I love a reading challenge that introduces me to books I wouldn’t have found on my own. Usually, that means nonfiction outside the social sciences, poetry, and literary fiction, as well as science fiction and fantasy that none of my friends have read yet.
It feels like it’s good for me, even if I don’t always enjoy it. Like when my therapist makes me set a boundary.
Of the five books I read for Asian Readathon, only Thorn was originally on my TBR. The Collected Schizophrenias, A Crown of Wishes, Ayesha at Last, and The Wolf of Oren-Yaro were all new to me.
You may notice one of those books wasn’t part of my original plan.
Or my updated plan.
In my defense, I’ll Be the One really sounds like it’s set in Korea. It’s about a girl competing to become a K-Pop star. Nothing in its blurb indicates it’s actually set in LA.
Ayesha at Last was my third and final attempt to find a book not set in the US.
It’s set in Canada.
Good enough.
What I Read
Challenge 1: Read any book written by an Asian author – Thorn by Intisar Khanani
- Dark and often painful fairytale retelling
- Big on the found family feelings
- Light on the romance
- Some nuanced and redeemable villains
- Why does every book I touch have so much sexual violence?
Challenge 2: Read any book featuring an Asian protagonist – A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi
- Hindu-inspired adventure
- Angry girl x gentle boy
- Yearning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- So much beautiful, sparkling imagery
- “Be careful what you wish for” but not frustrating
Challenge 3: Read any book written by an Asian author in your favorite genre – The Wolf of Oren-Yaro by K. S. Villoso
- Filipino epic fantasy about toxic family relationships
- “I can take care of myself” but she actually can
- Meticulous and detailed world building
- 0.5 seconds of found family before we return to our regularly scheduled suffering
- Seriously, everything I touch turns to sexual violence
Challenge 4: Read any nonfiction book written by an Asian author – The Collected Schizophrenias by Esme Weijun Wang
- Disabled person, not person with a disability
- Writing about writing about mental illness
- Essays as conversations with dead sick people
- Travelogue of hospitals, doctors offices, hotels, and internal landscapes
- Shockingly, one of the lighter books I read this month
Challenge 5: Read any book written by an Asian author that’s not US-centric – Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin
- Contemporary Muslim Canadian Pride and Prejudice retelling
- Main character’s poetry is actually good
- Setting boundaries with difficult family members
- Deliberately trying to make you hungry
- Justice for Lydia