We’re taking you on a journey into Southeast Asia on our next reading adventure. But the title of this post is a trick for Halloween as we’re not focusing in on one country, but three & we’re trying something different too!
We’ve found wonderful countries we’ve wanted to read without huge numbers of books available from these areas in English. So our wonderful moderator, Sue, had a great idea to combine 3 countries into a single month so we’d still have a good choice of books from which to select. In addition, the moderator team has been itching to read some great books from refugees so Sue suggested we also add on another month for this as well which leads us to requesting book suggestions for November & December. Surprise!
So what countries will we be reading?
Our upcoming book club destinations include 3 countries each with their own cultures & languages across different literary landscapes:
The Republic of the Union of Myanmar (aka Myanmar formerly Burma)
The Lao People's Democratic Republic (aka Laos)
The Kingdom of Cambodia (aka Cambodia)
Though these nations border each other with Thailand in between, they are home to distinctly rich histories & vibrant traditions specific to their areas. We want to make sure we explore them in the best way possible—with books!
As a side note: If you’re curious, here are our book lists for the other SE Asian countries we’ve read: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, & Vietnam.
How will this all work for november and december?
November will follow our usual book requirements while December will work very differently.
November suggestions will focus on native books as usual. The books must:
Largely occur in Myanmar, Laos, or Cambodia unless the world/situation described is not specific to a country (e.g., sci fi, fantasy, some poetry, philosophical books, etc.)
Be written by an author born in the country that is being written about who has spent a good portion of their life there
Exist in paperback & ebook available on both Amazon & Kindle at least in the US & hopefully elsewhere
December suggestions will focus on refugees & the diaspora. The books must:
Be written by an author born in Myanmar, Laos, or Cambodia no matter when they left the country
-OR-By their 1st generation children no matter where they were born
Unless the world/situation described is not specific to a country (e.g., sci fi, fantasy, some poetry, philosophical books, etc.), largely occur in the areas the author has lived a good portion of their lives
-OR-
Their country of ethnic origin
-OR-
The areas associated with their diasporaExist in paperback & ebook available on both Amazon & Kindle at least in the US & hopefully elsewhere
This should ensure we’re really focusing in on the diaspora & refugees from these countries. Combined with the November native reads, we’ll get a wonderful 360°-view of these countries!
Confused?
Bottomline: Send in book suggestions you think might work for Myanmar, Laos, or Cambodia, & we’ll figure out whether the books fall into November or December reads.
HAVE ANY BOOK SUGGESTIONS?
Just let us know your suggestions for November by Sat.., Oct. 19 11PM ET. (That’s NYC time. See it converted to your time below.) You can also send your December suggestions now, but you’ll have more time since we’ll continue to accept these suggestions till mid-November.
You can comment with your suggestions below or in our online book club in Facebook.
We'll use your suggestions & suggestions from the book club management team to compile a list of 6 books for November & 6 for December for the club to vote on. The book judged as best will then be read.
Let the book suggestions roll in!