From the internationally bestselling author of Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop comes a warm and reflective collection of essays inviting us to reflect on our relationship with reading. Why do we read? What is it that we hope to take away from the intimate, personal experience of reading for pleasure? Rarely do we ask these profound, expansive questions of ourselves and of our relationship to the joy of reading. In each of the essays in Every Day I Read, Hwang Bo-reum contemplates what living a life immersed in reading means. She goes beyond the usual questions of what to read and how often, exploring the relationship between reading and writing, when to turn to a bestseller vs. browse the corners of a bookstore, the value of reading outside of your favorite genre, falling in love with book characters, and more. Every Day I Read provides many quiet moments for introspection and reflection, encouraging book-lovers to explore what reading means to each of us. While this is a book about books, at its heart is an attitude to life, one outside capitalism and climbing the corporate ladder. Lifelong and new readers will take away something from it, including a treasure trove of book recommendations blended seamlessly within.

‘For a very long time, the days went by, each just like the day before, then I began to think, and everything changed’ Deep underground, thirty-nine women live imprisoned in a cage. Watched over by guards, the women have no memory of how they got there, no notion of time, and only vague recollection of their lives before. As the burn of electric light merges day into night and numberless years pass, a young girl - the fortieth prisoner - sits alone and outcast in the corner. Soon she will show herself to be the key to the others' escape and survival in the strange world that awaits them above ground. Jacqueline Harpman was born in Etterbeek, Belgium, in 1929, and fled to Casablanca with her family during WWII. Informed by her background as a psychoanalyst and her youth in exile, I Who Have Never Known Men is a haunting, heartbreaking post-apocalyptic novel of female friendship and intimacy, and the lengths people will go to maintain their humanity in the face of devastation. Back in print for the first time since 1997, Harpman’s modern classic is an important addition to the growing canon of feminist speculative literature.

Edited by Laura KasinofA man accidentally swept along by a street protest finds himself tasered, arrested and subjected to days of torture by the police, simply because he tried to cross the road... Following the disappearance of her father, a teenage girl is forced to support her impoverished family by disguising herself as a boy, losing both her childhood and her identity in the process... On the day after a perfect wedding, a groom can’t work out why all his relatives are gathered outside his bedroom dressed in mourning clothes... The stories in this anthology demonstrate the myriad ways that war and oppressive regimes have touched the lives of ordinary Yemenis. Whether it’s the decade-long war between the Ansarallah (a.k.a. ‘Houthi’) movement and the Yemeni government (played out as a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia), or the oppression of President Saleh’s previous regime, or earlier civil conflicts... No one is safe. Each character learns to navigate through trauma, finding redemption in their own ingenuity as well as in a deep-rooted appreciation for what remains a beautiful, inspiring city. Translated Maisa Almanasreh, Raph Cormack, Basma Ghalayini, Mohammed Ghalayini, Christiaan James, Laura Kasinof, Talei Lakeland, Andrew Leber, Majd Abu Shawish, and Katherine Van de Vate.

Does evil lurk in the shadows of the forest, or in the human heart? Eduardo Sangarcía’s tale of one woman’s witch trial opens the door to deeper horrors. Anna Thalberg is a peasant woman shunned for her red hair and provocative beauty. When she is dragged from her home and accused of witchcraft, her neighbors do not intervene. Only Klaus, Anna’s husband, and Father Friedrich, a priest experiencing a crisis of faith, set out to the city of Würzburg to prove her innocence. There, Anna faces isolation and torture inside the prison tower, while the populace grows anxious over strange happenings within the city walls. Can Klaus and Friedrich convince the church to release Anna, or will she burn at the stake? Set in the Holy Roman Empire during the Protestant Reformation, The Trial of Anna Thalberg is a story of religious persecution, superstition, and human suffering. While exploring the medieval fear of witches and demons, it delves into enduring human concerns: the historical oppression of women, the inhumanity of institutions, and the existence of God. Frantic in pace and experimental in form, this is an unforgettable debut from Mexican author Eduardo Sangarcía.

