10 Unforgettable Books Set in Asia That Will Deepen Your Travel Experience

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If you’re searching for unforgettable novels set in Asia that capture the spirit, culture, and complexity of this vast continent, you’re in the right place. Whether you’re planning your next adventure or simply craving an armchair escape, the right book can transport you into the heart of a country long before you arrive.

But let’s be honest—most book lists out there lean heavily on dense non-fiction, which can sometimes feel more like homework than discovery. This list of books set in Asia is different – though I do feature two exceptional and very different non-fiction titles.

As someone who’s spent the last ten months traveling through Asia and has already curated a list of novels set in Southeast Asia, I’ve come to treasure the way a beautifully told story can bring a place’s history and heritage to life. Through countless train rides in Vietnam, quiet guesthouses, and slow mornings over coffee in Cambodia, I’ve read my way across the region, guided by authors who reveal the layers of local life that you can’t always see as a visitor.

In this post, I’ve handpicked novels that not only entertain but also deepen your understanding of the countries they represent. They centre the voices of women, and where possible, the authentic voices of community members. These aren’t just books I’ve read— they’re stories that stayed with me, shaping my journey and deepening my connection to each place I’ve carried with me.

Let’s dive into the novels set in Asia that will inspire, enlighten, and stay with you long after the last page.

Top Picks for books set in Asia

While I recommend all these novels, I’ve highlighted my favourites in the Top Picks column.

Country	Top Pick?	Book and Author	Fiction or Non-fiction	Best For
Vietnam		The Refugees – Viet Thahn Nguyen	Fiction	Understanding the complex reality of being a refugee
Vietnam		Last night I Dreamed of Peace – Dang Thuy Tram	Non-fiction	Understanding the personal impact of the Vietnam War and the different thought processes of Vietnamese people compared to America
Malaysia		The House of Doors – Tan Twan Eng	Fiction	Blending history and fiction, exploring British colonisation of Malaysia
Nepal	Yes	Sold – Patricia McCormick	Fiction	Understanding the impact of human trafficking and the sex trade on women from Nepal
Nepal	Yes	The Girl from Kathmandu – Cam Simpson	Non-fiction	Non-fiction, understanding the impact of globalisation and human trafficking on Nepal
Sri Lanka	Yes	Brotherless Night – V. V. Ganeshananthan	Fiction	The history and pain of the Sri Lanka Civil War, literary quality
China	Yes	Lady Tan’s Circle of Women – Lisa See	Fiction	Understanding the role of women in medieval China
China		The Lotus Shoes – Jane Yang	Fiction	Understanding the role of women in 19th century China, and the role foot binding played in Chinese society
China		The Fox Wife – Yangsze Choo	Fiction	Exploring Chinese folklore
China	Yes	She Who Became the Sun & He Who Drowned the World – Shelley Parker-Chan	Fiction	Fantasy mixed with history, LGBTQIA characters

Many of the pictures below are taken in the many beautiful cafes of Tirana, Albania, where I was living when I wrote this article (and read some of the books). Both books about Nepal were paperbacks, and I completely forgot to take photos of them while reading. One was given in at a book swap in Nepal, and the other at a charity shop in London, so there’s no chance for any pictures!

Trigger warnings about these books set in Asia

Many of these books set in Asia cover difficult subjects, including racism, violence, human trafficking, rape/sexual violence, and pregnancy loss. I don’t want to list out trigger warnings for each book in case I’ve unintentionally omitted something important, as we all have different triggers.

Please take care when choosing books from this list, and do additional research in advance if necessary.

📚 Useful Reading Accessories for Travellers

Even if you love physical books, there’s no denying that an e-reader—especially a Kindle—is a game-changer for travel. The first time I travelled long-term, back in 2008, Kindles didn’t exist and I had to rely on book swaps across South America. I read a lot of terrible books!

Now, with a Kindle, there’s no more lugging heavy novels or hoping to find something decent at the occasional book swap. I recommend the Kindle Paperwhite — the backlight makes it easy to read at night or on public transport, and the battery life is excellent.

