BASS BOOK CLUBS
This page contains ideas as to where you can purchase books in Seoul and online, upcoming and past books read by the book clubs, and what members are reading and recommending. If you have any other ideas for content for this page, please let us know.
MARTINI MONDAY BOOK CLUB
This is a monthly activity, that usually meets the first Monday of the month. Book Club members suggest books and then we vote on what to read. Our favorite cafe with the espresso martinis has shut down, so we may have to rename this Monday Wine Book Club. As we don't have a regular venue, we try to meet in areas of town that are the most central to those planning to participate. We also have a Kakao chat group. See below for list of past and current books.
CRIME CLUB BOOK CLUB
This book club is for those who want a good binge read, without having to think too much. Typically meets on a Wed at 7pm.
Book Resources
Seoul Metropolitan Library - The Seoul Library has 18,000 online books that can be borrowed directly from your smartphones or PCs, including 15,000 domestic and international e-books and 3,000 audio books. You need an ARC and a Korean mobile phone (not pre-paid) in your name to get a library card. You can get a library card at any library near you. At the Seoul Metropolitan Library, you can get your library card on the 2nd floor. English language children's books can also be found there. Adult English and other foreign language books are on the 4th floor. https://lib.seoul.go.kr/rwww/html/en/use.jsp
Kyobo Bookstore in Gwanghwamun. The foreign book corner offers numerous books written in various languages. If you can't find a specific book, you can place an order for delivery at the counter. This is the flagship store.
http://www.kyobobook.co.kr/index.laf?OV_REFFER=https://www.google.com/
Itaewon Foreign Bookstore - second-hand bookstore in Noksapyeong-daero area with a large selection of every kind of book from fiction, non-fiction, crime, inspirational, cookbooks, travel books and a large selection of children's books. You can trade in your books for a discount on books you buy.
https://english.visitseoul.net/attractions/Foreign-Bookstore_/29114
Sehwa's English Bookstore - opened at the end of 2020.
New Books and Used Books, Fiction/Non-fiction Books, Children's Picture Books, etc.
Used books are 3,000 won each. (You can trade in your books for 1,000 store credits per book. You can use the credits when you buy used books.) Open from 11:00 AM to 9:30 PM (Tuesday: closed), Address: 1257-2, Gireum-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul (Exit 7, Gireum Station, Subway Line 4), (서울특별시 성북구 길음동 1257-2), Cell: 010-8452-9988, Instagram/Facebook: sehwa.eb, Email: sehwa.eb@gmail.com
Seoul Book Bogo - this is a new cultural space created by Seoul Metropolitan Government to house old, secondhand books they gathered from old bookstores around the city. Featuring an old secondhand bookstore, library, and cultural programs. There are some English books mixed in with the Korean books. More children books than adult books. Check sections 13 and 17 for children's books. Subway Line 2, Jamsillaru Station, Exit 1. Turn left at the exit and walk straight for about a minute. Photos below are from Seoul Book Bogo
https://english.visitseoul.net/jamsilarea/Seoul-Book-Bogo_/30865
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MARTINI MONDAY BOOK CLUB
READING LIST
Upcoming Books
Still Life, Sarah Winman - November
At Dusk by Hwang Sok-Young - Jan 2023
Past Books
Mrs. England, Stacey Halls - October
One Italian Summer, Rebecca Serle
The Housekeeper and the Professor, Yoko Ogawa
A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles
The Great Alone, Kristin Hannah
Sorrow and Bliss, Meg Mason
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Chongmi Zauner
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton
The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller
The Grown Ups by Marian Keyes
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennet
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton
Our House by Louise Candlish
Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Without You There is No Us by Suki Kim
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
The Abstainer by Ian McGuire
In Between Days by Andrew Porter
If I Had Your Face by Francis Cha
Kim Jiyoung Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo
The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon
Homeland by Fernando Aramburu
Trust Exercises by Susan Choi
The Yellow House by Sarah Broom
The Secret Patient by Vaughan W. Smith
The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See
Normal People by Sally Rooney
The Commoner by John Burnham Schwartz
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens