12 must-read japan books like Idol, Burning by Rin Usami

Cover of Idol, Burning by Rin Usami

Idol, Burning

By: Rin Usami

3.23

Format: 144 pages, Hardcover

The novel that lit the Japanese publishing world on fire: From a breathtaking up-and-coming writer,…

"His existence and my witnessing of it were all I asked for."

-Rin Usami, Idol, Burning

"His existence and my witnessing of it were all I asked for."

-Rin Usami, Idol, Burning

"His existence and my witnessing of it were all I asked for."

-Rin Usami, Idol, Burning

"Maybe that was how a home broke down over the years, as the sound of doors slamming and chairs roughly scraping the floor built up like dust, and the slow drip of gnashing teeth and resentful grumbling bloomed into mildew."

-Rin Usami, Idol, Burning

If you liked the japan plot in Idol, Burning by Rin Usami , here is a list of 12 books like this:

Cover of Ms Ice Sandwich by Mieko Kawakami, Louise Heal Kawai

1. Ms Ice Sandwich

By: Mieko Kawakami , Louise Heal Kawai

3.78

Format: 92 pages, Paperback

A quixotic and funny tale about first love – from the Akutagawa Prize-winning author. Ms Ice San… read more

Similar categories in Mieko Kawakami's Ms Ice Sandwich book and Rin Usami's Idol, Burning

  • literary fiction
  • novella
  • asia
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • japanese literature
  • japan
Cover of Greek Lessons by Han Kang

2. Greek Lessons

By: Han Kang

3.47

Format: 192 pages, Hardcover

A powerful novel about the saving grace of language and human connection, from the author of the In… read more

Similar categories in Han Kang's Greek Lessons book and Rin Usami's Idol, Burning

  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • adult
  • audiobook
"If snow is the silence that falls from the sky, perhaps rain is an endless sentence."

-Han Kang, Greek Lessons

"Si tomamos como cierta la premisa que dice que, cuando perdemos algo, ganamos otra cosa, ¿Qué es lo que he ganado yo al perderte a ti?."

-Han Kang, Greek Lessons

"Before she lost words - when she was still able to se them to write - she sometimes wished that her own expressions would more closely resemble inarticulacy: a moan or low cry."

-Han Kang, Greek Lessons

"To her, there was no touch as instantaneous and intuitive as the gaze. It was close to being the only way of touching without touch. Language, by comparison, is an infinitely more physical way to tou…"

-Han Kang, Greek Lessons

Cover of Miss Kim Knows and Other Stories by Cho Nam-Joo

3. Miss Kim Knows and Other Stories

By: Cho Nam-Joo

3.72

Format: 223 pages, Paperback

Eight women. Eight stories. One reality. A woman is born. A woman is filmed in public without c… read more

Similar categories in Cho Nam-Joo's Miss Kim Knows and Other Stories book and Rin Usami's Idol, Burning

  • literary fiction
  • asia
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • adult
  • audiobook
"W samochodzie Seunghun podziękował mi i kilka razy poprosił, żebym jak najczęściej przyjeżdżała do Geumju. Chciałam zapytać, czy jej dzieci, czyli jego mama oraz ciocie i wujkowie, często do niej wpa…"

-Cho Nam-Joo, Miss Kim Knows and Other Stories

"– Ale rzecz w tym, że nie wyobrażam sobie świata bez babci. Nie liczę na cud. Po prostu chcę, żeby żyła. – Seunghun, ja chyba bym tego nie chciała na jej miejscu. Życie nie ma sensu, gdy nie można ni…"

-Cho Nam-Joo, Miss Kim Knows and Other Stories

Cover of Idol, Burning by Rin Usami

4. Idol, Burning

By: Rin Usami

3.23

Format: 144 pages, Hardcover

The novel that lit the Japanese publishing world on fire: From a breathtaking up-and-coming writer,… read more

Similar categories in Rin Usami's Idol, Burning book and Rin Usami's Idol, Burning

  • literary fiction
  • novella
  • asia
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • japanese literature
  • adult
  • japan
  • audiobook
"His existence and my witnessing of it were all I asked for."

