If there’s one thing we all need in Hong Kong, it’s a good book to read to escape the hectic life we all lead here! So, to save you trawling the shelves of your local bookshop, we’ve rounded up 10 new, notable and upcoming good reads, recommended by the team at Bookazine.
# Good reads in fiction
Butter by Asako Yuzuki
Inspired by the real case of “The Konkatsu Killer”, this cult bestseller is about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist intent on cracking her case. It’s a vivid exploration of misogyny, romance and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan.
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
In the bestselling author’s follow up to Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, Violet Sorrengail must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands. She’ll do anything to save her dragons, her family, her home… and him.
Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley
It’s Friday night in a campus bar in Berkeley, fall of 2000, and Percy Marks is pontificating over Hall and Oates; she has no talent for music, just lots of opinions about it. But something is different tonight. The guy beside her, Joe Morrow, is a songwriter. And he could listen to Percy talk all night.
We Do Not Part by Han Kang
This story of a friendship between two women also reckons powerfully with a hidden chapter in Korean history. It’s a hymn to an enduring friendship, an argument for remembering, and a celebration of life, however fragile it might be.
# New books in non-fiction
Who is Government? by Michael Lewis
Who works for the government and why does their work matter? This is an absorbing civics lesson from an all-star team of writers about a vast, complex system that Americans pay for, rebel against, rely upon, dismiss and celebrate.
Source Code by Bill Gates
Gates takes us back to his beginnings – his childhood in Seattle, his family relationships and his rebelliousness that helped him drop out of Harvard at age 20 to devote his energies to Microsoft. The book ends in the late 1970s when Microsoft, still with only a dozen employees, signed its first deal with Apple.
# Cool new stories for kids
Sounds of Hong Kong with Tommy & Lily by Liudmila Rijk Baksheeva
Thi beautiful sound book is written for kids who live or loved in Hong Kong, as well as as anyone who loves HK and wants a little piece of it! With cute hand-painted illustrations, it features favourite places and iconic sounds.
Gozzle by Julia Donaldson & Sara Ogilvie
It’s springtime. Bear has woken up hungry and finds a lost egg outside his cave. Breakfast? No! Out hatches Gozzle, a sweet gosling who’s convinced that Bear is her daddy. This laugh-out-loud story is by two bestselling picture book creators.
Zebracadabra by Kes Gray and Fred Blunt
Watch as Zebracadabra, master of magic, transforms his animal friends before your very eyes! Pink flamingos and green alligators all get turned black and white! Now if only Zebracadabra knew how to turn the animals back to their original colours…
The New Famous Five: Five and the Forgotten Treasure by Chris Smith
When Fran, Tom, Maddy and Gilbert the dog stay with Professor George Kirrin for the holidays, they find themselves caught up in a robbery of a top-secret treasure map. Join the original Famous Five and a new group of children in this series inspired by Enid Blyton.
Minecraft: Out of Order Volume 1 by Josh Hicks
Riley is an unassuming farmer living in a small hamlet, when suddenly the militant Province of Perfect Sameness storms into town and flattens his home. Riley and friends (including Charlie the TNT enthusiast!) are forced into the adventure of a lifetime.
This article about good books to read by Bookazine first appeared in the Spring 2025 issue of Expat Living magazine. Subscribe now so you never miss an issue.
Find these titles and more good books to read on the Bookazine website!
