What It's About

"Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop" tells the story of a woman who opens up a small, quaint bookshop in the Hyunam-dong neighborhood. As she brings the bookshop to life, it becomes a sanctuary for self-discovery, healing, and connection. Through interactions with other customers and the employees , the protagonist embarks on a journey to mend her life and rediscover her passions.

the book shows little snippets of the lifes of it’s customers and with every character you see them with their own struggles and their way of dealing with those problems.

🔍 How I Discovered It

In a small little town in germany with a very limited variety of books in english, this was one of them.

The sticker on it said “A balm for the soul” and it intrigued me, because I was coming back to reading after a long hiatus.

🧠 Thoughts

Subjective Review:

As someone who loves contemplative, character-driven stories, this book resonated deeply with me.

Its quiet pacing, introspective moments, and focus on human connection appealed to me.

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What I liked about it

1. Atmospheric Setting: The Hyunam-dong bookshop is described so vividly that it feels like a character in itself, inviting readers into its warmth.
2. Relatable Themes: It explores universal struggles like burnout, loneliness, and the search for purpose in a way that feels authentic.The heartfelt exploration of community and healing.
3. Memorable Characters: Each customer and their stories add depth and color, showcasing the diversity of human experiences.
4. The book highlighted the transformative power of literature and community in helping individuals heal and grow.
5. I rooted for her because her journey mirrors that of many women — trying to find balance, purpose, and joy in a chaotic world. Her resilience, despite her vulnerabilities, is inspiring.

3 Cons:

1. Slow Pacing: The story takes its time, which might not suit readers looking for a fast-paced plot.
2. Ambiguity: Some plot points are left unresolved.
3. Repetition: Certain introspective moments feel redundant, though that is how life truly is. If something is bothering us we keep circling around it in our minds to put it to rest.

🥰 Who Would Like It?

Readers who enjoy quiet, introspective stories like The Midnight Library or Before the Coffee Gets Cold. Fans of cozy, bookshop-centric tales and character-driven narratives will love this.

Anyone who has been through some struggles like burnout, depression, divorce might get to see some glimpses of themselves in the characters.

The Story of my Life - Helen Keller

Book Summary, Notes and Highlights

🚀 The Book in 3 Sentences

This book is the autobiography of a women named Helen Keller, who lived from 1880-1963. She was the first blind deaf person to receive a bachelors degree. Helen lost her sights and hearing before she turned two years of age and in her book she writes about how she overcame obstacles in her way to becoming the person she wanted to be. The book is divided into two parts, one is her autobiography and the other half is a collection of letters she wrote to several people from an early age.

🎨 Impressions

Helen Keller constantly acknowledges that her success is highly contributed to her teachers dedication. The lifelong companion of a teacher, Anne Sullivan was her name, never gave up on Helen and kept teaching her the beauty of the world through sign language and later on through words, as Helen learned how to "listen" and speak in a very unique way. This book is a great example on how to you can achieve your dreams, despite all the obstacles in your way. Helen Keller openly writes about her feelings and thoughts, there were many time where she felt defeated but with the support of her teacher, family and friends she persisted.

How I Discovered It

While Helen Kellers story is covered in North American curriculums, she is not mentioned in European ones, hence why I had never heard of her before.
I stumbled upon her story by browsing the internet and I was immediately awestruck by her achievement .

Who Should Read It?

I'd suggest this book to those who like to have an insight into the thoughts and obstacles of blind & deaf people, though the time back in the days was a different one and technology nowadays has improved the lives of the blind-deaf community immensely, it's still a great insight into her world and the struggles from before. It is always enriching to study the life of a person.

☘️ How the Book Changed Me

How my life / behaviour / thoughts / ideas have changed as a result of reading the book.

