100 Best Malaysia Books of All Time (Updated for 2026)

1

The Garden of Evening Mists

Twan Eng Tan

5.0

It's Malaya, 1949. After studying law at Cambridge and time spent helping to prosecute Japanese war criminals, Yun Ling Teoh, herself the scarred lone survivor of a brutal Japanese wartime camp, seeks solace among the jungle-fringed plantations of Northern Malaya where she grew up as a child. There she discovers Yugiri, the only Japanese garden in Malaya, and its owner and creator, the enigmatic A

2

The Gift of Rain

Tan Twan Eng

4.9

Set in Penang, 1939, this book presents a story of betrayal, barbaric cruelty, steadfast courage and enduring love.

The recipient of extraordinary acclaim from critics and the bookselling community, Tan Twan Eng's debut novel casts a powerful spell. Set during the tumult of World War II, on the lush Malayan island of Penang, The Gift of Rain tells a riveting and poignant tale about a young man caug

3

The Night Tiger

Yangsze Choo

4.9

A sweeping historical novel about a dancehall girl and an orphan boy whose fates entangle over an old Chinese superstition about men who turn into tigers.

When 11-year-old Ren's master dies, he makes one last request of his Chinese houseboy: that Ren find his severed finger, lost years ago in an accident, and reunite it with his body. Ren has 49 days, or else his master's soul will roam the earth,

Recommended by Ann Miurako.

Ann Miurako

@jamescham @yangszechoo Already read it! Fantastic book and highly recommend [source]

4

Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World

Tom Wright, Bradley Hope

4.8

Preview Summary

An epic true-tale of hubris and greed from two Pulitzer-finalist Wall Street Journal reporters, Billion Dollar Whale reveals how a young social climber pulled off one of the biggest financial heists in history--right under the nose of the global financial industry--exposing the shocking secret nexus of elite wealth, banking, Hollywood, and politics.

The dust had yet to settle on the global financi

Recommended by Bill Gates, Alexis Ohanian, Morgan Housel, and 2 others.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

As Bad Blood is to biotech, Billion Dollar Whale is to international finance... a wonderful read... Thrilling. [source]

Alexis Ohanian

Co-founder/Reddit

An incredible story.... If you need some billionaires to despise--look no further than these charlatans. [source]

Morgan Housel

This book on the 1MDB scandal was great, hard to put down. Low sophistication + huge brazenness is a powerful fraud combo. https://t.co/nYpIJffcb5 [source]

5

The Ghost Bride

Yangsze Choo

4.7

"One evening, my father asked me if I would like to become a ghost bride..."

Though ruled by British overlords, the Chinese of colonial Malaya still cling to ancient customs. And in the sleepy port town of Malacca, ghosts and superstitions abound.

Li Lan, the daughter of a genteel but bankrupt family, has few prospects. But fate intervenes when she receives an unusual proposal from the wealthy and p

6

The Weight of Our Sky

Hanna Alkaf

4.7

A music-loving teen with OCD does everything she can to find her way back to her mother during the historic race riots in 1969 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in this heart-pounding literary debut.

Melati Ahmad looks like your typical moviegoing, Beatles-obsessed sixteen-year-old. Unlike most other sixteen-year-olds though, Mel also believes that she harbors a djinn inside her, one who threatens her with h

Recommended by Adibah Noor.

Adibah Noor

finally finished reading this amazing book. my heart was racing from beginning to end. go get your copy now! you need to read this, like now!! especially now!!! https://t.co/yIOmEzxx1U [source]

Cover unavailable

7

The Rice Mother

Rani Manicka

4.7

Nothing in Lakshmi's childhood, running carefree and barefoot on the sun-baked earth amid the coconut and mango trees of Ceylon, could have prepared her for what life was to bring her. At fourteen, she finds herself traded in marriage to a stranger across the ocean in the fascinating land of Malaysia.

Duped into thinking her new husband is wealthy, she instead finds herself struggling to raise a f

8

A Town Like Alice

Nevil Shute

4.6

Nevil Shute's most beloved novel, a tale of love and war, follows its enterprising heroine from the Malayan jungle during World War II to the rugged Australian outback.

Jean Paget, a young Englishwoman living in Malaya, is captured by the invading Japanese and forced on a brutal seven-month death march with dozens of other women and children. A few years after the war, Jean is back in England, the

9

A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder (Inspector Singh Investigates #1)

Shamini Flint

4.6

Meet Inspector Singh: a fat, slightly bumbling, but truly lovable detective sure to charm readers of The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency

Inspector Singh is in a bad mood. He’s been sent from his home in Singapore to Kuala Lumpur to solve a murder that has him stumped. Chelsea Liew—the famous Singaporean model—is on death row for the murder of her ex-husband. She swears she didn’t do it, he thinks s

10

The Woman Who Breathed Two Worlds (Malayan #1)

Selina Siak Chin Yoke

4.5

Facing challenges in an increasingly colonial world, Chye Hoon, a rebellious young girl, must learn to embrace her mixed Malayan-Chinese identity as a Nyonya—and her destiny as a cook, rather than following her first dream of attending school like her brother.

Amidst the smells of chillies and garlic frying, Chye Hoon begins to appreciate the richness of her traditions, eventually marrying Wong Pen

11

The Harmony Silk Factory

Tash Aw

4.5

Joseph Conrad, W. Somerset Maugham, and Anthony Burgess have shaped our perceptions of Malaysia. In Tash Aw, we now have an authentic Malaysian voice that remaps this literary landscape.

