October GeoCat - Eastern Asia

EASTERN ASIA

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________________________ (Detail of RandMcNally World Map, Classical Edition) ________________________

Hello! October's GeoCat Challenge is reading books about/set in Eastern Asia: Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam!

The titles I've listed below are books that I have in my stacks as having read/are in my TBR stacks; and obviously are by no means comprehensive of the titles available for this month's challenge! I am hoping readers will come up with recommendations for books set in Cambodia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Taiwan, and native POVs set in Vietnam (as opposed to Americans in Vietnam.)

CHINA
- 1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance (by Gavin Menzies; narrated by Simon Vance) #China #NF #History
- Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamtress (by Dai Sijie) #China
- Empress (by Shan Sa) #China #HistoricalFiction
- The First Heroes: The Extraordinary Story of the Doolittle Raid—America’s First World War II Victory (by Craig Nelson; narrated by Raymond Todd) #China #NF #WWII #DoolittlesRaid
- The Looting Machine: Warlords, Oligarchs, Corporations, Smugglers, and the Theft of Africa's Wealth (by Tom Burgis) #China #NF #Africa
- Lost on Planet China (by J. Maarten Troost; narrated by Simon Vance) #China #Travel
- When Red is Black (Inspector Chen mysteries, Book #3; by Qiu Xiaolong) #China #PoliceProcedural

JAPAN
- Cloud of Sparrows (by Takashi Matsuoka) #Japan #HistoricalFiction
- Memoirs of a Geisha (by Arthur Golden) #Japan #HistoricalFiction #Geishas
- Occupied City (by David Peace; narrated by Alton Takiyama-Chung, Daisuke Tsuji, Justine Eyre, Bronson Pinchot, Lorna Raver, and Stefan Rudnicki) #Japan #PostWWII #HistoricalFiction
- Silence (by Shūsaku Endō #Japan #HistoricalFiction #Jesuits
- The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet (by David Mitchell) #Japan #HistoricalFiction
- The Tale of Shikanoko series by Lian Hearn - 4 Titles - (#SFF #Fantasy #Myth #Legend #Japan)
-- Emperor of the Eight Islands (Book #1)
-- Autumn Princess, Dragon Child (Book #2)
-- Lord of the Darkwood (Book #3)
-- The Tengu's Game of Go (Book #4)

LAOS
- Dr Siri Paiboun series by Colin Cotterill - 11 Titles - (#Fiction #Mystery #Coroner #1970s)
-- The Coroner's Lunch (Book #1)
-- Thirty-Three Teeth (Book #2)
-- Disco For The Departed (Book #3)
-- Anarchy and Old Dogs (Book #4)
-- Curse of the Pogo Stick (Book #5)
-- The Merry Misogynist (Book #6)
-- Love Songs from a Shallow Grave (Book #7)
-- Slash and Burn (Book #8)
-- The Woman Who Wouldn't Die (Book #9)
-- Six and a Half Deadly Sins (Book #10)
-- I Shot the Buddha (Book #11)

MALAYSIA
- The Garden of Evening Mists (by Tan Twan Eng)
- Inspector Singh Investigates A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder (by Shamini Flint)

NORTH KOREA
- The Orphan Master's Son (by Adam Johnson) #NorthKorea #Fiction

PHILIPPINES
- Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and its Aftermath (by Michael Norman and Elizabeth M. Norman) #NF #WWII

SOUTH KOREA
- Fortune Smiles (by Adam Johnson) #SouthKorea #Shorts (Actually only the title story, "Fortune Smiles" is set in South Korea)
- The Vegetarian (by Han King) #LitFic

THAILAND
- Bangkok 8 (Sonchai Jitpleecheep Series, Book #1; by John Burdett; narrated by Paul Boehmer) #Thailand #Mystery #PoliceProcedural
- Bangkok Tattoo (Sonchai Jitpleecheep Series, Book #2; by John Burdett) #Thailand #Mystery #PoliceProcedural

VIETNAM
- Black Echo (by Michael Connelly; narrated by Dick Hill) #Vietnam #VietnamWar #Mystery #DetectiveStory
- Dispatches (by Michael Herr; narrated by Ray Porter) #Vietnam #VietnamWar #NF #Journalism
- Listen, Slowly (by Thanhhà Lại #Fiction #MG
- The Lotus Eaters (by Tatjana Soli; narrated by KirstenPotter) #Vietnam #VietnamWar #PhotoJournalism
- Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War (by Karl Marlantes; narrated by Bronson Pinchot) #Vietnam #VietnamWar
- The Things They Carried (by Tim O'Brien; narrated by Tom Stetschulte) #Vietnam #VietnamWar #Shorts

