8 Singaporean Books To Add To Your Reading List
Whether you’re a fan of novels or a lover of poetry and short story collections, these books written by Singaporean authors or set in Singapore are perfect to bury your nose in.
By Laila Mishazira - published
Bibliophiles, gather around: if your bookshelf is looking a little sparse and your reading list could use an update, it’s high time to dive into the vibrant scope of Singaporean literature.
Here in Singapore, where the hustle and bustle can sometimes feel overwhelming, there are various things we can turn to relieve the pressure of daily life: going cafe hopping, soaking in the infectious energy at a concert—and of course, slipping into the pages of a good book that whisks you away from reality.
If you’re looking for your next great read to add to your reading list, consider the search over: these books written by Singaporean authors and/or set in our sunny island will be your companions.
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1. The Original Daughter by Jemimah Wei
Set in the late ’90s in Singapore, The Original Daughter by Jemimah Wei follows a pair of inseparable sisters, Genevieve and Arin, as they navigate the harsh realities of the working-class reality where career achievements are prioritised over everything else. But when one sister begins to eclipse the other in the climb toward fame and fortune, they’re forced to confront what they’re willing to sacrifice—and whether success is worth the fracture of sisterhood.
Deemed “an incredible debut” by Roxane Gay, one of the most influential voices in contemporary literature, Wei’s novel is a poignant exploration of identity, rivalry, and love, set against the backdrop of a rapidly modernising Singapore.
The Original Daughter, $33.95, Kinokuniya
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2. Be Your Own Bae by Daryl Qilin Yam
In this sharp and imaginative short story collection, Daryl Qilin Yam crafts a vibrant and often hilarious exploration of what it means to live unapologetically. Stories include a pageant queen spontaneously combusting upon being crowned; a man reuniting with an ex-lover in a dream set in North Korea; and a group of friends risking everything over a secret Bon Iver gig hidden somewhere in Dempsey Hill.
With a touch of magical realism that’ll captivate fans of Haruki Murakami, Yam conjures bold, sometimes surreal characters—from fearless millennials to well-meaning mentors who miss the mark—and maps out the strange, intimate journeys individuals take in their search for love.
Be Your Own Bae, $20.90, Epigram
3. Hue City by Claire Betita De Guzman
A sobering story of three twenty-somethings navigating the discrepancies life brings in The Philippines, Vietnam and Singapore, Hue City is a thoughtful portrait of resilience despite dislocation. Fleeing Manila under a cloud of guilt and fear after preying on unsuspecting solo tourists in Manila with a crew of scammers, college drop-out Carmen arrives in Hue hoping for reconciliation with her mother but instead finds a city as complex and guarded as her past. There, she meets Hai, a hotel receptionist and hustler, who dreams of building his own hotel empire. When Hai crosses paths with Marina, a wealthy Singaporean expat searching for purpose and love beyond her privileged but stifling life, a life-changing opportunity presents itself.
Told from the alternating perspectives of the trio, Claire Betita De Guzman’s novel traverses the geographies of Manila, Hue City, and Singapore, illustrating an odyssey of ambition and fragile hope. In a world where reinvention is both promise and illusion, each character must confront the cost of escape and what it truly means to start over.
Hue City, $25.83, Amazon
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4. Until Even The Angels by Suzanne Scott Tomita
Until Even The Angels centralises two women: Isabelle Goh, a successful London real estate agent, who finds herself on the brink of death in an attempted assassination and Ayesha Nur, a detective, who helms a case that uncovers a tangle of secrets that stretch back more than sixty years to post-colonial Singapore.
Suzanne Scott Tomita’s debut literary crime novel moves between the glossy modernity of London and the volatile atmosphere of a changing Singapore, exploring how past secrets resist being buried and how some connections, no matter how distant, refuse to perish.
Until Even The Angels, $22.59, Amazon
5. What God Took Your Legs Away by Wahid al Mamun
A collection of poems reflecting on migration, remembrance, and love, What God Took Your Legs Away delves into the intricate connection between the body, the nation, and their entangled pasts. The theme of writing from personal and generational longing runs throughout the book, portraying self-purification through words as both a tool and a means to confront the political through the deeply personal.
An upcoming release, Wahid al Mamun’s debut unveils a voice that is at once gentle and unwavering. It poses a powerful question that challenges our understanding of art, pushing us to think about what it truly means to create from one’s own scars and what the implications of doing so may be.
What God Took Your Legs Away will be available to purchase at Afterimage from 5 July 2025.
6. In Places We Find Ourselves by Patrick Sagaram
Written by Patrick Sagaram, In Places We Find Ourselves peels back the layers of the mundanity of everyday life to reveal the often untold struggles that define the Singaporean experience. Contemplative and introspective, the characters in this book could be anyone because the focus is less on explicit identities but more on universal, messy feelings. The stories swing from one end of the emotional spectrum to the other: A divorcee finds unexpected solace in a new relationship after years of being an alcoholic. Elsewhere, a mother, blinded by the intensity of love, makes a choice with devastating consequences.
With unflinching honesty and emotional precision, Sagaram presents a reflection of the reader to themselves—in all their flawed and deeply human glory.
In Places We Find Ourselves, $27.14, Amazon
7. Swimming Lessons by Malcolm Seah
A compelling coming-of-age novel with the supernatural as its focal point, Swimming Lessons is centred around the protagonist, Michelle, who is forced to confront unsettling truths of the past when she’s pulled back into time after her sister becomes comatose. At the same time, Constable Michael Chakrabarti encounters eerie moments that result in an unexpected reunion, while Captain Ishaan’s relentless hunt for the supernatural forces him to face an unchangeable past. As their paths coincide, reality—as they know it—is irrevocably altered.
Smartly interpreting how the human mind processes trauma through supernatural experiences, the author, Malcolm Seah, reveals the thin line separating psychological and paranormal phenomena. Written while his mother was in a coma, Swimming Lessons is a “deeply personal novel that weaves grief, identity, and the supernatural into a hauntingly original narrative”.
Swimming Lessons, $27.14, Amazon
8. Stamford Hospital by Thammika Songkaeo
Chronicling a woman’s desperate pursuit to reclaim herself from a life that no longer feels like her own, Stamford Hospital follows Tarisa, who begins doing everything in her power to escape her suffocating marriage and Singapore, the country she never intended to settle in. When her daughter develops a cough, she seizes the opportunity to convince doctors to hospitalise her child, so she’s able to indulge in personal hobbies. But even in this fragile freedom, she can’t escape how her marriage is now plagued with the lack of desire due to her husband’s medication.
A “portrait of love, autonomy, and the quiet devastation of a life unlived”, Thammika Songkaeo’s novel defies society’s ideal of a ‘perfect mother’—breaking away from the notion that a good mother is one who always selflessly devotes herself to her family. Readers are pushed to consider the weight of choice, and the societal expectation that women endure as they’re forced to choose between duty and identity.
Stamford Hospital, $23.82, Amazon
All the items are independently selected by our editorial team. If you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission. But we only recommend products we love. Promise.