These are books I have read that are either by western authors who know China and who have set their books in China or some ex-pat Chinese who now write in English, or they are books written by Chinese authors whose work has been translated into English.
The section on fiction is not absolutely up-to-date; I have far more books than I have listed as yet, but I hope to catch up soon (although doing that would leave me less time for reading!!).
Books listed are arranged in alphabetic order by author surname, in the case of Chinese authors, the surname usually comes before the personal name.
FICTION SET IN CHINA
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
Silhouettes of Peking by D. de Martel and L. de Hoyer
The Year of the Goose by Carly J. Hallman
The Chinese Alchemist by Lyn Hamilton (crime)
Passing Under Heaven by Justin Hill
A Most Immoral Woman by Linda Jaivin
The Dim Sum of All Things by Kim Wong Keltner
Bad Traffic by Simon Lewis (thriller)
Gold Boy, Emerald Girl by Yiyun Li (short stories)
The Dog – Stories by Jack Livings (short stories)
Excess Baggage by Karen Ma
The Man from Beijing by Henning Mankell (crime)
Firemaker by Peter May (crime)
An Insular Possession by Timothy Mo
A Cup of Light by Nicole Mones
The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones
Missee Lee by Arthur Ransome
The Pool of Unease by Catherine Sampson (crime)
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
Something Like a House by Sid Smith
The People’s Republic of Desire by Annie Wang
The Eye of Jade by Diane Wei Liang (crime)
Paper Butterfly by Diane Wei Liang (crime)
The Chinese Bell Murders by Robert Van Gulik
The Chinese Lake Murders by Robert Van Gulik
The Maker of Heavenly Trousers by Daniele Varè
The Gate of Happy Sparrows by Daniele Varè
The Temple of Costly Experience by Daniel Varè
The Dragon’s Tale by Adam Williams
The Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai by Ruiyan Xu
CHINESE FICTION (translated into English)
Under the Hawthorn Tree by Ai Mi
The Fat Years by Chan Koonchung (thriller)
Balzac & The Little Chinese Seamstress by Da Sijie
The Flowers of War by Geling Yan
The Uninvited by Geling Yan (also published as The Banquet Bug)
Village of Stone by Guo Xiaolu
A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Guo Xiaolu
Waiting by Ha Jin
The Bridegroom by Ha Jin
Black Holes by He Jiahong (crime)
Hanging Devils by He Jiahong (crime)
K: The Art of Love by Hong Ying
Rickshaw Boy by Lao She
Empress Orchid by Anchee Min
The Garlic Ballads by Mo Yan
Leave Me Alone – a novel of Chengdu by Murong Xuecun
Red is Black by Qiu Xiaolong (crime)
Death of a Red Heroine by Qiu Xiaolong (crime)
A Case of Two Cities by Qiu Xiaolong (crime)
A Loyal Character Dancer by Qiu Xiaolong (crime)
Don’t Cry, Tai Lake by Qiu Xiaolong (crime)
Northern Girls by Sheng Keyi
The Boat to Redemption by Su Tong
Madwoman on the Bridge by Su Tong (short stories)
Miss Chopsticks by Xinran Xue
Feathered Serpent by Xu Xiaobin
The Vagrants by Yiyun Li
Brothers by Yu Hua
To Live by Yu Hua
English by Wang Gang
When Playing for Thrills by Wang Shuo
The Civil Servant’s Notebook by Wang Xiaofang
The Ancient Ship by Zhang Wei
Grass Soup by Zhang Xianliang
Shanghai Baby by Zhou Wei Hui
The Picador Book of Contemporary Chinese Fiction
NON FICTION BOOKS – CHINA RELATED
Memoirs:
Wild Swans by Jung Chang
Life & Death in Shanghai by Nien Cheng
Four Sisters of Hofei by Anping Chin
China to Me by Emily Hahn
River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler
Kosher Chinese – Living, Teaching and Eating with China’s Other Billion by Michael Levy
A Chinese Life by Li Kunwu (Graphic memoir)
Maiden Voyage by Denton Welch
Falling Leaves: the Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter by Adeline YenMah
Socialism is Great! by Zhang Lijia
The Diary of Ma Yan: the life of a Chinese schoolgirl
Biographies: [subject’s name in brackets]
Mao: the unknown story by Jung Chang [Mao Ze Deng]
The Corpse Walker: Real-Life Stories, China from the Bottom Up by Liao Yiwu
Confucius And the World he Created by Michael Schuman [Confucius]
Burying the Bones by Hilary Spurling [Pearl S. Buck]
The Soong Dynasty by Sterling Segrave [The [three Soong sisters: Ai-ling, Mei-ling & Ching-ling]
Bomb, Book & Compass by Simon Winchester [Joseph Needham] title in the USA: The Man Who Loved China
History & Sociology:
Nineteen Seventy-Six by Ragnar Baldursson
The Mummies of Urumqi by Elizabeth Wayland Barber
The China Mirage – the Hidden History of American Disaster in Asia by James Bradley
A Choice of Evils by Meira Chand
Factory Girls by Leslie T.Chang
Two Years in the Forbidden City by Princess Der Ling
Mao’s Great Famine by Frank Dikotter
The Yellow Peril : Dr Fu Manchu & the Rise of Chinaphobia by Christopher Frayling
The Dynasties of China by Bamber Gascoigne
Women at the Siege: Peking 1900 by Susanna Hoe
Foreign Devils on the Silk Road by Peter Hopkirk
