Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop
A woman walks away from a life that looks successful from the outside and opens a small bookshop. What follows is quiet, tender, and deeply true.
Find in NLB catalogue → (opens in new tab)What I read
I believe in the power of a good book to discover more about ourselves and the world. I am a fiction lover so most of my recommendations are fiction titles. These are books I return to and recommend often.
On Careers & Personal Growth
From Strength to Strength
An honest and generous book about the second half of life, not as decline, but as a different kind of flourishing. Particularly meaningful if you are at a point where you are asking what comes next.
Find in NLB catalogue → (opens in new tab)What You Are Looking For Is in the Library
A librarian who gives people not quite the book they asked for, but the one they actually need. As someone who works in a library, this one felt personal. Warm, gentle and quietly wise.
Find in NLB catalogue → (opens in new tab) On Leadership
The Leader, the Teacher & You
Written by one of Singapore's most respected public servants. The framing of leadership as service, and of character as the foundation of everything else, has stayed with me.
Find in NLB catalogue → (opens in new tab)The Making of a Manager
A book about what it actually feels like to become a manager for the first time: the self-doubt, the learning, the small moments that matter. Practical without being prescriptive.
Find in NLB catalogue → (opens in new tab)Together is Better
Short enough to read in an afternoon, but the ideas stay longer. A reminder that leadership is fundamentally about helping others find the courage to take their own next step.
Find in NLB catalogue → (opens in new tab) On Women & Empowerment
Lessons in Chemistry
A chemist in the 1960s who ends up hosting a cooking show, and uses it to change how women see themselves. Funny, furious and deeply satisfying.
Find in NLB catalogue → (opens in new tab)The Bookstore Girls
Young women navigating work, ambition and friendship in a bookshop. Small in scale but generous in heart. The kind of novel that makes you feel seen in the ordinary moments.
Find in NLB catalogue → (opens in new tab)Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
A warm, funny mystery about a nosy elderly tea shop owner who appoints herself detective after discovering a body. Full of heart, humour and an irresistible lead character.
Find in NLB catalogue → (opens in new tab) On Inclusion & Diversity
The Rosie Project / The Rosie Effect / The Rosie Result
A trilogy following Don Tillman, a genetics professor with undiagnosed autism. Charming, funny and quietly tender. The series makes you see the world through a different lens, and grows more moving with each book.
Find in NLB catalogue → (opens in new tab)Not Without Us: Perspectives on Disability and Inclusion in Singapore
A collection of essays and perspectives on disability and inclusion in Singapore. Essential reading for anyone who works in this space or wants to understand it better.
Find in NLB catalogue → (opens in new tab)