BOOK CLUB REPORT - Jan 2026
KCCNYC Dosan Hakdang December Meeting - the Healing Season of Pottery
By Sharon Stern
Dosan Hakang Book Club gathered in December to discuss the novel The Healing Season of Pottery by Yeon Somin. The novel follows a woman, Jungmin, who was a broadcast writer for television, had a work crisis that made her suddenly quit her job and completely shut down to the confines of her apartment. When she finally musters the courage to go outside, she accidentally wanders into a pottery workshop that she thought was a café. That mistake changes her life, her community and her future, but in a slow and loving way through new friendships, a new hobby and a lot of self-discovery.
We had a lovely discussion about found family, community as family, but there were some bittersweet feelings as well. One person said they wanted to read a Korean novel where the female protagonist was not so hard on themselves. This brought out the thought that when you have damaged parents, as the main character does, you feel doomed to repeat the past. We talked about the pressures on children in Korean families, the role of women, the cultural nature of shame.
We liked how the main character was developed slowly, just as she was healing slowly. And the other characters were also revealed slowly – the way friends slowly discover each other. Despite a few translation frustrations with, in particular, verbs, the issues of mental health challenges in Korea have come across in several of the novels we have read.
The novel felt more complex than a couple we have read, in a good way. And it read a little like a K-drama, which is interesting, since the author does write K-dramas as well as novels. This novel is, at least in part, autobiographical and relates some of the real experiences of the author.
If you haven’t had a chance to read The Healing Season of Pottery, we do recommend it.
January DOSAN HAKDANG:
Blood of the Old Kings
For the month of January, KCCNYC Dosan Hakdang will be reading Blood of the Old Kings by Sung Il Kim (Translated by Anton Hur). The book was selected as a Best Fantasy Book of the Year by NPR.
Join us on January 25, 2026 at 2PM for the exciting journey. We look forward to having you for our new exciting journey for 2026! You can sign up to join us here.
We will be pausing for the month of February, to concentrate on the upcoming KCCNYC gala. We will be announcing the books for March and April next month.