-Rin Usami, Idol, Burning

"Maybe that was how a home broke down over the years, as the sound of doors slamming and chairs roughly scraping the floor built up like dust, and the slow drip of gnashing teeth and resentful grumbli…"

-Rin Usami, Idol, Burning

"Idol groups generally assigned each member an official color, which would be used for the light sticks that fans would hold up to show your support at a performance or for other individual merch. My …"

-Rin Usami, Idol, Burning

Cover of All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami

5. All the Lovers in the Night

By: Mieko Kawakami

3.72

Format: 224 pages, Hardcover

Fuyuko Irie is a freelance copy editor in her mid-thirties. Working and living alone in a city wher… read more

Similar categories in Mieko Kawakami's All the Lovers in the Night book and Rin Usami's Idol, Burning

  • literary fiction
  • asia
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • japanese literature
  • adult
  • japan
  • audiobook
"It only took me a couple of hours to realise that she was a woman of talents beyond anything I could imagine - even though I was a stranger to such talents myself."

-Mieko Kawakami, All the Lovers in the Night

"The light at night is special because the overwhelming light of day has left us, and the remaining half draws on everything it has to keep the world around us bright."

-Mieko Kawakami, All the Lovers in the Night

"When I felt sleepy I slept, and when I opened my eyes I got up, letting hunger dictate when to head to the fridge or kitchen cabinet to eat some of the things that I'd stocked up on. When supplies ra…"

-Mieko Kawakami, All the Lovers in the Night

"When I felt sleepy I slept, and when I opened my eyes I got up, letting hunger dictate when to head to the fridge or kitchen cabinet to eat some of the things that I'd stocked up on. When supplies ra…"

-Mieko Kawakami, All the Lovers in the Night

Cover of Y/N by Esther Yi

6. Y/N

By: Esther Yi

2.95

Format: 204 pages, Kindle Edition

Y/Na novel about a Korean American woman living in Berlin whose obsession with a K-pop idol sends h… read more

Similar categories in Esther Yi's Y/N book and Rin Usami's Idol, Burning

  • literary fiction
  • asia
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • adult
  • audiobook
"You are not your dryness," the Boys said in small copy on the box, "You are not your sebum." They wanted to make the world a better place, and that began with my enlarged pores."

-Esther Yi, Y/N

"I knew how all of this felt, better than if I had felt it myself. The boy was my ambassador, sent to a foreign land with which my own land was in delicate relations. I'd never visited this country my…"

-Esther Yi, Y/N

"As a human being who cannot live without love, I know full well that I have exhausted my options on this disappointing planet. The question is no longer ‘Who are the people who will accept my unusual…"

-Esther Yi, Y/N

"Inside your mother, you were perfectly round, complete unto yourself. You wanted for nothing. But you were born, and the nightmare began. Your body was pulled in all directions. Your arms, legs, neck…"

-Esther Yi, Y/N

Cover of Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #1) by Satoshi Yagisawa

7. Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #1)

By: Satoshi Yagisawa

3.65

Format: 150 pages, Paperback

The moving international sensation about new beginnings, human connection, and the joy of reading. … read more

Similar categories in Satoshi Yagisawa's Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #1) book and Rin Usami's Idol, Burning

  • literary fiction
  • japanese literature
  • fiction
  • asian literature
  • contemporary
  • japan
  • audiobook
"It hurts to realize that it might be too late now for anything but regret."

-Satoshi Yagisawa, Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #1)

"And here I am spending a sleepless night in a strange place. We might not be far from home, but I feel lonely."

-Satoshi Yagisawa, Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #1)

"No es cuestión de ser expertos o novatos. Si lo plantea así, ni siquiera yo lo soy tanto. Lo importante es sentir emociones al toparse con un libro."

-Satoshi Yagisawa, Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #1)

"In my dream, I was an android maid living in a city in the not-so- distant future. In that neighbourhood, all the buildings were made of used books."

-Satoshi Yagisawa, Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #1)

Cover of Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata

8. Life Ceremony

By: Sayaka Murata

3.75

Format: 256 pages, Hardcover

With Life Ceremony, the incomparable Sayaka Murata is back with her first collection of short stori… read more

Similar categories in Sayaka Murata's Life Ceremony book and Rin Usami's Idol, Burning

  • literary fiction
  • asia
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • japanese literature
  • adult
  • japan
"Nowadays, your partner is not necessarily a sex object - this is a wonderful advancement."

