BESTSELLING CHINA BOOKS | China Books Review

This page lists bestselling China books, defined as any English-language book on or from China or the Sinophone world that ranks in the top 25 when ordered by its bestseller rank among all books on Amazon.com. We update this list every month (reflecting the previous month’s bestsellers). Please note that rankings are only an indication of Amazon.com sales, which do not incorporate other editions or point-of-sale purchases. Blurbs are adapted from publisher copy.

November 2025 Bestsellers

Breakneck

China's Quest to Engineer the Future

Dan Wang

August 26, 2025

W.W. Norton & Company

A firsthand investigation of China's seismic progress, its human costs, and what it means for America.

Buy

Apple in China

The Capture of the World's Greatest Company

Patrick McGee

May 13, 2025

Scribner

A look at how Apple helped build China's dominance in electronics assembly and manufacturing only to find itself trapped in a relationship with an authoritarian state.

Buy

Strangers in the Land

Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America

Michael Luo

April 29, 2025

Doubleday

A narrative history of the Chinese in America that traces the theme of exclusion and documents their more than century-long struggle to belong.

Buy

Autocrats vs. Democrats

China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder

Michael McFaul

October 28, 2025

Mariner Books

An analysis of how the autocracies of China and Russia are challenging the current global order, and how America's future depends on successfully confronting this threat.

Buy

Daughters of the Bamboo Grove

From China to America, a True Story of Abduction, Adoption, and Separated Twins

Barbara Demick

May 20, 2025

Random House

A work of narrative nonfiction about twin sisters torn apart by China’s one-child policy and the rise of international adoption.

Buy

The Lotus Shoes

A Novel

Jane Yang

January 7, 2025

Park Row

A tale of two women from opposite sides of Chinese society and their extraordinary journey of sisterhood, betrayal, love and triumph.

Buy

Salt Sugar MSG

Recipes and Stories from a Cantonese American Home

Calvin Eng, Phoebe Melnick

March 18, 2025

Clarkson Potter

An introduction to Cantonese cooking from the chef behind the Brooklyn restaurant Bonnie's.

Buy

The Beast in the Clouds

The Roosevelt Brothers' Deadly Quest to Find the Mythical Giant Panda

Nathalia Holt

July 1, 2025

Atria/One Signal Publishers

The story of Theodore Roosevelt's sons and their 1929 Himalayan expedition to prove the existence of the panda bear to the western world.

Buy

Mahjong

House Rules from Across the Asian Diaspora

Nicole Wong

April 8, 2025

Hardie Grant Books

A look into the strategy, history and design of the game mahjong.

Buy

House of Huawei

The Secret History of China's Most Powerful Company

Eva Dou

January 14, 2025

Portfolio

The untold story of Huawei, the mysterious company that shook the world.

Buy

Year of the Water Horse

A Memoir

Janice Page

December 2, 2025

Pegasus Books

A memoir about relationships between mothers, mothers-in-law, and daughters that traverses the U.S. and China, and multiple generations.

Buy

I Deliver Parcels in Beijing

Hu Anyan (tr. Jack Hargreaves)

October 28, 2025

Astra House

A bestseller in China that is a literary account of one worker's daily life in the huge system that is the Chinese gig economy.

Buy

Never Thought I’d End Up Here

Ann Liang

June 3, 2025

Scholastic Press

A children's novel about a girl who has been sent on a travel program across China to improve her Mandarin.

Buy

Red Tide

A Novel of the Next Pacific War

M.P. Woodward

September 23, 2025

Naval Institute Press

A novel imagining a future war between the U.S. and China driven by the need for semiconductor chip production in Taiwan.

Buy

Tigers Between Empires

The Improbable Return of Great Cats to the Forests of Russia and China

Jonathan C. Slaght

November 4, 2025

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

The conservation saga of the Amur tiger and the scientists who came together across the world to save it.

Buy

October 2025 Bestsellers

Breakneck

China's Quest to Engineer the Future

Dan Wang

August 26, 2025

W.W. Norton & Company

A firsthand investigation of China's seismic progress, its human costs, and what it means for America.

Buy

Apple in China

The Capture of the World's Greatest Company

Patrick McGee

May 13, 2025

Scribner

A look at how Apple helped build China's dominance in electronics assembly and manufacturing only to find itself trapped in a relationship with an authoritarian state.

