Books That Accompanied My Twenties.

I have a notebook for collecting sentences, titled ‘Lines to Remember.’ I’m on my fifth one now, though the intervals between entries are getting much longer. Watching myself lose my sense of romance as the years go by, I decided to start keeping records, however small, through my blog. So I wanted to begin my first post without any pressure, simply listing the books from which I’ve been reading and collecting sentences since I was twenty-two.

The books that accompanied — and still accompany — my twenties,

each brimming with their own stories. I recite them one by one as I calmly greet the final year of my twenties.

1. I’ll Wait for You in the Future_Kim Hyojeong

2. Spain, You Are Freedom_Son Mina

3. The Gaze of Objects_Lee Yumi

4. Eleven at Night_Hwang Gyeongsin

5. Instead of Tears, Travel_Jang Yeonjeong

6. The Wind Blows, I Like You_Lee Byeongryul

7. Attraction_Lee Byeongryul

8. My Thrilling Life_Kim Ae-ran

9. I Embrace Coincidence_Roh Jihye

10. I’ll Only Comfort Myself_Kim Dongyoung

11. The Seconds We Loved_Gwak Jaegu

12. The Wind Blew Because I Missed You_Ahn Dohyun

13. Eight Words_Park Unghyun

14. Being Cranky in Paris_Kim Soyoung

15. Advertising with the Humanities_Park Unghyun

16. Sentences of Youth_Kim Yeonsu

17. The Better Days Are All From Now_Ju Cheolhwan

18. The Sound of Youth_Cha Woojin

19. The Time We Spent_Kim Yeonsu

20. But Don’t Put Out the Fire_Kim Jonggwan

21. A Woman Becomes an Adult Every Night_Kim Shinhoe

22. Soon, the Time of Adults Will Begin_Baek Yeongok

23. The Basics of Love_Lovers_Jeong Ihyun

24. The Wind Blowing Over an Unfamiliar Bed_Kim Yan

25. Walking in Manolo Blahniks_Baek Yeongok

26. On Love_Alain de Botton

27. A Seven O’Clock Breakfast Club for the Heartbroken_Baek Yeongok

28. Essays in Love_Alain de Botton

29. I Loved Her_Anna Gavalda

30. Things We Say When Drinking_Han Yuseok

31. Why I Love You_Alain de Botton

32. The Proof of Others, from The Notebook Trilogy_Agota Kristof

33. Vivre Sa Vie_Yoon Jinseo

34. Advertising of No.1 Companies, Advertising of No.2 Companies_Lee Suwon

35. Traveler Tokyo_Kim Youngha

36. Those Who Are Similar in Their Loneliness_Yangyang

37. A Record of Every Day:_Kim Mincheol

38. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat_Oliver Sacks

39. Entirely Personal_Im Gyeongseon

40. You as a Tranquilizer_Kim Dongyoung & Kim Byeongsu

41. Norwegian Wood_Murakami Haruki

42. Sarasa Tailor Shop_Lee Chaewon

43. Eat, Pray, Love_Elizabeth Gilbert

44. What Is Life Anyway_Sano Yoko

45. From Now On, Only for Myself_Yu Ingyeong

46. Between Calm and Passion_Ekuni Kaori

47. The Courage to Be Disliked_Kishimi Ichiro & Koga Fumitake

48. The Vegetarian_Han Kang

49. Because I Hate Korea_Jang Gangmyeong

50. Keep a Slight Distance_Sono Ayako

51. Becoming Transparent With Every Fight_Eunyu

52. Only Two People_Kim Youngha

53. A Temporary Human_Seo Yumi

54. Outside It’s Summer_Kim Ae-ran

55. Twenty_Kim Yeonsu

56. Kim Ji-young, Born 1982_Cho Namju

57. A Honeymoon After Five Years_Jang Gangmyeong

58. The Temperature of Language_Lee Giju

59. Berlin Diary_Choi Minseok

60. To Hyeonnam Oppa_Cho Namju

61. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running_Murakami Haruki

62. My Mouth Waters_Kim Ae-ran

63. One Sentence_Kim Eon

64. Kim Eana’s Lyric Writing Method_Kim Eana

65. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck_Mark Manson

66. The Festival of Insignificance_Milan Kundera

67. It’s Fine Even If You Do Nothing_Kim Shinhoe

68. The Road Not Taken Is More Beautiful_Park Wanseo

Among these, ‘22. Soon, the Time of Adults Will Begin_Baek Yeongok’ is my most cherished book. I’ve always placed great significance on the word “adult,” and this reddish book that I picked up by chance at the university library quickly colored my heart. Whenever I missed Hyehwa-dong with its red brick walls surrounding Marronnier Park at Daehangno — or missed my younger self — I would open this book. As a side note, I later found a copy at Aladin Used Bookstore, and amazingly, the author’s autograph was inscribed on the very first page!