-Sayaka Murata, Life Ceremony

"I'm seeking an amicable daily routine with someone I get along well with, like brother and sister, without being a slave to sex"

-Sayaka Murata, Life Ceremony

"Walking like this, feeling like a feral human, even machines and buildings were warm to the touch, and some emitted sounds and vibrations. Their presence was similar to the sounds emitted by life-for…"

-Sayaka Murata, Life Ceremony

"If they tried it, the memories of the wild rooted in their flesh would come back to them, and they would discover that eating the city like this would connect the earth between the gaps in the concre…"

-Sayaka Murata, Life Ceremony

Cover of Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

9. Heaven

By: Mieko Kawakami

3.80

Format: 192 pages, Hardcover

Hailed as a bold foray into new literary territory, Kawakami’s novel is told in the voice of a 14-y… read more

Similar categories in Mieko Kawakami's Heaven book and Rin Usami's Idol, Burning

  • literary fiction
  • japanese literature
  • fiction
  • asian literature
  • contemporary
  • japan
  • audiobook
"Karena kau selalu dilukai, kau sungguh-sungguh memahami seperti apakah orang terluka."

-Mieko Kawakami, Heaven

"The more I looked at it, the less it seemed like something for a house. More like a tiny gravestone."

-Mieko Kawakami, Heaven

"You think about how other people feel. You're so kind. It makes sense. Because we're always in pain, we know exactly what it means to hurt somebody else."

-Mieko Kawakami, Heaven

"People are always dying. It's a perfect truth. No matter how we live our lives, we all die, sooner or later. In which case, living is really just waiting to die."

-Mieko Kawakami, Heaven

Cover of This is Amiko, Do You Copy? by Natsuko Imamura

10. This is Amiko, Do You Copy?

By: Natsuko Imamura

3.63

Format: 122 pages, Paperback

Other people don’t seem to understand Amiko. Whether eating curry rice with her hands at school or … read more

Similar categories in Natsuko Imamura's This is Amiko, Do You Copy? book and Rin Usami's Idol, Burning

  • literary fiction
  • novella
  • asia
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • japanese literature
  • japan
"Every time she cried, "I love you!" the words shattered her heart without mercy."

-Natsuko Imamura, This is Amiko, Do You Copy?

Cover of Weasels in the Attic by Hiroko Oyamada

11. Weasels in the Attic

By: Hiroko Oyamada

3.43

Format: 96 pages, Paperback

From the acclaimed author of The Hole and The Factory, a thrilling and mysterious work that explore… read more

Similar categories in Hiroko Oyamada's Weasels in the Attic book and Rin Usami's Idol, Burning

  • literary fiction
  • novella
  • asia
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • japanese literature
  • japan
"We meet at school, or work, or maybe a store. Wherever it is, there's just a random group of individuals, right? Within that group, you find your mate. If you were in a different group, you' d end up…"

-Hiroko Oyamada, Weasels in the Attic

Cover of Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum

12. Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop

By: Hwang Bo-Reum

4.02

Format: 307 pages, Hardcover

Yeongju is burned out. With her high-­flying career, demanding marriage, and busy life in Seoul, sh… read more

Similar categories in Hwang Bo-Reum's Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop book and Rin Usami's Idol, Burning

  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • adult
  • audiobook
"Why? Because we only get one shot in life, and we're living it now."

-Hwang Bo-Reum, Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop

"A life surrounded by good people is a successful life. It might not be success as defined by society, but thanks to the people around you, each day is a successful day."

-Hwang Bo-Reum, Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop

"A life surrounded by good people is a successful life. It might not be success as defined by society, but thanks to the people around you, each day is a successful day'."

-Hwang Bo-Reum, Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop

"A life surrounded by good people is a successful life. It might not be a success as defined by society, but thanks to the people around you, each day is a successful day."

-Hwang Bo-Reum, Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop

Cover of I'm a Fan by Sheena Patel

13. I'm a Fan

By: Sheena Patel

3.32

Format: 207 pages, None

In I'm A Fan, a single speaker uses the story of their experience in a seemingly unequal, unfaithfu… read more

Similar categories in Sheena Patel's I'm a Fan book and Rin Usami's Idol, Burning

  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • audiobook
"It is toxic. I am familiar"

-Sheena Patel, I'm a Fan

"Happiness or safety. Or isn't that the same thing?"

-Sheena Patel, I'm a Fan

"I never came with him. I never felt safe enough to."

-Sheena Patel, I'm a Fan

"The world is made for couples. Even the unhappy ones."