MULTIPLE SITES
- The Honourable Schoolboy: A George Smiley Novel (BY John le Carré) #China #HongKong #Laos #SpyThriller #HistoricalFiction
- The Rape of Nanking (by Iris Chang; narrated by Anna Fields) #China #Japan #NF #WWII
- The Years of Rice and Salt (by Kim Stanley Robinson; narrated by Bronson Pinchot) #China #Japan #India #AlternateHistory

I have tons of options, and I'm excited about the possibilities for this month :) At the least, I'm planning on reading a book by Haruki Murakami and a collection of poems related to Vietnam that I've had waiting on my shelf.

Meanwhile, if anyone's interested at all in poetry, I read Over Autumn Rooftops by Hai Zi (Chinese) last year, and the collection is just beautiful. I was reading it at a stressful time, going through moving and some health issues, and the poems were wonderful breaths of fresh air, and short enough that I didn't have to commit a lot of concentration that I didn't have!

I am planning on reading The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson and The Far Side of the Sky by Daniel Kalla.

Am I right in saying Philippines is included in the category? I have one on the shelf set in the Philippines and I'm wondering if it will fit.

This is one of my favorite regions, and I have quite a few on the shelves to read.

I'll commit to The Things They Carried for Vietnam and The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng for Malaysia.

I haven't yet read my original selection, South by Java Head, by Alistair MacLean, so I'll cue it up and read it in the correct month ;)

I have The Vegetarian to read. Depending on my mood, I may also read The Sympathizer.

I'm planning to read Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station since it will also complete a square in my Woman Bingo Pup card.

>VivienneR Though the Philippines was not included in the original list, I think it was an oversight! Absolutely include the Philippines :-)

EDIT: Updated the anchor post to include the Philippines :-)

If the Philippines count, then I have to recommend Baby Jesus Pawn Shop to everyone--I got it a few years ago from the LT early reviewer program, and it was a fantastic read! Set in Manila, with great characters, and lots of suspense and atmosphere :)

>3 DeltaQueen50:, I read The Orphan Master's Son a couple of years ago and gave it 5 stars, it was my book of the year for 2014. I hope you like it.

I really want to get back to Dr. Siri Paiboun series which takes place in Laos. Up next for me is Thirty-three teeth book number two.

>11 Roro8: Ro, I am looking forward to it!

>12 luvamystery65: Just in time for this month's challenge, I picked up the latest of the Dr. Siri series, I Shot the Buddha.

>1 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Do you think you could stick Laos in this month?

My library just received Every Falling Star which is a memoir of a boy who escaped North Korea.

>14 mamzel: Woot woot

>14 mamzel: Laos is in this month, and in fact was one of those countries I was hoping people would come up with recommendations for! I will most certainly include Colin Cotterill's series in the anchor post. :-)

EDIT: Updated anchor post to include the Dr. Siri Paiboun series by Colin Cotterill :-)

I have a few options:
The Headmaster's Wager / Vincent Lam
The Housekeeper and the Professor / Yoko Ogawa (if my hold comes in at the library - it should)
The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly / Sun-mi Hwang

The first two are more likely for me.

I'm planning to read:
Seven Years in Tibet - Heinrich Harrer
After the Quake- Haruki Murakami

Starting a little bit early, I am currently reading Death's End by Chinese SF author Liu Cixin. I might finish it before 1 October, but I think it's more likely that it will continue a day or two into October.

I have a few books lined up for this region:

Japan:
Silence by Shusaku Endo
Snow Country and/or Beauty and Sadness by Yasunari Kawabata
Death on an Autumn River by I.J. Parker

China:
Red Sorghum by Mo Yan

and that Siri Paiboun series mentioned by >12 luvamystery65: sounds good so maybe I will read The Coroner's Lunch!

>21 leslie.98: The Dr. Siri investigations are so delightful. I hope you enjoy The Coroner's Lunch. I have already jumped the gun and listened to books 2 and 3. Will definitely continue to binge on this series.

Getting in a little early, but when a book comes in to the library you take advantage. Seems I'm the only one in my consortium who is aware of this marvelous series so I was first to get the latest of the Dr. Siri series, I Shot the Buddha, which takes place in Laos and Thailand.

