240402 /r/bangtan Books with Luv: So why don’t we ride this feeling into the April Readers’ Choice Poll?!

Hello [bibliophiles](https://i.imgur.com/xxNhWIB.gif) of /r/bangtan!

We hope you all have been enjoying our j-hope’s ‘Hope on the Street’ [docuseries](https://i.imgur.com/lm2O6kX.gif) and album! I know that [NEURON](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4Rg_VgOlJU) and the whole album has been on regular rotation for me since Friday.

Last month we read and talked about **The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas** by Ursula K. Le Guin. We had an amazing [discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/bangtan/comments/1bitwsh/240320_rbangtan_books_with_luv_march_book_club/) about the short story. If you didn’t get a chance to share your thoughts, the thread is still active and we’d love to hear what you think.

With all of the amazing music and Bangtan content we are getting right now, we [hope](https://i.imgur.com/MDdoZDD.gif) you’ll be able to join us this month! We are back with five BTS-adjacent books to choose from. These books were either seen on a member’s bookshelf/in their luggage, recommended by them, were seen being read by them, or are books about BTS and their music.

The *ult-list* is much longer but we used a randomizer to choose these 5 for the poll and we’ll have fresh choices for you each month. Take a look at April’s picks and vote on what we should read next!

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*Some key dates to remember*

(All dates/time are in KST)

| Date | Event |
|:-|:-|
| April 2 | Poll opens now – ends April 5 11:59pm |
| April 6 | Voters’ choice book announced |
| April 19 | Books with Luv discussion meeting |

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# what if…what if…what if…what if…we read all the books

*These are the 5 books you get to choose from for the month of April!*

| Title – BTS Connection | Description |
|:-|:-|
| [I Decided to Live As Me by Kim Suhyun(2016)](https://www.amazon.com/Decided-Live-Me-English-Translation/dp/9715088341) – In 2018 during Bon Voyage Season 3, Jungkook is seen reading this book. | Heartfelt advice to make myself live as me! Deep words of comfort for you who are novice adults! |
| [1984 by George Orwell (1949)](https://www.amazon.com/1984-Signet-Classics-George-Orwell/dp/0451524934) – Recommended by Namjoon in the Fall of 2017 during LY: Her [promo](https://twitter.com/JooniesLibrary/status/1379506771367186436) | Winston Smith toes the Party line, rewriting history to satisfy the demands of the Ministry of Truth. With each lie he writes, Winston grows to hate the Party that seeks power for its own sake and persecutes those who dare to commit thoughtcrimes. But as he starts to think for himself, Winston can’t escape the fact that Big Brother is always watching… |
| [Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (2017)](https://www.amazon.com/Pachinko-National-Book-Award-Finalist/dp/1455563935) – Namjoon shared that he was watching the TV show on [Instagram](https://twitter.com/JooniesLibrary/status/1523024257353232384) | Richly told and profoundly moving, Pachinko is a story of love, sacrifice, ambition, and loyalty. From bustling street markets to the halls of Japan’s finest universities to the pachinko parlors of the criminal underworld, Lee’s complex and passionate characters-strong, stubborn women, devoted sisters and sons, fathers shaken by moral crisis-survive and thrive against the indifferent arc of history. |
| [Almond by Sohn Won-Pyung (2017)](https://www.amazon.com/Almond-Novel-Won-pyung-Sohn/dp/0062961381) – Multiple members were seen reading Almond during In the Soop Season One. Suga also seemed to take inspiration from this book for his song AMYGDALA from his 2023 album D-Day | Yunjae was born with a brain condition called Alexithymia that makes it hard for him to feel emotions like fear or anger. He does not have friends – the two almond-shaped neurons located deep in his brain have seen to that but his devoted mother and grandmother aren’t fazed by his condition. This is a poignant and triumphant story about how love, friendship, and persistence can change a life forever. |
| [The White Book by Han Kang (2016)](https://www.amazon.com/White-Book-Han-Kang/dp/0525573062) – Seen in Namjoon’s giant stack of books during his [All Day Vlog](https://twitter.com/JooniesLibrary/status/1654157226498457603) | While on a writer’s residency, a nameless narrator wanders the twin white worlds of the blank page and snowy Warsaw. The White Book becomes a meditation on the color white, as well as a fictional journey inspired by an older sister who died in her mother’s arms, a few hours old. Kang offers powerful philosophy and personal psychology on the tenacity and fragility of the human spirit, and our attempts to graft new life from the ashes of destruction. |

***

# [Okay, we got a pig and six humans here](https://youtu.be/i69AjCS4iCA?si=i2mkTS3BCYaxgwRf&t=677)

*Below is a discussion guide. We will also be preparing some questions for you!*

– Book specific questions: TBA
– *Fan Chant*: Hype/overall reviews
– *Ments*: favorite quotes
– *ARMY Time*: playlist/recommendations of songs you associate with the book/chapters/characters
– *Do The Wave*: sentiments, feels, realizations based on the book
– *Encore/Post Club-read Depression Prevention*: something the book club can do afterwards (on one’s own leisure time) to help recover from the book hangover.

***

# I’ll say it again…

As always, if you have questions or suggestions on how we can make discussions even better please let us know. You can post it here or feel free to reach out to any of our lovely volunteers and mods!

With luv,

Our book club volunteers:

– /u/EveryCliche
– /u/munisme
– /u/mucho_thankyou5802
– /u/Next_Grapefruit_3206

And the r/bangtan Mod Team

# [Live j-hopely](https://i.imgur.com/hmpljHe.gif)

*Vote for the book you would like to discuss in the next book club!*

[View Poll](https://www.reddit.com/poll/1btk217)

by EveryCliche