• It is a beautiful insight into the world of blind and deaf people. While we with sight and hearing have sympathy for those who are not like us, this book actually shows all the strengths and advantages they have over us. A sense of feeling we never develop, because we are so "distracted" by our sight and hearing.
• This book also clearly shows that if we invest into our child's education and we nurture them properly, we can build a strong foundation for them to build their life's on. Without the support love and care from those closest to Helen, she would not be who she became.
• I also started to look more into the life's of blind & deaf's and stumbled upon a few youtubers, who are openly combating the stigma surrounding the deafblind community. One of my favorites is  Molly Burke.

✍️ My Top 3 Quotes

• I listened to the audiobook version of the book, so I don't necessarily have anything highlighted, but there were two letters that she wrote that have stuck with me even after finishing the book. One was addressed to a poet and the other one was addressed to a Reverend. I loved about these letters, how she already had developed a philosophical and deep thinking nature by the young age of 10 years.

An Outsiders Guide to Humans
(Camilla Pang, PhD)

Book Summary and Notes

🚀 The Book in 3 Sentences

Dr. Camilla Pang is a scientist with Asperger's Syndrome. Asperger's syndrome is a conditions that involve delays in the development of many basic skills, most notably the ability to socialize with others and understand social nuances. She could be compared to Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory, just a way cooler female version. Her book "A Guide to Explaining Humans" is her guide-map of scientific theories that helped her understand the behavior and the social norm, to navigate to navigate herself through the world.

🎨 Impressions

Remarkable. Through this book I got to see into the world of neurodiverse humans. Things we take as granted like understanding facial cues, sarcasm or feelings. Things like these do not come easy to her. She had to figure out her own way of living within these social norms and doing that, while using science is such a unique perspective.

How I Discovered It

It was suggested to me via the Libby app. I first thought it might be a novel, because I immediately thought of an outsider as aliens and told myself I am not that much into sci-fi. but once I read the description of the book, I was immediately intrigued and couldn't wait to start reading it.

Who Should Read It?

If you have Asperger's, it might be a great guide for you to understand the social norms with actionable tips to follow. If you do not have Asperger, but you know someone who does OR you genuinely want to be more inclusive of neurodiverse people, this is a great read to look into the minds and struggles of those, who do not have the same way of thinking as you and I do.

☘️ How the Book Changed Me

How my life / behaviour / thoughts / ideas have changed as a result of reading the book.

This book covers a lot of our day to day experiences and struggles. How to deal with anxiety, perfectionism, social awkwardness or how to achieve your goals.

When I started reading it, I did not think that any of it might be applicable to me or my life, but reading through the chapters, theory by theory and tool by tool, I realized that there is always something to learn, even for someone like me who falls into the social norm.

For example the very first chapter already pulled me in when she explained the concept of "branch thinking". Instead of thinking inside the box, with very limited options and no plan B, this way of thinking allows us to be flexible and still get to the root of the problem. (pun intended)

Another chapter that was mind blowing to me, while in hindsight it should have been obvious, was the one on how to achieve your goals. Ill explain with this example. There are two versions of us. One is the version in our head. The one who wakes up early, goes for a run, eats healthy, is insanely productive at work AND has time to pursue his hobbies at the end of the day, even after spending time with his family. The second version is how we are in this very moment in life. The gap between these two is one that we are constantly trying to lessen. Constantly wanting to improve ourselves, especially when we are motivated by the beginning of a new year. The problem here is, that we already have given up by day 3. The problem lies in wanting to get all the things done all at once. Here is where Dr. Camilla Pang explains that we don't need to do it all at once and paralyze ourselves by depleting our willpower. We need to figure out what is the one thing that will have the most impact on our life and make everything else run smoother. What is the one thing that will get the snowball rolling downhill. Picking up speed, momentum and grow faster and faster. For me it meant to concentrate my focus on waking up early. Having time in the morning before my family is up, because once they get up it means go-time for me. In the evening I am often depleted of energy and the capacity to think straight, so the mornings are golden for me. It is the time I feel fresh and rejuvenated and it is the time I am most likely to be a better writer. Now this sounds very obvious, duuuh, but for a night owl like me who always has been someone who stays up late and enjoys doing my tasks later during the day, that meant adjustment. So if I could just manage to wake up early the habit of reading, writing and other creative projects becomes easier. Finding time to read becomes easier, homeschooling becomes easier. Once I wake up earlier all the other habit and tasks I want to include into my life, get a slot into my day.