The Harmony Silk Factory traces the story of textile merchant Johnny Lim, a Chinese peasant living in British Malaya in the first half of the twentieth century. Johnny's factory is the most impressive structure in

12

Crazy Rich Asians (Crazy Rich Asians, #1)

Kevin Kwan

4.4

When New Yorker Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, she envisions a humble family home and quality time with the man she hopes to marry. But Nick has failed to give his girlfriend a few key details. One, that his childhood home looks like a palace; two, that he grew up riding in more private planes than cars; and three, that he just happens to be

Recommended by Cat Williams-Treloar and Tracy Chou.

Cat Williams-Treloar

A couple of years after moving to Singapore I read Kevin Kwan's first book "Crazy Rich Asians". I've never laughed so much in my life and have been an advocate of the entire series. To this day, whenever someone has a copy in hand at the airport or in our regular store, I tell them how amazing the books area. Kevin is a genius, and his books are full of beautiful cultural insights from across the region. I can't wait for the movie! [source]

Tracy Chou

@nelson @CrazyRichMovie yay i’m so glad you got to enjoy it!! lots of singaporeans do speak hokkien and eleanor does in the movie, i can’t remember if she does in the book [source]

13

Evening Is the Whole Day

Preeta Samarasan

4.4

Set in Malaysia, this spellbinding and already internationally acclaimed debut introduces us to the prosperous Rajasekharan family as its closely guarded secrets are slowly peeled away.

When Chellam, the family’s rubber-plantation-bred servant girl, is dismissed for unnamed crimes, her banishment is the latest in a series of recent, precipitous losses that have shaken six-year-old Aasha’s life. A f

14

The Glass Palace

Amitav Ghosh

4.4

Set in Burma during the British invasion of 1885, this masterly novel by Amitav Ghosh tells the story of Rajkumar, a poor boy lifted on the tides of political and social chaos, who goes on to create an empire in the Burmese teak forest. When soldiers force the royal family out of the Glass Palace and into exile, Rajkumar befriends Dolly, a young woman in the court of the Burmese Queen, whose love

Recommended by Ahmede Hussain.

Ahmede Hussain

What I really liked about this novel is the way it describes an individual’s place in history. It’s not so much that Ghosh makes a judgement on whether we are agents or victims of history, but he explores the different ways in which individuals react to particular incidents, and how some manage to overcome adversity. The Glass Palace follows the life of the last Burmese king and his family. It begins shortly before the king was deposed and sent into exile by the British army. [source]

15

The Long Day Wanes: A Malayan Trilogy

Anthony Burgess

4.4

Set in postwar Malaya at the time when people and governments alike are bemused and dazzled by the turmoil of independence, this three-part novel is rich in hilarious comedy and razor-sharp in observation. The protagonist of the work is Victor Crabbe, a teacher in a multiracial school in a squalid village, who moves upward in position as he and his wife maintain a steady decadent progress backward

16

Spirits Abroad

Zen Cho

4.3

"If you live near the jungle, you will realize that what is real and what is not real is not always clear. In the forest there is not a big gap between the two."

A Datin recalls her romance with an orang bunian. A teenage pontianak struggles to balance homework, bossy aunties, first love, and eating people. An earth spirit gets entangled in protracted negotiations with an annoying landlord, and Cha

17

We, The Survivors

Tash Aw

4.3

A murderer’s confession – devastating, unblinking, poignant, unforgettable – which reveals a story of class, education and the inescapable workings of destiny.

Ah Hock is an ordinary, uneducated man born in a Malaysian fishing village and now trying to make his way in a country that promises riches and security to everyone, but delivers them only to a chosen few. With Asian society changing around

18

In Search of Lost Time (6 Volumes)

Marcel Proust

4.3

For this complete, authoritative English-language edition, D. J. Enright has revised the late Terence Kilmartin's acclaimed reworking of C. K. Scott Moncrieff's translation to take into account the new definitive French editions of 'À la recherche du temps perdu' (the final volume of these new editions was published by the Bibliothèque de la Pléiade in 1989).

Recommended by Alain de Botton, Carlo Rovelli, Mona Simpson, and 2 others.

Alain de Botton

About a search for how you can stop wasting your life and start to appreciate life and live fully. [source]

Carlo Rovelli

Proust’s reflection on the nature of time is deep and spread over his writing. [source]

Mona Simpson

You have a treat in store – and of course there are many more volumes after Swann’s Way! [source]

19

Though I Get Home

YZ Chin

4.3

In these stories, characters navigate fate via deft sleights of hand: a grandfather gambles on the monsoon rains, a consort finds herself a new assignment, and a religious man struggles to keep his demons at bay. Central to the book is Isabella Sin, a small-town girl—and frustrated writer—transformed into a prisoner of conscience in Malaysia’s most notorious detention camp.

20

A Malaysian Journey

Rehman Rashid

4.3

This book was published by Rehman Rashid himself in 1993 after he offered it to three local publishers but their law firms advised them not to take the book. The book actually describes two journeys: a physical one that the writer undertakes on his return home to Malaysia after a long sojourn overseas; and a critical walk through Malaysian's sometimes turbulent post-independence history. This book

21

Mitos Peribumi Malas

Robert Graves and Lucía Grave

4.3

Citra tentang kemalasan golongan peribumi yang digembar-gemburkan oleh para penjajah tidak berasas, malah ternyata tanggapan tersebut dimanfaatkan untuk kepentingan ideologi mereka.

