Basically, the title. I found my myself being really interested in wanting to read again but I realized my reading level has dropped tremendously over the years. To catch back up to speed I wanted to start with ‘easy to read’ books and work my way up.
When looking for books to read, novels like Pachinko (Min Jin Lee), Human Acts (Han Kang), and The God of Small Things (Arundhathi Roy) stood out to me. Though they seem to be a little difficult to read. (If you couldn’t tell I’m interested in women authors and fiction books around historical Asia)
What I’m asking for isn’t specific though! Any historical fiction is fine, only thing is I prefer no main plot point revolving around romance.
Thanks!
by zahmed455
8 Comments
Shogun – James Clavell might be right up your alley. I don’t think it is difficult but it is very long, but also very good.
One I recently read in my book club was Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See. It sounds like it could be right up your alley! Some technical jargon, but the story was pretty accessible for my group. You can check out the preview on GoodReads to get a feel for the writing style.
Try Ken Follett Kingsbridge series or the century trilogy. They are long but I thought they were easy reads
The Pearl that broke its shell: Hashimi
The Beekeeper of Aleppo: Lefereti
The Joy Luck Club: Amy Tan
These books are by men but they are also very good:
Balzac and the little Chinese seamstress
Anything by Khaled Hosseini
Memoirs of a Geisha
Maybe something ya? Flame in the mist
Two recs for you – both are shorter and a little more fast-paced, in my opinion, than Pachinko (although I did LOVE that book!) I really enjoyed both of these books and learned so much from them both.
* Dust Child, by [Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5046174.Nguy_n_Phan_Qu_Mai). Set in Vietnam during and after the Vietnam war. Multiple POV. The focus is on the experiences of Vietnamese women and their children.
* The Evening Hero, by Marie Myeong-Ok Lee. Moves between the Korean peninsula during the Korean War,* and the United States after the war (*technically the war never ended, so maybe I should say during the ‘active’ part of the war?) This book really opened my eyes to understand more of the geopolitics without ever needing to use that word, just through reading about the main character’s experiences.
Edited to add, both are by women authors who share a cultural background with the characters they are writing about.
Wild Swans three daughters of China
Gary Paulsen wrote a lot of historical fiction. Some hits and misses, but you can count on clean prose and plot lines that reflect his life experiences (absolute wild man). Much of his work is categorized as young adult, though the content is mature. I deeply enjoyed these growing up, though you might have luck perusing your library selections:
– The Mr. Tucket Series
– Soldier’s Heart