Books & Boba discussion

Happy Leap Year! For the month of March, we will be reading Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum and translated by Shanna Tan. Published originally in Korean, the book follows Yeonju who is burnt out. With her high-flying career, demanding marriage, and busy life in Seoul, she knows she should feel successful, but all she feels is drained. Yet an abandoned dream nags at her, and in a leap of faith, she leaves her old life behind. Quitting her job and divorcing her husband, Yeongju moves to a small residential neighborhood outside the city, where she opens the Hyunam-dong Bookshop.

I read an ARC so I’m mainly going on my notes and my memory of this one. I liked it overall, it was a fairly undemanding, gentle read but could be quite thoughtful too. I liked the bookshop setting and enjoyed the numerous references to specific books, authors, and reading in general. The slice-of-life narrative and the emphasis on found family/community, the importance of finding your own space/ following your dream, reminded me a little of favourite K-dramas like ‘Would You Like a Cup of Coffee?’ I did wonder if the character of Minjun was partly inspired by that – I’m not sure which came first.

As a story I found it a little sentimental but it also worked well in terms of raising questions about social/cultural expectations and their impact on individuals in South Korea: the pressure to work somewhere prestigious, tick the right boxes in terms of marriage etc Ideas about what is/isn’t the right way to live. There’s a piece in today’s Korea Herald that touches on similar issues especially the practice of being compared or comparing yourself to others – the mom’s friend’s son (eomchina) syndrome. Yeon-ju works well as a depiction of a woman who’s trying to walk away from all that. I thought the characters of Mincheol and his mother were also effective in highlighting the potential destructiveness of wider social expectations, particularly Mincheol who appears to be burnt-out even though he’s still in his teens. Obviously, they’re not issues confined to Korea!

I believe in placing a bunch of holds at the library with the hope that the perfect book will become available at the right time to help me face what life is throwing at me at the moment. This was the perfect book for this moment in my life.

Welcome to Hyunam-Dong Bookshop is a sweet slice of life story about a bookstore owner and the various characters that visit. I was not expecting to find similarities between my life as a consultant and that of a contract worker, nevertheless characters that exist in a different country than my own. This was a lovely story to read, to savor, and to reflect. I'm parting from this story with a sense that I am moving in the right direction in life, even if it doesn't always feel that way.

Nina wrote: "I believe in placing a bunch of holds at the library with the hope that the perfect book will become available at the right time to help me face what life is throwing at me at the moment. This was ..."

Some books really are about timing. I'm happy that this book gave you some respite and time to reflect.

I’ve recommended this one to others as it is one of those stories that is very comforting and warm.

Loved this book. I gave it to a friend and he loved it too. It’s full of supportive advice and kind “found family” situations.