Hanna Alkaf's latest YA novel 'The Hysterical Girls Of St Bernadette's' has captured hearts locally and also earned a spot on the 'Booklist Editors' Choice: Books for Youth, 2024' in the United States. Photo: The Star/Art Chen
Still stumped on what to get for a loved one or your Secret Santa giftee?
If you’re shopping for an avid reader, we’ve got the perfect list of recommendations – all by Malaysian authors, both local and abroad!
Head to your nearest bookstore and explore the shelves.
The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan
At the start of the year, Vanessa Chan was a relatively unfamiliar name to many Malaysians. However, her debut book, which initially made waves in the United States where she is based, quickly found a warm reception among readers back home.
The Petaling Jaya-born author transports readers to old war-time Malaya with her stirring debut, The Storm We Made. In Japanese-occupied Malaya, Cecily Alcantara’s children are in terrible danger, and it’s all her fault. A decade prior, Cecily had been desperate to be more than a housewife to a low-level bureaucrat in British-colonised Malaya.
A chance meeting with the charismatic General Fuijwara lured her into a life of espionage, pursuing dreams of an “Asia for Asians”. Instead, Cecily helped usher in an even more brutal occupation by the Japanese.
Ten years later as the war reaches its apex, her actions have caught up with her. Now her family is on the brink of destruction – and she will do anything to save them.
The Hysterical Girls Of St Bernadette’s by Hanna Alkaf
Hanna Alkaf made her return this year with a gripping tale of hysteria, diving into a phenomenon familiar to many Malaysians.
In this chilling dark academia thriller, the prestigious St Bernadette’s all-girls school is struck with mysterious cases of screaming hysteria, haunted by a deeply buried history clawing to the light.
Two of the school’s students, each with their own secrets, find themselves digging deeper into the school’s hidden history, hunting for the truth. Little do they know that a specter lurks in the darkness watching, waiting, and hungry for its next victim.
Hanna's devoted local readers would already have added The Hysterical Girls Of St Bernadette’s to their collections, but the exciting news is that it has also earned a spot on the "Booklist Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth, 2024" in the United States.
It’s one of those books that "stays" with you.
The Scarlet Throne by Amy Leow
Meet an author who conjures up worlds teeming with feral gods – and even wilder girls. Amy Leow’s dark, heart-thumping political epic fantasy debut follows Binsa, a “living goddess” who is chosen by the gods to dispense both mercy and punishment from her place on the Scarlet Throne.
But her reign hides a deadly secret – rather than channeling the wisdom of an immortal deity, she harbours a demon.
But now her priests are growing suspicious. When a new girl, Medha, is selected to take over her position, Binsa and her demon strike a deal: to magnify his power and help her wrest control from the priests, she will sacrifice human lives.
But how much of her humanity is she willing to trade in her quest for power? Deals with demons are rarely so simple.
Fried Rice by Erica Eng
Malaysian author-illustrator Erica Eng, celebrated with Eisner and Ringo wins for her webcomic Fried Rice in 2020, brought her award-nominated story to life as a graphic novel this year.
With her book now available in stores, a whole new audience has the chance to discover this rising talent – far beyond the webcomic scene.
Fried Rice is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age graphic novel about a young person wanting to leave home in order to chase a dream career and carve out her own destiny.
After finishing secondary school, Min spends her school holiday with her cousin Lilly in Kuala Lumpur. She daydreams of migrating to the US to work in animation and submits an application to a prestigious art school in New York.
It Takes So Much To Be Nothing: Pomes 2018-2024 by Jack Malik
Hailing from Ipoh, Perak, Jack Malik is already a well-known figure in the Bahasa Malaysia poetry scene, but now he’s ready to shake things up in English.
In his debut English-language collection, he’s not just breaking conventions – he’s rewriting the rulebook entirely.