👉 Get the Kindle Paperwhite here

Another must-have for travel readers is a clip-on reading light. Even if you’re in a budget hostel with only one dim overhead bulb, or an Airbnb with no bedside lamp (which has happened to me more than once), a good reading light makes all the difference.

👉 Get a lightweight clip-on reading light here

If you’re like me and sometimes read by the pool or on the beach, I highly recommend a waterproof Kindle case or sleeve. It keeps sand, splashes, and sunscreen smudges away from your Kindle — and gives you peace of mind when reading in hammocks, on ferries, or by the waves.

👉 Find a waterproof Kindle sleeve here

Finally, if you want to save money while reading more, Kindle Unlimited is incredible value. It’s a subscription that gives you access to thousands of books (including some of the books on this list – at least on UK Kindle Unlimited). If you read even 2–3 books a month, it pays for itself.

👉 Try Kindle Unlimited free for 30 days here

And finally — bookmarks! A beautiful bookmark is one of my favourite souvenirs to collect while travelling. They’re small, affordable, and make thoughtful gifts for book-loving friends.

Books set in Vietnam

I’ve spent 4 months in Vietnam in the last year, and visited north, south and central Vietnam. There are a wealth of incredible books about Vietnam, partly thanks to the number of Vietnamese refugees who fled the country in the 1970s. The two books listed below are incredibly different, but both valuable reads. If you’re looking for more traditional historical novels about Vietnam, check out my list of books about Vietnam or top books to read about Southeast Asia, which features historical novels from Vietnamese author Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai.

The Refugees – Viet Thahn Nguyen

Best for: Understanding the complex reality of being a refugee

This second book by the award-winning Viet Thahn Nguyen couldn’t be more different to his debut (featured on my previous list). This quiet book is a series of short stories about Vietnamese refugees living in the United States, a theme where the author has personal experience.

Following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 and the fall of Saigon, hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese fled the country to escape political persecution, economic hardship, and the new Communist regime. Known as the “boat people,” many sought asylum in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe, leading to a significant wave of Vietnamese immigration that shaped diaspora communities around the world.

The stories cover a range of refugee experiences, culminating in stories that follow refugees as they grapple with return journeys to Vietnam. While this book has none of the explosive, cynical power of The Sympathizer, I still enjoyed the opportunity to learn and reflect on refugees experiences in this quiet and thoughtful set of stories.

📘 Get The Refugees in paperback → Get it here

📖 Read The Refugees on Kindle → Get it here

Last night I Dreamed of Peace – Dang Thuy Tram

Best for: Understanding the personal impact of the Vietnam War and the different thought processes of Vietnamese people compared to America

I picked up this book in one of the beautiful cafes in Hoi An’s rice fields, and read it while in An Bang in Central Vietnam. This made the diary more powerful, as the protagonist is based in central Vietnam, not far south of where I was reading.

The book is the private diary of a young woman from Vietnam’s beautiful capital Hanoi, serving as a civilian doctor in the Vietnam War. The diaries were found by American soldiers when her base was destroyed, and they took the diaries back to American before eventually reaching out to her family in Hanoi to return them.

I struggled with this book. While it gave me enormous insight into the way Dang Thuy Tram, and by extension, her peers, regarded the Vietnam War, the Communist State, Ho Chi Minh and other key parts of Vietnamese culture at this time, I frequently wanted to strangle the protagonist. While her incredible bravery and sacrifice is not in doubt, her diary often focuses on her crushes and on the way the men around her view her. I frequently had to remind myself that this was her private diary, never intended to be seen by anyone else.

Despite this, I do recommend this book – the immediacy of her account is unique and the foreword, which details how her diary was reunited with her family, gave me an understanding I wouldn’t have gained elsewhere.