In an unexpected turn of events, I will be away tomorrow afternoon through Sunday afternoon. I will try to log-in when I can; but it looks like everyone has at least their selections lined up! I think I'm going to go with Lian Hearn's Tale of Shikanoko series. I'm going to re-read Emperor of the Eight Islands (Book #1) and then head right into Autumn Princess, Dragon Child (Book #2.) With any luck, I'll be able to pop into a book store this week-end and pick up titles #3 & #4 in the series, Lord of the Darkwood and The Tengu's Game of Go respectively :-)

I will also take a look at The Coroner's Lunch - I keep thinking that I read this a couple of years ago; but I can find no record of it!

Thanks to the recommendation from >10 whitewavedarling: I plan to read Baby Jesus Pawn Shop by Lucia Orth.

>25 VivienneR:, I'm glad! I got it from the LT Early Reviewer Program, and it was one of those gems I really enjoyed and probably wouldn't have happened upon otherwise!

COMPLETED Death's End by Liu Cixin (China)

My review:
The last in the "The Three Body Problem" trilogy focuses on Cheng Xin and her travails as her compassionate decisions show humanity just how deadly the dark forest is.

This is a real rollercoaster ride raising questions of morality and a possible ultimate return to Eden in a universe which is a more bleak and threatening place than is quite comfortable to contemplate.

I am starting off with Norwegian Wood by Murakami (Japan) and Red Sorghum by Mo Yan (China)...

I've finished my selection: South by Java Head, by Alistair MacLean, which begins in Singapore and is set during WW2.

I ended up listening to 2 Dr. Siri books last month. I will continue on.

I finished Every Falling Star, a memoir written for young adults relating life (if you can call it that) in North Korea.

I finished The Vegetarian, a chilling book by South Korean author Kang Han.

I have just picked up How I Became a North Korean (North Korea, China) by Krys Lee and I am listening to Garden of Evening Mists (Maylasia) by Tan Twan Eng

I just finished The Merry Misogynist by Colin Cotterill, an enjoyable visit to Laos with Dr. Siri.

Voting on the official 2017 CATs is going on now and will continue through Monday morning at least on this thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/234010#

We can extend voting time if needed. Post a comment on the voting thread if you feel you need more time.

Starting Inspector Singh Investigates A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder by Shamini Flint

Finished The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng. Very good book, historical fiction, and also a book about memory.

>37 Kristelh: Such a great book.

>36 Robertgreaves: >37 Kristelh: I'm updating the anchor post to reflect these titles for Malaysia!

I'm seeing so many great ideas for reading in this region! Obviously, I won't be able to get to them all, so I'm thinking of creating a personal cat for next year for myself next year for Eastern Asia :-)

>39 Tanya-dogearedcopy:, I was thinking the same. There are so many great Asian authors.

COMPLETED Inspector Singh Investigates A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder by Shamini Flint

Does Indonesia count as Eastern Asia for our purposes here? If so, I am reading the second in the series Inspector Singh Investigates A Bali Conspiracy Most Foul

>41 Robertgreaves: No other category has claimed Indonesia; and it's very close to Malaysia, so I say let's count it! :-)

>42 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Indonesia was included in the Polar regions, islands and bodies of water but we had many overlaps during that category so I think it would be just fine to include Indonesia here as well.

I have just completed The Orphan Master's Son which was a very eye-opening book about North Korea.

COMPLETED Inspector Singh Investigates A Bali Conspiracy Most Foul by Shamini Flint.

Starting the next in the series: Inspector Singh Investigates The Singapore School of Villainy.

Finished How I Became a North Korean by Krys Lee published 1968. Book covers North and South Korea and China. The author is from South Korea.

COMPLETED Inspector Singh Investigates The Singapore School of Villainy by Shamini Flint

Starting the next in the series, Inspector Singh Investigates A Deadly Cambodian Crime Spree.

The next in the series is Inspector Singh Investigates A Curious Indian Cadaver. Although India is outside this month's area, Inspector Singh himself is Singaporean, so I think it still counts.

Back in our geographical area with Inspector Singh Investigates A Calamitous Chinese Killing

COMPLETED the last in the series, Inspector Singh Investigates A Frightfully English Execution

My review of the series:

Inspector Singh, a Singaporean Sikh, is overweight, a chain-smoker, and sloppy dresser. His superiors would love to get rid of him because his focus is on justice for the victim rather than the police force's image but they can't because he has the best murder solve rate in Singapore. Any excuse will do to send him overseas so that other countries' police forces can deal with him. So in turn, he solves cases in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia, India, China, and the UK.

