Hwang Bo-reum's first essay collection arrives in English as her bestselling novel surpasses 1 million copies sold worldwide
News of declining reading rates among adults makes headlines every now and then. In March, the annual reading rate among South Korean adults stood at just 38.5 percent, meaning more than 6 in 10 had not read a single book in the previous year.
Amid this rather gloomy picture is one writer who loves books so much that she wrote a book about reading itself: Hwang Bo-reum, author of the international bestseller "Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop."
Hwang's first book, "Every Day I Read," was an essay collection born entirely out of her love of reading. Published in 2017, before "Hyunam-dong Bookshop," it is a collection of 53 ways to get closer to books, bringing together her reading tips and reflections on the pleasures of reading.
The book is now available in English from Bloomsbury, translated by Shanna Tan.
"When I was writing this book, I had a Post-it note stuck to my monitor that read, 'How to Get Closer to Books,'" Hwang recalled in a recent interview with The Korea Herald. It was the book's working title, as well as a question she had been asking herself: How could she deepen her relationship with reading?
The question opened up a series of others: Should someone who has not read in a long time start with a bestseller? Is it alright to put down a book halfway through if they are not enjoying it? Can reading offer answers to life's worries? If someone is too busy to read, will setting a timer help them focus?
Hwang offers thoughtful, sincere answers to all these questions. Yes, yes, yes and yes!
And for those who want to get back into reading but struggle to find the time, Hwang has one particularly strong recommendation: Read in small pockets.
"People often tell me they want to read but can't find the time or the mental space for it," Hwang said. "I suggest starting with just 10 minutes a day. You don't have to set aside time deliberately; just open a book before bed or while waiting for the subway or a friend. Those few minutes will add up and eventually lead you to the last page of a book."
Nearly a decade after writing the collection, Hwang said her own reading habits have evolved, particularly in how she connects with other readers.
She had long been part of in-person book clubs, regularly meeting friends to read and discuss books or joining monthly novel discussions at neighborhood bookstores. But after moving away from Seoul, it became difficult to keep those gatherings going. In recent years, she has turned to online reading groups, including monthly Zoom meetings devoted to discussing novels.
"There are considerable benefits to reading together. A sentence or an episode that might pass one reader by can leave a deep impression on someone else," she said.
"Book clubs can also give you the motivation to finish a book you might otherwise have given up on — or never picked up in the first place. Sometimes, your entire impression of a book can change after discussing it with others," she said. "Give it a try."
Beyond individual reading habits, Hwang believes the best way to encourage a broader reading culture is to make books more visible in everyday life.
"We tend to open our hearts more easily to things we encounter often and grow familiar with," she said. "If books were a more visible part of everyday life, even people who hadn't read a single book in a year might become curious enough to pick one up."
"If books were a more visible part of everyday life, even people who hadn't read a single book in a year might become curious enough to pick one up."
From 3 copies to 1 million
When Hwang finished writing "Hyunam-dong Bookshop," she did not dare dream of publishing it, let alone seeing it read by more than a million people around the world.
The 2022 novel recently surpassed 1 million copies in cumulative worldwide sales, a milestone its author is still trying to take in.
"I couldn't have imagined this when I was writing it," Hwang said at a press conference in October. "At some point, I started putting some distance between myself and the success. Rather than thinking of it as something happening to me, I try to think of it as something happening to the book."
According to its Korean publisher, Clayhouse, the novel has sold approximately 1.1 million copies in more than 50 countries, with editions in 35 languages. The Korean and English editions have each sold more than 300,000 copies, while the Turkish edition has surpassed 200,000. The actual total is likely higher, as figures from several markets have yet to be fully reported.
"What makes this particularly meaningful is that the novel has found readers across the world without being concentrated in any particular country or language," Youn Seng-hun, head of Clayhouse, said.
The English edition and the novel's first-place win in the translated fiction category of the 2024 Japan Booksellers' Award helped propel its overseas success.
The novel follows Yeong-ju, a woman who, exhausted by work, opens a small independent bookstore in a Seoul neighborhood. There, she meets people who gradually form connections over books, coffee and conversation, finding new ways to look at their lives.
In many ways, the story was also a self-comfort for Hwang, who was navigating an uncertain path of her own while she was writing it. A computer science graduate and former software developer at LG Electronics, she left her job to become a full-time writer. She had published three essay collections but remained, by her own account, an unknown writer.
"My life might have looked like a failure — an unemployed person writing without earning any money. But I liked that period of my life, when all I did was read and write."
"My life might have looked like a failure — an unemployed person writing without earning any money. But I liked that period of my life, when all I did was read and write."
"Hyunam-dong Bookshop" grew out of that time. Hwang kept the manuscript on her laptop for more than a year before printing three copies for family and friends. It remained unpublished for another year or two, until she came across an open e-book contest. She submitted the manuscript, and the opportunity eventually led her to Clayhouse.
Many have since written to her to say the book made them feel comforted or gave them new strength. Hwang did not set out to write what is now called healing fiction, but she sees value in the label: It helps readers looking for reassurance find the novel.
The book's success has brought pressure as she moves on to new work. But her second novel, "My Upstairs Neighbors," published in June, has already sold translation rights in 15 countries. The story follows a man in his 70s who approaches the couple living upstairs with a plan to address Korea's low birth rate.
"I wondered whether I could give readers that same emotional experience again," she said. "But I felt that if I kept worrying about it, I might not be able to write at all. So I returned to the mindset I had when writing 'Hyunam-dong Bookshop': I would write the story I wanted to read. I wanted to write freely."
hwangdh@heraldcorp.com
