Bonus Books for Further Reading:

• Method and Madness: The Hidden Story of Israel’s Assaults on Gaza by Norman G. Finkelstein*
• The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappé*
• The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Very Short Introduction by Martin Bunton*

Jordan: Pillars of Salt by Fadia Faqir*

Pillars of Salt is the story of two women confined in a mental hospital in Jordan during and after the British Mandate. After initial tensions they become friends and share their life stories.

The Coziest Internet Club is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Kuwait: The Bamboo Stalk by Saud Alsanousi*

Daring and bold, The Bamboo Stalk takes an unflinching look at the universal struggles of identity, race, and class as they intersect between two disparate societies: Kuwait and the Philippines.

Josephine comes to Kuwait from the Philippines to work as a maid, where she meets Rashid, a spoiled but kind-hearted only son. Josephine, with all the wide-eyed naivety of youth, believes she has found true love. But when she becomes pregnant, and with the rumble of the Gulf War growing ever louder, Rashid abandons her and sends her back home with their baby son José.

Brought up struggling with his dual identity in the Philippines, José clings to the hope of returning to his father’s country when he turns eighteen. But will Kuwait be any more welcoming to him? Will his Kuwaiti family live up to his expectations and alleviate his sense of alienation? Jose’s coming of age tale draws in readers as he explores his own questions about identity and estrangement.

Masterfully written, The Bamboo Stalk is the winner of the 2013 International Prize for Arab Fiction, chosen both for its literary qualities and for “its social and humanitarian content.” Through his complex characters, Alsanousi crafts a captivating saga that boldly deals with issues of identity, alienation, and the phenomenon of foreign workers in Arab countries.

Lebanon: The Hakawati by Rabih Alameddine*

An inventive, exuberant novel that takes us from the shimmering dunes of ancient Egypt to the war-torn streets of twenty-first-century Lebanon.

In 2003, Osama al-Kharrat returns to Beirut after many years in America to stand vigil at his father’s deathbed. The city is a shell of the Beirut Osama remembers, but he and his friends and family take solace in the things that have always sustained them: gossip, laughter, and, above all, stories.

Osama’s grandfather was a hakawati, or storyteller, and his bewitching stories—of his arrival in Lebanon, an orphan of the Turkish wars, and of how he earned the name al-Kharrat, the fibster—are interwoven with classic tales of the Middle East, stunningly reimagined. Here are Abraham and Isaac; Ishmael, father of the Arab tribes; the ancient, fabled Fatima; and Baybars, the slave prince who vanquished the Crusaders. Here, too, are contemporary Lebanese whose stories tell a larger, heartbreaking tale of seemingly endless war—and of survival.

Like a true hakawati, Rabih Alameddine has given us an Arabian Nights for this century—a funny, captivating novel that enchants and dazzles from its very first lines: “Listen. Let me take you on a journey beyond imagining. Let me tell you a story.”

Oman: Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi*

In the village of al-Awafi in Oman, we encounter three sisters: Mayya, who marries after a heartbreak; Asma, who marries from a sense of duty; and Khawla, who chooses to refuse all offers and await a reunion with the man she loves, who has emigrated to Canada. These three women and their families, their losses and loves, unspool beautifully against a backdrop of a rapidly changing Oman, a country evolving from a traditional, slave-owning society into its complex present. Through the sisters, we glimpse a society in all its degrees, from the very poorest of the local slave families to those making money through the advent of new wealth.

Palestine: Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa*

In the refugee camp of Jenin, Amal is born into a world of loss—of home, country, and heritage. Her Palestinian family was driven from their ancestral village by the newly formed state of Israel in 1948. As the villagers fled that day, Amal’s older brother, just a baby, was stolen away by an Israeli soldier. In Jenin, the adults subsist on memories, waiting to return to the homes they love. Amal’s mother has walled away her heart with grief, and her father labors all day. But in the fleeting peacefulness of dawn, he reads to his young daughter daily, and she can feel his love for her, “as big as the ocean and all its fishes.” On those quiet mornings, they dream together of a brighter future.

