Japanese, Chinese, Korean & Other Literature Books

Introducing Little Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith.Celebrating the range and diversity of Penguin Classics,...

In 1940s Stockholm, a young man named Bengt falls into deep, private turmoil with the unexpected death of his mother. As he struggles to cope with her loss, his despair slowly transforms to rage when he discovers that his father had a mistress. Bengt...

Combining a distinct, offbeat literary style with a propulsive premise, Asako Yuzuki is another deeply engaging author to come out of Japan. Centered around food, the distinctive and downright fun voice alone makes this stand apart; add in characters...

Perfect reading for all fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, Tsujimura's whimsical magic realist novel introduces an unlikely medium who can bring the dead back to life for just one night and a quartet of his clients looking for closure and resolution...

Translated from the Japanese bestseller that was adapted into a popular television series, seven struggling customers take up the unique opportunity to adopt a blanket cat . . . but only for three days, the time it’ll take for their lives to...

Verghese’s first novel since 2008’s bestselling Cutting for Stone is a gorgeous and unforgettable epic about a family in South India where at least one member of each generation dies by drowning. Spanning three generations, Covenant of...

Each morning, the Professor and the Housekeeper are introduced to one another. The Professor may not remember what he had for breakfast, but his mind is still alive with elegant mathematical equations from the past. He devises clever maths riddles -...

(Available after 3-20 days) A book that “speak[s] volumes about our need for connection—human, feline or otherwise” (The San Francisco Chronicle), The Travelling Cat Chronicles is a life-affirming anthem to kindness and self-sacrifice that shows how the...

Banana Yoshimoto's novels of young life in Japan have made her an international sensation. Goodbye Tsugumi is an offbeat story of a deep and complicated friendship between two female cousins that ranks among her best work. Maria is the only daughter of...

A marvelous debut from the hugely talented young French writer Claire Baglin, this tender and painful portrait of working-class life finds shards of poetry inside the twin hardships of poverty and service work. Claire Baglin’s On the...

"Utterly charming, particularly so for cat-lovers, who might argue that every bit of magic here is absolutely true." —Booklist (starred review). In this whimsical and inventive debut—perfect for fans of The Guest Cat and Calvino’s...

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year.“Powerful.” —The New Yorker.“Brilliant.” —The Wall Street Journal."Astounding." —NPR.“Forceful, clear and morally engaged.” —The Washington Post...

A riveting selection of short stories in Spanish alongside their English translations This new dual-language edition of ten stories selected from The Penguin Book of Spanish Short Stories celebrates some of the very best twentieth-century literature from...

A groundbreaking voice in contemporary Latin American literature, María Fernanda Ampuero’s writing is “raw and savage” as she confronts machismo, inequity, and violence in this acclaimed short story collection (Vistazo).  An...

The third novel in the international bestselling Before the Coffee Gets Cold series, following four new customers in a cafe where customers can travel back in time.On the hillside of Mount Hakodate in northern Japan, Cafe Donna Donna is fabled for its...

A hugely enjoyable, page-turning murder mystery with one of the best and most-satisfying conclusions you'll ever read: clever enough that you're unlikely to guess it, but simple enough that you'll kick yourself when it's revealed. That's what has made it...

Nobel prize-winning author of Beloved, Toni Morrison's debut novel immerses us in the tragic, torn lives of a poor black family - Pauline, Cholly, Sam and Pecola - in post-Depression 1940s Ohio. Unlovely and unloved, Pecola prays each night for blue eyes...

A New York Times 'Notable Book of 2020' and one of Elena Ferrante's 'Top 40 Books by Female Authors'On a hot summer's day in a poor suburb of Tokyo we meet three women: thirty-year-old Natsuko, her older sister Makiko, and Makiko's teenage...

WINNER OF THE 2022 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE.One of Annie Ernaux's most exciting and idiosyncratic works now in paperback for the first time.In this novel, which takes the form of journal entries made over the course of seven years, Annie Ernaux...

Tara Selter’s epic journey through November 18th continues in Book II of the masterly On the Calculation of Volume from one of Scandinavia’s most beloved writers.   A WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK OF 2024. The first...