Beside the fact that this book has given me many more "tools" to add to my toolkit for life, it has also opened up the world of science to me. I view the world from a perspective of awe now, being amazed by the wonders of nature and God's creation and how His natural laws are all present in what we do and who we are. It has brought me closer to my Creator and more in tuned with the laws of nature.

📒 Chapter Summary

1. How to actually think outside the box. Machine learning and decision making
2. How to embrace your weird. Biochemistry, friendship and the power of difference.
3. How to forget about perfection. Thermodynamics, order and disorder.
4. How to feel the fear. Light refraction and fear.
5. How to find harmony. Wave Theory, Harmonic Motion and finding your resonance frequency.
6. How to not follow the crowd. Molecular dynamics, Conformity and individuality.
7. How to achieve your goals. Quantum Physics, network theory and Goal setting.
8. How to have empathy with others. Evolution, Probability and Relationships.
9. How to connect with others. Chemical Bonds, Fundamental Forces and Human Connections.
10. How to learn from your Mistakes. Deep learning, Feedback Loops and Human Memory.
11. How to be Polite. Game Theory, Complex Systems and Etiquette.

Big Magic - Creative Living without Fear
(Elizabeth Gilbert)

Book Summary, Notes and Highlights

🚀 The Book in 3 Sentences

The full title of this book is "Big Magic - Creative Living beyond Fear". This book is basically the pep talk to any person that wants to do something creative, but is held back by fear. Fear that we are not good enough, we are not original enough, we don't have the time or the money to do the things we feel called to do. Everything that holds us back from creating and letting our spark out has been tackled in this book.

🎨 Impressions

Lifechanging. This book has truly been lifechanging to me. It is one of the reason why I have started to take this blog more seriously. It is the reason why I sacrifice my sleep, but also finally make it a priority to take time out to write, paint, draw & garden.

How I Discovered It

Elizabeth Gilbert is the Author of the books "Eat Pray Love", "Committed" and "The Signature of all things". I always enjoyed her way of writing, but what got me into wanting to read this book was an interview she had with Marie Forleo. This book has also been recommended to me by so many of my creative friends.

Who Should Read It?

I would recommend this book to literally anyone who has the desire or just even the thoughts of wanting to create something. Be it art, photography, music, singing, gardening, whatever it is that you feel like doing, I constantly see myself coming back to this book, its stories, ideas and quotes. Every time I have a conversation with another creative friend of mine, this book always comes up.

☘️ How the Book Changed Me

How my life / behavior / thoughts / ideas have changed as a result of reading the book.

This book has changed my whole outlook on life. I don't have to be good at doing the things I enjoy. I don't have make it profitable. I don't have to attach myself to it and make it my "baby". I can just create and move on to the next project. Just create for the sake of creating, not for any other reason.

✍️ My Top 3 Quotes

• “I have an idea, but I’m afraid it’s already been done.” Well, yes, it probably has already been done. Most things have already been done
• but they have not yet been done by you.
• But in order to let go of the addiction to creative suffering, you must reject the way of the martyr and embrace the way of the trickster.
• “What’s your favorite flavor of shit sandwich?”
• Sneak off and have an affair with your most creative self.

📒 Summary + Notes

Courage

This chapter deals with fear. Every single one of us humans has this supporting mechanism in us. It is here to save us and keep us alive and healthy. Fear shows himself whenever we are confronted with the unknown. Whenever we might be stepping out of our comfort zone, it is there to put us right back into our spot. Where we belong according to him. To be safe and sound.

The thing with creativity is though, that it loves the unknown. That is what creativity is at it's core! Being curious and following your curiosity, guided by creativity.

