Books for Fans of Crazy Rich Asians

Whether you read the book or saw the movie, you know Crazy Rich Asians is a dramatic feast for the senses. After dating for two years, Nick asks Rachel to join him in Singapore for his best friend's wedding. He introduces her to his "traditional" Chinese family, but Rachel experiences the shock of a lifetime when she discovers that down-to-earth Nick is crazy rich and one of Asia's most eligible bachelors. Told from many different perspectives, Kevin Kwan's bestselling first novel is dramatic, romantic and full of restaurant criticisms. This book is fabulous, lah!

Looking for what to read next? Of course, there's the rest of Kwan's trilogy: China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems.

Then try one of these books with a common theme.

Set largely in 1950s Manila, Dogeaters by Jessica Hagedorn also features themes surrounding power and wealth as well as a main character who grows up abroad but longs for the experiences she had as a youth in the Philippines.

Want to live vicariously through the rich and scandalous? Try Jackie Collins' Lovers & Players, set in New York. 

If you enjoyed all of the judging aunties and their criticisms of Rachel, you might like The First Lady by Carl Weber. 

If the compelling romantic relationship between Nick's cousin Astrid Leong and her husband, Michael Teo, kept you turning the pages, check out Jeffrey Eugenides' 2011 work of literary fiction, The Marriage Plot, which explores the relationship between fundamentally different Madeleine Hanna and Leonard Bankhead.

Maybe the descriptions of beautiful clothes drew you in? Rebecca's friend from Stanford, Peik Lin, is a fashionista who would likely get along with Confessions of A Shopaholic protagonist Becky Bloomwood.

Did you find yourself strongly empathizing with Eleanor Sung? The quote "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way" derives from Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina.

Do you love books that are high drama? Have any other books to recommend? Let us know in the comments!