Dalam hal ini, para penulis kolonial melemparkan tuduhan atau hujah ideologi mereka berdasarkan faktor iklim dan lingkungan tropika yang dianggap sebagai punca utama kemalasan golongan peribumi.

Syed Hussein Alatas meny

22

Stranger in the Forest: On Foot Across Borneo

Eric Hansen

4.3

Eric Hansen was the first westerner ever to walk across the island of Borneo. Completely cut off from the outside world for seven months, he traveled nearly 1,500 miles with small bands of nomadic hunters known as Penan. Beneath the rain forest canopy, they trekked through a hauntingly beautiful jungle where snakes and frogs fly, pigs climb trees, giant carnivorous plants eat mice, and mushrooms g

Cover unavailable

23

Old Filth (Old Filth, #1)

Jane Gardam

4.3

Sir Edward Feathers has had a brilliant career, from his early days as a lawyer in Southeast Asia, where he earned the nickname Old Filth (FILTH being an acronym for Failed In London Try Hong Kong) to his final working days as a respected judge at the English bar. Yet through it all he has carried with him the wounds of a difficult and emotionally hollow childhood. Now an eighty-year-old widower l

24

Yasmin How You Know?

Yasmin Mogahed

4.3

"Yasmin How You Know? " is a compilation of Yasmin's apparent ridiculousness but which are actually gem of her wisdom and wit. Contributed by those close to her, you may notice some are written in present tense - because to them, she's still very much alive - just not in a physical sense. the anecdotes here range from her days as a student, her many different phases in life, right up to the day of

25

Sorcerer to the Crown (Sorcerer Royal, #1)

Zen Cho

4.3

Magic and mayhem collide with the British elite in this whimsical and sparkling debut.

At his wit’s end, Zacharias Wythe, freed slave, eminently proficient magician, and Sorcerer Royal of the Unnatural Philosophers—one of the most respected organizations throughout all of Britain—ventures to the border of Fairyland to discover why England’s magical stocks are drying up.

But when his adventure brings

Cover unavailable

26

Lord Jim

Joseph Conrad, Cedric Watts

4.2

Jim, a young British seaman, becomes first mate on the Patna, a ship full of pilgrims travelling to Mecca for the hajj. When the ship starts rapidly taking on water and disaster seems imminent, Jim joins his captain and other crew members in abandoning the ship and its passengers. A few days later, they are picked up by a British ship. However, the Patna and its passengers are later also saved, an

27

Five Star Billionaire

Tash Aw

4.2

An entertaining, expansive, and eye-opening novel that captures the vibrance of China today, by a writer whose previous work has been called “mesmerizing,” “haunting,” “breathtaking,” “mercilessly gripping,” “seductive,” and “luminous.”

Phoebe is a factory girl who has come to Shanghai with the promise of a job - but when she arrives she discovers that the job doesn't exist. Gary is a country boy t

28

The Separation

Dinah Jefferies

4.2

What happens when a mother and her daughters are separated, and who do they become when they believe it might be forever?

Malaya 1955. It’s the eve of the Cartwright family’s departure from Malaya. Eleven-year-old Emma can’t understand why they’re leaving without their mother, or why her taciturn father is refusing to answer her questions.

Returning from a visit to a friend sick with polio, Emma’s

29

Explosions of Joy: A Memoir of the Grief Counselor for Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

Paul Yin, Trina A. Kraus, et al.

4.2

"Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn't really matter." ~D.L. Moody

Explosions of Joy is a memoir about the grief counselor to families of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370. Almost 4 years ago on March 8, those families went to pick up their loved ones and saw “delay” on the arrival boards. Within the hour, they were instructed to gather at a

30

Town Boy

Lat

4.2

Malaysian teenager Mat makes a life-changing move from the quiet kampung where he was born to Ipoh, the rapidly industrializing nearby town. Living far from his rural roots at a boarding school, he discovers bustling streets, modern music, heady literature, budding romance, and through it all his growing passion for art.

The companion novel to the critically acclaimed Kampung Boy, Town Boy offers m

31

The Living Mountain: A Celebration of the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland

Nan Shepherd, Robert Macfarlane

4.2

In this masterpiece of nature writing, Nan Shepherd describes her journeys into the Cairngorm mountains of Scotland. There she encounters a world that can be breathtakingly beautiful at times and shockingly harsh at others. Her intense, poetic prose explores and records the rocks, rivers, creatures and hidden aspects of this remarkable landscape.

Shepherd spent a lifetime in search of the 'essentia

Recommended by Cal Flyn and Robert Macfarlane.

Cal Flyn

This slim work of nature writing, an account of gentle and repeated interaction with those same mountains in all seasons, requires total immersion. [source]

Robert Macfarlane

This book is a geo-philosophical meditation on the Cairngorm landscape in particular, but more generally on how mind and place interpenetrate, as Shepherd puts it. It’s a sensual and, well, erotic text. Shepherd talks about tasting the landscape, and describes walking barefoot, sleeping out. It’s the record of a long-term and full-body immersion in a place. [source]

32

What Your Teacher Didn't Tell You: The Annexe Lectures (Vol. 1)

Farish A. Noor

4.2

Farish A. Noor might just be Malaysia's hippest intellectual. His gifts are on full display in these expanded versions of public lectures that he delivered at The Annexe Gallery, Central Market Kuala Lumpur in 2008 and 2009. Find out how 'racial difference' became such a big deal in Malaysia, and contrast this against the way our distant ancestors lived. Discover the hidden stories of the keris, H

33

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

Charles MacKay

4.2

2009 reprint of the 1852 second edition. Two volumes bound into one. Charles Mackay (1814-1889) was a Scottish poet, journalist, and song writer. He was born in Perth, Scotland. His mother died shortly after his birth and his father was by turns a naval officer and a foot soldier. He was educated at the Caledonian Asylum, London, and at Brussels, but spent much of his early life in France. Coming

Recommended by John Gapper, Jonah Lehrer, and Tom Joseph.