So here is what Elizabeth Gilbert does with her fear. She acknowledges it and emphasizes that fear is doing an excellent job at keeping us alive. However when we are about to embark on a journey with creativity, fear is allowed to come along and enjoy the ride, but it’s not allowed to make any decisions. It can sit in the backseat and watch.

Enchantment

This is probably my MOST favorite chapter. Elizabeth Gilbert has this philosophy that ideas live with us on this earth and they want be brought out into this world by humans so they wander from human to human asking “Will you bring me to life?” And if you don’t accept it, it will wander off to someone else and ask the same question again until they find their match. Someone who is willing to put in the effort to bring this creative idea into live.

This communion between humans and the magical is such a beautiful concept, that I can easily get behind it. The only rule to follow on this enchantment is, that you just have to make things don’t expect them to be big. Just be in love with what you get to create and move on.

Permission

You do not need anybody’s permission to live a creative life. Everything HAS already been made, no doubt. But it hasn’t been made by you! You do not have to give up your career nor do you have to be good at it, but if you feel like doing something, just do it.

Persistence

This chapter deals with the fact that some people can make a living out of what they love while others who are equally as good at their craft cannot sustain their lives from their passion. This chapter is for those who have been pouring all that they have into their crafts, but have gotten nothing in return.

“..., I will say this. If you happen to discover, after a few years away from writing, that you have found nothing that takes its place in your life—nothing that fascinates you, or moves you, or inspires you to the same degree that writing once did . . . well, then, sir, I’m afraid you will have no choice but to persevere.”

Trust

This part of the book is all about the notion that to be a creative soul, you do NOT have to suffer. Ill repeat it again, because it is so embedded into our culture, you don’t have to suffer to create art. As she says:

"My desire to work—my desire to engage with my creativity as intimately and as freely as possible—is my strongest personal incentive to fight back against pain, by any means necessary, and to fashion a life for myself that is as sane and healthy and stable as it can possibly be. But that’s only because of what I have chosen to trust, which is quite simply: love. Love over suffering, always.

Elizabeth Gilbert goes on to explain that we don't have to become a martyr to be creative. Rather than seeing a creative life as one of a martyr where you give up EVERYTHING for the sake of the art, see the journey as a trickster. The trickster has fun and enjoys his way of living, make it the same with your creativity.

In this chapter we also deal with "burnout" or if you don't know what to create next. Trust the process, just follow your curiosity and see where it will take you. Just trust the process.

Divinity

What we make matters enormously, and it doesn’t matter at all.

Farmers Boy 

(Laura Ingalls Wilder)

Book Review

🚀 The Book in 3 Sentences

1. A year in the life of Almenzo Wilder, a 10 year old little boy living on a farm with his family.
   The book describes the way of living of an average family in the 1860 near New York.It starts when he is in school and the story unfold over the coming seasons until a year is completed. The purpose is to show the way of living. How kids were taken out of school to help on the farm. How sometimes the whole family had to wake up before dawn to help save the crops and many more memorable moments in Almenzos year.

🎨 Impressions

This book is second in the series of "Little House on the Prairies". The first one describes Laura Ingalls own life when she was a little girl, this time around it was written from the viewpoint of a boy. Genders played a big role in that era. The girls used to help the mothers in the kitchen, while boys were working outside with their fathers. This was an excellence read after Little House on the Prairie, in terms of understanding both gender roles.

How I Discovered It

I came across these series by following Jennifer L Scott on Youtube.

Who Should Read It?

Even though it is a children's book I think those who value family life, homemaking and simple living will enjoy this read a lot. I especially plan on reading these books with my children when they are a little bit older. It is just such a beautiful view into a family centered life, the morals and values that are being taught through stories is amazing.

☘️ How the Book Changed Me

How my life / behaviour / thoughts / ideas have changed as a result of reading the book.