From the New York Times-bestselling author of A Crane Among Wolves comes a warm and romantic homage to Jane Austen set in historical Korea, about a reader and a writer who secretly fight against government book banning and find themselves irresistibly drawn together. As the dutiful second-eldest daughter of a poor family, society would have Haewon believe that her only hope of a decent life is to marry well. But during a time of rampant government censorship and book banning, she instead works as an illegal book transcriber in order to make a little extra money. It’s dangerous work, but she loves it―especially when she gets to transcribe the work of her favorite author, known as Black Lotus. When her older sister becomes smitten with a wealthy young gentleman, Haewon is roped into chaperoning them during their courtship. Which wouldn’t be so terrible... if it weren’t for the young man’s uptight and annoying best friend who also accompanies them. As the only son of a noble, Seojun has a lot expected of him. Wealth. Status. Respectability. Certainly not frivolous and often illicit activities such as reading fiction. But Seojun loves to do something even more scandalous: writing. He’s kept his work secret from his father and friends, but with each passing day, the pressure of being his father’s son and the dispiriting actions of the government make Seojun question the purpose of it all. The only thing keeping him going are the encouraging letters he receives from his transcriber, known only as Magpie. When his best friend falls hard for a girl of lower social status, Seojun finds himself forced to act as chaperone to the infatuated couple―along with the girl's younger sister, who is as irritating as she is judgmental. But as Haewon and Seojun spend more time together, they begin to suspect they may have judged each other too quickly...

From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal retort to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell in this unforgettable work of dark academia that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British empire. Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal. 1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. Babel is the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. The unique magic system of silver working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empire’s quest for colonization. For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, a secret society dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide… Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?

There is restraint and a trace of sadness in the way Mikhail Sholokov begins his story, as if to warn the reader that it is not an easy tale he has to tell. One postwar spring the author met a tall man with stooping shoulders and big rugged hands. And perhaps for the first and last time soldier Andrei Sokolov told a chance acquaintance the story of his life, told how he endured tortures and sufferings that would have broken many a man of weaker nature... But Sokolov's torn and wounded heart is still eager for life and eager to share life with his little Vanya, orphaned by the war like himself. Sholokov's The Fate of a Man ends on a stern note. Yet as one closes the book one believes that Andrei Sokolov will give all the strength of his generous Russian soul to his adopted son and that the boy will grow at his father's side into another man who can overcome any obstacle if his country calls upon him to do so.

"I did have hallucinations, but did they harm anyone? Who did they harm, that's what I'd like to know!" From the supreme artist of the short story, three disturbing tales of supernatural hallucinations, hysterical obsession and moral decay.

The first complete, annotated English Translation of Mikhail Bulgakov's comic masterpiece. An audacious revision of the stories of Faust and Pontius Pilate, The Master and Margarita is recognized as one of the essential classics of modern Russian literature. The novel's vision of Soviet life in the 1930s is so ferociously accurate that it could not be published during its author's lifetime and appeared only in a censored edition in the 1960s. Its truths are so enduring that its language has become part of the common Russian speech. One hot spring, the devil arrives in Moscow, accompanied by a retinue that includes a beautiful naked witch and an immense talking black cat with a fondness for chess and vodka. The visitors quickly wreak havoc in a city that refuses to believe in either God or Satan. But they also bring peace to two unhappy Muscovites: one is the Master, a writer pilloried for daring to write a novel about Christ and Pontius Pilate; the other is Margarita, who loves the Master so deeply that she is willing literally to go to hell for him. What ensues is a novel of inexhaustible energy, humor, and philosophical depth, a work whose nuances emerge for the first time in Diana Burgin's and Katherine Tiernan O'Connor's splendid English version.

An astounding insight into how white feminism is intertwined with Islamophobia, and why Muslim women are so often left out of the conversation. Growing up, journalist Shahed Ezaydi was asked how she could possibly call herself a feminist if she also practised her faith. By treating Muslim women as invisible and excluding them from feminist spaces, or hyper-visible with an obsession of ‘saving’ them, we are perpetuating gendered Islamophobia and white feminism. But Muslim women don’t need to be saved, and religion is not the only form of oppression. The Othered Woman is the book Ezaydi wishes her younger self could have turned to, to dispel the myths of how Muslim women are oppressed and who by. It shows that these myths translate into very real harm at state level in the UK and globally, and showcases the many intersectional feminists fighting for liberation in their own way. Accessible and compelling, this is urgent reading for anyone who considers themselves a feminist.

