A former office worker opens a bookshop in the hopes of building an idyllic work environment.

When Yeongju opens her bookshop on a seeming whim, she is sure that it will be out of business in two years. At least, that’s what she tells her only employee, Minjun, upon hiring him as a barista. Still, while Yeongju lacks know-how in the bookshop business and Minjun hasn’t ever kept a job for more than six months, both are similar in their jaded outlook on the idea of a “career” and their strong desire to create an inviting space where everyone can enjoy books. As they start to see the fruits of their labor come together in their highly curated selection of books, the quality of their cafe drinks, and their offering of bookish events, the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop starts to attract likeminded people who want to ease the sometimes harsh rhythm of life with a good story. Told through multiple points of view throughout, Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop is filled with ruminations on life’s seemingly unanswerable questions: How do you give a good book recommendation? Does work make you happy? How do you decide what to do with your future? Yeongju and Minjun, whose lives were formerly dominated with achieving success at a professional level, are melancholy in their reflections on a meaningful existence. While the flashbacks to both of their pasts lacked a certain sharpness and dialogue felt stale and long-winded at times, I found myself savoring the methodical descriptions of the present—the day-to-day tasks of bookshop owners, learning to make the best brew with baristas, and the quirks of the readers and writers and coffee-lovers and neighborhood busybodies who enjoy idling their time in their local bookshop.  

Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop is charming slice-of-life novel that had me contemplating what it means to work, professionally and personally, towards a happier existence.