The new season of our Book Club will run from November 2026 to June 2027. The theme is Short Stories and the selected books are: Unlike novels, short stories are like a snapshot of life. So, instead of the elements we usually focus on, namely plot & character development and writing style & length, we encourage our readers to focus on the details, then pick … Continue reading Book Club Season 27
Readers were delighted that the four shortlisted books in this year’s Summer Reading selection were light and easy to read. They sped through most of them in a couple of days and it became clear quite quickly which one was their favourite. After a fun and in-depth discussion, readers unanimously picked “Theft” as the Best Summer Read 2026. “Theft” by Abdulrazak Gurnah (Tanzania) was voted … Continue reading Best Summer Read 2026 – Theft
“The Garden of Evening Mists” by Tan Twan Eng (Malaysia)Winner of the Man Asian Literary Prize 2012 Book Club Favourite of Season 26 Synopsis Malaya, 1951. Yun Ling Teoh, the scarred lone survivor of a brutal Japanese wartime camp, seeks solace among the jungle-fringed tea plantations of Cameron Highlands. There she discovers Yugiri, the only Japanese garden in Malaya, and its owner and creator, the … Continue reading The Garden of Evening Mists
“How We Disappeared” by Jing-Jing Lee (Singapore) Synopsis Singapore, 1942. As Japanese troops sweep down Malaysia and into Singapore, a village is ransacked. Only three survivors remain, one of them a tiny child. In a neighbouring village, seventeen-year-old Wang Di is bundled into the back of a troop carrier and shipped off to a Japanese military rape camp. In the year 2000, her mind is … Continue reading How We Disappeared
Review Ismailov’s “The Devils’ Dance” is a novel that demands patience and perseverance from its readers. Initially daunting and complex, this novel gradually unfolds its layers to reveal a multi-faceted narrative that both frustrates and fascinates. At first, the book may feel like wading through mud, as one reader aptly described it. The intricate web of characters and the poetic prose were found to be … Continue reading “The Devils’ Dance” by Hamid Ismailov (Uzbekistan)
“Man Tiger” by Eka Kurniawan (Indonesia) Review Even though it took them a while to get used to the writing style, which weaves back and forward through moments in time, readers agreed that the book, with its visceral descriptions and an evocative setting, was easy to read. They found some characters sympathetic, but didn’t warm to most of them as they felt that they lacked … Continue reading Man Tiger
“Before the Coffee gets Cold” by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (Japan) Review There were mixed feelings about this book, with most readers not really getting into the story at all and some enjoying it a lot. They found the first part a bit unconvincing, with a lot of repetitive passages which they felt slowed down the pace. But they agreed that the remaining three parts flowed better. … Continue reading Before the Coffee gets Cold
“The Guru of Love” by Samrat Upadhyay (Nepal) Synopsis Ramchandra is a math teacher earning a low wage and living in a small apartment with his wife and two children. Moonlighting as a tutor, he engages in an illicit affair with one of his tutees, Malati, a beautiful, impoverished young woman who is also a new mother. She provides for him what his wife, who … Continue reading The Guru of Love