-Sheena Patel, I'm a Fan

Cover of Saha by Cho Nam-Joo

14. Saha

By: Cho Nam-Joo

2.97

Format: 240 pages, Hardcover

A National Book Award Finalist hailed as “a social treatise as well as a work of art” (Alexandra Al… read more

Similar categories in Cho Nam-Joo's Saha book and Rin Usami's Idol, Burning

  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • adult
  • audiobook
Cover of The Kamogawa Food Detectives (Kamogawa Food Detectives, #1) by Hisashi Kashiwai

15. The Kamogawa Food Detectives (Kamogawa Food Detectives, #1)

By: Hisashi Kashiwai

3.70

Format: 201 pages, Hardcover

The Kamogawa Food Detectives is the first book in the bestselling, mouth-watering Japanese series f… read more

Similar categories in Hisashi Kashiwai's The Kamogawa Food Detectives (Kamogawa Food Detectives, #1) book and Rin Usami's Idol, Burning

  • japanese literature
  • fiction
  • asian literature
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • japan
  • audiobook
"Ah, Setchubai. "Plum Blossoms in the Snow." Perfect, and not just because of the name. It's a little sweet, but it'll go very well with the hotpot."

-Hisashi Kashiwai, The Kamogawa Food Detectives (Kamogawa Food Detectives, #1)

"We get used to things too easily. You think something's tasty the first time you eat it, but then you start taking it for granted. Never forget your first impressions."

-Hisashi Kashiwai, The Kamogawa Food Detectives (Kamogawa Food Detectives, #1)

"It's Swatow lace, I believe-- beautiful, isn't it? The design is titled "The Disc of the Moon"-- apparently it was inspired by the poem "Midnight Song" by the Tang-era poet Li Bai. I looked it up, an…"

-Hisashi Kashiwai, The Kamogawa Food Detectives (Kamogawa Food Detectives, #1)

"Miyajima oysters, simmered Kurama-style, miso-glazed baked butterburs with millet cake, bracken and bamboo shoot stew, chargrilled moroko, breast of Kyoto-reared chicken with a wasabi dressing, and v…"

-Hisashi Kashiwai, The Kamogawa Food Detectives (Kamogawa Food Detectives, #1)

Cover of Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi

16. Diary of a Void

By: Emi Yagi

3.51

Format: 213 pages, Hardcover

A prizewinning, thrillingly subversive debut novel about a woman in Japan who avoids harassment at … read more

Similar categories in Emi Yagi's Diary of a Void book and Rin Usami's Idol, Burning

  • literary fiction
  • asia
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • japanese literature
  • japan
  • audiobook
"Having a baby isn't easy. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. It's been two thousand years, and it's the same old story, right?"

-Emi Yagi, Diary of a Void

"I'm always so alone. I guess I should be used to it by now. That's the way it is from the moment we come into this world, but I'm still not used to it - how alone we all are."

-Emi Yagi, Diary of a Void

"Maybe that's making a family is all about: creating an environment in which people make space for one another - maybe without even trying, just naturally, to make sure that nobody's forgotten."

-Emi Yagi, Diary of a Void

"Until they arrived, while everyone else was transitioning to winter, putting on coats and sweaters, I was going to stick with my summer dress and my usual work blazer. Dressed in the dazzling flowers…"

-Emi Yagi, Diary of a Void

Cover of Butter by Asako Yuzuki

17. Butter

By: Asako Yuzuki

3.60

Format: 464 pages, Hardcover

The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist inten… read more

Similar categories in Asako Yuzuki's Butter book and Rin Usami's Idol, Burning

  • japanese literature
  • japan
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • audiobook
"Dessert was home-made candied chestnuts, chiffon cake baked with amazake and rice flour, and cups of gingery chai. Biting into the cake, Rika discovered that it was perfectly fluffy, with a pleasing …"

-Asako Yuzuki, Butter

"Soon after, Rika heard the sizzle of butter melting in a hot frying pan. It smelt to her like life itself. Maybe because it was animal fat, there was rough, raw depth and fragrance to its smell, whic…"

-Asako Yuzuki, Butter

"Milk was originally blood. In that case, was the butter in the Babaji story actually a metaphor for all the carnage that took place under the cover of the jungle? What seemed pure, white and creamy h…"

-Asako Yuzuki, Butter

"The whipped butter had already started melting across the waffles' latticed brown surface, creating a golden trickling waterfall that pooled in their hollows. Rika bit into the dough, savoring how ju…"

-Asako Yuzuki, Butter

Cover of The Premonition by Banana Yoshimoto

18. The Premonition

By: Banana Yoshimoto

3.43

Format: 133 pages, Hardcover

The internationally beloved author of Kitchen and Dead-End Memories returns with a beautiful and he… read more

Similar categories in Banana Yoshimoto's The Premonition book and Rin Usami's Idol, Burning

  • literary fiction
  • novella
  • asia
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • japanese literature
  • adult
  • japan
"I'd never known a love before that could blot out the world around like this."

