Every Day I Read, by Hwang Bo-Reum

 

Every Day I Read / Hwang Bo-Reum
trans. from the Korean by Shanna Tan
London: Bloomsbury, 2025, c2021
240 p.

This is a beautiful book on reading, by a Korean writer. It is a series of small essays on a wide variety of topics related to reading - choosing books, paying attention, finding time to read and so on. The chapter headings are like prompts that she starts from, writing a short essay on each -- some more effective than others, but I enjoyed them.

I really liked this. It felt really simple but her love of the act of reading came through. It would be a great choice to read as a group project: there are 53 chapters, so you could read the intro and then read one a week for an entire year. I would do this as a reread! I'd love to hear people's individual responses on each theme in the book. 

I found it engaging, even with the sometimes overly serious statements about reading hard, important books. The author is just 30, and most of us who read regularly will have thoughts about these issues. The short chapters were perfect for listening to as an audiobook, which I did, although I want to reread it in book format as well, to go over the chapters a little more slowly. I felt like I was listening to a fellow reader who was reaffirming the joys of a reading life - nothing new but lots to nod along to, and nice to hear the thoughts of someone who was deliberately investigating their own reading life. There are also reading suggestions sprinkled throughout, but some of them aren't available in English so you'll have to pick and choose there!

It's light but satisfying. I would suggest it, when you are in just the right mood for some reading about reading.