Great ideas, marya! I note that I read a travelogue by Norman Lewis of Burma, so it will be interesting to read his observations of Indonesia.

My first Amazon search for "Java" turned up only computer books - lol.

I've just ordered many of those books (all but BURU QUARTET), and found another travelogue to order "Across the Equator, a Holiday Trip in Java" - Thomas H. Reid I think I have enough to keep me entertained for the time being! Many thanks.

I love the Year of Living Dangerously and re-read it regularly. I try, but I can't get enthusiastic about Pramoedya Toer.

Simon Winchester's book on Kratatoa is a compendium of information about the culture, geography and history and of course the geology of the era and area.

I'd also look for a biography of Stamford Raffles focusing on his time in Java and his impact on the restoration of Borobudur. Raffles of the Eastern Isles is good, but I'm not sure it's still in print.

Norman Lewis was a bit crochety by the time he got to Indonesia. He skips Java. I especially like VS Naipul's Among the Believers and the sequel, Beyond Belief: excellent commentaries on non-Arab Islam.

Actually any understanding of tropical Islam and the politics of Sukarno and Soeharto is essential for an understanding of Java. Understanding Islam in Indonesia is very good but very dry.

Thanks, marmot, for some additional titles. Most of the books I just ordered are out of print, but I was able to find them on Amazon resellers for reasonable prices.

Have not yet read this soon-to-be-released and well reviewed book, but since it belongs to the tiny genre of English-language memoirs about the Cambodian genocide, I'll mention it here; I have it on my library list and some of you might want to add it as well:

http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Banyan-...+of+the+banyan

Copied from the Oriental List:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/bo...nted=all&_r=1&

In the Shadow of the Banyon, mentioned above, about the Cambodian genocide, is a very good read. While it is told as a fictional account, it is also a memoir of a survivor of the royal family. I highly recommend it.
I don't know if anyone has mentioned this very well written book, From the Land of Green Ghosts by Pascal Thwe. It is the true story of his life as a child in a Burmese hill tribe, his odyssey to study at the university, his escape from government forces during the student uprisings and his sponsorship to England and Cambridge by a professor he meets while in Burma. It is an excellent book and very well written. I couldn't put it down.

Stranger in the Forest: On Foot Across Borneo, by Eric Hansen

Truth can certainly be stranger than fiction. Fascinating.

http://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Fores...ds=eric+hansen

So many new books since this was first posted;

I will start with two obvious ones, about India:

MAXIMUM CITY

http://www.amazon.com/Maximum-City-B.../dp/0375703403

BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS by Katherine Boo, multiple award winner from 2012

Eric Hansen, mentioned above, is also the author of the classic MOTORING WITH MOHAMMAD, about travels in Yemen. Highly recommended!

http://www.amazon.com/Motoring-Moham.../dp/067973855X





Novel with connection to Asia; I liked this quite a lot:

http://www.amazon.com/Newlyweds-Nell.../dp/0307268845

Ekscrunchy - 'Motoring with Mohammad' is my 3rd favorite book of Hansen's. Ahead of it is 'Orchid Fever: A Horticultural Tale of Love, Lust & Lunacy', some of which appropriately takes place in Asia.

I told Eric that I'd read 'Orchid Fever' sitting in front of a fan in Penestanan in Bali. He told me he'd written the last draft of 'Stranger in the Forest' in the same place. Small world.

Thanks for that..I will put the book on my list. He is a good writer!


Also about Borneo, but probably mentioned many times before, the classic book by Redmond O'Hanlon:

http://www.amazon.com/Into-Heart-Bor.../dp/0394755405

Tallking about good reads, this takes place partly in Asia:



http://www.amazon.com/Equator-Journe...ywords=equator

One I read recently that may interest you, picked up in a UK used book shop, is 'In Search of Conrad' by Gavin Young. Takes place in the same general region following the SE Asian voyages of Conrad.

http://www.amazon.com/Search-Conrad-...arch+of+conrad

I read two marvelous non-fiction books about Asia recently and thought I would add them to this list; these are in the cannot-put-down category:


THE EMPERIOR FAR AWAY (China, borderlands of neighborhing countries)

http://www.amazon.com/The-Emperor-Fa.../dp/1620403633



INDONESIA, ETC

http://www.amazon.com/Indonesia-Etc-.../dp/0393088588

I finished a book yesterday that I'd categorize as being on the fringe of an Asia book. It's a beautifully written fictionalized biography of the novelist, E. M. Forster (A Room with a View, Howards's End, A Passage to India), and is largely about his time in India and Egypt. 'Artic Winter', by Damon Galgut. It's been a long time since I've read anything as well written, poetic.

Sorry, correction, "Arctic Summer' by Damon Galgut.