I do not know how it works for you, but my decision to read a book is usually shaped by a recommendation or a review. I tend to read books that I become aware of through the suggestions of a writer or academic whose opinions I value, an influencer I enjoy following on social media, or someone in my own social circle whose taste I trust. Of course, this is not always the case. From time to time, I also choose books by researching topics I am interested in, or by purchasing the latest work of an author I already follow out of curiosity. When I bought A Tale of Two Cities , however, I had no prior knowledge of it at all. I did not know when or where it was written, who the author was, or even what the book was about. The only thought that pushed me to buy it was this: “Halil, you never read classic novels.” When I saw the book, I found myself thinking, “Which two cities, and what kind of story could this be?” and I purchased it with a small sense of curiosity. Unfortunately, it too...
To be honest, I’ve started to feel a bit uncomfortable always beginning with “Hello again after a long break.” I wish I could read and write more frequently. I can’t say that I read a lot, but I definitely read more than I write. For example, I had been reading the Game of Thrones series, which I never intended to turn into a blog post. I’ve taken a break from that lately, but now I’m here with a different book. Over the past two months, I’ve read two books, and I had planned to write blog posts about both. This post is about one of them. Anyway, let’s get to the point. Today, I bring you a South Korean bestseller: Yeonnam-dong's Smiley Laundromat . While reading this book, I realized something: I may have never read a novel written in the recent (late 21st century) period before. As you may already know from my blog, I’m not much of a novel reader, and when I did read novels, I mostly preferred classics. So, reading this book allowed me to experience emotions I hadn’t really fe...