This list mostly highlights adult fiction and nonfiction titles that have been translated into English from another language. However, manga and manhwa titles are graphic novels translated from Japanese and Korean, and we also have picture books that have been translated from other languages and the children’s series Geronimo Stilton is translated from the original Italian. And don’t forget – many books in our “Classics” section have been translated from another language.
An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed by Helene Tursten, translated by Marlaine Delargy from the original Swedish – Just when things have finally cooled down for 88-year-old Maud after the disturbing discovery of a dead body in her apartment in Gothenburg, a couple of detectives return to her doorstep, ruining a perfectly good afternoon. Though Maud deftly dodges their questions with the skill of an Olympic gymnast a fifth of her age, she wonders if suspicion has fallen on her, little old lady that she is. The truth is, ever since Maud was a girl, death has seemed to follow her.
The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly by Sun-Mi Hwang, translated by Chi-Young Kim from the original Korean – No longer content to lay eggs on command only to have them carted off to the market, a hen glimpses her future every morning through the barn doors, where the other animals roam free, and comes up with a plan to escape into the wild–and to hatch an egg of her own
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori from the original Japanese – Keiko Furukura works at a convenience store where she finds a predictable world mandated by the store manual, which dictates how the workers should act and what they should say, and she copies her coworkers’ style of dress and speech patterns so that she can play the part of a normal person. However, eighteen years later, at age 36, she is still in the same job, has never had a boyfriend, and has only few friends. She feels comfortable in her life, but is aware that she is not living up to society’s expectations and causing her family to worry about her. When a similarly alienated but cynical and bitter young man comes to work in the store, he will upset Keiko’s contented stasis―but will it be for the better?
Us Against You by Fredrik Backman, translated by Neil Smith from the original Swedish – A small community tucked deep in the forest, Beartown is home to tough, hardworking people who don’t expect life to be easy or fair. No matter how difficult times get, they’ve always been able to take pride in their local ice hockey team. So it’s a cruel blow when they hear that Beartown ice hockey might soon be disbanded.
The Sisters of Auschwitz by Roxane Iperen, translated by Joni Zwart from the original Dutch – During the Second World War two Jewish sisters -Janny and Lien Brilleslijper- run one of the largest hideaways in The Netherlands: The High Nest, a villa in The Gooi area. While the last remaining Jews are being hunted in The Netherlands, the lives of dozens of hideaways kept going for better or for worse, right under the noses of their National Socialist neighbors. Eventually, the nest is exposed and the Brilleslijper family put on one of the last transports to Auschwitz, along with the (Anne) Frank family.
At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop, translated from the French by Anna Moschovakis – Haunted for refusing to kill an injured comrade who begged to be spared an agonizing death, a World War I Chocolat soldier from Senegal begins killing enemy soldiers as penance, earning a sinister reputation along the way. Winner of the 2021 International Booker Prize.
Sinopticon: A Celebration of Chinese Science Fiction, translated and edited by Xueting Christine Ni, foreword by Xia Jia – In this celebration of Chinese science fiction, thirteen stories, all translated for the first time into English, explore the nation’s speculative fiction from the late 20th century onwards.
The Border: A Journey Around Russia Through North Korea, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Norway, and the Northeast Passage by Erika Fatland, translated from the Norwegian by Kari Dickson – Imperial, communist or autocratic, Russia has been -and remains- a towering and intimidating neighbor. Whether it is North Korea in the Far East through the former Soviet republics in Asia and the Caucasus, or countries on the Caspian Ocean and the Black Sea. What would it be like to traverse the entirety of the Russian periphery to examine its effects on those closest to her?
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman, translated by Neil Smith from the original Swedish – Taken hostage by a failed bank robber while attending an open house, eight anxiety-prone strangers -including a redemption-seeking bank director, two couples who would fix their marriages, and a plucky octogenarian- discover their unexpected common traits.
Kill the Father by Sandrone Dazieri, translated by Antony Shugaar from the original Italian – When a woman is beheaded in a park outside Rome and her six-year-old son goes missing, Deputy Captain Colomba Caselli and Dante Torre, both still recovering from personal catastrophes, team up to solve the series of killings and abductions that ensues. As they follow the ever-more-bizarre trail of clues, one thing becomes clear: what’s really going on is much darker than anyone imagined.
The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup, translated by Caroline Waight from the original Danish – A young single mother is found brutally murdered at her home in the suburbs of Copenhagen–she’s been tortured, and one hand has been cut off. Thulin and Hess, the detectives sent to investigate the crime, arrive at the address to find a figure made of chestnuts hanging from a playhouse nearby.