John Gapper

It’s a very patchy book, but it leads off with three classic financial booms and busts – tulip mania in Holland, the Mississippi scheme in 18th century France, and the South Sea Bubble. MacKay was a journalist with a fine tabloid style, and he writes it all up very entertainingly. He gets the eyewitness quotes and he finds the human foibles. [source]

Jonah Lehrer

A wonderful eclectic history of mass human irrationality, and a great history of financial bubbles. [source]

Tom Joseph

"Do you know who I am"- Trump cries a/b his status, Iran & Obama are panic b4 his bubble pops Mania's will end in panic as noted in a favorite book: Extraordinary Popular Delusions & the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay. Not a plug-written in 1841 Trumpmania is now Trumpanic https://t.co/WnVGJ8Hung [source]

Cover unavailable

34

Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey

V. S. Naipaul

4.2

Naipaul's controversial account of his travels through the Islamic world was hailed by The New Republic as "the most notable work on contemporary Islam to have appeared in a very long time."

35

Sweet Offerings

Chan Ling Yap

4.2

Set in the late 1930s and 1960s, this title tells a tale of Mei Yin, a young Chinese girl from an impoverished family. It is not just a fictional story of the events that ripped one family apart, but a taste of Malaysia's historical political and cultural changes during its transition from colonial rule to independence and beyond.

36

The Malay Archipelago

Alfred Russel Wallace

4.2

A work of astounding scope and originality that provides some of the first evidence of the modern theory of evolution. Wallace, a contemporary of Charles Darwin, spent nearly a decade cataloging the plant and animal species which inhabited the unique geographical area of the Malay Archipelago, and remains to this day one of the most extensive works of natural history ever written.

37

Bekwoh: Stories & Recipes from Peninsula Malaysia's East Coast

Bryan Koh

4.2

From the award-winning author of Milk Pigs & Violet Gold and 0451 Mornings are for Mont Hin Gar comes another sumptuous adventure. In his third book, Bryan turns his attention to the food of the Malaysian Peninsula's east coast, comprising the states of Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang. Researched and written over the span of two years, Bekwoh is a journey, from the fishing villages of Terengganu w

38

A Fortune-Teller Told Me: Earthbound Travels in the Far East

Tiziano Terzani

4.2

"An utterly charming and engaging travel book that offers vivid portraits of unusual corners of Asia, told by a skilled raconteur whose eyes were open wide." --Los Angeles Times Book Review

Warned by a Hong Kong fortune-teller not to risk flying for an entire year, Tiziano Terzani--a vastly experienced Asia correspondent--took what he called "the first step into an unknown world. . . . It turned ou

39

Floating on a Malayan Breeze: Travels in Malaysia and Singapore

Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh

4.2

What happens after a country splits apart? Forty-five years ago Singapore separated from Malaysia. Since then, the two countries have developed along their own paths. Malaysia has given preference to the majority Malay Muslims -- the bumiputera, or sons of the soil. Singapore, meanwhile, has tried to build a meritocracy -- ostensibly colour-blind, yet more encouraging perhaps to some Singaporeans

40

The Railway Man

Eric Lomax

4.2

During the second world war Eric Lomax was forced to work on the notorious Burma-Siam Railway and was tortured by the Japanese for making a crude radio.

Left emotionally scarred and unable to form normal relationships Lomax suffered for years until, with the help of his wife Patti and the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, he came to terms with what had happened and, fifty years

41

Do Sharks Bark? (A Lift-the-Flap Book)

Salina Yoon

4.2

42

Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times

B. Wain

4.2

Mahathir Mohamad turned Malaysia into one of the developing worlds most successful economies. He adopted pragmatic economic policies alongside repressive political measures and showed that Islam was compatible with representative government and modernization. He emerged as a Third World champion and Islamic spokesman by standing up to the West.

43

Mommy Sayang

Rosana Sullivan

4.2

In a Malaysian kampung, or village, lives little Aleeya and her dear Mommy sayang. Aleeya and Mommy do everything together, and in Aleeya's dreams, they dance among enormous hibiscus flowers. Aleeya loves to ask Mommy if she will always be by her side. Mommy assures her that she will, Insh'Allah. But one day, Mommy becomes sick. Alone, Aleeya waits for her return, and it's in this moment that Alee

44

When the Future Comes Too Soon (Malayan #2)

Selina Siak Chin Yok

4.2

In Japanese-occupied Malaya, lives are shattered and a woman discovers her inner strength in a world ravaged by war.

Following the death of their matriarch, the lives of Chye Hoon’s family turned upside down. Now that the British have fled and the Japanese have conquered, their once-benign world changes overnight.

