By Nuraina
Books of various genres – from fiction, contemporary romance, horror and crime to literature and historical non-fiction.
Today marks the 65th year of Malaysia’s independence. In celebration of Merdeka, our fun way to wave the Malaysian flag proudly is by giving you 8 books of different genres written by Malaysian authors according to the colours of the Malaysian flag – red, white, blue, and yellow!
RED BOOKS
1. Last Tang Standing by Lauren Ho (fiction, contemporary romance, Asian literature)
Hilarious and Irresistible!
Lauren’s debut novel about pursuing happiness, opening oneself to love and surviving the early thirties is a novel to read! A successful legal career, with a posh condo and fun-loving group of friends who are always on the trending side of the hottest clubs in Singapore, Andrea is living the dream. Despite being in her early thirties and the only Tang member of her family’s generation who is unmarried – this disappointment in her meddling Chinese-Malaysian family will never be forgotten. Upon encountering the charming MR. Right-for-Her-family, the wealthy entrepreneur, Eric Deng gave her a taste of an exciting and limitless future. But her work rival, Suresh Aditparan, the last man her family would ever approve of, keeps hindering her plans. In this game of tug-of-war, pleasing others and herself, is there room where everyone wins? A novel where “Crazy Rich Asians” meets “Bridget Jones’s Diary”, that you will enjoy!
Goodreads rating: 3.55/5
Goodreads review snippets:
With a hilarious take on single life, and the dating scene as a 30 something successful professional this was romp full of fun. The hilarious scenes will have you laughing out loud, and turning those pages – I found it hard to put down. I really enjoyed Lauren Ho’s writing – it was refreshing, open, very modern and sexy!
Nursebookie
The tagline of “Crazy Rich Asians” meets “Bridget Jones’s Diary” perfectly captures the essence of this book. I picked it up on a whim and I couldn’t put it down.
Teresa
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2. The Soul of Malaya by Henri Fauconnier (fiction, Asian/French literature, historical)
First published in French in 1930, translated to English, this novel describes the author’s experience in Malaya. Travelled to Klang Valley to make his forture and apprenticed himself to a rubber planter, depicting various types of Englishmen running plantations in Malaya, and capturing the beauty and appeal of the land.
Goodreads rating: 3.5/5
Goodreads review snippets:
The novel concerns a pair of French rubber planters, one not unlike Fauconnier himself, and their relationship with the land and the people of Malaya. The story is evocative and a little mysterious, and I especially liked the interaction of the two men with their Malay servants, two brothers from whom the Frenchmen learn much about the human soul.
Mindy McAdams
I thought it was interesting & fresh: instead of from the POV of the British administrators, it was written from a French planter’s POV. I think the translation could’ve been better (Originally published in French then transl. into English). They kept the classic pantuns in Malay. Multiple mentions of the main races in Malaya, along with their traditions & beliefs.
Syahirah
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WHITE BOOKS
3. Lake like a Mirror by Ho Sok Fong (literary fiction, fantasy, Asian literature, magical realism)
Scintillating novel where readers explore the lives of women buffeted by powers beyond their control. Critics described the author as “the most accomplished Malaysian writer, full stop.” The lives of the women in the novel are twisted in disturbing ways as they squeeze in between gaps of rapid urbanisation, patriarchal structures and theocratic government. Ho Sok Fong’s precise and unsettling prose transports readers to a richly atmospheric world of naked sleepwalkers in a rehabilitation centre for wayward Muslims, mysterious wooden boxes, gossip in unlicensed hairdressers, hotels with amnesiac guests, and poetry classes with accidentally charged politics, a world populated by the ghosts of unsaid words, unmanaged desires, and uncertain statuses, surreal and utterly true.
Goodreads rating: 3.35/5
Goodreads review snippets:
All the stories are about women and beyond the limitations already implicit in the previous identities, I felt they were also dealing with themes of control, access to education, social mobility, family expectation, invisibility, and more.
Jenny
There’s an eerie tension at the centre of the short stories in Ho Sok Fong’s collection “Lake Like a Mirror” but it’s not a conventional tension to do with plot. It’s more an uncertainty about how reality might bend around the perspectives of the characters involved. They might be consumed by plants or become amphibious or escape in an air balloon. Some stories slide more into the surreal while others confront harder realities such as women who are institutionalized or teachers who are dismissed for teaching liberal ideas.
Eric Anderson
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4. Growing up in Terengganu by Awang Goneng (nonfiction, memoir, Asian literature)
An interesting memoir, full of memories to savour and ponder for many generations to come. Awang Goneng evokes the pleasures of a kampung childhood in 1950s Trengganu, Malaysia, through a collection of memories retold in glorious colour.
Goodreads rating: 3.88/5
Goodreads review snippets:
I find it interesting since I am too growing up in Terengganu (the right way to spell it), and I have to admit some of his story did remind me of my childhood. I must say that this is an amazing blook, I like to call it, for those who just want to deepen the very root of who you are, and somehow makes me proud being in Trengganu.
