New Releases: December Books by Asian Authors!

We are excited to share a few new books in December!

A mix of kid-lit, young adult, and adult books are listed below.

Thanks to our Lit CelebrAsian team members: Glaiza and Shenwei for taking the time to research and compile this list.

Note: This is a just a small sample of releases out in December, so let us know what books you’re excited for.

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~ Young Adult ~

29 Dates by Melissa de la Cruz

Young adult contemporary
Release date: 1st of December, 2018
“Navigating her host family, her new city and school, and more dates, Jisu finds comfort in taking the photographs that populate her ever-growing social media account. Soon attention from two very different boys sends Jisu into a tailspin of soul-searching. As her passion for photography lights her on fire, does she even want to find The One? And what if her One isn’t parent and matchmaker approved?”

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~ Adult books ~ 

Hidden Colours, A Novel
by Nillu Nasser

Adult contemporary
Release date: 3rd of December, 2018

*In a city that thrills like a kaleidoscope, refugees struggle to rebuild the rubble of their lives.*

Each evening, nestled in Berlin’s Treptower Park, the immigrant circus comes to life. Ellie is passionate about the circus, Germany’s flagship integration project, and drawn to its broken people. Even so, if she wants to keep her job at the newspaper, she must head up a campaign against it.

When Yusuf fled Syria, he lost everything. Now the circus, with its middle-eastern flair, is the only home he knows. When the lights go on, the refugees dazzle their audience, but off-stage they can’t escape the traumas of their past and the far-right radicals that dog their every move.

One night, in the midst of a show, two young circus boys come to blows. The resulting violence shines a spotlight on the refugee estate and swells the tide of public opinion against the immigrant circus.”

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At the End of the Century: The Stories of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala 

Adult short story collection
Release date: 11th of December, 2018

“Nobody has written so powerfully of the relationship between and within India and the Western middle classes than Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. In this selection of stories, chosen by her surviving family, her ability to tenderly and humorously view the situations faced by three (sometimes interacting) cultures—European, post-Independence Indian, and American—is never more acute.”

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Unruly Waters: How Rains, Rivers, Coasts, and Seas Have Shaped Asia’s History by Sunil Amrith

Adult non-fiction
Release date: 11th of December, 2018

“Asia’s history has been shaped by her waters. In Unruly Waters, historian Sunil Amrith reimagines Asia’s history through the stories of its rains, rivers, coasts, and seas–and of the weather-watchers and engineers, mapmakers and farmers who have sought to control them. Looking out from India, he shows how dreams and fears of water shaped visions of political independence and economic development, provoked efforts to reshape nature through dams and pumps, and unleashed powerful tensions within and between nations.”

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The Day the Sun Died by Yan Lianke, Carlos Rojas (Translator)

Adult dystopia
Release date: 11th of December, 2018

“In a little village nestled in the Balou mountains, fourteen-year-old Li Niannian and his parents run a funeral parlor. One evening, he notices a strange occurrence. Instead of preparing for bed, more and more neighbors appear in the streets and fields, carrying on with their daily business as if the sun hadn’t already set. Li Niannian watches, mystified. As hundreds of residents are found dreamwalking, they act out the desires they’ve suppressed during waking hours. Before long, the community devolves into chaos, and it’s up to Li Niannian and his parents to save the town before sunrise.”

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~ Childrens ~ 

Mina vs. the Monsoon
by Rukhsanna Guidroz, Debasmita Dasgupta (Illustrator)

Picture Book
Release date: 1st of December, 2018

“Mina loves to play soccer all year around. Nothing comes close to it. But when the monsoon arrives, Mina is stuck indoors and she can’t help feeling restless and bored. Her ammi doesn’t understand. The doodhwalla doesn’t understand. That’s when Mina decides she’ll find ways of chasing away the clouds herself. In doing so, she makes an unexpected discovery. Soccer will never be the same again for Mina!”

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*List compiled by Lit CelebrAsian team members: Glaiza and Shenwei 

*In case you missed it, check out the November Releases