Buy

The Lotus Shoes

A Novel

Jane Yang

January 7, 2025

Park Row

A tale of two women from opposite sides of Chinese society and their extraordinary journey of sisterhood, betrayal, love and triumph.

Buy

Strangers in the Land

Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America

Michael Luo

April 29, 2025

Doubleday

A narrative history of the Chinese in America that traces the theme of exclusion and documents their more than century-long struggle to belong.

Buy

Red Tide

A Novel of the Next Pacific War

M.P. Woodward

September 23, 2025

Naval Institute Press

A novel imagining a future war between the U.S. and China driven by the need for semiconductor chip production in Taiwan.

Buy

Daughters of the Bamboo Grove

From China to America, a True Story of Abduction, Adoption, and Separated Twins

Barbara Demick

May 20, 2025

Random House

A work of narrative nonfiction about twin sisters torn apart by China’s one-child policy and the rise of international adoption.

Buy

House of Huawei

The Secret History of China's Most Powerful Company

Eva Dou

January 14, 2025

Portfolio

The untold story of Huawei, the mysterious company that shook the world.

Buy

The Beast in the Clouds

The Roosevelt Brothers' Deadly Quest to Find the Mythical Giant Panda

Nathalia Holt

July 1, 2025

Atria/One Signal Publishers

The story of Theodore Roosevelt's sons and their 1929 Himalayan expedition to prove the existence of the panda bear to the western world.

Buy

Seven Things You Can’t Say About China

Tom Cotton

February 18, 2025

Broadside Books

An exposé about the threat to American freedom.

Buy

Mahjong

House Rules from Across the Asian Diaspora

Nicole Wong

April 8, 2025

Hardie Grant Books

A look into the strategy, history and design of the game mahjong.

Buy

Never Thought I’d End Up Here

Ann Liang

June 3, 2025

Scholastic Press

A children's novel about a girl who has been sent on a travel program across China to improve her Mandarin.

Buy

The Highest Exam

How the Gaokao Shapes China

Ruixue Jia, Hongbin Li, Claire Cousineau

September 9, 2025

Belknap Press

An account of how the gaokao, China's high-stakes college admissions test, shapes that society and influences education debates in the U.S.

Buy

The Fourth Daughter

A Novel

Lyn Liao Butler

August 1, 2025

A novel set in Taiwan about the bond between grandmother and granddaughter.

Buy

Homeseeking

Karissa Chen

January 7, 2025

G.P. Putnam's Sons

A tale of one couple across 60 years as world events pull them together and apart, illuminating the Chinese diaspora and exploring what it means to find home far from your homeland.

Buy

Taiwan Travelogue

A Novel

Yang Shuang-zi (tr. Lin King)

November 12, 2024

Graywolf Press

A bittersweet story of love between two women, nestled in an exploration of language, history and power.

Buy

Big Enough

Regina Linke

April 1, 2025

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

An illustrated picture book about a little boy who learns he is big enough to do big things.

Buy

The Party’s Interests Come First

The Life of Xi Zhongxun, Father of Xi Jinping

Joseph Torigian

June 3, 2025

Stanford University Press

A biography of Xi Zhongxun, father of Xi Jinping, and a sweeping story of the Chinese revolution and the first several decades of the People's Republic of China.

Buy

The Raider

The Untold Story of a Renegade Marine and the Birth of U.S. Special Forces in World War II

Stephen R. Platt

May 13, 2025

Knopf

The story of forgotten World War II hero Evans Carlson, commander of America's first special forces who dedicated his life to bridging the cultural divide between the U.S. and China.

Buy

Breaking the Engagement

How China Won & Lost America

David Shambaugh

June 12, 2025

Oxford University Press

An explanation of why U.S.-China engagement has declined, and why the two countries have seen a sharp increase in tensions.

Buy

Chinese Medicine for the Mind

A Science-Backed Guide to Improving Mental Health with Traditional Chinese Medicine

Nina Cheng

November 19, 2024

Fair Winds Press

An instructional text for utilizing traditional Chinese medicine for mental health benefits.

Buy

Voice for the Voiceless

Over Seven Decades of Struggle with China for My Land and My People

Dalai Lama

March 11, 2025

William Morrow

A personal story from the Dalai Lama of his struggle with China to save Tibet and its people.

