Hwang Bo-reum "Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop"

08 Jul, 2025

"Reading makes you deviate further from the textbook definition of success because books don't make us go ahead of or above anyone else; they guide us to stand alongside others.

YJ: I like that line - to stand alongside others.

AR: We become successful in other ways.

Y: How so?

AR: We become more compassionate. To read is to see things from someone else's perspective, and that naturally leads you to stop and look out for other people, rather than chase after success in the rat race. If more people read, I think the world would become a better place."

Oh, how I fell in love with this book! It’s a slice-of-life story, but filled with such deep reflections and conversations - the kind that usually only happen on the pages of books or quietly in our own minds.

It raises so many timely questions:

• What is work, and should it really consume our whole lives?
• How do you figure out what you truly want - not what society expects from you?
• How do you stop blaming yourself and start accepting your feelings and decisions, even if they might hurt someone else?
• What’s the point of striving and searching for meaning when “we live only because we were born”?

And, of course - Why do we read books at all?

This book pulled on every string of my heart. I think it will become a permanent fixture on my shelf, something I’ll come back to again and again. All the characters feel so real - with doubts and struggles that are so easy to relate to, as they try to grow and figure out how to live a little happier.

The story centers on the life around a newly opened indie bookstore and the people around it:

• Yeongju, the owner, who is rebuilding her life after quitting her job (quitting soul-crushing work seems to be a golden theme in overworked East Asia) and going through a divorce;
• Minjun, her barista, a former model student who never landed a job after graduation;
• Joonsu, who quit her job due to injustice and now spends her time crafting and meditating;
• and Jimi, the coffee roaster who clearly needs to leave her unhappy marriage;

and the regulars - book club members and local writers - who bring their own stories into the shop.

There’s no tangled plot or dramatic twists here - just a quiet, tender story about people who are tired of living up to someone else’s expectations.

Another thing I loved - the author doesn’t dwell too much on describing the characters’ appearances. I get the sense this is intentional, to give readers the freedom to imagine everyone in their own way, focusing more on what the characters feel and think than how they look.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who sometimes feels like something’s missing in life, who realizes they haven’t had an honest conversation with themselves in a while, or who simply misses meaningful, soul-stirring discussions. You might not find all the answers in The Hyunam-dong Bookshop, but I promise - you’ll walk away with some of the right questions.

Two more quotes that hit home:

"You could be unhappy doing something you liked, just as it was possible to do what you didn't like but derive happiness from something entirely different. Life is mysterious and complex. Work plays an important role in life, but it isn't solely responsible for our happiness or misery."

"Sometimes, it's the environment that's more important. If you're in an ill-suited environment, what you enjoy can become something you want to give up. What I'm saying is, not everyone fits into the mould of finding happiness just by discovering what they like. That's too simplified, not to mention naive?"

Extra info: The book also won the Japan Booksellers’ Award (translation category) in late 2024.