‘41. Norwegian Wood_Murakami Haruki’ is a book my cram school Korean teacher recommended just before I graduated high school. It was remembered simply as a risqué Japanese novel — all I retained were the explicit scenes — and I wondered, why did my teacher (a man) recommend this? Then years later, as a college junior or senior, I reread it, and all I can say is that Murakami Haruki is remarkable and Norwegian Wood is magnificent. A novel that portrays Watanabe’s journey into adulthood with such delicacy and cruelty — come to think of it, this book also resonates with the keyword “adult”!

The sentence-collecting notebook only contains entries from ‘39. Entirely Personal_Im Gyeongseon,’ but I’ve read nearly every book she’s published: ‘On Attitude,’ ‘Remember Me,’ ‘On Certain Days, Those Women,’ ‘A Woman Called Me,’ ‘When Dating Mom,’ ‘I Went to Kyoto,’ and more. I felt a kinship with her for having lived abroad as a child, and admired and wanted to emulate her career shift from years of office work to becoming a writer, so I simply adored her. In fact — and this appears in her book too — it was thanks to her, a devoted Haruki fan, that I became curious about Haruki and reread Norwegian Wood. I’ve never been the type to enter giveaways or events. But I entered an Aladin-hosted meet-and-greet with Im Gyeongseon, won, and actually met her! We had dinner together, chatted about this and that, and she signed my book with the words, “You’re kinda charming.” Hehe. Here’s the proof photo!

I asked author Im Gyeongseon to write a note, and she coolly wrote, “You’re kinda charming.”

In my early twenties, I was an avid reader of travel essays. Glimpsing the preciousness of the everyday life left behind under foreign suns and stars, the bittersweet stories of being in places where language is different, and the soft photos taken by these sensitive writers — it felt like receiving a beautifully wrapped gift set. The most memorable travel essay was the Iceland travelogue from ‘10. I’ll Only Comfort Myself_Kim Dongyoung.’ Since I read it right after a breakup, my heart ached, but the dark comfort the writer offered was warm precisely because it wasn’t hypocritical. When I heard that Kim Dongyoung, who receives psychiatric counseling, wrote a book with his therapist, I purchased ‘40. You as a Tranquilizer_Kim Dongyoung & Kim Byeongsu’ without hesitation. I loved its dark cover, as expected. And within it, I encountered a life-defining passage — one that remains, to this day, my greatest maxim and life motto, always etched deep in my heart.

Like a net with loose weave, I hope I can feel

each and every thing that passes through me,

yet hold onto none of them.

Like wearing a garment without a single pocket,

I hope I can have a heart

that cannot keep anything inside.

You as a Tranquilizer by Kim Dongyoung & Kim Byeongsu

‘36. Those Who Are Similar in Their Loneliness_Yangyang’ had a truly beautiful cover. Come to think of it, I’m really a sucker for book covers. The muted orange and purple artwork, evoking a feeling both lonely and warm, soothed my heart just by looking at it. The title of this book was equally memorable. In fact, it personally inspired me to choose my pen name ‘eotbisman’ (roughly similar). People tend to open up and let others in when they discover similarities. I naturally gravitate toward similar people too, but within that similarity I’d notice subtle differences, and rather than trying to fill those gaps, I’d leave them as they were. That degree of closeness was just right. I liked being ‘roughly similar’ — close enough, but with a sliver of difference. That’s how I came up with my pen name, and I want to write pieces that resonate with many while never losing my own color.

An Instagram proof shot I took because I liked the cover lol.

There’s a book that makes me laugh out loud every time I read it. ‘59. Berlin Diary_Choi Minseok’ is that book. The story of how I got it is quite interesting too — I actually received it from someone I barely knew. A team leader from another department, no less, who was just days away from resigning. I somehow ended up at his farewell dinner, and while talking about books, he casually promised to gift me some. The following week, I received four books accompanied by a thoughtful email describing each one. One of them was ‘59. Berlin Diary_Choi Minseok,’ and the team leader’s description was simply, “It’s really funny. Just funny.” And it really is funny. Genuinely, simply funny. Choi Minseok’s writing style is concise yet hilarious. He’s the kind of person I’d want to keep around and stay in touch with. Because of that, I’ve been getting the urge to travel to Berlin lately. I want to write a travelogue that makes anyone who reads it laugh.

Beyond the books mentioned above, looking at all 68 books on the list, I can read the story of my twenties. I sorted through my definitions and values of love by reading Alain de Botton’s love novel series; at 3 AM, wrapped in blankets, I read Kim Yeonsu’s ‘Sentences of Youth’ and couldn’t sleep, stirred by the fleeting beauty of youth; and the advertising-related books by Park Unghyun and other famous ad professionals remind me of my passionate younger self who dreamed of becoming an advertiser. These books filled my twenties. I look forward to what books will fill and conclude the final year of my twenties, and how my thirties will be read anew.