Buy

Salt Sugar MSG

Recipes and Stories from a Cantonese American Home

Calvin Eng, Phoebe Melnick

March 18, 2025

Clarkson Potter

An introduction to Cantonese cooking from the chef behind the Brooklyn restaurant Bonnie's.

Buy

Breath of the Dragon

Breathmarked

Fonda Lee, Shannon Lee

January 7, 2025

Macmillan

A fantasy novel inspired by Bruce Lee.

Buy

Fetishized

A Reckoning with Yellow Fever, Feminism, and Beauty

Kaila Yu

August 19, 2025

Crown

A memoir-in-essays reckoning with being an object of Asian fetish and how media, pop culture and colonialism contributed to the oversexualization of Asian women.

Buy

The Original I Ching

A Landmark Translation of The Book of Changes Based on Recent Discoveries

Margaret J. Pearson

April 15, 2025

Tuttle Publishing

A new edition of the ancient Chinese Book of Changes, with explanations of social context.

Buy

September 2025 Bestsellers

Breakneck

China's Quest to Engineer the Future

Dan Wang

August 26, 2025

W.W. Norton & Company

A firsthand investigation of China's seismic progress, its human costs, and what it means for America.

Buy

168 Better Than Takeout Chinese Recipes

A Cookbook

Mandy Fu

October 9, 2024

Souped Up Recipes

A collection of Chinese recipes.

Buy

Apple in China

The Capture of the World's Greatest Company

Patrick McGee

May 13, 2025

Scribner

A look at how Apple helped build China's dominance in electronics assembly and manufacturing only to find itself trapped in a relationship with an authoritarian state.

Buy

Strangers in the Land

Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America

Michael Luo

April 29, 2025

Doubleday

A narrative history of the Chinese in America that traces the theme of exclusion and documents their more than century-long struggle to belong.

Buy

Red Tide

A Novel of the Next Pacific War

M.P. Woodward

September 23, 2025

Naval Institute Press

A novel imagining a future war between the U.S. and China driven by the need for semiconductor chip production in Taiwan.

Buy

The Beast in the Clouds

The Roosevelt Brothers' Deadly Quest to Find the Mythical Giant Panda

Nathalia Holt

July 1, 2025

Atria/One Signal Publishers

The story of Theodore Roosevelt's sons and their 1929 Himalayan expedition to prove the existence of the panda bear to the western world.

Buy

The Lotus Shoes

A Novel

Jane Yang

January 7, 2025

Park Row

A tale of two women from opposite sides of Chinese society and their extraordinary journey of sisterhood, betrayal, love and triumph.

Buy

House of Huawei

The Secret History of China's Most Powerful Company

Eva Dou

January 14, 2025

Portfolio

The untold story of Huawei, the mysterious company that shook the world.

Buy

Mahjong

House Rules from Across the Asian Diaspora

Nicole Wong

April 8, 2025

Hardie Grant Books

A look into the strategy, history and design of the game mahjong.

Buy

Daughters of the Bamboo Grove

From China to America, a True Story of Abduction, Adoption, and Separated Twins

Barbara Demick

May 20, 2025

Random House

A work of narrative nonfiction about twin sisters torn apart by China’s one-child policy and the rise of international adoption.

Buy

The Highest Exam

How the Gaokao Shapes China

Ruixue Jia, Hongbin Li, Claire Cousineau

September 9, 2025

Belknap Press

An account of how the gaokao, China's high-stakes college admissions test, shapes that society and influences education debates in the U.S.

Buy

Never Thought I’d End Up Here

Ann Liang

June 3, 2025

Scholastic Press

A children's novel about a girl who has been sent on a travel program across China to improve her Mandarin.

Buy

Seven Things You Can’t Say About China

Tom Cotton

February 18, 2025

Broadside Books

An exposé about the threat to American freedom.

Buy

Homeseeking

Karissa Chen

January 7, 2025

G.P. Putnam's Sons

A tale of one couple across 60 years as world events pull them together and apart, illuminating the Chinese diaspora and exploring what it means to find home far from your homeland.

