Year of the Asian Reading Challenge 2019: Sign-Up, Progress Tracker, my tentative TBR (feat. interactive polls + more!)

I love Asian books.

Shockingly, this comes as a surprise to … no one, lmao.

There have been so many great Asian books as of late, and even though I’ve been (in my opinion) really good at keeping up with the Asian books I want to read, there are still quite a few I still want to read.

So when I saw this challenge centering around reading books by Asian authors hosted by Shealea @ Shut Up Shealea, CW @ the Quiet Pond, Lily @ Sprinkles of Dreams and Vicky @ Vicky Who Reads (all of whom are amazing humans who you should all totally follow), I knew I had to participate.

This post is going to serve as three things: my sign-up post, my progress tracker and a tentative list of books I would like to read for this challenge. I was initially going to make this part of my 2019 Reading Challenges page, but I figured since this is a reading challenge near and dear to my heart, that it should get a separate post of its own.

I’m aiming for the Malayan Tapir level, which is reading 21-30 books. Look at that graphic! CW is so talented (also yay for fellow Malaysian bloggers!) I’d love to go higher, but since I’ve read the majority of the Asian books on my radar/TBR, it makes going higher even more ambitious. I was going to aim for the Giant Panda (31-40 books), but I think it’s pretty unrealistic (part of me wanting to aim for that was because of that adorable panda and my love of pandas, ngl.) As I’m writing this, I’m already doubting my ability to achieve this.

This is so cute.

Look at it.

I’m obsessed.

PROGRESS TRACKER

Here is where I will (try) to keep the books read for this challenge (book, author, rating, link to review (?) etc.) updated in list form. Click the little toggle button to see the books, as I want to keep this post to a reasonable size.

I’ll be posting links for reviews that I have for these books as hyperlinks, when applicable.

[To be filled out/filled out throughout the year]

Books Read

1. Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman ★★★☆☆ (4.5)
2. Final Draft by Riley Redgate ★★★☆☆
3. Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman ★★★★☆ (4.5)
4. If The Dress Fits by Carla de Guzman ★★★☆☆ (4.5)
5. Imagine Us Happy by Jennifer Yu ★★★★☆
6. As Kismet Would Have It by Sandhya Menon ★★★☆☆ (3.5)
7. The Gilded Wolves (The Gilded Wolves, #1) by Roshani Chokshi (DNF)
8. A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena ★★★☆☆ (3.75)
9. The Beauty of the Moment by Tanaz Bhathena ★★★★☆
10. Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram ★★★★★
11. The Red Scrolls of Magic (The Eldest Curses, #1) by Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu ★★★★☆ (4.25)
12. A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi ★★★★☆
13. Stronger Than A Bronze Dragon by Mary Fan ★★★☆☆ (3.5)
14. Spin the Dawn (The Blood of Stars, #1) by Elizabeth Lim ★★★★☆ (4.75)
15. Love from A to Z by S.K Ali ★★★★☆ (4.5)
16. There’s Something About Sweetie by Sandhya Menon ★★★★☆ (4.25)
17. Confessions by Kanae Minato ★★★★☆ (3.75)
18. Fake It Til You Break It by Jenn P. Nguyen ★★★☆☆ 
19. Somewhere Only We Know by Maurene Goo ★★★☆☆ 
20. I Love You So Mochi by Sarah Kuhn ★★★☆☆ (3.5)
21. Two Dark Reigns by Kendare Blake ★★★☆☆
22. American Panda by Gloria Chao ★★★★★ (4.75-5)
23. All the Ways Home by Elsie Chapman ★★★★☆
24. Tell Me How You Really Feel by Aminah Mae Safi ★★★★☆ (3.75)
25. The Best Lies by Sarah Lyu ★★★★☆ (4.5)
26. Warcross by Marie Lu ★★★★☆ (4.5)
27. Wildcard by Marie Lu ★★★☆☆ (3.5)
28. Hungry Hearts edited by Elsie Chapman and Caroline Tung Richmond ★★★★★
29. Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune by Roselle Lim ★★★☆☆ (3.5)
30. Legend by Marie Lu ★★★★☆ (4.25)
31. Prodigy by Marie Lu ★★★★☆
32. Life Before Legend by Marie Lu ★★★☆☆
33. Champion by Marie Lu ★★★★☆ (4.5)
34. Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero O’Connell ★★★☆☆
35. Life After Legend by Marie Lu ★★★★☆ (4.5)
36. Girls of Storm and Shadow by Natasha Ngan ★★★★☆ (4.25)
37. Rebel by Marie Lu ★★★☆☆
38. His Hideous Heart edited by Dahlia Adler ★★★★☆ (4.25 – 4.5)
39. Our Wayward Fate by Gloria Chao ★★★☆☆
40. Permanent Record by Mary H.K Choi ★★★★☆

