Singapore Stories
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Whether written by a Singaporean or set in Singapore, add these books to your TBR for a hearty slice of home, truly.
Ning has always heard tales of the night spirits that used to terrorize the little village where he lives. So, each night, he helps his parents light bright orange lanterns to frighten them away. Secretly, he wonders if they’re really as bad as everyone says—but is much too shy to ask anyone. But when Ning finds himself in the forest by night, he meets a creature who introduces him to the spirits’ secret world and he discovers that all is not as it seems… A beautiful and magical story about confronting fears, confidence and a little boy who finds his voice.
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Meet Alexis. Her Grandpa’s memories have been shattered. The only cure? Memory Glue. To brew it, she’ll just need a few ingredients: like, nose hair from a baku (dream-eater), sweat from a duyung (sea siren) and… OK. Maybe some of the stuff can be tricky to find in local supermarkets. To obtain them Alexis must journey to an enchanted land called Mist, where the fabled creatures from Grandpa’s folktales are alive in the flesh. Oh, and the items must be gathered by Spring, else Grandpa’s memories will be gone for good. At least she’ll have company: the nasty kenit (forest imp) and her stern Grandma who harbours a secret that will change Alexis’ life forever… Piece of cake, right?
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When the prophesied hero unexpectedly dies on the eve of the quest to save the world from a series of natural disasters, thirteen-year-old Julian Kee is chosen as a last-minute replacement. Together with his best friends, Mia Pendrago and Ryan Chowdhury, he must journey into a parallel world underneath the earth's crust (known as the Underworld) and retrieve a magical rock that can save their world. A fast-paced adventure filled with lots of exciting twists and turns, this hilarious spoof of adventure/hero stories will be enjoyed by both the young and the not-so-young!
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Prophecy of the Underworld #02: The Library of No Return
The Library of No Return brings back Julian Kee, Mia Pendrago and Ryan Chowdhury in yet another hilarious and adventure-filled jaunt to the Underworld! This instalment continues the series’ witty banter on fantasy and adventure tropes while being a delightful spoof on bookish habits and all things writerly!
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Legend has it that a magical spring lies dormant in the heart of the Khuzar desert. Said to be a gift from the gods, the spring holds the cure to all mortal woes. As mercenaries from everywhere try in vain to find the mystical spring, 17-year-old Desert Rose is on the run after her chieftain father is overthrown and captured by rebel clans. Now out for revenge, she sets out to the Oasis Capital to assassinate the person instigating the rebellion: the corrupt Emperor Zhao, who will stop at nothing to possess the elixir of life from the spring. But the real test lies in navigating the cut throat court politics with no ally but a rogue prince and a latent magic stirring in her.
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Featuring a careful curation of unconventional yet universal life stories from a diverse and incredible cast of characters, The Visible Invisibles: Stories of Migrant Workers in Asia offers a very uniquely human connection to the undocumented lives of migrant workers across Asia, presenting stories of adventure, love, hope, loss, guilt and redemption, and written by an inter-racial migrant couple coming from India and China who have played a foundational role in giving voices to migrant workers across Asia and Africa through acclaimed platforms such as Migrant Poetry Competitions and the Global Migrant Festival.
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Chickpeas to Cook and Other Stories
Chickpeas to Cook is the story of the woman of the tribe, women from some of the smallest of communities, often no more than a few hundred families in Singapore. How do these women live, think, even breathe? What does the Dawoodi Bohra woman answer, for instance, when she’s asked if her daughter will don the ridah after marriage? When does the Sikh woman decide it’s time to come out of her brother’s shadow and live for herself? It’s about ordinary women living ordinary lives, taking ordinary decisions, made extraordinary only by the love, empathy and fortitude they invest into it.
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Learn to live with intention and tap into your inner power with this mind-opening full-color guide to vibrational-based living from the Instagram star and self-help pioneer behind internet community Vibrate Higher Daily. Vibrate Higher Daily encourages readers to engage with the things that feed their soul and raise their vibration, and to simultaneously let go of the things bringing their energy down. Through little actions every day—who we spend our time with, what we read, where we go, even what we eat—we can create more agency and positivity in our lives.
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Take a journey with entrepreneur Guy Wachs, founder of Wild Honey Restaurants, from his humble beginnings to successful restauranteur. Wachs gives a vivid and touching account of growing up in Israel the son of a restaurateur, failed ventures, the rigours of hotel school in the Black Forest in Germany, and his time working in New York. Accounts of meeting movie stars to driving Russian presidents to secret locations are some of the colourful experiences he shares. A must-read for anyone who wants to go into the restaurant business, this is also ultimately a story about navigating difficulties coping with failure and how a humble dishwasher managed to achieve his dream.
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Kuang was five years old when he first arrived in Singapore from Shantou, China. Reunited with his abusive good-for-nothing grandfather and a new step-grandmother, Kuang and his parents struggled to live with dignity while battling poverty. When he became the eldest brother to seven siblings, greater responsibilities weighed on his shoulders. He gave up his education and worked as a fish porridge hawker assistant to help the family make ends meet. Twists and turns in his life eventually brought him back to his hometown cuisine. How did he derive a unique recipe of his own? How did he realise his dream of becoming a successful Teochew braised duck rice seller?
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Set in the 2010s of Singapore, Saloma Salem is an entrepreneur who believes that her ethnicity has impeded her success in life. As a result, she steadfastly rejects her race and culture. This strains her relationship with her mother who still lives alone in their small family flat. Determined to be independent, she leads a simple life despite Saloma’s generous allowance. Their fractious relationship breaks down when she forces her antiquated beliefs about a wife’s role on Saloma. The story tells how far Saloma would go to deny her culture, the efforts she takes to save her marriage and to maintain the image of a perfect life. But her plans go awry, forcing her to confront her own demons.
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Set against a changing Singapore, a sweeping novel about a boy and his childhood love that will complicate the fate of his community and country. Ah Boon is born into a fishing village in twentieth-century coastal Singapore in the waning years of British rule. He is a gentle boy who is not interested in fishing, preferring to spend his days playing with his neighbor, Siok Mei. When they are teens, Ah Boon and Siok Mei are caught in the tragic sweep of history: the Japanese army invades, the resistance rises, grief intrudes, and the fishing village is in jeopardy. As the nation hurtles toward rebirth, the two friends must decide who they want to be, and what they are willing to give up.
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Samantha Song has always dreamed of writing for a high-society magazine—and she’d do anything to get there. The closest she’ll get to that life is living vicariously through her wealthy friend, Anya Chen. Then she meets Timothy Kingston: the son of one of Singapore’s elite families—and her one chance at infiltrating the high society world to which she desperately wants to belong. Tim and Anya agree to help her make a name for herself in the socialite scene, but the borrowed designer clothes and glamorous events can only get her so far. The deeper Sam wades into this fraud, the more she fears being exposed—forcing her to reconcile her pretense with who she really is before she loses it all.
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