A warm, slice-of-life, found family story set in Seoul about a bookstore finding its place in the neighborhood and becoming a haven for the people who frequent it. This was such a charming and thought-provoking read and a must for all book lovers – which is basically all of us, right??

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Women in Translation

While I didn't dislike this novel in any way, it wasn't until the 80% mark that I couldn't put it down. This is listed as a cozy, which is fine, but it is in this very late 1/5 of the book where we delve deep into why Yeongju is the way she is. I'm glad they didn't give (view spoiler) its usual stigma, especially in this area of the world.

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing

This is a really warm and comforting book that reads like a balm to your soul. As a reader and someone who loves going to the bookstore, I am living vicariously through Yeongju and her bookshop. It was very relaxing and comforting, but I also love how it doesn’t only talk about the good things but also the hard, boring, mundane things. This book has multiple cast of characters who came into the bookstore. All of them are in a different point in their life but have the same question: to move forward with what’s expected of them, or to forge their own path? It’s also nice how we don’t get a lot of background of the characters, as if their past doesn’t matter but at this point what matters in the present and future. While it’s comforting to see the characters move forward step by step, it can feel a bit dry (since there’s no tension/conflict) and preachy especially around the middle point.

This is another one of those gentle little books that allow you a literary escape. You can visit a quiet bookstore with a group of regulars who have made a second home here and with an owner who is being true to herself while trying to make a success of her business. Also there's a coffee kiosk with a guy who has found his calling in the Zen of making the best coffee he can.

I used to work in a bookstore myself and the author gets a lot of things right about it. How do you recommend a book to a customer? Not by telling them your favorite books but by asking them about theirs. How do you draw in more customers? By hosting author readings, writing workshops, and relentlessly promoting on social media. The only thing I had a qualm about was the owner deciding not to carry bestsellers if she didn't like them herself. That won't help your business even if you are being true to yourself.

Basically it's a book about a pleasant space (the attention to proper lighting was interesting), nice people and how to consider what truly pleases you.

I absolutely love this, this book it's like a warm hug for you, if you are a book lover you will definitely love this!

Beautiful book. Yeongju. A young Korean woman, decides to change her life. She gives up her previous life and opens a bookstore.

Though nothing momentous or dramatic happens in this quiet story centred on a bookshop, this is a wonderfully calming and heartwarming story.

Yeong-ju, after a life spent doing everything she was supposed to do (university, marriage, good job), finds herself at a crossroad. She's burned out, not finding herself satisfied, so she leaves it all behind her to make her dream of owning a bookshop a reality.

In a quiet neighbourhood, Yeong-ju sets up her shop, and at first, things are sedate. She spends all her day reading and crying, and there are few customers. When she decides to also serve coffee, a young man, also at loose ends, becomes the barista. Eager to learn to make quality coffee, he gets to know an unhappily married coffee roaster nearby.

Gradually, the clientele expands, and Yeong-ju figures out new ways to attract customers (run a book club, invite authors to speak, etc.) and she meets an author whose work intrigues her and who finds her intriguing in turn.

I love bookstores, so a book about setting up a bookstore and figuring out ways to keep it running was interesting. Yeong-ju and her personal struggles touched me. She makes mistakes but she is always eager to learn, and to find better but realistic ways to keep her dream alive.

Everyone who enters the bookshop's orbit has their own issues; they are all trying to find something to fill their lives, whether a purpose, a fulfilling relationship, or expanding one's mental horizons. Through their connections at the bookshop, they all begin making small changes in their lives, and are well characterized as they struggle forwards against the usual narrative of get a good job and get married. Their progress felt real and where they end up by the book's end was satisfying.

The writing was incredible at evoking the emotions of the characters, as well as the scent of the superior coffee served at the bookshop.

The slow, meditative pacing totally worked for me, as well as the wonderful relationships cultivated over the course of this soothing, and sometimes sweet, story.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Bloomsbury USA for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop can be categorized as a cozy slice of life type of book. If you are a fan of books like Before The Coffee Gets Cold, then you will probably like this one.

There is not alot of that happens plot wise and I struggled to be motivated to read the story. This was especially true in the first half of the book as Yeongju is establishing the new bookshop and customers slowly become regular patrons. As these characters are introduced, their backgrounds are slowly revealed and relationships between the characters begin to unfold. This development is what I liked most about the book. The cast of characters begin as complete strangers but then as they get to know each other, sweet bonds and friendships are built.

Despite the difficulty I had with the pacing, there were many moments that contemplated about topics that were relevant to me (and mostly like many other readers) such as workplace culture, mental health, and happiness and passion in life. As I read, I kept thinking that what these characters are feeling is exactly how I feel. They just felt like moments of epiphany that I had to stop and think about in terms of my own life.

