Reading Central Asia
A region that shaped world history, produced some of its most luminous poetry, and somehow stayed off most reading lists. A reading list for anyone who realized they knew almost nothing about Central Asia and wanted to fix that. Central Asia includes Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and most of Kazakhstan. Sometimes Afghanistan is also considered a part of it.
created by Maynificient
last updated May, 2026
Comments
Wow, like seeing underread places getting representation! I got some Turkmenistan recs -
- Joe and Azat by Jesse Lonergan - it's a comic!
- Death of the Snake Catcher by Ak Welspar
- Sacred Horses by Jonathan Evan
- The Revenge of Foxes by Ak Welspar - it is set in Russia but it's about a Turkmen man and more interestingly this Author is banned in Turkmenistan. So it's up to you.
Thanks!! The books I looked up were based on history and serious things so a comic rec is an amazing addition. Sincerely hope it's available on GR.
Also, I think I'll let this list be a book which happens in Central Asia or talks about it. So ig I'll skip adding the 4th one đđ
But. I thank you so much for mentioning these! <3
WOO this is really cool!
Oh omg wow I love to see this! (I did want to note in case you werenât aware that The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud takes place exclusively in the UK; I know the title is probably misleading lol and the titular amulet does play a role but this series was one of my faves as a kid and they never leave the in-universe version of the UK)
Oh, I'll remove it. It was listed under fiction book from Uzbekistan. Probably listed by someone like me lol. Thanks a lot!
Hahaha no problem at all!