📘 Get Last Night I Dreamed of Peace in paperback → Get it here

📖 Read Last Night I Dreamed of Peace on Kindle → Get it here

Books about Malaysia

I spent 6 weeks in Malaysia in summer 2024, and loved the multi-cultural history of this former British colony. I’ve already recommended several books on Malaysia in my Southeast Asia list, but have another to add here in case you want more! I also have a full guide of books about Malaysia.

The House of Doors – Tan Twan Eng

Best for: blending history and fiction, exploring British colonisation of Malaysia

This book by the incredible Tan Twan Eng follows the story of Lesley, a British woman living in the colonial city of George Town, Penang in the 1920s. She invites the famous (real-life) author William Somerset Maugham to stay, and the book is a fictionalised account of how he came to write his famous 1926 short story ‘The Letter’, which was later developed into a successful play.

Over the two weeks that Maugham stays with Lesley, she confides in him about her relationship with a member of the entourage of the influential Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-sen, who later became the president of the Republic of China. The novel focuses on the way British society operated in Malaysia at this time, as well as the deep connections between China and Malaysia.

While this book was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2023, it’s my least favourite of Tan Twan Eng’s novels, although it’s still an incredible novel and well worth reading. Check out my list of books about Southeast Asia to find my favourites.

📘 Get The House of Doors in paperback → Get it here

📖 Read The House of Doors on Kindle → Get it here

Books about Nepal

I visited Nepal in May 2025, including Kathmandu, the beautiful lakeside town of Pokhara, and the incredible jungle nature reserve of Chitwan National Park. Even after 10 months of travelling in Southeast Asia, I was shocked at the evident poverty and differing levels of development in Nepal. For example, even in the capital, Kathmandu, not everyone has running water in their home.

The other thing that was incredibly visible was the value placed on emigrating abroad – I saw visa agencies offering access to education and work abroad absolutely everywhere. The two books below deal with very different elements of the human trafficking that can result from this – both are difficult reads, for different reasons, but shed enormous light on Nepal today.

Sold – Patricia McCormick

Best for: Understanding the impact of human trafficking and the sex trade on women from Nepal

This book is both incredibly difficult and incredibly easy to read. The almost poetic prose and short chapters meant I struggled to put this book down – I read it in just over a day – but the subject matter is devastating. Covering the story of a young Nepalese girl who is sold, unknowingly, into sexual slavery, the novel captures a little-discussed aspect of modern life. Watching the young girl move from innocence into cynicism and back into hope was very moving.

While the novel is written by an American, it’s clear that as an investigative journalist, she did the work before writing the novel, which won awards in America.

📘 Get Sold in paperback → Get it here

📖 Read Sold on Kindle → Get it here

The Girl from Kathmandu – Cam Simpson

Best for: non-fiction, exploring the impact of globalisation and human trafficking on Nepal

I picked this book up from my hotel in Nepal, despite rarely reading non-fiction, and I’m so glad I did. This is the story of both a young Nepali girl who soon becomes a widow when her husband is shot by Iraqi insurgents in Iraq, and the global story of human trafficking and human evil that sits behind her husband’s horrific death.

Written by an award-winning investigative journalist, it’s easy to read even as it dives into the deep complexities of the American legal system as a host of people try to hold American companies to account. This book really helped me to understand the realities of Nepali culture, including the deep patriarchal attitudes that still influence the country, but it also gave me an enormous grounding in the capitalist mechanisms that sit behind war.

📘 Get The Girl From Kathmandu in paperback → Get it here

📖 Read The Girl From Kathmandu on Kindle → Get it here

Books about Sri Lanka

I’ve yet to visit Sri Lanka, but it’s definitely on this. I know Sri Lanka as one of the many countries the British colonised (it was formerly known as Ceylon), and the book below deals with one of the consequences of British occupation.

Brotherless Night – V. V. Ganeshananthan

Best for: the history and pain of the Sri Lanka Civil War, literary quality

I started this book knowing it had been nominated for various prizes including the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2024. By the end of the second chapter I was googling to find out if it had won, because I knew that if it hadn’t, it would be one of the worst miscarriages of justice in literary history. Thankfully, it won.