Ipoh is front and centre in Jack’s new poetry collection, where ETS train rides, Dadaist poems, soya-coloured lights, and lo-fi indie albums set the stage. But the adventure doesn’t end there – expect detours through TTDI, Petaling Jaya, Damansara, and even a poignant blues journey to Kangar, Perlis.
With influences like Jack Kerouac and Salleh Ben Joned, Jack invites you on a wild poetic journey through time and space, all while keeping you hooked and wondering what’s coming next. Ready for the ride?
Kaki Lima: Pictures And A Story by Shih-Li Kow and Malek Hue
Kaki Lima has it all for readers - pictures and a story!
For those yearning to be swept away to the landscapes (or passageways) of old world Malaya, this book is more than a nostalgic journey - it also has a thoughtfully woven tale.
It is a story inspired by Malek Hue’s photographs of five-footways across Malaysia. This work of fiction by Shih-Li Kow is about what happens when a municipal council decides to ban shopkeepers from cluttering the walkways with their goods.
The shop owners, with a little help from other urban denizens of varying degrees of respectability, decide to counter this move. Unexpected violence ensues, and the lives of all those involved are forever altered.
The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo
Part love story, adventure, and mystery, Yangsze Choo’s The Fox Wife offers an engaging glimpse into life and beliefs in China 120 years ago. In Manchuria, during the last years of the dying Qing Empire, Bao, a detective with an uncanny ability to sniff out the truth, is hired to uncover the identity of a woman who died under mysterious circumstances.
Meanwhile, a family who owns a famous Chinese medicine shop can cure ailments, but can’t escape the curse that afflicts them – their eldest sons die before their twenty-fourth birthdays. When a disruptively winsome servant named Snow enters their household, the family’s luck seems to change – or does it?
Navigating the myths and misconceptions of fox spirits, both Snow and Bao will encounter old friends and new foes, even as more deaths occur.
The Friend Zone Experiment by Zen Cho
Zen Cho’s shift from fantasy to romance isn’t as straightforward as it seems, as she weaves deeper layers into her storytelling. In The Friend Zone Experiment, a rom-com with all the twists of a “K-drama”, Renee Goh seems to have it all – a successful women’s clothing business in London and a relationship with a sizzling Taiwanese pop star.
Just as her idyllic life begins to fall apart, however, Renee’s father calls and announces that he’s considering her as the next CEO of the family’s Chahaya Group, one of the largest conglomerates in South-East Asia.
That same night, Renee bumps into her first love, Yap Ket Siong, who broke her heart during university.
Little does she know, Ket Siong is on a dangerous quest for revenge tied to his family – a mission that unexpectedly intersects with hers. Can they find a way to rekindle their romance amidst the looming threat?
Bite Me, Royce Taslim by Lauren Ho
For her YA debut, Lauren Ho weaves a fun romantic story with the streets of KL as its vibrant backdrop.
In the book, Agnes Chan never expected to be the punchline of her own life, but how else do you explain getting accidentally run over and seeing a lifetime of careful preparation, endless training, and all your hopes of a track scholarship to college destroyed in a split second?
Not to mention the only witness to your humiliation being your #1 arch-nemesis, Royce Taslim.
So, when Agnes finds a new answer to her scholarship predicament in the form of an international stand-up comedy contest for teens, the last person she expects to be up against is Royce. As the competition heats up, though, so do things between these two rivals – but who will get the last laugh?
How Was Your Day by Cheeming Boey
This holiday season, illustrator Cheeming Boey offers something different for readers. How Was Your Day, inspired by a close friend’s life, captures the hopes, anxieties, and frustrations of daily life in the modern workplace through Boey’s distinctive storytelling and art.
After mustering enough courage to finally leave a job that left her miserable, Cheryl finds herself lost and asking herself, “What am I doing with my life?” Questioning her decisions, Cheryl watches the world go by while she is trapped at home, straddling the line between her own happiness or her family’s.
This illustrated book is based on real-life events, unfolded through text messages. It is unscripted, imperfect, and personal. It is, well ... about life.
