Since it’s already been a little over 6 months since the year began I thought I might do a recap of where I am in terms of the East and SouthEast Asian Challenge. I am not very pleased with my progress so far but the year is not over yet and I do believe I can catch up.

I have been trying to get my hands on books that are set in as many countries as I can but it’s becoming increasingly difficult. Majority of the books are based in China, Japan or Vietnam and I’m not even remotely interested in books written by foreigners about the Vietnam war. I want something from an insider’s perspective and possibly something that doesn’t entirely revolve around the war.

I do have a few more books in my TBR and the library is always there. I will try and read from the countries that I haven’t read already. Right now I’m reading Goodbye Tsugumi by Banana Yoshimoto.

This is what I’ve managed so far
Thailand- Private Dancer by Stephen Leather (Violet Crush)
Thailand – Only 13
Thailand – The great Elephant Escape
North Korea – Jia by Hyejin Kim (Violet Crush)
Singapore – A Leap of Love by Catherine Lim (Violet Crush)
Indonesia – Sea by Heidi R. Kling (Violet Crush)
China – Dragon Keeper by Carole Wilkinson (Violet Crush)

I have also read a couple of books more which I haven’t reviewed, hopefully I’ll review them soon. I have books on Japan and Burma in my TBR. Hope to read them soon as well.

For those of you who have taken part in the Challenge, please do update the review list as and when you get time. There are already a few reviews linked. Please go here to see the list. If you are interested in the list of books based in each country, go HERE.