Books I find healing, whatever that means…
#books #reviews #healing #reading #recommendations
It’s a new term to me. I think people have different definitions of healing books.
For me, when I think of healing books, I think of warm, cosy, something I would love to read with a nice cup of coffee and cake.
So from my own definition, here are some books I find healing:
1. Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Huang Bo-reum.
For sure. This is the OG of all healing books. I actually didn’t like this book when I started out, but was hooked onto it the 2nd time I picked it up. It has a certain charm to it, and is a great read for people who feel fatigued from with life issues and burnt out with work, as it’s calming with a steady pace: there are no sudden plot twists or extreme tragedies. It does make one think of one’s life choices though, and how different life can be if one had taken a different route in life.
2. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman.
This was my first book of Fredrick Backman’s, and possibly my very first healing book. I was dealing with a loss, and the title resonated with me. There was a sense of relief when I finished the book. The book navigate/ through topics of loss, guilt and anger. Every character has issues and problems of their own, no matter how glamorous they look from the outside. And even though the characters are worlds apart, they manage to find a common ground and common good in them. Needless to say, the ending is heart-warming, a flair of Fredrick’s, he makes the readers feel good about human connections.
3. Everyday I read by Huang Bo-reum.
Same author behind Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop. I felt like I was reading through her personal book list or journal. She shares her thoughts as she makes a conscious effort reading the books. I wished I could keep a book diary like this. And honestly, there are really good books recommendations of books in it. With this book, I’m less guilty about the kind of books that I like to read. I’m a fiction reader, and I hardly read non-fiction books, and I don’t understand poems. Sometimes I wonder if that makes me less of a book lover because I have preferences. But she makes me believe that it is ok to be that.
4. The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Aster.
This is actually one of the books recommended by Huang Bo-reum in her Everyday I read book. I really like this book, and I find myself thinking about this book and its characters at times. A lonely man went to Brooklyn, thinking that he would live a quiet, lonely life till he died. But apparently, life had other plans because people from his past kept appearing in his life, and soon he became too preoccupied with them that he forgot he was supposed to be waiting for death. A book on family ties and the power of community.
5. Run with the wind by Shion Muira.
I’ve talked about this book before in a previous post, so I won’t go much into it. This book is a gentle reminder for the readers that there is so much more that one can achieve than he/ she thinks. And being able to do something that sparks joy in you is a truly beautiful thing.







