I would recommend Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop who are looking for a thoughtful, slow-paced book about friends in a bookshop. If you've read this book, I would love to hear your thoughts on it!

This book was a big ol' hug and a quiet conversation about learning what you want out of life...being afraid to want something different and doing it anyway despite the objections of others....this is about finding pockets of joy and making them encompass your whole life...This gave me similar heart vibes to Legends & Lattes (without any fantasy elements).

I picked this up because my dream, like so many others is to drop everything and open your own bookstore. The cover was what caught my eye so I was happy to be able to read it. To me the book is about finding your way and also about finding acceptance. Everyone has a past, but sometimes we want to forgot what happened and just move on. Sadly it is never really that easy, sometimes we have to work through those times to come out better on the other side.

This is a feel good book, but I did find sometimes that things were too easy. Everything Yeongju wanted, she got, but for me I was hoping for a bit more in the way of challenges. It didn't feel like real life because, again she got everything she could have. I do however like the other characters: her lonely employee who works at the coffee shop and the unhappy married coffee roaster. We meet characters who you would like see in a book shop and learn that books really do have the power to heal.

Overall, it was a great book, very easy to read if you are looking for something like but still meaningful

There were a lot of aspects of Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop that I really enjoyed. I appreciated the cozy bookshop vibes, the examination of burnout and existential work angst, and the relationships formed between characters. Thematically, it reminded me a bit of A Psalm for the Wild Built, one of my favorite recent reads.

Unfortunately, I found the translation (from Korean to English) to be a little clunky. There were certain phrases and exchanges that seemed to lose their meaning, and/or the translation felt awkward. Overall, though, I enjoyed the book and would love to read more works by this author.

The coziest, kindest of reads. I can see why it was so big on original release. Every page felt thoughtful, each chapter like a string of short stories held together by the bookshop and the community surrounding it. I’ve got such an affection for our main character Yeongju, her grief and growth was a lovely experience to read.

Kdrama recs based off this are My Liberation Notes and Summer Strike.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher for my arc!

I absolutely adored this, i love translated work and this was no different. Such a cozy read that i couldn't put down.

First of all, if a book title has the word bookshop in it, I am in! And, this time, I am so glad that I was. This is a lovely book that has been translated from the Korean. It is thoughtful and delightful.

Many know what it is like to think that they were on a path that turned out to not be the right/best one for them. This is what happened to the book's protagonist who now runs a bookshop. The shop, the protagonist, the characters all are fully realized in this book about connections and life choices.

Anyone who enjoyed books like Until the Coffee Gets Cold or Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, here is your next read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA for this title. All opinions are my own.

Yeongju leads a relatable life, one of burnout. She has an epiphany about her anxiety-inducing corporate job and her marriage without affection. After quitting her job and divorcing her husband, Yeongju decides to pursue her childhood dream of opening a bookshop and settles on the Hyunam-dong neighborhood. We follow Yeongju and the bookshop regulars through every day happenings, including hosting bookclubs and seminars, roasting coffee and serving it at the bookshop, and even knitting decorations for the bookshop, in an attempt to create a communal space filled with the companionship and escape that books provide to us all. This is a slow-paced introspective read, with a protagonist who encourages the reader to have courage to start a new chapter and rewrite their ending. Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced readers copy of Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop.

Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop is a warm and compassionately written slice-of-life love letter to booktores and literature written by Hwang Bo-Reum. Written in Korean and released in 2022, this English Language translation from Bloomsbury is 320 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.

This is such an appealing and inviting book. MC Yeongju is burnt out and sheds her old life and searches for new meaning and seeks to build a more contemplative life as a bookseller in a residential neighborhood outside the metro area. It's touching and fulfilling to see her build herself back up book by book.

This is 100% character driven; there's not a plot with a beginning-middle-end. As such, western readers might find the pacing unusually slow and meandering. There isn't a clear denouement, it's a series of small daily vignettes.

The translation work by Shanna Tan is seamless, and it doesn't read as if it were translated (except that the pacing and vibe are definitely not western in style or feel).

Four stars. A contemplative read.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

hmmm noope i'm sorry but after trying to around read 30% of this book, I realized that I didn't care about the characters or the story at all. just a persona preference, I suppose.

I want to thank Net Galley for giving me this book and apologize for not getting it read before publication. I suck. This book, does not suck. It is not really a novel as much as it is a series of stories about people in a book store who sit, think big thoughts, and talk. Nothing happens but everyone changes. I am here for it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book quite a lot. The translation felt very smooth and natural. This is a slice-of-life, slow-moving story about a woman who owns a bookshop. I enjoyed the slow pace, and this book was different from what I normally read. It also talks about some hard topics with care and grace and doesn't shy away from them. All in all, an enjoyable read.