Amid the turmoil, Chye Hoon’s daughter-in-law, Mei Foong, must fend for her family as

45

Lake Like a Mirror

Sok Fong Ho

4.2

A portrait of Malaysian society in nine stories, by an author described by critics as 'the most accomplished Malaysian writer, full stop'. Lake Like a Mirror is a scintillating exploration of the lives of women buffeted by powers beyond their control. Squeezing themselves between the gaps of rabid urbanisation, patriarchal structures and a theocratic government, these women find their lives twiste

46

Victorious Wives: The Disguised Heroine in Nineteenth-Century Malay Syair

Mulaika Hijjas

4.1

In Victorious Wives, Mulaika Hijjas uses tools drawn from literary criticism and gender studies to look at a previously neglected corpus of Malay literature in a new light. The relatively equal gender relations in Southeast Asia have long been presented as a defining characteristic of the region, but there are few detailed case studies of pre-modern women or women's literature to illustrate this p

47

How We Disappeared

Jing-Jing Lee

4.1

Singapore, 1942. As Japanese troops sweep down Malaysia and into Singapore, a village is ransacked, leaving only two survivors and one tiny child.

In a neighboring village, seventeen-year-old Wang Di is strapped into the back of a troop carrier and shipped off to a Japanese military brothel where she is forced into sexual slavery as a "comfort woman." After sixty years of silence, what she saw and

Recommended by Sharlene Teo.

Sharlene Teo

How We Disappeared is a historical novel about the Japanese occupation of Singapore. It’s a sweeping epic and tells the tragic story of a young girl who gets taken as a comfort woman. This is an essential read. It’s a wonderful introduction to Singaporean literature and where Singaporean literature is headed. It’s incredibly beautifully written and very understated. [source]

48

Rich People Problems (Crazy Rich Asians, #3)

Kevin Kwan

4.1

Kevin Kwan, bestselling author of Crazy Rich Asians and China Rich Girlfriend, is back with an uproarious new novel featuring a family driven by fortune, an ex-wife driven psychotic with jealousy, a battle royal fought through couture-gown sabotage, and the heir to one of Asia's greatest fortunes locked out of his inheritance.

When Nicholas Young hears that his grandmother, Su Yi, is on her deathbe

49

Lonely Planet The World: A Traveller's Guide to the Planet

Lonely Planet

4.1

Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher

Every country in the world, in one guidebook: Lonely Planet's The World. A Traveller's Guide to the Planet.

We've taken the highlights from the world's best guidebooks and put them together into one 900+ page whopper to create the ultimate guide to Earth. This user-friendly A-Z gives a flavour of each country in the world, including a map, tr

50

Lonely Planet Malay Phrasebook & Dictionary

Lonely Planet

4.1

Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher

With Lonely Planet's Malay Phrasebook, let no barriers - language or culture - get in your way. Grab this phrasebook and try Malaysia's amazing street food, soak up sun and sand at Palau Langkawi or Palau Tioman, or trek to the summit of Mt Kinabalu, Malaysia's tallest peak. Our phrasebooks give you a comprehensive mix of practical and socia

51

Phillipps' Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo: Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, and Kalimantan - Fully Revised Third Edition

Quentin Phillipps

4.1

This is the fully revised and updated third edition of an acclaimed field guide to the birds of Borneo, covering Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, and Kalimantan. The result is the most up-to-date, comprehensive, and user-friendly guide to the island's remarkably diverse birdlife. The book covers all 673 species living or reported on Borneo, including all 59 endemic species. Each species is superbly illustr

52

Survivor on the River Kwai: The Incredible Story of Life on the Burma Railway

Reg Twig

4.1

Survivor on the River Kwai is the heartbreaking story of one of the last survivors of the Burma Railway. February 1942. A young British soldier is caught up in the worst defeat in the history of the British Army, the fall of Singapore. Reg Twigg spends the next three years in hell, moving from jungle camp to jungle camp and building the Burma Railway for the all-conquering Japanese. Beaten, tortur

53

State of Emergency

Marc Camero

4.1

Winner of the 2018 Singapore Literature Prize for Fiction
Finalist for the 2016 Epigram Books Fiction Prize

Siew Li leaves her husband and children in Tiong Bahru to fight for freedom in the jungles of Malaya. Years later, a Malaysian journalist returns to her homeland to uncover the truth of a massacre committed during the Emergency. And in Singapore, Siew Li's niece Stella finds herself accused of

54

The War of the Running Dogs: How Malaya Defeated the Communist Guerrillas 1948-1960

Noel Barber

4.1

Only three short years after the end of the Japanese occupation, war came again to Malaya. The Chinese-backed guerrillas called it the War of the Running Dogs—their contemptuous term for those in Malaya who remained loyal to the British. The British Government referred to this bloody and costly struggle as the "Malayan Emergency." Yet it was a war that lasted 12 years and cost thousands of lives.

55

The World: A Traveller's Guide to the Planet (Lonely Planet)

Lonely Planet

4.1

Every country in the world, in one guidebook: Lonely Planet delivers the first guide to The World.

