Explore fiction from Singapore, Korea, Japan and across Asia, including translated literature and books written in English. These reviews and guides focus on the books themselves while providing cultural context where it genuinely helps the reading experience.
Asian Literature
FROM THE BOOKSHELF
Latest Asian fiction reviews
Korean literatureOct 14, 2026
Best Korean Healing Fiction Books for a Comforting Read
Our best Korean healing fiction books, from cosy bookshops to magical laundries. Heartwarming Korean novels for your next comforting read.
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Literary FictionOct 14, 2026
Book Review: A Strange Case of Erasure by Jaclyn Lim
Our A Strange Case of Erasure review explores Jaclyn Lim's surreal Singaporean novel about motherhood, invisible labour and losing your identity.
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Contemporary FictionOct 13, 2026
Book Review: American Hagwon by Min Jin Lee
Our review explores Min Jin Lee's sweeping new family saga about Korean immigrants, education, parental sacrifice and the pursuit of success.
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SingLitSep 22, 2026
Book Review: The Unlikely Motherhood of Shaleni May
It’s about reinvention, belonging, aging, marriage, and the reality that major life changes do not automatically resolve old emotional wounds.
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Korean literatureJun 3, 2026
Best Korean Fiction Books in Translation: 15 Essential Novels Every Reader Should Discover
While Korean dramas, films, and music have gained international recognition, Korean novels have undergone a similar transformation.
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HumourMay 26, 2026
Book Review: Sister Snake by Amanda Lee Koe
At its heart, this is a story about two sisters who have lived for more than a thousand years and still struggle…
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Korean literatureMay 17, 2026
Book Review: Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo
It’s an accessible yet quietly devastating feminist novel, precisely because it refuses melodrama in favour of accumulated realism.
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MysteryMay 14, 2026
Book Review: Now You See Us by Balli Kaur Jaswal
It’s a sharp and emotionally grounded Singapore-set novel, and one that feels particularly urgent in what it chooses to centre.
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Crime FictionMay 14, 2026
Book Review: Sisters in Yellow by Mieko Kawakami
It’s one of Kawakami’s most emotionally sprawling works, and perhaps one of her bleakest.
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MysteryMay 5, 2026
Book Review: The Verifiers by Jane Pek
The novel is thoughtful, often sharp in its observations, though not always as propulsive as its setup might suggest.
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SingLitApr 22, 2026
Book Review: The Teenage Textbook by Adrian Tan
It captures adolescence in a way that feels grounded and enduring, avoiding the temptation to romanticise or trivialise the experience.
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ContemporaryApr 18, 2026
Book Review: Swallows by Natsuo Kirino
It reads less like a thriller and more like a slow psychological unraveling, one that reveals itself through subtle shifts in perception.
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