Top 5 Saturday: Books with an Asian Setting

Top 5 Saturday: Books with an Asian Setting

by Leelynn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads

Wait a gosh darn minute! This is the best freaking topic ever! Thanks so much Mandy @ Devouring Books for including this!

Rules!

  • Share your top 5 books of the current topic– these can be books that you want to read, have read and loved, have read and hated, you can do it any way you want.
  • Tag the original post
  • Tag 5 people

Although The Rise of Kyoshi doesn’t take place in a real life Asian setting, Avatar the Last Airbender is highly influenced by Asian cultures. Watch the show and learn from the creators Mike and Bryan. The Four Nations are definitely Asian influenced so I’m including this.

Spin the Dawn is also not a real life Asian setting, but it has influences in Chinese and Japanese culture: A’landi. It’s also been described as Project Runway meets Mulan, so that’s going to be super fun.

Now Wicked Fox, on the other hand, actually takes place in Seoul, South Korea. I would freaking love to visit Seoul one day, and it will be a lifetime dream to go there so I’m definitely going to make it happen.

I remember reading Tiger’s Curse when I was first starting to blog and wow. I really did love this book. I don’t know why I didn’t end up finishing the series (just kidding – it’s because I have issues finishing series!) but hopefully I can re-read this one and continue on. Majority of this book takes place in India.

Soundless takes place in China, maybe even feudal China, but has some mystical properties that you won’t see until the absolute very ending. I hope that wasn’t a spoiler.

I need to read Flame in the Mist like immediately. Feudal Japan and samurais?! Sign me the hell up. Plus it’s Renee.

Give me all the feudal Japan / feudal Japan-inspired novels! This one – Stormdancer – from the lovely Jay Kristoff himself. I know I still need to read this, especially if I’m going to be introduced to this man.

The Candle and the Flame takes place in Noor, which is located along the infamous Silk Road. I mean, how many books do you know actively takes place along the Silk Road? I’m down.

Risuko is very specific on where this takes place. According to Goodreads, not only does this take place in Japan during 1570, but Mochizuki, Shinano. I know I have a copy of this somewhere. I need to read this.

So my mom finally got my results for my 23 and Me test, and yep I’m totally Japanese. Not as much as I honestly thought I was – which is depressing me – but I’m over people telling me that I’m not Asian because I’m hella dark. So here’s the damn proof bitches! I’m Japanese and proud.

Wish this could be my life right now.

Anyways… sorry for that mini rant! I know I didn’t post all of them, but what else should I include? I need more to read.

Also special shout out to one of my favorite Japanese actresses – Devon Aoki! Who is also the sister to famous DJ Steve Aoki, who I got to meet in Guam at his concert!

28 thoughts on “Top 5 Saturday: Books with an Asian Setting”

  1. Is this another book meme?! Oh my… I think I have to jump on this bandwagon because I’ve been looking for something to fill my Saturdays! I’m gonna go write up my post for this now 😏 Yay for being Asian! I haven’t read any of these but have heard about half of them. I’m so excited for Spin the Dawn and The Candle and the Flame especially 😍

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Yes it is! And please do! I was so happy when this topic came up because I rarely see it 🙂 And I kind of messed up though because I was only supposed to do 5 but I went a little bit overboard lol. I think I was getting it mixed up with another weekly meme that I do where I can have any number of books! But it’s okay!

      I hope you end up doing it! I’d love to see what you come up with for the topics 🙂 And I saw you wrote yours for this week! Yay!!!