The Neighborhood by Mario Vargas Llosa, translated by Edith Grossman from the original Spanish – One day Enrique, a high-profile businessman, receives a visit from Rolando Garro, the editor of a notorious magazine that specializes in salacious exposés. Garro presents Enrique with lewd pictures from an old business trip and demands that he invest in the magazine. Enrique refuses, and the next day the pictures are on the front page. Meanwhile, Enrique’s wife is in the midst of a passionate and secret affair with the wife of Enrique’s lawyer and best friend. When Garro shows up murdered, the two couples are thrown into a whirlwind of navigating Peru’s unspoken laws and customs, while the staff of the magazine embark on their greatest exposé yet.
Small Country by Gaël Faye, translated by Sarah Ardizzone from the original French – In Burundi in 1992, ten-year-old Gabriel enjoys carefree days with his friends, but his idyllic existence and his innocence come to a brutal end when Burundi and neighboring Rwanda are hit by civil war and genocide.
Flights by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Jennifer Croft from the original Polish – A seventeenth-century Dutch anatomist discovers the Achilles tendon by dissecting his own amputated leg. Chopin’s heart is carried back to Warsaw in secret by his adoring sister. A woman must return to her native Poland in order to poison her terminally ill high school sweetheart, and a young man slowly descends into madness when his wife and child mysteriously vanish during a vacation and just as suddenly reappear.
Watersnakes by Tony Sandoval, translated by Lucas Marangon from the original French – In this graphic novel, Mila is a solitary teenager ready to put another boring summer vacation behind her until she meets Agnes, an adventurous girl who turns out to be a ghost. And not just a regular ghost, but one carrying the essence of an ancient fallen king and a mouth full of teeth that used to be his guardian warriors.
My Hero Academia by Kōhei Horikoshi, translated by Caleb Cook from the original Japanese – In this manga series, Middle school student Izuku Midoriya wants to be a hero more than anything, but he hasn’t got an ounce of power in him. With no chance of ever getting into the prestigious U.A. High School for budding heroes, his life is looking more and more like a dead end. Then an encounter with All Might, the greatest hero of them all, gives him a chance to change his destiny.
In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende, translated by Nick Caistor and Amanda Hopkinson from the original Spanish – In the middle of a snowstorm in Brooklyn, 60-year-old human rights scholar Richard Bowmaster hits the car of Evelyn Ortega, a young, undocumented immigrant from Guatemala. What at first seems just a small inconvenience takes a far more serious turn when Evelyn turns up at the professor’s house seeking help. At a loss, the professor asks his tenant Lucia Maraz, a 62-year-old lecturer from Chile, for her advice. These three very different people are brought together, sparking the beginning of a long overdue love story between Richard and Lucia.
The German House by Annette Hess, translated by Elisabeth Lauffer from the original German – Set against the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials of 1963, this is a harrowing yet ultimately uplifting coming-of-age story about a young female translator -caught between societal and familial expectations and her unique ability to speak truth to power- as she fights to expose the dark truths of her nation’s past. Though it means going against the wishes of her family and her lover, Eva, propelled by her own conscience, joins a team of fiery prosecutors determined to bring the Nazis to justice – a decision that will help change the present and the past of her nation.
A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende, translated by Nick Caistor and Amanda Hopkinson from the original Spanish – In the late 1930s, civil war gripped Spain. When General Franco and his Fascists succeed in overthrowing the government, hundreds of thousands are forced to flee in a treacherous journey over the mountains to the French border. Among them is Roser, a pregnant young widow, who finds her life irreversibly intertwined with that of Victor Dalmau, an army doctor and the brother of her deceased love. In order to survive, the two must unite in a marriage neither of them wants, and together are sponsored by poet Pablo Neruda to embark on the SS Winnipeg along with 2,200 other refugees in search of a new life.
Black Moses by Alain Mabanckou, translated by Helen Stevenson – Three orphans in 1970s Africa escape their orphanage to the busy port town of Pointe-Noire where they form a gang of petty thieves and become part of the underworld.
Solo Leveling by Chugong, translated by Hye-Young Im and rewrite by J. Torres from the original Korean – Originally published as a South Korean web novel, this manga follows the Weakest Hunter of All Mankind, E-rank hunter Jinwoo Sung’s contribution to raids amounts to trying not to get killed. Unfortunately, between his mother’s hospital bills, his sister’s tuition, and his own lack of job prospects, he has no choice but to continue to put his life on the line.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, translated from the Japanese by Geoffrey Trousselot – In a small back alley of Tokyo, there is a café that has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. Local legend says that this shop offers coffee– and the chance to travel back in time. Over the course of one summer, four customers visit the café in the hopes of making that journey. There are rules that must be followed. And the most important one: the trip can last only as long as it takes for the coffee to get cold.