This crime novel is a lurid tale of murder, following the trail of Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep. The story reveals the the varied aspects of Bangkok, from the solemn Buddist world to the animated night life on Soi Cowboy, while weaving a strange tale, quite unlike any other mystery. While the investigation leads Sonchai into some of the less savory aspects of the city, the author skillfully paints a picture of the culture, food, and power of Bangkok. In some ways, this novel might be better understood once you have visited Thailand, though it does well to capture the city's vibrant and alluring nature.   ~ M. Moore

In the 1920s in imperial Burma, a corrupt Burmese magistrate is planning to destroy the reputation of the Indian doctor - Dr. Veraswami - because the doctor is friends with a European white man. Great read! Interesting historical fiction of imperial Burma.   ~  elizmartin

Journalists’ books are often out-of-date before they even make it to paperback. Not so for Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn’s China Wakes. The husband and wife shared the Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the Tiananmen Square protests in The New York Times; here they lay out not just the political backdrop for those momentous events, but the social, cultural and economic as well, skillfully reaching into the country’s spasmodic modern history for the necessary context. The result is an entertaining yet revealing glimpse beneath the surface of the world’s most populous nation, its charms and its contradictions. And the rich stories they tell are as helpful for understanding China today as they were when the book was published in 1994. Take its hyperactive embrace of capitalism at all costs, an economy the authors described as a “cross between Dodge City and Dickensian England,” and still painfully evident in the recent scandals over tainted milk and poisonous toys. Or consider the “tottering dictatorship” of the Communist regime, which continues to hang on thanks to the old tricks of repression and corruption. In both cases, the authors give us intimate portraits of people and places at the center of China's convulsions, often putting themselves in danger to do it. Kristof and WuDunn couldn’t have known that, one on level, little would have changed a decade-and-a-half since they wrote this book, but they were smart to put their faith in good old-fashioned journalism.   ~  Andrew Park

John Dalton’s “Heaven Lake” follows a naïve, young American missionary’s experiences late in the last century as he travels across China from Taiwan and Hong Kong all the way to the far western city of Urumchi —and back. All sorts of people interrupt the travel. The constant dreary rudeness of a government-controlled bureaucracy overhangs the entire experience. Although he is befriended by some people he meets, he is attacked and robbed by others at almost every stop along the way. Except for the setting, the interaction with people along the way could have come from “Cold Mountain.”   ~ D. Martin

Peter Hessler's 'River Town' is a personal narrative of two years that he spent teaching English at a school in Fuling, a small town in China's Sichuan province. The book is an exploration of Chinese culture as it faces the challenges of modernity. Specifically, Hessler uses the three gorges dam project as a metaphor of the sacrifice China is making in destroying its past to keep up with the changing needs of its people. He deftly reviews other movements in Chinese history, such as the Cultural Revolution and The Great Leap Forward and uses them as cautionary warnings of how 'progress' can go awry. Despite its heavy-handed social commentary, 'River Town' is also a charming story of getting to know a culture from the inside. Hessler crafts a riveting story which is easy to read and provides a perfect introduction to the Chinese psyche as modernity explodes on its people.  ~  Christopher Towe

With the conflicts between the Muslims and Hindus in India of the 1970’s and 80’s as its backdrop, A Fine Balance traces the lives of four main characters as they eek out a living in a society stumbling along with grinding poverty, political corruption, and a seeming disregard for the dignity of humanity. Mistry uses a unique process of flash-backs to lay the foundation of his character; only in the middle of the book does he catch the reader up to the present, which then unfolds with wave upon wave of tragedy. Remarkably, no sorrow is gratuitous; no defeat seems like a fictional twist for the story’s sake. Instead, the reader is left to resolve uncomfortably how difficult life is, and to refeclt on how many of us in the Western world have been gleefully ignorant of much of the world's daily struggles. This book is a perfect beginner’s study of the life of most of the Indian poor, a description for a vast segment of the country’s population. Other books also worth reading by Rohinton Mistry: Family Matters (a more tightly focused study of a single family in Mumbai) and Swimming Lessons (a series of short stories all set in the same apartment complex in Mumbai, with vivid characters who are woven in and out of each other lives with a nuanced rarely seen in writing.)   ~ Sumner McCallie

Some events can tear a family apart. In the God of Small Things, such an event happens on the book’s first page. The rest of the book describes what led to that event, with intriguing use of flashbacks and a brilliantly framed presentation of personalities within an extended Indian family. Roy presents a study in people with a grindingly slow, yet curiously fascinating march towards tragedy which reveals both deep individual flaws and how family tradition and expectation can both uplift and destroy a working family. The effect is mesmerizing story-telling. The book helps uncover the hidden sides of family patterns in India, and might be good both for traveler, but also Peace Corps volunteer.   ~  Sumner McCallie

This is a wonderful book that tells of the history of one house in al-Ramla (now in Israel) from the time of the British Mandate up until the present. Prior to 1948 it was occupied by an Arab family who fled to Ramallah (now in the West Bank) and always wanted to return home. Following that time, it was occupied by a Jewish family who fled the aftermath of the Holocaust. In 1967, just prior to the 6 Days War, a young man from the Arab family traveled into Israel and found his old family's home. Through an amazing circumstance, only the young daughter of the family (about his age) was home when he knocked on the door. They became friends. Through the years of wars and animosities between their countries they maintained contact. At the end of the story, she donates the house to a charity for Arab children. Through this book you learn about these two admirable families and come to a better understanding of the reasons for the continued bitterness and strife in this embattled part of the world.    ~ E. Howell