Set against the backdrop of the Sri Lankan Civil War, Brotherless Night explores the ethnic tensions between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority that erupted into a brutal, decades-long conflict starting in 1983. The novel delves into the early years of the war, particularly the events surrounding Black July, a series of anti-Tamil pogroms that marked a turning point in Sri Lanka’s modern history.

The book follows Sashi, a young woman growing up in the Tamil stronghold of Jaffna in Sri Lanka as the Civil War takes hold. Sashi is determined to be a doctor, and her four brothers are all equally high-flying scholars. But needless to say, the encroaching Civil War intervenes, as Sashi experiences the horrific violence of Black July, and her brothers get swept up in the consequences of increased militancy in Jaffna in very different ways.

This book without doubt goes on the list of best books I’ve ever read – a strong statement given that I read over 100 books every year. Right from the beginning it packs an incredible emotional punch, and it follows the war in a way that’s educational without being overbearing. Sashi’s view of the war is also nuanced and complex, and presents militancy in all its shades of grey – with clear parallels to conflicts like Gaza and the rise of Hamas today. If you’re heading to Sri Lanka, this book is essential reading to understand the country’s complicated recent history.

📘 Get Brotherless Night in paperback → Get it here

📖 Read Brotherless Night on Kindle → Get it here

Books set in China

I visited China back in 2015, for my 30th birthday. Despite visiting Beijing, Xian, Cheng Du, and various parts of the Great Wall, I barely scratched the surface of this fascinating country. After visiting 50 countries, China is the most different place I’ve been, with cultural norms that are often completely alien to westerners.

This has been evident as I’ve travelled in Southeast Asia as well, with increasing numbers of Chinese tourists having very different priorities to western tourists. These books explore China’s very different cultural and religious traditions, bringing this vast and captivating country to life.

If you’re looking for a full list of books about China, check out my dedicated guide.

Lady Tan’s Circle of Women – Lisa See

Best for: Understanding the role of women in medieval China

While it’s been a long time since I read this book (back in 2023), the experience stuck with me. The story of two women of different classes in 15th century China, it follows Tan Yunxian and Meiling as they struggle to use their hard-earned medical skills within the strict roles required of women. Yunxian learns to be a doctor from her grandmother, while Meiling becomes a midwife. Their friendship is tested when Yunxian has to make an arranged marriage, into a much stricter family where she is forbidden to set foot outside the family compound.

This book really brought to life the strict rules governing the behaviour of women in China at this time, and the way foot binding played into this due to the physical limitations it imposed.

It also tells the story of remarkable women, who find ways around these strictures.

📘 Get Lady Tan’s Circle of Women in paperback → Get it here

📖 Read Lady Tan’s Circle of Women on Kindle → Get it here

The Lotus Shoes -Jane Yang

Best for: understanding the role of women in 19th century China, and the role foot binding played in Chinese society

This debut novel is set in China just before the beginning of the 20th century. Little Flower’s mother has no choice but to sell Little Flower into a form of slavery called muizei – being a lady’s maid. But she wants to give Little Flower the best possible chance in life, and starts binding her feet at age 4, so that Little Flower has the chance to get married one day. Little Flower is sold to the wealthy Fong family and becomes maid to the spoiled Linjing.

In contrast, Linjing’s feet are not bound – her ambitious father has secured her a betrothal to a wealthy and progressive family, who see natural feet as the future in a China increasingly influenced by the West. The novel follows both girls as they grow up and reckon with the impact of slavery, China’s class system and the deeply traditional role women are still forced to play – in which bound feet play an incredibly important role.

The novel draws on the experience of both of the author’s Chinese grandmothers, and feels deeply authentic. It’s an excellent read and an insight into the incredibly complex issue of foot binding. The only drawback is that it’s almost impossible not to hate Linjing – but it’s worth bearing with this novel despite the character.

