Reading List

Kan Jian (看见)

Jing Chai

Chai Jing’s Insight is a deeply human read that reminded me how powerful honest observation can be—and it pushed me to look at society (and myself) with more empathy and courage.

Wuhan Diary: Dispatches from a Quarantined City

Fang Fang

Wuhan Diary is a quiet yet piercing record of life under lockdown that reminded me how truth, dignity, and small acts of care matter most in a crisis.

法制的细节

Xiang Luo

It made me realize that justice is built through countless small procedures and boundaries—and it pushed me to value due process as much as outcomes.

The Vegetarian (素食者)

Han Kang

It is an unsettling, poetic story that made me reflect on autonomy and silence—and how refusing to conform can become both a rebellion and a tragedy.

Big River, Big Sea — Untold Stories of 1949 (大江大海一九四九)

Ying-tai Lung

Ying-tai Lung reframed history for me as a collection of ordinary lives caught in extraordinary upheaval, leaving me with a deeper empathy for those who carried the cost of that era.

The Three-Body Problem (三体)

Cixin Liu

The Three-Body Problem expanded my imagination about civilization and survival, and it left me thinking that the most terrifying distance in the universe is often the gap in trust between intelligent beings.

The Crescent Moon

Rabindranath Tagore

The Crescent Moon captures a quiet, lyrical longing that made me reflect on how faith, love, and everyday resilience can coexist within uncertainty.

Stray Birds

Rabindranath Tagore

Stray Birds is a collection of tiny, luminous thoughts that reminded me to slow down and notice how the smallest moments can carry the deepest meaning.

Fang Si-Chi's First Love Paradise (房思琪的初恋乐园)

Yi-han Lin

Fang Si-Chi’s First Love Paradise is a devastating read that forced me to confront how power can distort “love,” and it left me with a lasting commitment to listen, believe, and protect.

North Kanto Serial Kidnappings and Murders (足利女童连续失踪事件)

Kiyoshi Shimizu

This is a chilling reminder that a society’s safety depends not only on solving crimes, but on protecting the vulnerable and insisting on truth and accountability.

Counselling for Toads: A Psychological Adventure (蛤蟆先生去看心理医生)

Robert de Board

Counselling for Toads is a warm, accessible introduction to therapy that reminded me healing starts with naming feelings honestly—and that growth often comes from gentle self-understanding rather than self-blame.

The Little Prince

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

The Little Prince reminded me that what truly matters is often invisible at first glance, and it encouraged me to protect curiosity, tenderness, and responsibility in adult life.

A Thousand Splendid Suns (灿烂千阳)

Khaled Hosseini

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a heartbreaking yet hopeful story that deepened my empathy for women’s resilience, and it left me believing that love and solidarity can survive even the harshest injustice.

The Kite Runner (追风筝的人)

Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner made me reflect on how guilt and loyalty shape a life, and it reminded me that redemption begins when we choose to face the past with courage and responsibility.