Also! If you’re into Sheets, Kaleena @ Reader Voracious (aka the queen of bookish spreadsheets) as well as Kate @ Your Tita Kate (and a diversity championing queen) have made some great spreadsheets for you to track these challenges!

A TENTATIVE TBR

Even though I’ve been a lot better at keeping to my TBRs lately (I’m doing so great on my January TBR, should I check in with that even though I haven’t posted it?), I’m not so great at keeping up with them in the long term.

And also because I’m in love with the idea of organizing (even though I’m not the best at it, I’m categorizing my TBR into separate sections: firstly, my priority TBR (which are basically anticipated Asian releases (or just books by Asian authors) of 2018 which I didn’t get to, secondly, some amazing 2019 Asian anticipated releases, which I have already talked about in two posts. *screeches in Asian*

Finally, I also have some Asian books that are on my radar, which I will talk about and which you will get to vote on which ones you think I should read/prioritize! The top 3 books will be the books that I will do my best to get read, or perhaps bump up to my priority TBR!

Without further adieu, here is my (tentative) TBR! I’ll be checking off this TBR throughout the year

Books On My Priority TBR

1. Two Dark Reigns by Kendare Blake ✔
2. Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean
3. Smoke in the Sun by Renee Ahdieh

2019 Releases

These are organized in order of publication date, and you can find me screaming about them here.

1. The Red Scrolls of Magic by Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu ✔
2. There’s Something About Sweetie by Sandhya Menon ✔
3. Somewhere Only We Know by Maurene Goo ✔
4. I Love You So Mochi by Sarah Kuhn ✔
5. Hungry Hearts edited by Elise Chapman and Caroline Tung Richmond ✔
6. Fake It Til You Break It by Jenn P. Nguyen ✔
7. Spin the Dawn (Spin the Dawn, #1) by Elizabeth Lim ✔
8. Our Wayward Fate by Gloria Chao
9. All the Ways Home by Elsie Chapman ✔
10. The Beauty of the Moment by Tanaz Bhatena ✔️

On My Radar

These are books that have peaked my interest or I’ve heard good things from other people in the community.

1. Four Weeks, Five People by Jennifer Yu
2. Imagine Us Happy by Jennifer Yu ✔️
3. The Gilded Wolves (The Gilded Wolves, #1) by Roshani Chokshi ✔️
4. Final Draft by Riley Redgate ✔️
5. Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman ✔️
6. Love, Hate and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed
7. Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram ✔️
8. The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1) by R.F Kuang
9. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
10. Love and War (Alex and Eliza, #2) by Melissa de la Cruz
11. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
12. Descendants of the Crane by Joan He
13. A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhatena ✔️
14. Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman ✔️

Be sure to recommend me more Asian (especially if it’s contemporary) novels you think I should add to this list! Obviously, I’m not sure of every Asian book out there, so it’d be great to know more!

Sooo, are you participating in this challenge? (Please say yes). If so, what level are you aiming for? What Asian books are on your TBR and what do you think about the books on my TBR? Do you have any Asian recommendations for me (especially written by Asian authors!)

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