Korean author Hwang Bo-reum and Singaporean translator Shanna Tan build on the success of their bestselling Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop with Every Day I Read: 53 Ways to Get Closer to Books, an inviting, encouraging essay collection celebrating the power of books to affect and improve everyday living.
Presented in 53 succinct, two- to four-page chatty chapters, Every Day I Read begins by gently suggesting easily accessible titles--in the first chapter, "Read Bestsellers," Hwang recommends such books for their popular appeal--then nudges readers to "read beyond bestsellers" in chapter two, once individual tastes emerge. Underline and annotate. Carry a book everywhere for those "pockets of free time." Forget the Internet: "The more we read, the better we will be able to focus." That said, social media can be a great source for book news and book recommendations, although independent bookshops provide the human touch. Yes, Hwang posits, physical books are better than e-books. Fiction may be "fake," but she writes, "When I read novels, it's as if I'm looking at my own life through the fictional characters." Reading poetry is permission to simply feel. It's okay to read more than one book at a time, and it's okay to not finish (that just means more time for the next, more interesting read).
Hwang organically reveals the impressive breadth of her own reading (Aristotle, Leo Tolstoy, Hannah Arendt, Susan Sontag, Haruki Murakami, and multiple Korean writers)--a reason for keeping a reading list and collecting quotations. Discussions matter: "Reading with friends brings more joy than reading alone." Just asking "What have you been reading?" can open "a doorway to self-reflection that's hidden inside us," Hwang asserts. --Terry Hong