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Asian/Asian American Author

When Breath Becomes Air

Cover of When Breath Becomes Air
Paul
Kalanithi
2016

The author of this memoir was a neurosurgeon who was diagnosed with lung cancer in his mid-thirties. Writing in his last months of life, he talks about his childhood and college studies, explains why he decided to become a doctor, and describes his experiences with his illness. 

Norwegian Wood

Cover of Norwegian Wood
Haruki
Murakami
1987

In Murakami’s poignant coming-of-age story, Toru, a college student in 1960s Japan, is devoted to Naoko, a thoughtful young woman who shares Toru’s sense of isolation and yearning for beauty.  But while Naoko struggles with the harsh realities of life, Toru discovers that he must make a choice between his love for her and the unknown possibilities of adulthood. 

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban

Cover of I Am Malala:  The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban
Malala
Yousafzai
2013

Shot in the head on her way home from her Pakistan school, Malala was targeted by the Taliban because she publicly advocated for girls’ education and attended school herself. In her book, Malala blends the politics and the personal into a story not just of what happened to her, but also the difficulties-- both politically and otherwise-- in Pakistan today. Chosen as UW-Madison's 2014 Go Big Read selection.

The Garden of Evening Mists

Cover of The Garden of Evening Mists
Tan Twan
Eng
2012

Yun Ling Teoh, a survivor of the brutal Japanese occupation of Malaya during World War II, discovers a beautiful garden tended by the emperor’s exiled former gardener Aritomo.  Haunted by the death of her sister during the war, Yun Ling asks Aritomo to help her build a garden in memory of her sister.  But as she learns more about the garden’s intricacy and beauty, its connection to the pain and deceit of the past are also revealed.   

A Tale for the Time Being

Cover of A Tale for the Time Being
Ruth
Ozeki
2013

In Japan, a teenage girl is struggling-- and writing to a future anonymous reader about it in a diary. Ten years later the diary, along with letters in Japanese and French, wash ashore in a metal lunchbox on the coast of British Columbia. The woman who finds it sets out to identify the girl to see how she's fared in the intervening years.

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

Cover of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
Amy
Chua
2011

An honest and controversial memoir of a Chinese-American mother who parents her two high achieving daughters in a strict, authoritarian way.