Here’s What I Learned from Completing the #20BooksByAsianWomen Challenge

It’s been just over a year since I happily started a bookstagram account and I’ve loved every minute of it. In that time, I also took part in my first reading challenge outside of my annual Goodreads one: the #20BooksByAsianWomen challenge by @ktlee.writes.

In the past six or so years, I’ve been on a real journey in terms of my identity, acceptance and activism. Of course, not every minority must become an activist, but I’m proud to use my platforms for good, sharing stories in the hope of educating and inspiring others. This reading challenge does a small part of that by further diversifying my bookshelves.

The premise of the challenge is simple: read 20 books authored by Asian women in a year. I read 64 books in 2022, so the challenge made up about a third of my reads. I actually think I read more than 20, but the little Instagram Stories template didn’t permit me to add any more!

I’m taking part in the sister challenge for 2023: #20BooksByAsianAuthors. Asian authors as a category are just as underrepresented and I’d love to read books by any Asian author, no matter their gender identity. I learned so much while undertaking this challenge, and I hope this can inspire some of you to do the same.

It diversified my reading

Although I’ve been a keen reader my entire life, it wasn’t until my mid-twenties – and I’m 31 now! – that I understood what it meant to read diversely. Upon a quick reflection, almost all of the books I’d consumed had been authored by white people. While not solely responsible for it, I’d imagine this contributed to how I’d slowly felt more and more disillusioned by the world around me, slowly realising that the world I lived in was not built for people like me.

Fictional books are just that: fiction. But the stories are a culmination of the author’s experiences – lived or otherwise – and their opinions and outlook. They’re as liminal or expansive as the author and then of the reader’s experience. As such, every single author brings something new to the table. Isn’t that curiously wonderful to think? Once I understood this, I began to actively seek out books by East Asian authors, South Asian authors, Black authors… The list went on. The more I read, the more expansive my knowledge, understanding and curiosity grew.

I feel more connected to my own heritage

Growing up British-born Chinese in England means that I have a diasporic experience of being Chinese. I’ve written about this a number of times, but reading more books by Asian women has certainly helped me on my personal journey. Not least with untangling my identity, but feeling more connected to my heritage as someone that has always lived between two cultures.

Non-fiction reads like East Side Voices and Takeaway helped me to come to terms with my experiences and accept that, although wildly different from those of my white friends, they are all valid too. But beautiful fiction like Jade War and Daughter of the Moon Goddess showed me just how magical Chinese culture and folklore is. I grew up hearing such fables and old wives’ tales and it felt affirming to see these realised as bona fide books.

I learned more about East Asian culture

Another hangover of growing up British-born Chinese in England is that a lot of the education I’ve had about East Asian culture and history has been self-taught. We’re taught a condensed British history curriculum – edited in such a way that I’ve had peers tell me that colonialism didn’t happen and still quiz me on how I’ve ended up in the UK. While reading books by Asian women is a great place to do some learning, it’s certainly only a starting point or touchstone.

The stories are beautiful!

As well as being wonderfully educational and diverse, at the heart of it these stories are beautiful. Like I said, I had a really great year of reading in 2022. From This Place Is Still Beautiful to Shoko’s Smile, and from Simu Liu’s We Were Dreamers to Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi, I read some magnetic, truly moving books.

My 2023 Challenge

This year, like I said, I’m tackling @ktlee.writes’ #20BooksByAsianAuthors challenge. I feel like I’ve hyper-focused on books by East Asian women – in a bid to further my self-evolution – so I’m excited to consciously focus on reading even more diversely across Asia. South Asian and South East Asian authors have been on my radar, but I’d also like to discover Central Asian stories too.


Keep up with my 2023 #20BooksByAsianAuthors challenge at @daisybutterbookcafe.

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