It’s a wrap. Come year end, most of us bookworms tend to look back and count on the number of books we have been able to read in the year. Whether it is 10, 20, or a whopping 60 (if not more!), one can safely say that when it comes to reading – too many books, too little time. Unless you have a time-turner, chances are that you probably have not been able to read all our new releases or add them to your TBR.
With less than a week to go before we head into 2023, it’s time we take a pause and look at all the diverse books from our list that you can pick up to read and set the mood in this cozy and festive time of the year. From diverse young-adult, extremely well-crafted fantasies, swoon-worthy romances, bone-chilling horror, and dark fiction to exhaustive and highly researched non-fiction from the space of business, culture, and politics, no matter what your preference is, we have got you covered.
Let the reading sprints begin!
Literary fiction
JOY – A Novel: Covering the contemporary ideas of representation, digital relationships, as well as absence and loss in this new digital age, and how they figure in the lives of people, JOY is a novel that explores the new challenges of Asians: the estrangement, loneliness, loss of the diaspora, and the familial and existential challenges of younger generations. Perfect for anyone who likes to indulge in a book with a story that is heartfelt and moving.
Too Far From Antibes: Too Far From Antibes revolves around French Indochina, as it was called, and particularly during the First Indochina War, a period in Vietnamese (and French) history. Filled with humor and ‘lightness’, the author manages to maintain a sincerely honest and engaging tone while telling a story of suspense and intrigue with a band of nuanced characters.
Romance
Duxton Hill: Love the movie, Noting Hill? Then maybe it’s time you checked this tongue-in-cheek, humor-filled, meet-cute romance set in the whimsical area of Duxton Hill in Singapore which would make your hearts sing and give you all the feels of a cozy winter read.
Showers of Luck: A forbidden next-door neighbor romance set during World War II, Showers of Luck is an ode to love, life, family, and all those emotions that make us human. Layered and deeply nuanced with history and culture, pick this book up if you enjoy reading historical fiction that has a love story woven into it.
Fantasy
The End of All Skies: A rediscovery of forgotten Southeast Asian mythology with an epic-adventurous story is all that you need for this December. The End of All Skies is a book that allows one to reconnect to one’s own identity, which has been erased by the colonizers or rewritten by historical revisionists. The rediscovery of who one truly is, can make one proud and strong.
Of Myths and Men: With a diverse and intriguing cast of characters and several mythological creatures, Of Myths and Men is a fantasy that will keep you up at night. Ava, the main protagonist is NOT the Chosen One—she’s the one making the choices, which also includes falling in love with a guy from another world! Easy to read, fast-paced, lots of action and fun.
Horror
My Lovely Skull & Other Skeletons: Dark, imaginative, spine-chilling, My Lovely Skull and Other Skeletons has fifteen short stories that will haunt you. If horror is your go-to genre, you should not miss this brilliant and thought-provoking bunch of stories from Malaysia’s award-winning, master of horror author, Tunku Halim.
We Are Not Alone Here: An intricate blend of mystery and horror with a strong feminist take on the roles of womanhood, especially motherhood, in contemporary times, We are Not Alone Here is hauntingly beautiful and intimately scary. If you enjoy lush and vivid writing with descriptions and conversations and a pinch of horror, then this book must be added to your TBR.
Young Adult
The House of Little Sisters: Laced with romance at its heart, The House of Little Sisters is a story about life, the ups and downs, family, and different cultures and backgrounds. Intricate, evocative, and well-layered, this is story will stay with you for a long time.
The Light of Stars: Sequel to the adventurous and highly addictive, The Night of Legends, The Light of Stars follows the entourage of characters as they go map out challenges and obstacles bigger than before, with many twists and turns, budding romance and lots of action. For lovers of fantasy in the young adult genre, this book will keep you turning pages right until the end.
Children’s and Middle grade
Winter Blue, Fairy Child: A series of three books that follows the adventures of Winter Blue – a fourteen-year-old fairy-child who leads parallel lives in two worlds-the world of humans, and another, secret, wondrous world-Magic-Land. This series will entertain and appeal to readers both young and adult with its magic and imagination and a story that is full of adventure and fun!
Exploring Southeast series: Colourful and beautifully illustrated stories about history and culture, Exploring Southeast Asia is a series of 4 books that uses age-appropriate vocabulary to make the stories accessible to early and young readers, and children. A perfect gift for the little ones this New Year.
Anthology
Unsaid – An Asian Anthology: A collection of short stories from Asia explores dark and sombre themes such as discrimination (caste, race, gender, sexual orientation), difficult family relationships (extramarital affairs, religious differences in the family, gender roles) and mystical/supernatural tales of the unknown.
Born and Bred in Myanmar: If you are someone who looks after short stories that are rooted in real-life situations, then Born and Bred in Myanmar is a great pick. Portraying the lack of support system from the government or even support from the family for young people who dream of pursuing a good education in life, this is a hard-hitting but extremely relevant and timeless read.
Travel
Kopi Dulu: A 15,000km journey from Aceh to West Papua and from Northern Sulawesi to the southern tip of Sumba. Kopi Dulu is a flowing travelogue, each chapter filled with a depth of research, interesting anecdotes, and several insightful stories of the hidden soul of the world’s fourth most populous country, Indonesia.
Wild Wisdom: Combining lessons about navigating life with the narrative of a travel memoir, Wild Wisdom traces author Christine’s decade-long mission of taking hundreds of women, of all nationalities, ages, and backgrounds, to off-the-beaten-track locations around the world on challenging, often pioneering expeditions that really push them outside of their comfort zone.
Business and Management
The First Decade: Vivy Yusof needs no introduction. Starting out as a lifestyle and fashion blogger, today she is an influencer and the head of a multi-million dollar fashion company that she built herself. From her proud wins to her juiciest failures, this book is filled with inspiration, strategies, ideas, and thoughts that lead Vivy to become the star that she is today.
Made In Future: The world is changing at an incredible speed and so needs the approach of marketing and related industries. In this book, the marketing ring-leader and founder of Entropia, sheds light on how to tackle and navigate the changing dynamics of the marketing field and provides insights from his own career to make this a powerful and extremely educative read this December.
Politics and International Relations
ChinaPhobia: An extremely well-researched and deeply insightful read on the growing concern of China phobia in the world. For those who are interested in diplomacy and books that give them a lot of information and interesting and unique opinions, ChinaPhobia: A Wasted Opportunity is a good one to pick.
Indonesia Out of Exile: Telling the story of the struggle of the writing of Pramoedya’s novels in the Buru Island prison camp, Indonesia Out of Exile is a path-breaking book that goes to ask and answers the questions about how a new generation is being inspired by Pramoedya’s works and what comes next.
Culture and Society
The Visible Invisibles: Offering a very uniquely human connection to the undocumented lives of migrant workers across Asia, presenting stories of adventure, love, hope, loss, guilt, and redemption, The Visible Invisibles is a careful curation of unconventional yet universal life stories from a diverse and incredible cast of characters. Filling readers with knowledge, one must pick this book up to read more about the real-life stories of real people.
A Gaijin Sarariman: The global fascination of all things Japanese is not new. A Gaijin Sarariman takes a deep dive to uncover and unveil many of these facets—from Japanese cuisine, fashion, make-up, boy-bands and workplace. Pick this up to know more about the Japanese way of living and what makes them so distinctly unique.
Happy reading and seasons greetings!
– Chaitanya Srivastava, Executive – Corporate Communication & Publicity
