TOP 5 TUESDAY: TOP 5 BOOKS SET IN ASIA

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Meeghan Reads — you can check out the next upcoming topics here.The topic for this Tuesday: Top 5 books set in AsiaFurther east again, and a bit south, what are your fave books set in Asia? Happy Tuesday! I love Asia, and I probably won’t be able to stop at…

Lin’s Perspective

22nd Apr 2025

1–2 minutes

asia, book, books, books set in asia, Top 5 Tuesday

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Meeghan Reads — you can check out the next upcoming topics here.
The topic for this Tuesday: Top 5 books set in Asia
Further east again, and a bit south, what are your fave books set in Asia?

Happy Tuesday! I love Asia, and I probably won’t be able to stop at just 5 books, so I might add a few more 🙂

Yeonnam-dong’s Smiley Laundromat by Kim Jiyun: set in South Korea
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi: set in Japan
Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur: although this is a poetry collection and it is not explicitly based in Asia, I would like to still include it since Kaur’s heritage is South Asian, as she was born in Punjab, India and some of the poems did happen in India before her family emigrated to Canada
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See: set in China
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi: set in Iran

Now some bonus books I really want to get to read:

Please Look After Mom by Kyung-sook Shin: South Korea
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee: South Korea and Japan
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy: India

Have you read any of these?

12 responses to “TOP 5 TUESDAY: TOP 5 BOOKS SET IN ASIA”

Emma

Apr 22, 2025 at 12:20 pm

For some reason I never got on with Before the Coffee Gets Cold, though I read it way before I started enjoying Asian translated fiction, so I might try it again.

I really want to read Smiley Laundromat and Pachinko too.

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1. Lin’s Perspective
  
  Apr 23, 2025 at 2:37 am
  
  Some books I notice if they done find you at the right time you won’t like them no matter what. Hence I give books a second chance. I also have been trying to read Night Circus for ages now and it is never the right time for me to concentrate and read it I don’t know why. So I know one day it will come to mw when it is ready for me to read it. Lol this is a bit philosophical but I find it true for me. So maybe you will like it more the next time it comes to you 🙂
  
  Smiley laundromat was great, I really hope you like it!
  
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  1. Emma
    
    Apr 23, 2025 at 11:35 am
    
    You’re definitely right there! I think I’ve had the same issue with Orbital. I still have ‘Coffee…’ on my bookshelf, so I’ll try it again soon!
    
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  2. Lin’s Perspective
    
    Apr 24, 2025 at 10:41 pm
    
    I really hope you end up liking it more whenever you decide to pick it up again 🙂 But even if you still don’t, that is totally fine too!
    
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Literary Feline

Apr 23, 2025 at 2:05 am

I am always happy to see Snow Flower and the Secret Fan on a list. It is one of my favorites. Persepolis is so good! I really want to read Pachinko.

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1. Lin’s Perspective
  
  Apr 24, 2025 at 10:13 pm
  
  I have not read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan yet, but it is on my TBR and I will get to it soon enough! Pachinko has been on my radar for quite some time now, and it is way overdue!
  
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WordsAndPeace

Apr 23, 2025 at 6:44 am

NIce list! I have only read 2 and 5 from your first group.
Here is my post: https://wordsandpeace.com/2025/04/22/top-five-books-set-in-asia/

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1. Lin’s Perspective
  
  Apr 24, 2025 at 10:25 pm
  
  Thank you! 🙂
  
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Carla

Apr 30, 2025 at 4:37 pm

Persepolis looks interesting. I haven’t read anything set there since The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns.

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1. Lin’s Perspective
  
  Apr 30, 2025 at 5:31 pm
  
  Persepolis I remember was very interesting, I read it a long time ago when I was still in high school. it would be nice to re-read now as an adult and see how I find it after so many years. My mother has read those books and i remember her crying a lot, so I keep those sad ones for when i really need a good cry. i know they are really good
  
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  1. Carla
    
    Apr 30, 2025 at 5:44 pm
    
    They were so heartbreaking, but really painted a picture of what was happening.
    
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  2. Lin’s Perspective
    
    Apr 30, 2025 at 5:48 pm
    
    This is so true! But a picture is worth sharing, and people need to know about for sure.
    
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