      I still need to read a bunch of these! I kind of want to reread Tiger’s Curse also so I can finish the series (for once lol) but we will see!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Haha never anything bad about sharing more books in your lists — more recommendations for those keen to diversify their reads! I did do the post and it made me realize that I don’t read many books with Asian settings, so it was eye opening lol

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  2. Ahhh! Thanks for joining! A lot of these are on my TBR and I had a hard time cutting my list down to 5. Spin the Dawn and The Candle and the Flame were both books that I really liked but I loved The Candle and the Flame way more. It was so culturally immersive, but it is a slow burn book. I’ve been trying to get my hands on a copy of Soundless forever. I’ve read almost all of Richelle Mead”s YA besides Soundless. I do have to add Stormdancer and Risuko to my TBR.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Yeah I can’t believe I forgot to narrow it down to only 5! I was spacing out trying to just put as much as I could together. Oh now I can’t wait to read The Candle and the Flame! That’s good to know that you loved it! That makes me even more excited to read it. Oh man if I find an extra copy, I’ll send it to you! I’ll keep you posted okay?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Hahah It’s fine to do more than 5! No big deal! The Candle and the Flame was slow, but incredible. I highly recommend it. I’ve been trying to get Soundless from the library because I don’t have a lot of money and they never have it. I have asked if they could get it from another local library and none of them have it.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply
  3. Pingback: Top 5 Books with Asian Settings I Want to Read – Devouring Books
  4. Pingback: Top 5 Saturday: Books with Asian Settings – dinipandareads.

  5. I’m so sorry there are people who are telling you that you’re not Asian, it’s definitely not up to them to decide. I haven’t heard of any of these authors yet, so I’m excited to check them out! One of my all-time favorite books that has an Asian setting (it takes place between Vietnam and the US) is The Sympathizer.

    Mai
    ✰ maidoesthings.com

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks so much Mai. It’s hard sometimes, and I know I shouldn’t dwell on it (I try not to) but it kind of bothers me when people like to tell me what I am or am not based on my appearance. I hope you do and I hope you like them! I’d love to hear what you think. Thanks so much for that recommendation! I’m going to see if I can find a copy at my library 🙂 Thanks also for linking your blog. I am following it now and I can’t wait to go through your posts.

      Like

      Reply

    1. I hope you read Tiger’s Curse! I know it isn’t an Own Voices novel, but I think Colleen Houck did a pretty good job with it. Also, I can’t wait to read Wicked Fox! It’s sitting on my shelf right now just staring at me wondering when I’m going to pick it up.

      I love that too. There’s so many different aspects of Asian cultures to learn about and draw inspiration from, and I like that there are more Own Voices authors writing about their cultures.

      Like

      Reply

  8. I haven’t read any of these books yet but The Candle in the Flame and Wicked Fox are on my tbr. I’d recommend the Sea of Ink and Gold series – it’s absolutely amazing

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. Project Runway meets Mulan sounds hilarious lol. But all these books sound awesome and now my TBR is even longer lol T_T ❤ Great list!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. Gosh I totally need to read The Candle And The Flame, Tiger’s Curse, and Risoko. ALSO AVATAR LIKE I’M A FANGIRL STANNN yeet I love Aang and Katara and Sokka and Toph and Zuko ahhh.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. OOOOOH, Leelyn, I love stories that are set in real place Asia, or a fantastical Asia. I just bought Spin the Dawn and Wicked Fox last week! I’m super excited to read them.
    Tiger’s curse was…interesting to read. I want to read the rest of the series, but, I never seem to pick it up at the library (LOL).
    Soundless WAS SO GOOD. In fact, it’s a favourite Michelle Read story of mine.
    Flame in the Mist takes place in Japan?! Now I’ve GOT to get my hands on a library copy.
    Stormdancer was actually interesting and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
    Risuko was a great novel! I highly suggest it. I hope you enjoy it!
    I didn’t know what the silk road was, so I google’d it, and now i definitely have The Candle and the Flame on my TBR.

    Loved this post!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I feel like you’re going to read both of those before I get to them, so I’ll be looking for your reviews! I have had both of them sitting on my desk for the longest time just staring at me and I’m like “No. I can’t start you yet. I need a week off to dedicate 100% of my time to you” lol. HAHAH Yeah I’m curious to see how the rest of that series is too!

      Thanks so much for all of your recommendations!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  12. Pingback: August 2019 Wrap Up – Adele Is Reading

Leave a comment