Buy

Taiwan Travelogue

A Novel

Yang Shuang-zi (tr. Lin King)

November 12, 2024

Graywolf Press

A bittersweet story of love between two women, nestled in an exploration of language, history and power.

Buy

Eastward, Westward

A Life in Law

Jerome A. Cohen

March 4, 2025

Columbia University Press

A memoir from a lawyer who helped to shape East Asian law and U.S.-China legal relations.

Buy

Salt Sugar MSG

Recipes and Stories from a Cantonese American Home

Calvin Eng, Phoebe Melnick

March 18, 2025

Clarkson Potter

An introduction to Cantonese cooking from the chef behind the Brooklyn restaurant Bonnie's.

Buy

Chinese Medicine for the Mind

A Science-Backed Guide to Improving Mental Health with Traditional Chinese Medicine

Nina Cheng

November 19, 2024

Fair Winds Press

An instructional text for utilizing traditional Chinese medicine for mental health benefits.

Buy

The Fourth Daughter

A Novel

Lyn Liao Butler

August 1, 2025

A novel set in Taiwan about the bond between grandmother and granddaughter.

Buy

On Xi Jinping

How Xi's Marxist Nationalism is Shaping China and the World

Kevin Rudd

October 15, 2024

Oxford University Press

An analysis of how Xi Jinping's political philosophy, 'Marxist-Leninist nationalism,' differs from that of his predecessors and shapes modern China.

Buy

Voice for the Voiceless

Over Seven Decades of Struggle with China for My Land and My People

Dalai Lama

March 11, 2025

William Morrow

A personal story from the Dalai Lama of his struggle with China to save Tibet and its people.

Buy

The Raider

The Untold Story of a Renegade Marine and the Birth of U.S. Special Forces in World War II

Stephen R. Platt

May 13, 2025

Knopf

The story of forgotten World War II hero Evans Carlson, commander of America's first special forces who dedicated his life to bridging the cultural divide between the U.S. and China.

Buy

Easy Chinese Food Anyone Can Make

Emma Chung

August 12, 2025

Interlink Books

A cookbook of favorite Chinese dishes.

Buy

When Sleeping Women Wake

Emma Pei Yin

June 17, 2025

Ballantine Books

A novel about three women who are each forced on a journey of survival during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong in World War II.

Buy

Why Taiwan Matters

A Short History of a Small Island That Will Dictate Our Future

Kerry Brown

January 28, 2025

St. Martin's Press

An analysis of the history of Taiwan and the danger of a Chinese takeover.

Buy

August 2025 Bestsellers

Breakneck

China's Quest to Engineer the Future

Dan Wang

August 26, 2025

W.W. Norton & Company

A firsthand investigation of China's seismic progress, its human costs, and what it means for America.

Buy

168 Better Than Takeout Chinese Recipes

A Cookbook

Mandy Fu

October 9, 2024

Souped Up Recipes

A collection of Chinese recipes.

Buy

Apple in China

The Capture of the World's Greatest Company

Patrick McGee

May 13, 2025

Scribner

A look at how Apple helped build China's dominance in electronics assembly and manufacturing only to find itself trapped in a relationship with an authoritarian state.

Buy

Mahjong

House Rules from Across the Asian Diaspora

Nicole Wong

April 8, 2025

Hardie Grant Books

A look into the strategy, history and design of the game mahjong.

Buy

Strangers in the Land

Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America

Michael Luo

April 29, 2025

Doubleday

A narrative history of the Chinese in America that traces the theme of exclusion and documents their more than century-long struggle to belong.

Buy

House of Huawei

The Secret History of China's Most Powerful Company

Eva Dou

January 14, 2025

Portfolio

The untold story of Huawei, the mysterious company that shook the world.

Buy

The Beast in the Clouds

The Roosevelt Brothers' Deadly Quest to Find the Mythical Giant Panda

Nathalia Holt

July 1, 2025

Atria/One Signal Publishers

The story of Theodore Roosevelt's sons and their 1929 Himalayan expedition to prove the existence of the panda bear to the western world.

Buy

Daughters of the Bamboo Grove

From China to America, a True Story of Abduction, Adoption, and Separated Twins

Barbara Demick

May 20, 2025

Random House

A work of narrative nonfiction about twin sisters torn apart by China’s one-child policy and the rise of international adoption.

