My Asian Era

A curated journey through Asian literature

Thoughtful Reviews. Quiet Stories. Literary Depth.

For the past two years, I’ve been reading, reviewing, and quietly building a curated archive of books by Asian authors, mostly translated fiction, contemporary literature, and underrepresented voices that often get missed by mainstream reading lists.

What started as a personal reading habit has evolved into a full platform: a growing collection of spoiler-free reviews, thematic roundups, and quiet reflections meant to help more readers discover the emotional and cultural depth of Asian literature.

This isn’t a listicle site.
It’s not trend-based.
It’s intentional, built slowly, post by post, with care.

You’ll find:

  • Honest reviews from across Asia: Korean, Japanese, Southeast Asian, South Asian, Chinese, and Asian authors writing from around the world

  • Mini features for short books and chapbooks

  • Book club picks with community conversation prompts

  • Emotional clarity over academic critique

  • A calm space to discover books that linger

This is a living archive, part ongoing project, part reflective journal.
I’m in the process of centralizing older reviews and continuing to explore both contemporary releases and classic titles from across the region.

If you're tired of the same dozen titles getting recycled across book feeds — you're in the right place.

Welcome.

P.S. If you're looking to read along, I host a quiet book club through Fable. It's casual, thoughtful, and open to anyone curious about Asian literature.

Reviews Published 10 Book Reviews Professional Reader

Search Titles, Authors, Keywords, Themes

Maria Johnson Maria Johnson

The Hunger We Pass Down

The title could just as easily have been The Rage We Pass Down. That is what I felt on every page. Rage mixed with grief, with ghosts standing in for the violence that shaped this family. The horror never felt separate from the real — it was historical and horror at the same time.

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Maria Johnson Maria Johnson

The Morgue Keeper

Set in 1966 China, The Morgue Keeper is not a story of rebellion in the traditional sense… it's a story of survival, of sharing cigarettes and kindness when there's nothing left. I finished it wrecked, and grateful to have read it.

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Maria Johnson Maria Johnson

Go

A fast, voice-driven novel about a Korean teen in Japan navigating love, violence, and the harsh politics of identity. Sharp, funny, and deeply personal Go hits hard and leaves a mark

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Maria Johnson Maria Johnson

8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster

8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster is a brutal, layered story about what it means to live through history that tries to erase you — and the impossible choices women have had to make to survive.

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Maria Johnson Maria Johnson

We Do Not Part

A quiet, haunting novel that unfolds in layers — snow, silence, and a history that still trembles underfoot.

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Maria Johnson Maria Johnson

The Woman Dies

What struck me most was how physical the reading experience felt. You don’t just think about these pieces. You feel them.

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Maria Johnson Maria Johnson

The Sound of Waves

He felt himself floating far out at sea, deep down in the silence, alone. He was conscious only of the sea, and of himself in the sea.

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Maria Johnson Maria Johnson

An Orange, A Syllable

An intimate, poetic reflection on motherhood, language, and identity. Gillian Sze captures early parenthood with rare grace and emotional clarity.

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Maria Johnson Maria Johnson

My Asian Era Book Club

A quiet, flexible book club focused on Asian literature — short novels, thoughtful conversations, and spoiler-free discussion at your own pace.

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Maria Johnson Maria Johnson

At the End of the Matinee

A quiet, emotionally layered novel about love, missed connection, and the slow ache of wrong timing. Graceful and unresolved in all the right ways.

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Maria Johnson Maria Johnson

Marigold Mind Laundry

A soft, surreal novella about memory, care, and emotional quiet. Marigold Mind Laundry doesn’t ask you to understand — just to sit with it.

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Maria Johnson Maria Johnson

Violets

A delicate, devastating novel of loneliness and unspoken pain. Read my spoiler-free review of Violets by Kyung-Sook Shin, quiet, poetic, unforgettable.

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Maria Johnson Maria Johnson

The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea

Beautifully written and deeply disturbing, Mishima’s novel is a haunting dive into the fragility of human ideals, the cruelty of innocence, and the darkness that lies beneath admiration.

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Maria Johnson Maria Johnson

b, Book, and Me

Fragmented, strange, and emotionally sharp — b, Book, and Me is a surreal story of teenage isolation, quiet rage, and the fragile survival found in friendship.

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Maria Johnson Maria Johnson

Convalescence

Quiet, strange, and emotionally raw, Convalescence is a sparse but unsettling meditation on isolation and the quiet disappearance of self.

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Maria Johnson Maria Johnson

The Restaurant of Love Regained

A soft, food-filled novel about healing and connection, The Restaurant of Love Regained is a gentle reminder that comfort can be cooked one dish at a time.

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Maria Johnson Maria Johnson

All the Lovers in the Night

A luminous and deeply interior novel about loneliness, invisibility, and the small, slow movements toward connection. All the Lovers in the Night lingers long after the last page.

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Maria Johnson Maria Johnson

Klara and the Sun

Told through the voice of an Artificial Friend, Klara and the Sun is a tender, uncanny look at what it means to love, serve, and quietly disappear. Speculative fiction at its most human.

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Maria Johnson Maria Johnson

Wandering Souls

A moving story of identity, grief, and resilience. Wandering Souls is a tender exploration of postwar displacement and the echoes that follow us across generations.

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