Asian Booklist: July 2024
Discover new books by British-Asian authors
Update from Kia
Hello,
A couple of weeks ago, I watched a TikTok video that asked, “How many of us know our parents’ grandparents’ names?” – the answer likely being very few.
The point of the question really screwed with me. If we’ll all be more or less forgotten in three generations’ time, what is the point of trying to leave a mark?
Working hard has always been my default setting. I’ve always wanted to achieve; to strive, to reach, to accomplish. It’s partly why I’ve written five novels even though there are far easier (and certainly more lucrative) ways to spend my time. Knowing that my books will be in the British Library, literally altering space, long after I’m gone feels like a good way to leave a legacy. Other people pursue legacy in different ways: some have children, some become activists to make lasting change, some are doctors or pastors or good samaritans.
But what if the point of life is not to think big (or ‘optimise for your deathbed’ as one of my Silicon Valley friends put it), but to get the most pleasure out of each small day?
This idea is not new of course. Anyone who’s watched Dead Poets Society will have been induced to carpe diem, but to me seize the day has always meant to do the most you can with your day to improve your life in the long term. I’m coming to realise that seizing the day doesn’t mean spending hours writing at my desk (for legacy!) but to go for a walk, breathe fresh air, eat good food with friends, laugh with family, maybe make the day a little better for someone else. We all need to pay our bills, of course, but most people I know work harder than they have to because legacy! What if we just got off the treadmill?
I know this sounds twee, and maybe it’s a sign of a midlife crisis, or maybe it’s just melancholy brought on by my latest round of edits (which happen to coincide with the hottest week of the year 😢), but I’m not embarrassed to be re-evaluating what’s important to me. I don’t think I’ll figure it out any time soon, but I’m working on it.
Until next time.
Kia x
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New books by British-Asian authors
4 July 2024
Unheard: The Medical Practice of Silencing
Have you ever felt unheard by your doctor? Been frustrated that they haven't understood your symptoms, that they have neglected your concerns? When Dr Rageshri Dhairyawan was admitted to hospital as a patient she didn't receive the pain medication that she told them she needed, despite her being a senior doctor. It was in that moment she understood that something was deeply wrong with our healthcare system. Doctors aren't listening. […]
4 July 2024
The Voyage of Sam Singh
In Gita Ralleigh's second magical middle grade adventure set in a parallel colonial India, land-pirate Sam Singh sails to an isle teeming with spirits and secrets on a perilous journey to find the truth. Sam's older brother, Moon, has been missing for three long years. Moon is a skilled thief, but Sam fears Moon's luck has finally run out. It's rumoured he's held in the Octopus, a notorious prison […]
4 July 2024
Dr Chintal’s Kitchen: Quick, easy, healthy meals the whole family will love
Make everyday cooking and eating at home as enjoyable and nourishing as possible, with accessible, affordable and tasty recipes the whole family will love. Specifically developed with challenges such as different tastes and diets, tight budgets and a lack of time in mind, Dr Chintal’s Kitchen takes the guesswork out of meal planning. […]
4 July 2024
Playing Games
The remarkable debut novel from critically acclaimed writer Huma Qureshi: a poignant story of art and sisterhood, family, marriage and betrayal. Hana has a perfect job, a perfect home, a perfect marriage. It is her younger sister Mira who is a mess. But Hana wants children and her husband is hesitating, and perhaps her control is slipping. Mira dreams of a creative life but she's stuck working at a local café. […]
4 July 2024
Overland
It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime: the open road, London to Kathmandu, just three young people looking for adventure. No one could have predicted the way it ended, and for fifty years the truth has been buried. But now, Joyce is ready to tell her story. London, 1970. Fresh out of a dead-end job, Joyce answers an ad in the local paper: Kathmandu by van, leave August. Share petrol and costs. […]
18 July 2024
All The Houses I’ve Ever Lived In: Finding Home in a System that Fails Us
We've all had our share of mould, dodgy landlords and awkward house shares. But Kieran Yates has had more than most: by the age of twenty-five she'd lived in twenty different houses across the country. In her coming-of-age memoir, she charts the heartbreaks and joys of a life spent searching for home. Sparkling with warmth and wit, this is a story of finding beauty in our interiors, friendships in cramped flats, and home even in the most fragile circumstances. […]
18 July 2024
Breathe: Seven Ways to Win a Greener World
Fatalism. Apathy. Cynicism. Deprioritisation. Hostility. Cost. Gridlock. When green campaigners and politicians lose the debate, this is why. Now, the Mayor of London draws on a decade in the corridors (and cycle lanes) of power to explain how, in practice, to win the climate argument. His book will help create a world where we can all breathe again. […]
18 July 2024
The Centre
Welcome to The Centre. You'll never be the same. Anisa Ellahi spends her days writing subtitles for Bollywood films in her London flat, all the while longing to be a translator of ‘great works of literature’. Her boyfriend Adam’s extraordinary aptitude for languages only makes her feel worse, but when Adam learns to speak Urdu practically overnight, Anisa forces him to reveal his secret. […]
18 July 2024
The Revenge of Rita Marsh
Rita Marsh is a good person. By day, she runs a care home, looking after the elderly and infirm. By night, she's a vigilante, posing online as young girls and snaring the men who prey on them, exposing them for what they are. Rita has successfully kept her two lives separate for years. But when an old classmate returns from her past, her two worlds start to collide. […]