What Does China Think? by Mark Leonard
The Corpse Walker by Liao Yiwu
The Wisdom of China by Lin Yutang
The Opium War by Julia Lovell
The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers by Richard McGregor
China’s Urban Billion by Tom Miller
Chinese Characteristics by Arthur Henderson Smith
The Long March by Sun Shuyun
The Search for Modern China by Jonathan D. Spence
Wild West China: The Taming of Xinjiang by Christian Tyler
Life along the Silk Road by Susan Whitfield
Did Marco Polo Go to China? by Frances Wood
Buy Me the Sky – the Remarkable Truth about China’s One-Child Generations by Xinran Xue
The Good Women of China by Xinran Xue
What the Chinese Don’t Eat by Xinran Xue
China Witness: Voices from a Silent Generation by Xinran Xue
Chinese Poetry:
Three Hundred Tang Poems – Everyman Library; translated and edited by Peter Harris
I Too am Salammbo by Hong Ying
Chinese Art & Culture:
Chinese Gods by Jonathan Chamberlain
Chinese Folk Customs by Fang Huawen
Paint by Numbers: China’s Art Factory from Mao to Now by Claire van den Heever
Chinese Symbolism and Art Motifs by C.A.S. Williams
Travel:
Country Driving by Peter Hessler
A Bend in the Yellow River by Justin HillC
In Manchuria – A Village Called Wasteland and the Transformation of Rural China by Michael Meyer
From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang & Tibet by Vikram Seth
Ten Thousand Miles Without a Cloud by Sun Shuyun
Teaching Little Fang by Mark Swallow
Riding the Iron Rooster: By Train through China by Paul Theroux
Behind the Wall: Journey Through China by Colin Thubron
Maiden Voyage by Denton Welch
Slow Boats to China by Gavin Young
Tao te Ching: an Illustrated Journey by Lao Ze
Horticulture:
The Chinese Garden by Maggie Keswick
The Garden Plants of China by Peter Valder
Food and Drink:
To The People, Food is Heaven by Audra Ang
Musings of a Chinese Gourmet by F.T.Cheng
A Cook’s Guide to Chinese Vegetables by Martha Dahlen
Chinese Culinary Culture by Du Fuxiang & Li Xiaoqing
Every Grain of Rice – Simple Chinese Home Cooking by Fuchia Dunlop
Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook: Recipes from Hunan Province by Fuchia Dunlop
Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Peppers: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China by Fuchsia Dunlop
The Art of Tea in China by Guo Danying & Wang Jianrong
Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through China by Jen Lin-Liu
A Decent Bottle of Wine in China by Chris Ruffle
Baijiu: the Essential Guide to Chinese Spirits by Derek Sandhaus
The Food of China by Nina Simonds
Chinese Cuisine – Recipes and Their Stories by Zhang Enlai
Religion:
Chinese Gods by Jonathan Chamberlain
The Kuan Yin Chronicles by Martin Palmer and Jay Ramsay with Man-Ho Kwock
Sport and Leisure:
The Book of Mahjong by Amy Lo
Bamboo Goalposts by Rowan Simons
The Red Dragon & The West Wind [mahjong] by Tom Sloper
The Forbidden Game: Golf and The Chinese Dream by Dan Washburn
Chinese Language:
Niubi! The Real Chinese You Were Never Taught in School by Eveline Chao
Dirty Chinese: Everyday slang from “what’s up?” to “F*%# Off” by Matt Coleman and Edmund Backhouse
Beijing:
City of Heavenly Tranquillity by Jasper Becker
The Last Days of Old Beijing by Michael Meyer
Reference:
State of China (Atlas) by Stephanie Donald
ABC Dictionary of Chinese Proverbs by John S. Rohsenow
JASMINE TEA & JIAOZI 
Hi, just want to let you know that I enjoyed reading your blog. I’m impressed by your dedication in learning about China and sharing your experience with insightful observations. Thank you for the list of books – it’s a useful reference.
I really enjoyed the tribute to your Father on the Royal Bombay Sappers site. My late father was also an acting Major with the Sappers through to Partition. He was London born, top in science at Alleyns school and commissioned at Aldershot in September 1941. He was in Bombay at the time of the harbour explosion. In the Anderman Islands he constructed a POW camp for several thousand Japanese…..they just fenced of part an an island. After the war be returned to London but his old stomping ground had been flattened so he returned to India for Partition. He then came to New Zealand after which family got in the way of further education.
As your Parents were architects they should have been well aware of the Scottish painter, David Roberts R.A. 1796 – 1864, as be was one of the best Topographical artists. As you are an avid reader, try Catherine Sim’s biography on Roberts. What interests me is that his oldest grandson, Henry David Bicknell, came to New Zealand as a commissioned office.b He left Portsmouth in April 1863, the same month his family sold 1100 art works through Christies. I believe he took with him a least 3 art works, a David Roberts, a Edwin Landseer and one other.
Being in Wanganui, New Zealand, it is difficult doing the ground work research. Are you able to help?