-Banana Yoshimoto, The Premonition

"Later, for the first time in a very long time, I heard my aunt play the piano. Its tone was soft, and just like I remembered it. At the kitchen window one overcast afternoon, I watched its beautiful …"

-Banana Yoshimoto, The Premonition

Cover of I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokpokki by Baek Se-hee

19. I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokpokki

By: Baek Se-hee

3.28

Format: 232 pages, Paperback

The South Korean runaway bestseller, debut author Baek Sehee's intimate therapy memoir, as recommen… read more

Similar categories in Baek Se-hee's I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokpokki book and Rin Usami's Idol, Burning

  • asia
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • adult
  • audiobook
"Togetherness means altruism, and altruism is what saves us from selfishness."

-Baek Se-hee, I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokpokki

"For example, when you’re co-dependent on your partner you resent them, but when you leave your partner, you feel anxious and bereft."

-Baek Se-hee, I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokpokki

"Fear increases when it's something that you keep to yourself. Instead of suffering alone, it can often be good to share it with someone else."

-Baek Se-hee, I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokpokki

"What matters isn't what people say but what you like and find joy in. I hope you focus less on how you look to other people and more on fulfilling your true desires."

-Baek Se-hee, I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokpokki

Cover of Concerning My Daughter by Hye-Jin Kim

20. Concerning My Daughter

By: Hye-Jin Kim

3.71

Format: 176 pages, Paperback

When an ageing mother allows her thirty-something daughter to move into her apartment, she wants fo… read more

Similar categories in Hye-Jin Kim's Concerning My Daughter book and Rin Usami's Idol, Burning

  • literary fiction
  • asia
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • adult
  • audiobook
"Ir abrindo mão das coisas de que gostamos. Essa é a definição do verbo envelhecer."

-Hye-Jin Kim, Concerning My Daughter

"That child who sprang from my own flesh and blood is perhaps the creature I'm most distant from."

-Hye-Jin Kim, Concerning My Daughter

"Ela estudou tanto que, não tendo mais o que estudar, foi aprender o que não devia. Por exemplo: como negar o mundo, como ir contra o mundo."

-Hye-Jin Kim, Concerning My Daughter

"It's not my fault. It's not your fault. It's no one's fault. If we keep telling ourselves that, then who should all the victims of the world go to for their apology?"

-Hye-Jin Kim, Concerning My Daughter

Cover of A Magical Girl Retires by Park Seolyeon

21. A Magical Girl Retires

By: Park Seolyeon

3.63

Format: 160 pages, Hardcover

A millennial turned magical girl must combat climate change and credit card debt in this delightful… read more

Similar categories in Park Seolyeon's A Magical Girl Retires book and Rin Usami's Idol, Burning

  • novella
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • audiobook
"The person I loved and respected the most in the world called me a genius; therefore, I was a genius."

-Park Seolyeon, A Magical Girl Retires

"If I could become a magical girl at twenty-nine, then surely it was never too late to become a watchmaker."

-Park Seolyeon, A Magical Girl Retires

"Grandfather, I just love watches. When I look at them, I just... It's like they're a whole universe. The universe itself. Even the smallest watch."

-Park Seolyeon, A Magical Girl Retires

"She had a point. I mean, when did my own girlhood begin and end, exactly? I couldn't quite circle a lasso around it, but I knew, at least, when it had ended. Three years ago, when Grandfather died."

-Park Seolyeon, A Magical Girl Retires

20 Top fiction books like Idol, Burning by Rin Usami

Transform Your Habits

Ms Ice Sandwich

Mieko Kawakami , Louise Heal Kawai

3.78

Transform Your Habits

Greek Lessons

Han Kang

3.47

Transform Your Habits

Miss Kim Knows and Other Stories

Cho Nam-Joo

3.72

Transform Your Habits

Idol, Burning

Rin Usami

3.23

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5 best-selling japan books like Butter by Asako Yuzuki

Transform Your Habits

More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #2)

Satoshi Yagisawa

3.87

Transform Your Habits

The Kamogawa Food Detectives (Kamogawa Food Detectives, #1)

Hisashi Kashiwai

3.70

Transform Your Habits

Butter

Asako Yuzuki

3.60

Transform Your Habits

Mongrel

Hanako Footman

4.38

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