Libraries: Reading Culture: Home

About

What is Reading Culture?

Every Fall and Spring semester, the Reading Culture planning committee selects a country and book for HCC students, staff, and faculty to learn about together. Cultural events and discussions are held throughout the semester to facilitate learning on the selected country and the lives of its people. Attendance and participation is open to all HCC students, staff, and faculty whether or not they participate in the scholarship competition.

How do I attend events?

For Spring 2025, there are separate events happening online and in-person. Most online events can be accessed in the Cisco Webex link in the online course menu. If you are not in the Reading Culture Canvas course, fill out the webform on this page to be added. Some events may be external and will be announced as opportunities arise. If you have questions about attending events online, please email treva.anderson@hccs.edu.

How do I compete for the Scholarship?

The scholarship competition is open to all students currently taking classes at HCC. To win, you must:

Participate in at least two qualifying cultural events and write a 100-200 word reflection about each event, AND
Write an essay and/or craft a creative project, which you will submit in the Reading Culture canvas course by April 22, 2025, 11:59PM CT.

Students can submit in both categories but can only win one award. Previous winners can participate but are not eligible to compete for one calendar year (for example, if you won in the Spring 2024, you are eligible to compete again in Spring 2025). See the Canvas site for submission instructions.

Join the Canvas Group!

If you want to attend Reading Culture events, please fill out this webform to gain access to Reading Culture's Eagle Online/Canvas course. (If you plan to compete for the scholarship, you must have access to the Eagle Online/Canvas course.) Attendance and participation is open to all HCC students, staff, and faculty whether or not they participate in the scholarship competition.

How to Get a Copy of One of the Books

We have a limited number of free books available for both titles. If you are interested in a copy, be on the lookout for announcements of our Book Distribution events! Limited copies will be available at each event, while supplies last. If there are books remaining after these events, an announcement will be made for how to request a copy be sent to your most convenient campus library location for pickup.

Learn about the selected books for this semester's program below and make your choice:

Book Covers

Titles/Authors

Genres/Descriptions

Cover of If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha

If I Had Your Face
by Frances Cha

[Fiction/Novel]

From the publisher's website: A riveting debut novel set in contemporary Seoul, Korea, about four young women making their way in a world defined by impossible standards of beauty, after-hours room salons catering to wealthy men, ruthless social hierarchies, and K-pop mania

Kyuri is an achingly beautiful woman with a hard-won job at a Seoul “room salon,” an exclusive underground bar where she entertains businessmen while they drink. Though she prides herself on her cold, clear-eyed approach to life, an impulsive mistake threatens her livelihood.

Kyuri’s roommate, Miho, is a talented artist who grew up in an orphanage but won a scholarship to study art in New York. Returning to Korea after college, she finds herself in a precarious relationship with the heir to one of the country’s biggest conglomerates.

Down the hall in their building lives Ara, a hairstylist whose two preoccupations sustain her: an obsession with a boy-band pop star, and a best friend who is saving up for the extreme plastic surgery that she hopes will change her life.

And Wonna, one floor below, is a newlywed trying to have a baby that she and her husband have no idea how they can afford to raise in Korea’s brutal economy.

Together, their stories tell a gripping tale at once unfamiliar and unmistakably universal, in which their tentative friendships may turn out to be the thing that ultimately saves them.

Cover of Cook Korean

Cook Korean!
by Robin Ha

[Cookbook/Graphic Novel]

From the publisher's website: A charming introduction to the basics of Korean cooking in graphic novel form, with 64 recipes, ingredient profiles, and more, presented through light-hearted comics.

Fun to look at and easy to use, this unique combination of cookbook and graphic novel is the ideal introduction to cooking Korean cuisine at home. Robin Ha’s colorful and humorous one-to three-page comics fully illustrate the steps and ingredients needed to bring more than sixty traditional (and some not-so-traditional) dishes to life.

In these playful but exact recipes, you’ll learn how to create everything from easy kimchi (mak kimchi) and soy garlic beef over rice (bulgogi dupbap) to seaweed rice rolls (gimbap) and beyond. Friendly and inviting, Cook Korean! is perfect for beginners and seasoned cooks alike.

Each chapter includes personal anecdotes and cultural insights from Ha, providing an intimate entry point for those looking to try their hand at this cuisine.

HCC Libraries offer print copies and eBook copies to borrow in-person and access online. Please see those listed below.

Title	Library Access/Request link	Restriction
If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha	1 Print Copy at Northline 1 Print Copy from WHI	2 copies available, first come, first served for 3 week loan period.
If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha	eBook Copy	1 user license, first come, first served with 7-day digital checkout by download
Cook Korean! by Robin Ha	Print Copies	3 copies available, first come, first served, for 3 week loan period