Books out last month
6 June 2024
Vengeance: The Khan 2
For two years, Jia Khan has been running her late father’s organised crime business in the north of England. So far, her authority has remained unchallenged, but now things are beginning to unravel. When she finds her father’s notebook recounting his arrival from Pakistan in the 1970s, it awakes an old family feud that could have devastating repercussions for Jia. And worst of all, one of her staff lies brutally slain […]
6 June 2024
Broken Threads: My Family From Empire to Independence
“I witnessed the dwindling glow of the British Empire. I saw small men entrusted with great jobs, playing with the destiny of millions.” The extraordinary story of broadcaster Mishal Husain’s grandparents, whose lives were shaped by the tumultuous politics and prejudices of empire, war and partition. Weaving an ancestral odyssey, Mishal sheds light on the last generation born into the Raj in India, amid substantial societal shifts. […]
6 June 2024
The Big Day
Noor has no interest in getting married (much to the aunties' distress). Growing up she saw first-hand how divorce tears families apart… But then, she falls in love. Soon, Noor's engaged and planning an intimate wedding that feels perfect for her and her fiancé, Dan. But when Noor discovers her mother, Leena, also has grand plans for the Big Day, their once-close relationship starts to unravel. […]
6 June 2024
The Winner Bakes It All
Elodie has big dreams for her little cake shop, so when a perfect bigger unit becomes vacant, she’s excited to finally expand. Except it turns out the space has already been snatched up – and by a fitness-obsessed gym bro who hates carbs and sugar! But when a local influencer offers her the opportunity to bake for a big celebrity wedding, Elodie can’t believe her luck. Until she finds out that her new nemesis has […]
6 June 2024
Northern Boy
Joyful, defiant and dazzling, this is the story of Rafi Aziz, a Northern boy dreaming of his name up in lights. It's 1981 in the suburbs of Blackburn and, as Rafi’s mother reminds him daily, the family moved here from Pakistan to give him the best opportunities. But Rafi longs to follow his own path. Flamboyant, dramatic and musically gifted, he wants to be a Bollywood star. […]
13 June 2024
Motherland: What I’ve Learnt about Parenthood, Race and Identity
What does it mean to be a parent in a space where you are the minority? Meandering through a supermarket highway of camembert and baguettes, Priya Joi heard a heart-stopping confession about her daughter’s identity. Confronted with the fact that maybe her daughter was not entirely at peace with her appearance, she suddenly had to grapple not only with motherhood but also how to talk to her kid about race. […]
13 June 2024
This Is Fine
It might not be the stuff of dreams, but Padma and Wallace have spent ten years building a relationship that feels . . . fine. Until Wallace gives Padma an ultimatum about starting a family she's not sure she even wants. Padma's fifteen-year-old niece Myra is reaching her own crisis point. When she falls in with the wrong crowd and her life ends up in danger, it's the final straw for her parents. […]
13 June 2024
Determination
Jamila Shah is twenty-nine and exhausted. An immigration solicitor tasked with running the precious family law firm, Jamila is prone to being woken in the middle of the night by frantic phone calls from clients on the cusp of deportation. Working under the shadow of the government's 'hostile environment', she constantly prays and hopes that their 'determinations' will result in her clients being allowed to stay. […]
20 June 2024
Baby Does A Runner
Baby Saul has had it with just about everything. She's fed up with her job and her colleagues, her love life is permanently casual, and underpinning everything is the grief of losing her much-loved dad. Oh, and if the aunties don't stop asking her when she's going to settle down and start having babies, she might just lose it. When she finds some love letters between her grandfather and someone who is very clearly not her grandmother, Baby realises that she needs to know more. […]
20 June 2024
The House Sitter
The perfect escape… or the perfect trap? Two Weeks Ago: I woke up in a hotel room next to a dead man, with no memory of the night before. Panicked, I cleared up any trace that I was there and fled. One Week Ago: I was offered the perfect escape: the chance to housesit a gorgeous villa in a remote corner of Italy. Desperate to get away, I jumped at the chance. Now: The owners have unexpectedly shown up at the house. The only problem? They’re the family of the man I woke up next to, two weeks ago. […]
27 June 2024
Muslim Women and Misogyny: Myths and Misunderstandings
Muslim women are among the most fetishised and objectified groups in society today. Much is assumed and imagined about their lives, and it is all too easy to succumb to orientalist myths. For too long, Muslim women have been reduced to two-dimensional stereotypes: empowered heroines rejecting patriarchal religious teachings, or victims of a misogyny believed to run deep within Islam. […]
Editor’s choice
The book I’m most excited about…
We've all had our share of mould, dodgy landlords and awkward house shares. But Kieran Yates has had more than most: by the age of twenty-five she'd lived in twenty different houses across the country.
In her coming-of-age memoir, she charts the heartbreaks and joys of a life spent searching for home. Sparkling with warmth and wit, this is a story of finding beauty in our interiors, friendships in cramped flats, and home even in the most fragile circumstances. All the Houses I’ve Ever Lived In is at once a rallying cry for change and a love letter to home in all its forms.
All the Houses I’ve Ever Lived In was a previous editor’s choice and is now out in paperback. Order it from Amazon, Waterstones or your local independent bookshop.
Visit asianbooklist.com for more upcoming books by British-Asian authors or view all the books out last year.