Famously scenic, the Hankyu commuter train trundles daily through Japanese landscape unaware of the heartaches of the passengers it carries. On the outward journey we are introduced to the emotional dilemmas of five characters as we puzzle out how they will unravel; on the return journey six months later, we watch them resolve: - a young man meets the young woman, who always happens to borrow a library book just before he can take it out himself - a woman in a white bridal dress boards looking inexplicably sad - a university student leaves his hometown for the first time - a girl prepares to leave her abusive boyfriend; - an old lady discusses adopting a dog with her granddaughter. As the seasons come around, so the Hankyu line trundles on carrying the lives and loves of its passengers ever forwards.

Uka Ishimori has one dream in life: to have fun in high school! As a self-avowed dense, stone-faced introvert who spent all of middle school hardening her heart against a daily barrage of bullying, breaking out of her shell is easier said than done. Luckily, she’s not alone—Kai Miura, a classmate whose blond hair reminds her of the lemon soda he so enjoys, has her back. Step by step, she endeavors to cast off the shadows of her past and reinvigorate her life!

The award-winning manga that inspired the anime My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999. Sometimes love is like an endgame boss. College student Akane has just been dumped by her boyfriend. Heartbroken, she decides to quit the online RPG they used to play together—but instead of deleting her account, she logs in and battles low-level enemies to relieve her stress and hurt feelings. There she meets Yamada, an elite pro gamer so reclusive that Akane can’t decide if he’s awkward or alluring. When Akane encounters her ex at a gaming convention, she makes the snap decision to pretend Yamada is her boyfriend, and soon the two of them are spending time together both in the game and in real life. The problem is, Yamada is only interested in the game. As Akane’s feelings grow, will Yamada’s focus shift? Volume 1 includes Chapters 1-9.

Tamon is an insecure mess in real life, and what’s worse, he’s threatening to quit! Utage refuses to let anyone stand in Tamon’s way—least of all himself. What’s a fangirl to do but roll up her sleeves and support her favorite singer with everything she’s got?

This fantasy tale of mystery and romance was adapted from the critically acclaimed light novel series Return from Death: I Kicked the Bucket and Now I’m Back at Square One With a Boyfriend Who Doesn’t Remember Me! From the author of Hi, I'm a Witch, and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion and the artist of A Story of Seven Lives (also from Seven Seas)! Oriana, a seventeen-year-old magic student, suddenly dies alongside her boyfriend, Vincent. However, she returns from death in the body of her seven-year-old self with the memories of her past life intact—except for the knowledge of what killed her. She fantasizes for years about reuniting with her beloved, but when they finally meet, Vincent doesn’t remember her! Can she make Vincent fall in love with her again and avoid the death that started this mysterious time loop?

Dengan penerangan yang mudah difahami tetapi tidak kehilangan kedalaman saintifiknya, Dr. Zamir menerangkan konsep yang kompleks seperti teori kerelatifan, lohong hitam dan kemungkinan hidup di planet lain dengan cara yang menarik dan merangsang imaginasi. Buku yang dikemas kini dengan ilustrasi menarik dan data terkini daripada penyelidikan astronomi terkemuka ini, menawarkan pandangan baharu tentang tempat kita dalam kosmos yang luas dan tanpa had. "Angkasa" bukan sahaja mengenai bintang dan galaksi; ia perjalanan untuk memahami asal usul kita, masa depan alam semesta, dan bagaimana sains terus membentuk pemahaman kita tentang tempat kita di dalamnya. Ia ditulis dalam gaya naratif yang menarik, Dr. Zamir membawa pembaca mengembara dari galaksi kita sendiri, Bima Sakti ke had paling jauh di angkasa lepas, meneroka fenomena alam semesta melalui lensa seorang saintis yang juga ahli pencerita.