We've taken the highlights from the world's best guidebooks and put them together into one 960-page whopper to create the ultimate guide to Earth. This user-friendly A-Z gives a flavour of each country in the world, including a map, travel highlights, info on where to go and how to get around, as wel

56

Mat Som

Lat

4.1

57

Le tigri di Mompracem

Emilio Salgari

4.1

Sandokan, principe di un sultanato del Borneo, spodestato dal trono dagli inglesi che gli hanno sterminato la famiglia, è la temuta Tigre della Malesia, capo dei feroci pirati le cui scorrerie insanguinano i mari. Il suo rifugio è una piccola isola, Mompracem, un luogo inespugnabile dove vive circondato dai suoi fedeli Tigrotti, "uomini coraggiosi fino alla pazzia". Affiancato dall'amico Yanez - l

58

Land Below the Wind

Agnes Newton Keith

4.1

This book was written during an era when Sabah was known as North Borneo, and when life was very much different from today's. Reprinted many times, this classic, of Agnes Keith's observations and reflections of the time, is a true-to-life record of society and culture then and of the captivating natural beauty of Sabah. Today, Sabah continues to be known as the "land below the wind", a phrase used

59

Carpe Diem

Autumn Cornwell

4.1

“I’ve got my entire life planned out for the next ten years — including my PhD and Pulitzer Prize,” claims 16-year-old overachiever Vassar Spore, daughter of overachiever parents, who in true overachiever fashion named her after an elite women’s college. Vassar expects her sophomore summer to include AP and AAP (Advanced Advanced Placement) classes. Surprise! Enter a world-traveling relative who s

60

Becoming Hannah: A Personal Journey

Hannah Yeoh

4.1

Outlined here is clarity, simplicity, commitment and sacrifice of an exemplary Malaysian, a Christian who seeks to fight with her deep faith, impeccable character and profound courage to secure, by God’s strength and with much prayer, a better future for all Malaysians. There is great hope for Malaysia if many more Hannahs could be replicated in politics.

Dr. Daniel Ho
Senior Pastor, DUMC, Petaling

61

The Terracotta Bride

Zen Ch

4.1

A tale of first love, bad theology and robot reincarnation in the Chinese afterlife.

In the tenth court of hell, spirits wealthy enough to bribe the bureaucrats of the underworld can avoid both the torments of hell and the irreversible change of reincarnation.

It's a comfortable undeath … even for Siew Tsin. She didn't choose to be married to the richest man in hell, but she's reconciled. Until her

62

The Casuarina Tree

W.Somerset Maugham

4.1

1926. Maugham, English novelist, short-story writer, and playwright is best remembered for his novel Of Human Bondage. The Casuarina Tree contains six stories by Maugham including: Before the Party; P. and O.; The Outstation; The Force of Circumstance; The Yellow Streak; and The Letter.

63

The White Pearl

Kate Furnivall

4.1

National bestselling author of The Russian Concubine, Kate Furnivall spins a tale of war, desperation, and the discovery of love off the coast of Malaya. Malaya, 1941. Connie Thornton plays her role as a dutiful wife and mother without complaint. She is among the fortunate after all-the British rubber plantation owners reaping the benefits of the colonial life. But Connie feels as though she is o

64

The Colour of Inequality: Ethnicity, Class, Income and Wealth in Malaysia

Muhammed Abdul Khalid

4.1

This book provides an alternative insight to the debate on inequality in Malaysia, by focusing on the distribution of wealth or assets, rather than income. Despite tremendous increase in national income, the wealth gap in Malaysia is alarmingly high and extremely skewed. For instance, the top 0.2 per cent of depositors in Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) has about 1,133 times more than the bottom 80

65

Far Eastern Tales

W Somerset Maugham

4.1

Short stories, all born of Maugham's experiences in Malaya, Singapore and other outposts of the former British Empire. Whether portraying a ship-borne flight from a lover's curse, murder in the jungle or the remembered East of a repatriate's suburban home, they reveal Maugham as a shrewd and human judge of character and soul.

Footprints in the Jungle
Mabel
P. & O.
The Door of Opportunity
The Buried Tal

66

The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story of the 1MDB Exposé

Clare Rewcastle Brow

4.1

The Sarawak Report is the stranger-than-fiction tale of how one woman uncovered the world’s biggest theft which, in 2018, brought down the Malaysian government.

Investigating the deforestation of Sarawak, Borneo, and the dispossession of its people, journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown followed a trail of corruption that led her to the heart of Malaysian politics and to Prime Minister Najib Razak himse

67

The Singapore Story: Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew

Kuan Yew Lee, Lee Kuan-Yeu, Lee Kuan Yew

4.1

Visionary? Authoritarian? Model for the West? Lee Kuan Yew, the long-time leader of Singapore, has been called all these things, and more. In these vivid memoirs, Lee takes a profoundly personal look back at the events that led to Singapore's independence and shaped its struggle for success. And, as always, he lets the chips fall where they may.In intimate detail, Lee recounts Singapore's unforget

68

The True Queen (Sorcerer Royal, #2)

Zen Cho

4.1

In the follow-up to the "delightful" Regency fantasy novel (NPR.org) Sorcerer to the Crown, a young woman with no memories of her past finds herself embroiled in dangerous politics in England and the land of the fae.

When sisters Muna and Sakti wake up on the peaceful beach of the island of Janda Baik, they can't remember anything, except that they are bound as only sisters can be. They have been

69

Into the Heart of Borneo

Redmond O'Hanlon

4.1

The story of a 1983 journey to the center of Borneo, which no expedition had attempted since 1926. O'Hanlon, accompanied by friend and poet James Fenton and three native guides brings wit and humor to a dangerous journey.