The sense of family-life that has been described in here is something I aspire to create in my home. Almenzo knew he was a valued and loved family member. He was proud of his dad's hard work and his mothers care.
Almenzo was trusted with proper responsibilities and chores, despite his young age. The way he was entrusted with challenging tasks, trusting in him, that he will grow into those challenges. Nowadays when we look at chores within the home, we see them as something negative or as some pay their children to do their chores as a reward for work.
In Almenzos time a 10 year old boy is been given the task to care care of a horse by himself, which is not an easy task at all. But Almenzo takes the responsibility up with pride, knowing his parents trust him and value his participation.
Giving your children chores is not a burden on them, it makes them feel involved and valued.
This book describes beautifully how every member of the family plays a big role. Everyone needs to chirp in, to make the dream work.
I enjoyed the rhythm of their days, that started at the crack of dawn, rising with the sun and then slowing down to rest and recharge when the sun went down. Slow living, frugality & resourcefulness.
Living on a farm is hard work, but it is gratifying. In tune with nature and the rhythm of life.

Ramadhan 2021 

How I am planning on spending my Ramadhan

This year Ramadhan is different for me. I haven’t fasted in four years because I was either expecting a child or feeding one. Since the last time I was fasting we have changed houses 3 times. I have moved into a different country and the biggest realization of all that I have had is how blessed I am.  

In 2016 me and my husband sat Itekaaf at home for the last three days of Ramadhan. We were both sleeping in different rooms and only saw each other during Sehri and Iftaar. I remember back then I was praying to be blessed with a child. That was my one constant prayer. Now this time around I have become a mother of three healthy and wonderful children. Glory to my Lord, who is the most High.

The aim of fasting during Ramadhan is to diminish a person’s dependence on material things, so that he may elevate himself to a higher place of devout living. Or as they say in simpler words: Starve your body, feed your soul.
Abstaining from food frees up so much of your mental capacity, because you don’t constantly think about the next thing you are going to eat.

This year I noticed how much time I actually spent just thinking about food. Constantly thinking “What can I eat next?” not even “When can I eat next? I just what can I eat next. Before Ramadhan I did not notice how all-consuming my thoughts about food were and now that I consciously abstain from it, I have all this space for other thoughts.

Now that my children are a little bit older and more independent, I can finally divert more attention to my spirituality again. I am praying that I use the upcoming time wisely to establish new habits and routines.

The last book I had read before this month was Atomic Habits, by James Clear. This book specifically talks about the fact that “You don't rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.” With this in mind I know that I shouldn’t be setting up plain goals, but try to implement a few systems, that will help me benefit from this Ramadhan all year long.

So here are the systems I want to have accomplished by the end of this blessed month:

•  Read 15 Minutes of Quran each morning
  These 15 minute translates for me into two Rukuhs, with this I set myself up to finish one reading of the Quran within a year, but my goal is NOT to read the Quran as many times as possible in this life. My goal is to understand it and to implement it into my life. 15 minutes may not sound like a lot, but at this season of my life, that I am in right now, 15 minutes is a very reasonable time for me to take out and study without skipping it.
  
  
•  Work on my Quran Quest
  I am very fortunate that my mother is on a Quran quest herself. Right now she is taking a course to become a certified Quran teacher and she is close to completion. I want to step into her footsteps and learn as much as possible from her. In the beginning we will work on my Talaffuz, which is the way on how to recite the Quran, the slowly moving up from that in the future I would like to work on my memorization and Tafseer.
  
  
• Read more book regarding my faith
  By the Grace of Allah I am already in the habit of reading regularly and that took me a while to re-establish after having children. Now that it is a firm practice in my life, I would like to incorporate more books into my list to help me with my faith.
  I want to start with the book Noah's Ark, as it is also named “Strengthening of Faith” by the Promised Messiah Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and then move on with to the biography of his first successor Hadhrat Hakeem Maulvi Noor-ud-Deen(ra).
  
  
• Separate my prayers from 3 to 5.
  
       Right now I am reading Fajr – Zuhr & Asr combined – Maghrib & Ishaa combined. It is mostly due to fact that I have small children and even finding time to go to the bathroom twice a day is an accomplishment alone. But recently my oldest daughter has started to show interest in praying with me and this alone should be the biggest motivator to become a role model for her and pray all my daily prayers with their due diligence.
  
