Join South of Seoul Volunteers in reading books! Let’s fall in love with Korean literature, discover more about the Korean experience, and dig deeper into immigrant life from different angles.
About the South of Seoul Virtual Book Club
Looking for book recommendations and a literature-loving community? Welcome to the South of Seoul book club. Our South of Seoul volunteers research, read, and recommend books for each month of the year.
Such reading picks may explore topics like 1) South Korean history or culture, 2) the complexity of cross-cultural life, 4) the exploration of life within the diaspora experience, and 5) the dynamic world of South Korean literature.
Conceptualize the South of Seoul Book Club list as a curated path for deeper insight into a culture and our lives here in South Korea. A way to dig into worlds you might not fully understand so you can feel more like a part of the world around you.
Reasons to Participate in the South of Seoul Book Club
Participating in the South of Seoul book club community may provide a variety of loose and variable personal and social benefits. For example, the benefits South of Seoul volunteers experience by sharing our reading lists in 2022 included:
- An accessible roadmap for building knowledge about Korean culture.
- Shared cultural knowledge for connecting more with South Korean friends.
- Shared cultural knowledge for connecting more with ex-pats from many backgrounds.
If you find these reasons valuable to your life, then dig into the following reading list with gusto.
South of Seoul Book Club List 2024
South of Seoul Book Club List 2023
Each month a volunteer will post their experiences reading the following books and how such books may or may not have impacted their lives. We would also love to hear your experiences and thoughts about the titles.
Leverage the South of Seoul Book Club in Your Life
If you want to use the South of Seoul Book Club in dynamic ways, try one of the following activities:
Pyeongtaek Silent Book Club
If you live in Pyeongtaek, South Korea you may even want to attend the Silent Book Club. In this unique group, you all get together to quietly read together. No need to talk if you don’t want to and each person reads a book of their choice. You can find their events listed on the South of Seoul Pyeongtaek Events Calendar.
Book Walks
Download your monthly read as an audiobook on your preferred platform and then go for a walk. Listening to a book about Korean life while exploring neighborhoods in your community can bring the book and the world around you to life. Don’t just sit at home and read, use the Book Club Picks to bring you out into the community.
Combining your book club walk with photography can also makes the experience next level. While walking and listening to the story, find what you connect with in the world around you and take a photo. Let yourself be free to see all the textures and colors.
In fact, you may discover that combining stories, art, and exercise creates a healing space for your mind and body to become safe and present in your community. Each walk weaves you into the world and makes it a home.
South of Seoul Book Club
South of Seoul volunteers take their book recommendations and book list reading seriously. In order to create a solid reading we use the following commitments as a rubric for our choices.
Commitment to Accessibility
South of Seoul volunteers take book accessibility into consideration when recommending titles. We consider:
- Purchasable in English In Korea: Many translated titles can’t actually be purchased in English in Korea. This usually means an online purchase as an e-book or audiobook. This does not mean available in Korean bookstores in English.
- Audio Version Available: Many people find audiobooks easier to consume.
- Online Versions.: International residents can’t afford to travel with many books and many books may not be available in digital form from within Korea.
Commitment to Diverse Lived Experiences
South of Seoul volunteers seek to put lived experiences at the forefront of their recommendation choices. When considering authors we look for such things as:
- Korean authors writing about their lived experiences in Korea.
- International residents writing about their lived experiences in South Korea.
- Ethnic Koreans writing about their lived experience in other countries.
Reading about Korean culture from a variety of perspectives may provide readers with a greater understanding of the country and culture.
Commitment to Supporting Mental Health
South of Seoul also includes book recommendations that support the lives and mental health of our community. This means that books may tackle the issues related to living between cultures. This may include topics such as culture shock, language, relationships, and more.
Leave Us Your Recommendations
Do you have a book to recommend for our Book Club Reading List? Feel free to message us your commendations or leave them in the comments.
Founded in 2015, the South of Seoul team consists of volunteers on three continents working together to support English-speaking people traveling or living in South Korea. South of Seoul volunteers work with organizations and individuals across South Korea to improve equitable access to information across South Korea. Much of South of Seoul’s information focuses on Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.
Blogs published under the authorship of “South of Seoul” include blogs compiled by multiple volunteers to improve access to standardized information unrelated to individualized personal experiences.
