This year I really wanted to take part in the Asian Readathon. It is a month-long readathon from the 1st to the 31st May, created by ReadwithCindy, designed to encourage readers to read a variety of books by Asian authors and featuring Asian characters. You can find out more information about the readathon in her announcement video, as well as on the Asian Readathon Twitter Account.
I am looking forward to reading some more books by Asian authors this month, and have managed to fulfil all of the challenges for this readathon. I already had an idea of which books I wanted to read, and then I have managed to fit them to the prompts.
Challenge 1 – Read any book by an Asian author
Book: Love from A to Z
Author: S.K. Ali
I’ve heard a lot of good things about this book, and it fulfils the prompt as S.K. Ali is a Canadian author born in South India.
Challenge 2 – Read a book featuring an Asian character or written by an Asian author who you can relate to
Book: The Goddess Chronicle
Author: Natsuo Kirino
I have had this on my TBR for a while and have been really intrigued by it. I chose this book for this prompt because the author Natsuo Kirino is a woman, and I am also a woman.
Challenge 3 – Read a book featuring an Asian character or written by an Asian author who is different from you
Book: And the Mountains Echoed
Author: Khalid Hosseini
I have read and loved both The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, but haven’t got around to Hosseini’s third book, and now seemed like a perfect opportunity to read it. It fulfils this prompt as Khalid Hosseini is an Afghan author, and I am British. He is also male, and I am not!
Challenge 4 – Read a book recommended by an Asian
Book: Starfish
Author: Akemi Dawn Bowman
Books with Chloe, my favourite Booktuber, has a whole vlog recommending this book. It has become one of her favourite books of all-time, and when I saw it was available on Scribd I knew I had to read it. It features a young girl who is half-Japanese and has some really important commentary on being biracial, and I am really looking forward to it.
Challenge 5 (optional) – Read “Little Fires Everywhere” by Celeste Ng for a Little Fires Readalong and Watchalong
I have actually already read Little Fires Everywhere, so I won’t be joining in with this prompt. Instead, I’m going to a list a couple of other books by Asian authors that I hope I will get round to this month.
Hear the Wind Sing by Haruki Murakami
A Cat, a Man and Two Women by Junichirô Tanizaki
Sweat Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa
Are you taking part in the Asian Readathon? What’s on your tbr?
