Top Ten Tuesday | Asian-inspired fantasy that’s STILL on my TBR #YARC2019

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week’s theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week’s theme is ‘Holiday Reads (Books you love reading during the holiday season)’, and initially I was going to talk about some books I’d recommend in the winter/Christmas time, but I feel like that’s something I’ve talked about before so I’m straying away from the topic this week.

This year I’ve been taking part in the Year of the Asian Reading Challenge, hosted by Shealea @ Shut Up Shealea, CW @ The Quiet Pond, Lily @ Sprinkles of Dreams and Vicky @ Vicky Who Reads, a reading challenge designed to encourage us readers to reach for the Asian authors on our bookshelves. My aim was to read between 1-10 books by Asian authors, while hoping I might read more, and I’m ashamed to say that I’ve read 7. That’s not even one a month.

coneofshame

What’s really frustrating is that of that 7, I’ve read 4 novels, 1 novella and 2 novelettes. Both of the novelettes are by Zen Cho, so I’ve only actually read 6 Asian authors this year, and of the 7 I haven’t had a single 5 star read and 3 of them ended up being really disappointing reads.

Gah! Needless to say, I’m frustrated with my progress for this challenge this year, especially when there’s so much Asian-inspired fantasy I’m still so excited to pick up and just haven’t been reaching for. I don’t know why.

So this week, I thought I’d share 10 own voices Asian-inspired fantasy books I own copies of that are still on my TBR. I need to kick my butt into gear and read these damn books!

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The Astonishing Colour of After by Emily X.R. Pan: Unlike the other books on this list, which are all high fantasy, this novel is contemporary fantasy and I think the only reason I haven’t reached for it yet is that I haven’t really read any contemporary this year. I do love the sound of this one, though! I love stories about mothers and daughters, so it’s time I got to this one.

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang: I got a copy of this through NetGalley and still haven’t read it because I’m trash. I really want to get to it, I’ve just been putting it off because I know parts of it are going to be an absolute gut-punch to read.

The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang: This is one I’m planning to read before the end of the year! I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about this self-published novel and I want to know what all the fuss is about.

The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu: This book has been on my TBR for years and I’ve started it before, but put it down because I wasn’t quite in the mood for it. I believe this book is the first in a trilogy, and while the second book has also been out for a while I don’t know when the third book’s coming so, much like The Name of the Wind, I think it’s one I’m putting off until I know there’s an end in sight.

Jade City by Fonda Lee: This is another one I’ve tried starting a couple of times and just haven’t been in the mood for. I’m determined not to give up, though, because I feel like I could love this one.

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The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco: Witches! Why haven’t I read this one yet? I know Jolien @ The Fictional Reader loves this one, so it’s about time I got to it.

Flame in the Mist by Renée Ahdieh: Women posing as men is one of my favourite tropes in historical and fantasy fiction, and I love the sound of this novel, but after I really didn’t like Ahdieh’s latest novel, The Beautiful, I’m a little nervous that her writing style isn’t for me.

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan: I KNOW. I keep talking about how I want to read this novel and how its premise is one of those stories I’ve always wanted even though I never knew it, but because it deals with sexual assault I’ve been putting it off simply because I kind of hate reading about sexual assault. I find it really upsetting, and I have to be in the right mood for it.

Descendant of the Crane by Joan He: This debut novel includes outlawed magic, another favourite trope of mine, and with a heroine thrust into power after the unexpected death of her father it’s giving me The Goblin Emperor vibes. Considering The Goblin Emperor is my favourite book, I need to read this.

Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri: To be honest I know very little about this novel, but it’s set in a world based on Mughal India and that’s a setting I just don’t see enough, which is why I picked up a copy for my Kindle when it was fairly cheap. Plus it’s published by Orbit, who are one of my favourite SFF publishers.

Which books made your list this week?

 

35 thoughts on “Top Ten Tuesday | Asian-inspired fantasy that’s STILL on my TBR #YARC2019”

  1. Pingback: Year of the Asian Reading Challenge #YARC2020 | Sign Up and TBR – Jessticulates
  3. Reply
    Jessica at Booked J says:

    It’s soo easy to get behind on thing we’re interested in or think we should have read by now. Timing can be so weird! Regardless, I hope you love and appreciate each of these as you get to them. I have a lot of great things to say about quite a few of these but I’m going to single out The Poppy War–the two books that have been released are some of my favourites I’ve read this year, so I am excited to see what you think!!

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Reply
    Sahi says:

    This is a wonderful list of books with so many of my favorites 😍😍😍
    And I have Empire of Sand and Sword of Kaigen on my tbr too… I’ve only heard great things about them, so I hope both of us love them too 😊😊😊

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Reply
    lydiaschoch says:

    This is such a great list. I’m saving it to refer to later. I’ve been reading even less Asian literature than you have, and I’m a little embarrassed to admit that.

    My TTT.

    Liked by 1 person

  19. Reply
    Nikki @The Night is Dark and Full of Books says:

    I still want to read a BUNCH of these books too. The Astonishing Color of After was actually on my list of books to still read before 2020.

    Liked by 1 person

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