This is Amal’s story, the story of one family’s struggle and survival through over sixty years of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, carrying us from Jenin to Jerusalem, to Lebanon and the anonymity of America. It is a story shaped by scars and fear, but also by the transformative intimacy of marriage and the fierce protectiveness of motherhood. It is a story of faith, forgiveness, and life-sustaining love.

Mornings in Jenin is haunting and heart-wrenching, a novel of vital contemporary importance. Lending human voices to the headlines, it forces us to take a fresh look at one of the defining political conflicts of our lifetimes.

Bonus Books for Further Reading:

• Minor Details by Adania Shibli*
• Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa*
• I Saw Ramallah by Mourid Barghouti*

Qatar: The Girl Who Fell to the Earth by Sophia Al-Maria*

When Sophia Al-Maria’s mother sends her away from rainy Washington State to stay with her husband’s desert-dwelling Bedouin family in Qatar, she intends it to be a sort of teenage cultural boot camp. What her mother doesn’t know is that there are some things about growing up that are universal. In Qatar, Sophia is faced with a new world she’d only imagined as a child. She sets out to find her freedom, even in the most unlikely of places.

Both family saga and coming-of-age story, The Girl Who Fell to Earth takes readers from the green valleys of the Pacific Northwest to the dunes of the Arabian Gulf and on to the sprawling chaos of Cairo. Struggling to adapt to her nomadic lifestyle, Sophia is haunted by the feeling that she is perpetually in exile: hovering somewhere between two families, two cultures, and two worlds. She must make a place for herself—a complex journey that includes finding young love in the Arabian Gulf, rebellion in Cairo, and, finally, self-discovery in the mountains of Sinai.

The Girl Who Fell to Earth heralds the arrival of an electric new talent and takes us on the most personal of quests: the voyage home.

Saudi Arabia: Daring to Drive: A Saudi Woman’s Awakening by Manal Al-Sharif*

A ferociously intimate memoir by a devout woman from a modest family in Saudi Arabia who became the unexpected leader of a courageous movement to support women’s right to drive.

Manal al-Sharif grew up in Mecca the second daughter of a taxi driver, born the year fundamentalism took hold. In her adolescence, she was a religious radical, melting her brother’s boy band cassettes in the oven because music was haram: forbidden by Islamic law. But what a difference an education can make. By her twenties she was a computer security engineer, one of few women working in a desert compound that resembled suburban America. That’s when the Saudi kingdom’s contradictions became too much to bear: she was labeled a slut for chatting with male colleagues, her teenage brother chaperoned her on a business trip, and while she kept a car in her garage, she was forbidden from driving down city streets behind the wheel.

Daring to Drive is the fiercely intimate memoir of an accidental activist, a powerfully vivid story of a young Muslim woman who stood up to a kingdom of men—and won. Writing on the cusp of history, Manal offers a rare glimpse into the lives of women in Saudi Arabia today. Her memoir is a remarkable celebration of resilience in the face of tyranny, the extraordinary power of education and female solidarity, and the difficulties, absurdities, and joys of making your voice heard.

Syria: The Map of Salt and Stars by Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar*

Nour has just lost her father to cancer, and her mother moves Nour and her sisters from New York City back to Syria to be closer to their family. In order to keep her father’s spirit alive as she adjusts to her new home, Nour tells herself their favorite story—the tale of Rawiya, a twelfth-century girl who disguised herself as a boy in order to apprentice herself to a famous mapmaker.

But the Syria Nour’s parents knew is changing, and it isn’t long before the war reaches their quiet Homs neighborhood. When a shell destroys Nour’s house and almost takes her life, she and her family are forced to choose: stay and risk more violence or flee across seven countries of the Middle East and North Africa in search of safety—along the very route Rawiya and her mapmaker took eight hundred years before in their quest to chart the world. As Nour’s family decides to take the risk, their journey becomes more and more dangerous, until they face a choice that could mean the family will be separated forever.

Following alternating timelines and a pair of unforgettable heroines coming of age in perilous times, The Map of Salt and Stars is the “magical and heart-wrenching” (Christian Science Monitor) story of one girl telling herself the legend of another and learning that, if you listen to your own voice, some things can never be lost.