70

Kuala Lumpur Sketchbook

Chen Voon Fee

4.1

In Kuala Lumpur, one of the most modern cities in Asia, it is easy to overlook the blend of Malay, Chinese and Indian cultures and the corresponding traditional and colonial architectural treasures. However, with artist Chin Kon Yit and architect Chen Voon Fee as guides, this book reminds citizens of the riches that remain, helps visitors to appreciate the city's unique character and serves as a p

71

Yasmin Ahmad's Films

Amir Muhammad

4.1

Yasmin Ahmad left a vibrant legacy, and it is still strange to talk about her in the past tense. In order to deal with his grief, Amir Muhammad, fellow Malaysian filmmaker and friend, watched anew her six feature-length films (RABUN, SEPET, GUBRA, MUKHSIN, MUALLAF and TALENTIME), as well as several of her most popular commercials. Neither an obituary nor a conventional work of film criticism, this

72

Simply Malaysian Cookbook: Easy yet Delicious Classics from Malaysia

Stephanie Sharp

4.1

73

My Life as a Fake

Peter Carey

4.1

Using as a springboard a real literary hoax that transfixed Australia in his boyhood, Peter Carey wickedly and ruefully explores how a phantom poet taunts, haunts and otherwise destroys his maker, pursuing him from Melbourne to a seedy, sweaty, bitter ending in the tropical chaos of Kuala Lumpur.

74

Devil's Place

Brian Gomez

4.0

Ning Somprasong gave up working the streets of Thailand for the more tolerable hotel rooms of Kuala Lumpur. She thinks that if she can send enough money back home, her daughter can avoid making the same choices she had to make.

75

Finding Myself in Borneo: Sojourns in Sabah

Neill McKee

4.0

An honest and buoyant chronicle of a young Canadian man’s adventures during 1968 –70, while teaching secondary school as a CUSO volunteer in Sabah, Malaysia (North Borneo). Neill McKee learns the craft of teaching, the Malay language and local customs, and gains many friends in his small community. He climbs the highest peak in Southeast Asia—Mount Kinabalu, has a love affair, and navigates Borneo

76

Among the White Moon Faces: An Asian-American Memoir of Homelands

Shirley Geok-lin Lim

4.0

Shirley Geok-lin Lim’s memoir is a courageously frank and deeply affecting account of a Malaysian girlhood and of the making of an Asian-American woman, writer, and teacher. With insight, candor, and grace, Lim reveals the material poverty and violence of her childhood in colonized and then war-torn Malaysia after her father’s business fails and her mother abandons the family, leaving Shirley to t

77

Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam

John A. Nagl, Peter J. Schoomaker

4.0

Invariably, armies are accused of preparing to fight the previous war. In Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife, Lieutenant Colonel John A. Nagl—a veteran of both Operation Desert Storm and the current conflict in Iraq—considers the now-crucial question of how armies adapt to changing circumstances during the course of conflicts for which they are initially unprepared. Through the use of archival sour

78

The Malaysian Islamic Party 1951-2013: Islamism in a Mottled Nation

Farish A. Noor

4.0

The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) is the biggest opposition party in Malaysia and one of the most prominent Islamist parties in Southeast Asia. Tracing its development from 1951 to the present, this ambitious study explains how PAS acquired both local and international relevance.

Farish A. Noor charts the party’s rise alongside the different ideological postures—from anticolonialism to postrev

79

Lonely Planet Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei

Lonely Planet, Simon Richmond, et al.

4.0

Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher

Lonely Planet Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Admire Kuala Lumpur from the glittering Petronas Towers, climb the Telaga Tujuh waterfalls in Langkawi, or glide through the water village of Kampung Ayer -all with your trusted

80

No More Bullshit, Please, We're All Malaysians

Thuan Chye Kee

4.0

Straight talk on Malaysian politics is what you get in this book. No mincing of words, no waffling. Direct and to-the-point. In other words, no bullshit. Writer Kee Thuan Chye is noted for his candid and honest commentaries on Malaysian politics; in these pages are his incisive interpretations of what is going wrong in Malaysia and suggestions of what needs to be done to correct the ills.

81

Ripples and Other Stories

Shih-Li Kow

4.0

Shih-Li just keeps getting better and better. In her first full book of short stories (which, incidentally has been nominated for the Commonwealth Writer's Prize in the First Book category), Shih Li's delicate touch and turn of phrase continues. She says she loves writing and obviously means it. She will not let any excuse get in the way of her passion. She holds a full time job working six days a

82

A Flutter in the Colony

Sandeep Ray

4.0

In 1956, the Senguptas travel from Calcutta to rural Malaya to start afresh. In their new hamlet of anonymity, the couple gradually forget past troubles and form new ties. But this second home is not entirely free and gentle. A complex, racially charged society, it is on the brink of independence even as communist insurgents hover on the periphery. How much should a newcomer meddle before it start

83

Ghost Train to the Eastern Star

Paul Therou

4.0

National Bestseller

In Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, Theroux recreates an epic journey he took thirty years ago, a giant loop by train (mostly) through Eastern Europe, Turkey, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, China, Japan, and Siberia. In short, he traverses all of Asia top to bottom, and end to end. In the three decades since he first travelled this route, Asia has undergone

84

Creatures of Near Kingdoms

Kira Jane Buxto

4.0

Zedeck Siew's feverishly imaginative prose intertwines with Sharon Chin's stunning lino prints and pattern designs.