Syuhada Jane
Reading it is like reading a book written by a ‘Mat Salleh’ during the colonial day. Very interesting to read. There is always something to enjoy in our everyday life, after all. Only if we take a moment to ponder.
Junnaini Ismun
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BLUE BOOKS
5. The Girl and the Ghost by Hanna Alkaf (horror fiction, mythology, Asian literature)
I am a dark spirit, the ghost announced grandly. I am your inheritance, your grandmother’s legacy. I am yours to command.
Overjoyed rush in her when Suraya’s witch grandmother presents her with a pelesit. She names the ghostly companion, Pink and the two quickly become inseparable. Though Suraya was unaware of the pelesits dark side and when Pink’s shadows threaten to consume them both, Suraya and Pink must find enough light to survive before they are lost to the consumed darkness.
Goodreads rating: 4.16/5
Goodreads review snippets:
Oh my goodness, The Girl and the Ghost is the story I wish I had as a young diaspora Malaysian reader. I love this book with my whole heart and this is easily a new favourite book.
CW The Quiet Pond
ELL. I have never read a story that is so charming and sweet, while also terrifying and heartbreaking all within the same page.
Breana / Milkyboos
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6. Evening is the whole day by Preeta Samarasan (historical fiction, Asian literature, adult fiction)
A spellbinding and internationally acclaimed debut, the novel is set in Malaysia which introduces readers to the prosperous Rajasekharan family, and its closely guarded secrets slowly revealed. Unknown crimes dismissed by a servant girl, the mysterious passing of a grandmother and an older sister departed left oversea has left the six-year-old Aasha shaken and alone to cope with her mostly absent father, bitter mother, and the imperturbable older brother. Preeta Samarasan’s debut is a vital achievement that shows the sprawling, sumptuously lyrical, and masterfully constructed look at relationships between parents and children, brothers and sisters, the wealthy and the poor, a country and its citizens—and the ways in which each sometimes fails the other.
Goodreads rating: 3.63/5
Goodreads review snippets:
Reviving the true art of storytelling, it manages to be gripping, enthralling, and captivating. The novel reveals itself slowly as if we were peeling an onion, uncovering one thin layer after another.
Kinga
Preeta Samarasan has chosen to tell this story against the gradient, from spill and shatter and exhaustion back to hope and harmony and wholeness. The result is totally devastating, which shows me something about my relationship with time; I can tolerate the knowledge of past trauma better than of sad and certain prophecy; I am capable of living for the future.
Zanna
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YELLOW BOOKS
7. We, the survivors by Tash Aw (literary fiction, contemporary, crime)
Devastating, unblinking, poignant, and unforgettable from a murderer’s confession. The novel reveals a story about class, education, and the unavoidable workings of fate. Born in a Malaysian fishing village, Ah Hock is ordinary and uneducated but attempts to make his way in a country that promises riches and security to all, but only to a select few. With Asian society changing around him, he, like many others, remains trapped in a world of low-wage jobs that barely keep his head above water but eventually lead him to murder a Bangladeshi migrant worker.
Goodreads rating: 3.62/5
Goodreads review snippets:
We, the Survivors tells the story of Ah Hock, a Malaysian man recently released from prison where he served time for murdering a Bangladeshi migrant worker. This poignant, quietly moving story is not a mystery or thriller: the identity of the victim and the circumstances of the crime are established early on. Instead, Tash Aw uses this novel to create a bleak and textured portrait of working-class Malaysia.
Rachel
This was a really beautiful narrative. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it surpassed all of my expectations completely. It was delicately written, and I think the style in which it was told complimented the mystery element to it perfectly.
Brittany (whatbritreads)
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8. The jungle is neutral by Freddie Spencer Chapman (Non-fiction, memoir, history)
Thrilling and awe inspiring! In December 1941, Singapore fell to the hands of the Japanese. But the veteran explorer, Captain Freddie Spencer Chapman, as a special forces operative decides to fight back. Trekking deeply behind enemy lines into the jungle, unleashing a one-man commando campaign with such destructive power and lethal ferocity resulting in the deployment of a four-thousand-man regiment to track the captain down. In this novel, is Spencer Chapman’s riveting account of unimaginable hardship and unbreakable will in the face of a ruthless enemy. A story of endurance and survival in an unrivalled war story.
Goodreads rating: 3.99/5
Goodreads review snippets:
This is probably one of the best non-fiction’s I’ve read for a while. Chapman’s narrative is very straightforward and easy to understand. His intent is to communicate, rather than impress, and that is a huge relief (not to mention even more impressive).
Eleanor
It’s a wonder he survived. What with all the bouts of malaria and the dangers it truly is amazing how the author even survived. There was a lot of trust involved and a lot of luck.
Rose Aitken
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