Winter Reading 2021

Like every half year we asked for favourite books and received recommendations from colleagues, speakers, and friends. The following ten books will keep you busy throughout the winter, whether you prefer fiction or non-fiction.

Thanks to all contributors for the great recommendations!

Land of Big Numbers by Te-Ping Chen (2021) [fiction]

A wonderful collection of short stories set in contemporary China, highlighting the hopes, dreams, trials, and tribulations of modern day people, with a touch of absurdism and magical realism. – Recommended by Mei Qi (Asia Society staff)


 

1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows by Ai Weiwei (2021) [non-fiction]

I can wholeheartedly recommend Ai Weiwei's new memoir. – Recommended by Orville Shell (Asia Society's Arthur Ross Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations)

 

The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson (2020) [fiction]

The Ministry for the Future is a masterpiece of the imagination, using fictional eyewitness accounts to tell the story of how climate change will affect us all. Its setting is not a desolate, postapocalyptic world, but a future that is almost upon us. – From the publisher; recommended by James Crabtree (Executive Director, IISS–Asia)
 

Herbst in Nordkorea: Annäherung an ein verschlossenes Land [in German] by Rudolf Bussmann (2021) [non-fiction]

An excellent travel journal that reflects the experiences the author's impressions in great detail and complements them with well-researched background facts about North Korea. – Recommended by Thomas Fisler (former Resident Representative and Director of Cooperation for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, SDC, in Pyongyang, DPR Korea)
 

Rivalry and Response: Assessing Great Power Dynamics in Southeast Asia edited by Jonathan R. Stromseth (2021) [non-fiction]

Review of U.S.-China competition in the context of Southeast Asia and with that from the perspective of different countries in the region. Highlights the need (for the U.S.) to broaden policy and take into account countries’ need for economic development, instead of a singular focus on defense and security. – Recommended by Désirée Meili (Asia Society staff)
 

I Am a Cat by Soseki Natsume (2001, originally published in Japanese in 1905) [fiction]

This book (made up with short stories) was first written in 1905 for a Japanese literary magazine during the Meiji period.  Interestingly, the book is written from a cat's point of view but it's actually a satire of human nature. – Recommended by Insuk Michiue (Asia Society staff)
 

Kololo Hill by Neema Shah (2021) [fiction]

I enjoy stories about untold histories and narrated from different perspectives – both of which are present in this book about an Indian-heritage family who is expelled from Idi Amin's Uganda in the 1970s. – Recommended by Dominique Fraser (Asia Society staff)

 

Red Roulette: An Insider's Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption and Vengeance in Today's China by Desmond Shum (2021) [non-fiction]

Loved the honesty and backstage details of systemic economics. – Recommended by Scott Haas (author)

Watch our Talk at the Library with Scott Haas here, in which he talks about his most recent book Why Be Happy? The Japanese Way of Acceptance.
 

The Land of Green Ghosts by Pascal Khoo Thwe (2003) [fiction]

The author takes you on a personal journey through his remarkable life, from growing up in a remote tribal hill village to becoming a guerilla fighter and eventually studying at Cambridge, set against the backdrop of the political chaos in Myanmar under military rule. – Recommended by Wei-Wei Lee (Asia Society staff)
 

Orienting: An Indian in Japan by Pallavi Aiyar (2021) [non-fiction]

Globe-trotting journalist Pallavi Aiyar moves to Japan and takes an in-depth look at the island country including its culinary, sanitary and floral idiosyncrasies. – From the publisher; recommended by Inakshi Sobti (Chief Executive Officer, Asia Society India)

Finished all the listed books? Find more suggestions on previous reading lists.

Share your book recommendations!
We are always eager to receive your highly appreciated book suggestions, just write us an e-mail to switzerland@asiasociety.org

Thank you very much in advance!