  
• Cut down my Phone Usage
  This I think is self explanatory, the only thing I would like to add is that I am not planning on cutting it out during this month completely, but to find a way to balance it. I specifically did not say Social Media consumption, because I use it to read books and articles as well as listen to audiobooks while I work around the house. I’d like to say I do use it more mindfully than not, but I also am aware of the fact, that I could cut it down and life in the real life.

I have created a habit tracker on Notion for myself to track my progress and hopefully every week I will be revising it and making adjustment where necessary.

 

I will also be checking in halfway through Ramadhan to report on my progress here on the blog, if you want to follow along.

For now,
Ramadhan Kareem

Becoming a writer

What becoming a writer has brought into my awareness. 

Since the beginning of this year, I have started to view writing as something that I would like to do more often. While I have always seen myself as a creative person AND an avid reader, I have never considered myself a writer. My supportive husband always tried to encourage me to write online, hence why this blog exist. It is mainly because of him. Over the last 6 years I wrote something here and there but have never considered this anything seriously to pursue, because I never saw a writer in myself.

Soooo what has changed?

The stars are aligning. Looking back now I see how God had created a path for me to step on and honestly, I am just following along and taking it step by step.
It started with the book “How to take smart notes” by Soenke Ahrens, which is all about non-fiction writing. It introduced a way of collecting the notes and highlights of my readings. It inspired me to write about my thoughts.
Then I stumbled upon the book Storyworthy by Matthew Dicks, that book is all about storytelling (which in my opinion is fiction writing). 
After these two introductory books I came to sign up for a course on creative writing, which has officially ended this week. Though I don’t see myself writing anything in fiction for now, it has helped me to develop the habit of writing.

This is just a small snippet on how I came onto this path of a blogger.  

 

I think the fact I came across these books one after another and reading them at the same time, at this exact point in my life, where my little ones are not babies anymore but toddlers and I can actually carve out the time to write in the morning and evening.

Now here are the few things that I have learned about myself and my life while writing for the past 3 months, building myself up to become a writer

I can make time for the things I want to do, if I take it seriously.

1. I have been calling myself a minimalist for a few years now. 5 to be exact. Writing takes time, getting into writing takes even more time, because you are trying to create a new habit here. Once I started carving time out to write I realized how much time I actually have available. Over the course of the past 5 years, I have minimized and simplified my life and routines so much, that I actually CAN take time out for the things that matter to me, even while I have small children to take care of, cook 2-3 times a day and I still have a clean house to go to bed most nights.
   If I plan my day efficiently, I can do all the things I want.
2. I have been calling myself a minimalist for a few years now. 5 to be exact. Writing takes time, getting into writing takes even more time, because you are trying to create a new habit here. Once I started carving time out to write I realized how much time I actually have available. Over the course of the past 5 years, I have minimized and simplified my life and routines so much, that I actually CAN take time out for the things that matter to me, even while I have small children to take care of, cook 2-3 times a day and I still have a clean house to go to bed most nights.
   If I plan my day efficiently, I can do all the things I want.
3. I am an addicted to Dopamine. Due to the fact that running a household means having to do the same mundane chores over and over again like folding laundry, washing dishes, brooming, mopping. All these tasks allow me to have something running in the background, which I often do in the form of audiobooks, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc…Writing though, is something that requires silence. I can have classical or instrumental music running in the background, but nothing with words. Otherwise, I get too distracted from writing. What I notice is, that I get very fidgety, or I should say, I used to get fidgety. Which is a big indicator that my brain is too used to the dopamine rush and THAT needs to be addressed. I might write in an upcoming blogpost how I am actively trying to lessen my phone usage.
4. I have cut down on my TV time a lot. Usually, my husband and I used to watch TV every night after putting the kids down, but because of my writing we have cut that down to only a 2-3 times a week and sometimes we just hang out in the same room being on our computers, which does not lead to much productivity, but to fun conversations.