My Reading History
Taylor Kim (Eungyeong)
Age 4 - started reading books
Reading was my life; once a shy girl, spent most of the days reading in my room
Age 8-9 - Loved reading greek mythology comic series
The greek mythology comic series was a big hit among kids when I was 8-9. In class, we borrowed from each other the 17 books in the whole series to complete the whole reading.
credit: http://www.burimbook.co.kr/file/104/1293970530RUntitled-43.jpg
Age 12 - The book that I loved and still remain alive in my memory
The protagonist, Yeong-mo, is a wounded soul; he lives with only his father and he is an outsider among his friends. His only friend, Byeong-ho, finds out that Yeong-mo escapes his painful life through a fantasic world called "ra-on-ge-na." I was moved by how Yeong-mo reveals his deepest pain and struggle in his life through his dramatic escape from his reality through entering the unknown and fearful fantasic world. And I also enjoyed losing my mind in the adventure Yeong-mo was undergoing as he entered and introduced himself into his second life beginning in the world called "Ra-on-ge-na."
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Age 13 - The book on traditional Korean law related career called "Eo-sa"
The book was a comic book. I remember I read the books over and over many times. The book was basically about the protagonist named "Moon-soo Park," who was the lawyer of Cho-sun dynasty-- the ancient mother country of Korea. I learned how justice works out in a society and how there are two types of people who try to keep the rules of society and the others who try to break them. I was deeply moved by the power of comic books that enrich my imaginations on Cho-sun dynasty, which is the ancient world my far-far ancestors of Koreans lived.
credit: http://image.auction.co.kr/itemimage/9f/7a/c0/9f7ac01b5.jpg
Age 17 - One of the worst memory on reading books
In my high school, even though I was a bad student when it comes to English classes, I was always an eager student who wanted to challenge oneself in taking higher level of English classes, in an attempt to raise one's English communications skills. In this context, I took British Literature class. I am an avid reader of personal essays and non-fictions, but I hate fictions and novels. Not surprisingly, I hated every book we covered in the literature class. Of those, I struggled the most with Jane Austen's Emma. I remember I wrote a weekly reading journal on assigned weekly readings of Emma. Without the basic understanding on British culture and society on which the story of Emma is based, I simply hated the reading and did not even try to understand the whole plot of the book.
credit: http://www.literarydetectives.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Emma-by-Jane-Austen.jpg
Age 20 - 30 Lessons on LIfe!
This book is the one that I keep beside my bed and try to read over and over as many times as possible; it is a gem of invaluable teachings on life from the wise elders of American society. Yes, it is comprised of life philosophies of the previous generations of US and I am a Korean from my head to the toe. However, I find those lessons in the book helpful and inspirational. I guess people's lives in many different countries all over the world have something in common-- as there is the word called "humanees" in English. I resonated with the messages in the book, and I am in the journey of making the lessons truly mine. Books are truly my teacher, friend and inspiration.
Age 20 - A new world of beautiful poetries
I first met Sarah Kay through her famous Ted talk on her journey through the genre called "spoken poetries." I was really moved by her performance in the talk on her poem called "point B." Since then, I started research on her profile, personal stories and her works. And finally, I met her most recent publication, No Matter the Wreckage. Especially during last semester, it was my before-bed-routine to stop randomly on one page of the book and slowly read the poems until her words make meaning to me. The book is a precious gem that I treasure till now and forever.