📘 Get The Lotus Shoes in paperback → Get it here

📖 Read The Lotus Shoes on Kindle → Get it here

The Fox Wife – Yangsze Choo

Best for: exploring Chinese folklore

This book is completely different to the novels above, as it focuses on magical realism and Chinese beliefs around foxes. In Chinese culture, foxes are considered to be a magical creature, who can transform between human and animal form, and who trick and bewitch ordinary humans.

In the Fox Wife, we follow Snow, a fox who has lived a long life and recently lost a child. She sets out on a quest for vengeance that leads her across early 20th century China and into Japan. The other storyline follows Bao, an older man working as a private investigator. Bao has the unusual ability to detect lies, and a fascination with foxes. Their storylines eventually interconnect, and on their journey we learn about the prevalence of fox folklore in China, as well as a glimpse into the way China was changing at the turn of the 20th century.

If you like podcasts, this book also pairs really well with an episode of Lore about Beijing, which also dives into this folklore.

This is the second novel by Yangsze Choo I’ve featured. her other novel is about Chinese immigrants to Malacca in Malaysia, and equally focused on magical realism – find it in my guide to books about Southeast Asia.

📘 Get The Lotus Shoes in paperback → Get it here

📖 Read The Lotus Shoes on Kindle → Get it here

She Who Became the Sun and He Who Drowned the World – Shelley Parker-Chan

Best for: fantasy mixed with history, LGBTQIA characters

The two incredible novels are historical fantasy at it’s best. Set in 13th century China, these novels reimagine the ascent of Zhu Yuanzhang, a real historical figure who rose from poverty and monkhood to become the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty, leading one of the most significant rebellions in Chinese history. Despite this distant time period, they are incredibly modern novels, explore gender identity, the role of women in society and the role eunuchs played in Chinese society at this time.

The story follows a young girl, who assumes the identity of her older brother Zhu when he dies as a result of famine. Greatness has been forecast for the original Zhu, and the new Zhu struggles with the way this fate interacts with their own ambition and determination to survive. We follow Zhu from a monastery as they gain increasing power, all while struggling with their gender identity and relationships.

These books world-build on a George R. R. Martin scale, only this time, the story actually gets finished (yes, I’m still waiting on The Winds of Winter too). They are a duology and provide a satisfying ending to Zhu’s journey. They’re an incredible way to learn about China’s medieval history, seamlessly blending fact, myth and fantasy.

📘 Get these books in paperback → She Who Became the Sun & He Who Drowned the World

📖 Read these books on Kindle → She Who Became the Sun & He Who Drowned the World

💡 Depending on where you’re based, these titles may also be available through Kindle Unlimited — you can check when you click through.

Planning to visit Europe this year? Check out my guide to books about Bulgaria and books about Albania – with more coming soon!

Frequently Asked Questions

📚 Shop My China Book List & Travel reading essentials

Here are my top picks , plus the travel reading gear I swear by:

• Brotherless Night: Paperback | Kindle
• The Gril from Kathmandu Paperback | Kindle
• She Who Became the Sun Paperback | Kindle
• Lady Tan’s Circle of Women Paperback | Kindle

✨ Travel Reading Essential

• Kindle Paperwhite – my go-to travel reader
• Clip on book light – perfect for hostels & night buses
• Waterproof Kindle Cover – essential for beaches & pools

💡 Pro Tip: Some of these titles may be included in Kindle Unlimited. Availability varies by country, so it’s worth checking if you already subscribe — or you can

Whether you’re preparing for a journey across Asia or simply looking to better understand its rich and complex cultures, these novels offer more than entertainment—they offer insight, empathy, and connection. From the heartbreak of war to the resilience of women, from ancient traditions to modern realities, the stories in this list reflect the diversity of a continent that defies easy definition. I hope these books move you, challenge you, and help you see each country not just as a destination, but as a place full of human stories worth listening to. If you’ve read any of these titles—or have a recommendation I’ve missed—I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

✅ All photos featured on this blog are from my personal travel experiences. No stock images are used.