Buy

The Party’s Interests Come First

The Life of Xi Zhongxun, Father of Xi Jinping

Joseph Torigian

June 3, 2025

Stanford University Press

A biography of Xi Zhongxun, father of Xi Jinping, and a sweeping story of the Chinese revolution and the first several decades of the People's Republic of China.

Buy

Never Thought I’d End Up Here

Ann Liang

June 3, 2025

Scholastic Press

A children's novel about a girl who has been sent on a travel program across China to improve her Mandarin.

Buy

Seven Things You Can’t Say About China

Tom Cotton

February 18, 2025

Broadside Books

An exposé about the threat to American freedom.

Buy

Homeseeking

Karissa Chen

January 7, 2025

G.P. Putnam's Sons

A tale of one couple across 60 years as world events pull them together and apart, illuminating the Chinese diaspora and exploring what it means to find home far from your homeland.

Buy

The Fourth Daughter

A Novel

Lyn Liao Butler

August 1, 2025

A novel set in Taiwan about the bond between grandmother and granddaughter.

Buy

To Overthrow the World

The Rise and Fall and Rise of Communism

Sean McMeekin

September 10, 2024

Basic Books

A global history of Communism tracing its ascent from theory to practice, from Marx to Mao.

Buy

Plan Red

China's Plot to Destroy America

Gordon G. Chang

October 1, 2024

Humanix Books

An argument that China believes there is no place for the U.S. in the current international order.

Buy

Salt Sugar MSG

Recipes and Stories from a Cantonese American Home

Calvin Eng, Phoebe Melnick

March 18, 2025

Clarkson Potter

An introduction to Cantonese cooking from the chef behind the Brooklyn restaurant Bonnie's.

Buy

Voice for the Voiceless

Over Seven Decades of Struggle with China for My Land and My People

Dalai Lama

March 11, 2025

William Morrow

A personal story from the Dalai Lama of his struggle with China to save Tibet and its people.

Buy

Women, Seated

Zhang Yueran (tr. Jeremy Tiang)

August 12, 2025

Riverhead Books

A translated novel about the unravelling lives of a nanny and the family she works for following the downfall of its patriarch, a prominent Chinese politician.

Buy

The Lotus Shoes

A Novel

Jane Yang

January 7, 2025

Park Row

A tale of two women from opposite sides of Chinese society and their extraordinary journey of sisterhood, betrayal, love and triumph.

Buy

Institutional Genes

Origins of China's Institutions and Totalitarianism

Chenggang Xu

August 21, 2025

Cambridge University Press

An exploration of the origins and evolution of China's institutions and communist totalitarianism in general.

Buy

The Raider

The Untold Story of a Renegade Marine and the Birth of U.S. Special Forces in World War II

Stephen R. Platt

May 13, 2025

Knopf

The story of forgotten World War II hero Evans Carlson, commander of America's first special forces who dedicated his life to bridging the cultural divide between the U.S. and China.

Buy

The Eurasian Century

Hot Wars, Cold Wars, and the Making of the Modern World

Hal Brands

January 14, 2025

WW Norton

A framework for understanding the origins and stakes of global conflict with China, Russia, and Iran.

Buy

These Memories Do Not Belong to Us

Yiming Ma

August 12, 2025

Mariner Books

A novel set in a future where China is the global superpower and a new technology allows people to relive the life experiences of others.

Buy

Fetishized

A Reckoning with Yellow Fever, Feminism, and Beauty

Kaila Yu

August 19, 2025

Crown

A memoir-in-essays reckoning with being an object of Asian fetish and how media, pop culture and colonialism contributed to the oversexualization of Asian women.

Buy

Taiwan Travelogue

A Novel

Yang Shuang-zi (tr. Lin King)

November 12, 2024

Graywolf Press

A bittersweet story of love between two women, nestled in an exploration of language, history and power.

Buy

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Dec 16, 6:30-8pm Asia Society NYC

Shakespeare, Tyranny and China

What do King Lear, Mao Zedong and Donald Trump have in common? How tyrants exercise power was a question of pressing concern for William Shakespeare, and is no less so in our current age. Join us on December 16 at Asia Society in New York to hear literary scholar Nan Z. Da in conversation with Shakespeare expert Stephen Greenblatt, moderated by Orville Schell.