As a Sikh, Singh is a part of a minority wherever he goes and as a foreigner he has to learn the constraints the different police forces operate under due to cultural clashes or social and political realities. The books are a great mixture of humour, social-political-religous commentary, and crime-solving.

Robert, I love the titles of the Inspector Singh series that you're reading. If the stories are half as good as the titles, you've hit me with a book bullet.

I've finished two - Anarchy and Old Dogs from the Dr Siri series. I think this is my favorite yet in the series and I always learn something of Laotian/Vietnamese history.

On the other side of the coin, I've also finished The Things They Carried which are interconnecting short stories about the Vietnam War. It's a brutal book and left my heart bleeding for the troops on both sides. I'm going through a tough time right now, so perhaps reading this book at this time was not a great idea.

>51 streamsong: I think if you enjoy your crime-solving with a dash of humour and exploring new places or seeing old places through external eyes, you'll have a great time with these.

The Inspector Singh series is one that I'd like to try someday. My brother has been living in Singapore the past 10 years, so I've been wanting to read more from that region.

I finished Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien, which follows the lives of several musicians during the Cultural Revolution in China. It's terrific and I hope it wins the Booker Prize next week!

I've started reading Evan Osnos's non-fiction book, Age of Ambition, about the economic, political and social changes in China during the past couple of decades.

The Housekeeper and the Professor / Yoko Ogawa
3.5 stars

A housekeeper is assigned to work in the house of a former mathematics professor; that professor had an accident in 1975, though, and although he remembers everything from before that time, any new memories last only 80 minutes. However, they strike up a friendship, along with the housekeeper’s son. The professor teaches the two about the wonders of numbers and math and they find another common ground in baseball.

I enjoyed this. Sometimes the math was a bit too much, and I suspect I would have enjoyed it more if I also liked baseball a bit more, but I liked the relationships that developed in the story.

I finished The coroner's lunch, first of the Dr Siri mysteries set in Laos, and was underwhelmed.

>55 MissWatson: I tried to listen to 'The Coroner's Lunch' a few years ago, and I was bored out of my mind. I thought maybe it was the narrator; but maybe it was the writing too. I still might give it another shot somewhere down the road.

>55 MissWatson: I read it... earlier this year, I think. I was also underwhelmed and don't plan to continue the series. As mentioned in >56 Tanya-dogearedcopy:, though, I also listened to the audio.

>56 Tanya-dogearedcopy: >57 LibraryCin: My sister listened to the audio of the German version and recommended it, and I can imagine that a good narrator may have improved on the story (especially as the German narrator plays a pathologist on a German TV series, so that may have added a little spice to it). But on reading the original I found too many holes in the plot and too many things I found hard to believe.

I have completed The Far Side of the Sky by Daniel Kalla and this was a very interesting read. I never knew that over 20,000 Jewish people went to Shanghai, China to escape the Nazi's. Of course, after December 7, 1941, the bonds between Japan and Germany strengthened, leaving the refugees in a perilous position.

I finished The Painted Veil set in Hong Kong, by W. Somerset Maugham, one of my favourite writers.

>60 VivienneR: The Painted Veil by Maugham is one of my favorites.

>61 Kristelh: Of his novels, it is probably my favourite too.

I just finished The Coroner's Lunch (paperback, not audiobook) -- overall I liked it but did feel that the paranormal aspects were a bit much and were a bit of a cheat, giving Dr. Siri information the author couldn't find another way for him to get. 3½ stars.

I read two books for October's challenge:

The Garden of Evening Mists, Tan Twan Eng - 4 stars
Slash and Burn, Colin Cotterill - 3.5 stars

>60 VivienneR: I LOVED The Painted Veil! I should really reread it one of these days.

>53 mathgirl40: You got me with a BB for Do Not Say We Have Nothing -- looks fascinating!

I finished reading From Both Sides Now: The Poetry of the Vietnam War and its Aftermath edited by Phillip Mahony. In all seriousness, I'm not sure I've ever come across a better put together anthology of poetry, and I'm so glad to have stumbled across this. I've written a full review, but I'd certainly recommend it to either readers interested in the subject or readers of poetry in general.