Bonus Books for Further Reading:

• The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri*
• As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh*
• Burning Country: Syrians in Revolution and War by Robin Yassin-Kassab*

Turkey: My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk*

At once a fiendishly devious mystery, a beguiling love story, and a brilliant symposium on the power of art, My Name Is Red is a transporting tale set amid the splendor and religious intrigue of sixteenth-century Istanbul, from one of the most prominent contemporary Turkish writers.

The Sultan has commissioned a cadre of the most acclaimed artists in the land to create a great book celebrating the glories of his realm. Their task: to illuminate the work in the European style. But because figurative art can be deemed an affront to Islam, this commission is a dangerous proposition indeed. The ruling elite therefore mustn’t know the full scope or nature of the project, and panic erupts when one of the chosen miniaturists disappears. The only clue to the mystery–or crime? –lies in the half-finished illuminations themselves. Part fantasy and part philosophical puzzle, My Name is Red is a kaleidoscopic journey to the intersection of art, religion, love, sex and power.

United Arab Emirates: That Other Me by Maha Gargash*

From the #1 internationally bestselling author of The Sand Fish, Maha Gargash’s second novel is set in mid-1990s Dubai and Cairo and tells the story of how secrets and betrayals consume three members—an authoritarian father, a rebellious abandoned daughter, and a vulnerable niece—of a prominent Emirati family.

Majed, the head of the eminent Naseemy family, is proud to have risen into the upper echelons of Emirati society. As one of the richest businessmen in Dubai, he’s used to being catered to and respected—never mind that he acquired his wealth by cheating his brother out of his own company and depriving his niece, Mariam, of her rights.

Not one to dwell on the past—he sent Mariam to school in Egypt, what more could she want from him?—Majed spends his days berating his wife and staff and cavorting with friends at a private apartment. But he’s suddenly plagued by nightmares that continue to haunt him during the day, and he feels his control further slipping away with the discovery that his niece and his daughter are defying his orders.

Mariam despises Majed, and although she blames him for her father’s death, hers is a strictly-organized, dutiful existence. But when she falls for a brash, mischievous fellow student named Adel, he might just prove to be her downfall.

Largely abandoned by Majed as the daughter of a second, secret marriage, the vivacious Dalal has a lot to prove. The runner-up on “Nights of Dubai,” an American Idol-type reality show for Arab talent, Dalal is committed to being a singer despite the fact that it’s a disreputable career. When her efforts to become a celebrity finally begin to pay off, she attracts the attention of her father, who is determined to subdue Dalal to protect the family name. As Majed increasingly exerts his control over both Dalal and Mariam, both girls resist, with explosive consequences.

An exhilarating look at the little-known Khaleeji (Gulf-Arab) culture, That Other Me explores the ways social mores contribute to the collapse of one family.

Yemen: Henna House by Nomi Eve*

An evocative and stirring novel about a young woman living in the fascinating and rarely portrayed community of Yemenite Jews of the mid-twentieth century, from the acclaimed author of The Family Orchard.

In the tradition of Anita Diamant’s The Red Tent, Henna House is the enthralling story of a woman, her family, their community, and the rituals that bind them.

Nomi Eve’s vivid saga begins in Yemen in 1920, when Adela Damari’s parents desperately seek a future husband for their young daughter. After passage of the Orphan’s Decree, any unbetrothed Jewish child left orphaned will be instantly adopted by the local Muslim community. With her parents’ health failing, and no spousal prospects in sight, Adela’s situation looks dire until her uncle arrives from a faraway city, bringing with him a cousin and aunt who introduce Adela to the powerful rituals of henna tattooing. Suddenly, Adela’s eyes are opened to the world, and she begins to understand what it means to love another and one’s heritage. She is imperiled, however, when her parents die and a prolonged drought threatens their long-established way of life. She and her extended family flee to the city of Aden where Adela encounters old loves, discovers her true calling, and is ultimately betrayed by the people and customs she once held dear.

Henna House is an intimate family portrait and a panorama of history. From the traditions of the Yemenite Jews, to the far-ranging devastation of the Holocaust, to the birth of the State of Israel, Eve offers an unforgettable coming-of-age story and a textured chronicle of a fascinating period in the twentieth century.

Henna House is a rich, spirited, and sensuous tale of love, loss, betrayal, forgiveness, and the dyes that adorn the skin and pierce the heart.