Sometimes fantastical fancy, at other times of nightmarish quality, the book catalogues the flora and fauna in and around Malaysia. From worms that live in your digital devices, to ants and crows that explode - these 75 creatures surely do not exist, but they should. Because they expl

85

Historical Fact And Fiction

Jeffery D. Long

4.0

In this book the author gives a penetrating insight into the ways of spurious thinking and analytical reasoning among historians of the Malay Archipelago in their explanation and interpretation of historical events pertaining to the coming and spread of Islam in the Archipelago. He exposes errors and fallacies in their chronological framework and educated conjectures, their tainted assumptions on

Cover unavailable

86

Some Aspects of Sufism as Understood and Practised Among the Malays

Muhammad Naguib Al-Attas

4.0

87

A Doctor in the House: The Memoirs of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad

4.0

In his twenty-two years as Prime Minister of Malaysia Dr Mahathir Mohamad transformed his country from an agricultural backwater into an industrial powerhouse that would become the seventeenth-largest trading nation in the world.

This remarkable achievement was not without controversy, and Dr Mahathir’s extraordinary vision and iron grip earned him both enemies as well as ardent admirers within and

88

Prince of Pirates: The Temenggongs and the Development of Johor and Singapore, 1784-1885 (2nd Edition)

Carl A. Trocki

4.0

No country's history is so well documented yet so poorly understood as that of a former colony. Singapore and Malaysia are particular victims of this historical paradox, and Carl Trocki's account of the history of Johor and Singapore marks a decided advance in Malaysian scholarship. A study of the Temenggongs of Johor, Prince of Pirates offers an original and highly provocative reinterpretation of

89

Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance

James C. Scott

4.0

This sensitive picture of the constant and circumspect struggle waged by peasants materially and ideologically against their oppressors shows that techniques of evasion and resistance may represent the most significant and effective means of class struggle in the long run.

"A major contribution to peasant studies, Malaysian studies, and the literature on revolutions and class consciousness."
--Bened

90

Spirits of Resistance and Capitalist Discipline: Factory Women in Malaysia

Aihwa Ong and Carla Freeman

4.0

91

The Jungle Is Neutral (Classics of World War II: The Secret War)

F. Spencer Chapman, Field Marshal Earl Wavell

4.0

92

Asia's Cauldron: The South China Sea and the End of a Stable Pacific

Robert D. Kaplan

4.0

Robert D. Kaplan offers up a vivid snapshot of the nations surrounding the South China Sea, the conflicts brewing in the region at the dawn of the twenty-first century, and their implications for global peace and stability.

93

DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Malaysia & Singapore

DK Eyewitness

4.0

DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Malaysia and Singapore is your in-depth guide to the very best of this region.

Whether you want to discover the best places to spot colorful fish and jungle-dwelling animals like orangutans, or are looking to sample the incredible food in the ultra-modern metropolises of Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, this region offers an astounding range of experiences.

Discover DK Eyew

94

... And The Rain My Drink

Suyin Han

4.0

It is 1948 and the British in Malaya are struggling to put down a Communist uprising and deal with rising nationalism in the colony. Chinese girl Suyin falls in love with a British police officer and is able to see both sides of the war but she sympathizes more with the Communist guerrillas and is critical of the British colonials. A much-loved classic and an important work in the canon of Singapo

95

Three Came Home

Agnes Keith

4.0

"Three Came Home" tells of the author's time in Japanese POW and civilian internee camps in North Borneo and Sarawak, and was made into a film of the same name in 1950. It describes Keith's life in North Borneo in the period immediately before the Japanese invasion in 1942, and her subsequent internment and suffering, separated from her husband Harry, and with a young son to care for. Keith was in

96

KL NOIR: RED

Various and Amir Muhammad

4.0

KL NOIR: Red is the first of 4 volumes about the Malaysian capital city's dark side. There are 14 short stories and one essay about the seedy, the sinister and sometimes the spooky. You will find murder, drug-dealing, kidnapping, sexual depravity, prostitution, celebrity secrets, suicides, academic rivalry, gangsters, police brutality, cannibalism, black magic, creepy rituals, political corruption

97

Penang in 12 Dishes: How to Eat Like You Live There

Red Pork Press

4.0

With its mash-up of Indian, Malaysian, and Hokkien Chinese influences and flavors, few places on this planet can boast such a concentration of delicious, authentic, affordable fare as Penang. Dim sum. Tiffin. Banana leaf curry. Laksa and nasi lemak. Seafood, biryani, noodle dishes, tandoori, stir fries, hot pots, barbecued meats, icy desserts, cakes, tropical fruits, and we haven't even started on

98

Traditionalism and the Ascendancy of the Malay Ruling Class in Colonial Malaya

Donna J Amoros

4.0

In this original and perceptive study Donna J. Amoroso argues that the Malay elites' preeminent position after the Second World War had much to do with how British colonialism reshaped old idioms and rituals - helping to (re)invent a tradition. In doing so she illuminates the ways that traditionalism reordered the Malay political world, the nature of the state and the political economy of leadersh

99

The Concubine's Child

Carol Jones

4.0

In 1930s Malaysia, sixteen-year-old Yu Lan is in love with her best friend, Ming, whose father owns one of the busiest kopi shops in Petaling Street. But Ming's family don't see the apothecary's daughter as a suitable wife – for Yu Lan's father, Lim, spends more time playing mahjong than selling herbal remedies. It's not long before Lim makes a terrible decision that will change Yu Lan's life fore

100

Kuala Terengganu in 7 Days

Mimi Mashud

4.0

Mimi Mashud is a freelance illustrator. Kuala Terengganu in 7 Days is her second travelogue-comic.