The Second Chance Convenience Store - Ho-Yeon Kim

THE SECOND CHANCE CONVENIENCE STORE by Ho-Yeon Kim is set in present day Seoul, Korea. Perhaps because she is retired, a main character and store owner, Mrs. Yeom, made me think a bit of the feisty Chinese retailer Vera Wong but this Korean woman is not as pushy. The tone of the book is reminiscent of What you are Looking for is in the Library (although that novel is set in Japan); here, various characters appear in each (rather long) chapter and benefit in some way from attention form the convenience store employees. The pace is quite slow and there seems to be a very significant emphasis on drinking corn silk tea instead of alcohol. Ho-Yeon Kim has crafted a gentle book about being a person of principle, reaping what we sow, and caring for each other. Its universal lessons have produced an international best-seller. Although the story feels repetitive, readers may be drawn into the life of Mrs. Yeom and her band of loyal employees, including a formerly homeless man and a student, plus several customers and her wayward son. The audiobook is narrated by Jennifer Kim who uses different “voices” to portray the characters. I found her narration a bit grating initially, but later appreciated her attempts to differentiate between characters.