This week I heard about The Year of the Asian Reading Challenge (YARC) 2019, organised by the amazing bloggers from Shut Up, Shealea, The Quiet Pond, Sprinkles of Dreams, & Vicky Who Reads, and cannot help but join the celebration of Asian authors. The challenge is to read as many books as possible written by Asian authors, and this is a great challenge because there are tons of books by Asian writers, which are just amazing and deserve more recognition.Ā
For this challenge I am going for a very modest goal of reading 12 books by Asian authors by the end of the year, and will be updating my progress on this page. This is because I am already participating in my other personal reading challenge on travel, and have too many to-be-read books that have been on my shelf for far too long. As I am going for 12 books, my “mascot” for this challenge is an Indian cobra, representing a challenge to read between 11 and 20 books. I strongly urge everyone else to join this challenge, because there will be monthly prompts, link-ups, as well as interesting discussions and exciting giveways.Ā
Thoughts on Papyrus 
Weirdly enough, I probably have done this challenge every year without even knowing it. I love reading Asian authors, especially more classic Asian novels. I’m personally hoping to read more Japanese authors this year. I look forward to seeing what books you review for this challenge! I’m always looking for recommendations of Asian authors.
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Yes, I actually thought of you when I got to know about this challenge š Hopefully I will also be reviewing many Japanese authors.
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What a great reading goal for the year. Good luck with it!
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This sounds like a lot of fun! I love Indian fiction and Japanese crime fiction, but I don’t think I can possibly fit in another challenge this year, sadly. I’ll be intrigued to hear about the books you select as the year goes on… š
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Thanks, and I bet Japanese crime novels are very good. I don’t think I will be reviewing anything obscure, but I will try to read widely š
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Hi Diana!
I’m excited to hear that you’ll be joining us in our challenge! I hope you have lots of fun, and I look forward to seeing the books that you read across the year.
Good luck and happy reading!! š
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Hi! I think it is great that there is such a challenge, it will definitely encourage people to discover hidden book gems and to read out of their comfort zones. Thanks for hosting!
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What a great way to broaden your reading! The only conscious, sustained challenge I’ve done is to read more women authors. Then there’s always the pull of the ‘waiting’ books. I have shelves of ‘to be reads’ all clammering for my attention!
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I do understand this feeling. There are just too many worthy books out there and not enough time.
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I’m in. I’m currently reading Suki Kim’s “Without You, There Is No Us,” a memoir about living in North Korea for years as an ESL teacher. I’d also recommend Jung Chang’s “Wild Swans” (China), Andrew X. Pham’s “Catfish and Mandala” (Vietnam), Vikram Seth’s “A Suitable Boy” (India), and anything by Haruki Murakami (Japan), especially “A Wild Sheep Chase” and “The Wind-up Bird Chronicle.” For Koreaphiles – although not an Asian writer – Donald Clark’s “Living Dangerously in Korea: The Western Experience in Korea, 1900-1950” was an exceptional window into the Korea of yesteryear.
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Many thanks for these recommendations. That memoir sounds very interesting. From the list you have given I only know Murakami, and “Wild Swans”, and will have to check out the rest. I asked the organisers of this challenge how they define “Asian” and they say it can be any author with Asian heritage or ancestry and not merely those born or raised in Asia, so this is also good news as it will broaden reading possibilities.
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From your page I see that you have a connection to South Korea? Hopefully today, I will also be reviewing “Please Look After Mother” by Kyung-sook Shin.
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