Snakes and Earrings by Hitomi Kanehara, translated by David Karashima [in AsianWeek]
If this 120-page novel rife with sex and violence were any longer, reading it would be unbearable. That it won Japan’s highest literary honor, the Akutagawa Prize, for its then 20-year-old author,...
All in the Name of Love in Xinran’s ‘Sky Burial’
Here’s the story: two lovers, marriage, and cruel separation by war shortly thereafter. The husband dies mysteriously, but the wife remains skeptical and embarks on...
Published under a pseudonym because of its autobiographical nature, this hoping-to-be controversial novel recounts the erotic maturation of a young Muslim woman. She’s married off at 17 to an older man who brutalizes her under familial...
The long-awaited follow-up to the provocative
Personal favorite of the month – and favorite of many others as it won the
Thirteen leftover travelers from a 323-passenger cancelled flight to Tokyo are left stranded overnight at the airport. They pass the time by each sharing a story – haunting, surprising, delicious, tales that span time...
First reaction: WOW! Second reaction: Read it! The story revolves around the Harmony Silk Factory, a textiles shop in rural Malaysia run by Johnny Lim, part crook, part untouchable legend.
Three narrators...
From the author of the acclaimed two-part graphic autobiography, Persepolis, comes an outrageously entertaining afternoon of stories shared amid close women relatives and friends as they reveal the poignant, subversive, sometimes hilarious details of their most...
While it isn’t strictly APA, I couldn’t resist this eye-opening romp through wifehood over the centuries – from wifelash (think Grace in Will & Grace being ultimately insulted when Will tells her...

A collection of 10 inventive stories that capture a glimpse of contemporary life in a Vietnamese village where the writer, actress, director, and painter Doan Le lived for 30 years...
Another tale of Pakistan (finally, multiple entries in this area!), this one a lyrically written love story – with all sorts of obstacles, of course – about a modern daughter running an inherited silk factory, and...
A small boy creates perfect little moments of love for everyone around him – for his pets, his siblings, his grandmother and, of course, his parents.
Review: <a...
This is one of those perfect little books that fit right in your pocket, to whip out when you have a few minutes to daydream. This slim volume offers bite-size portions of...
Here’s the set up: a 15-year-old boy runs away from home possibly in search of his long-missing mother and sister, and is befriended by a library employee and a young...
Clint Eastwood, Summer Love, and Cockfighting
The good news first: Rattawut Lapcharoensap’s family in Thailand is all fine; the tsunami thankfully did not harm them. The other good news: His collection of short stories, Sightseeing, which debuts...
Liu, a genetic scientist, arrives to visit her husband, Li, at his job site at the famed (or should that be infamous?) Three Gorges Dam Project...
Maya Mehra, 30 and still living with her parents, gets kidnapped at LAX where she’s gone to pick up her unknown prospective husband. When she comes to, she is told that she’s...
The final installation in Mehta’s 11-title series, Continents of Exile, explores his father’s love affair with another woman, documented through their love letters – the eponymous Red Letters. Written without judgment following the deaths...
Devi’s failed suicide attempt sends her back home to her parents, where she refuses to speak but decides to cook. Before she can regain her voice – as she becomes...