STAYC’s fandom SWITH calls SUMIN by the nickname "Sum Library." Ever since her debut, SUMIN has consistently recommended books that inspired her to SWITH. She took photos of parts that she found impressive and shared them or even read them aloud on VLIVE. What SUMIN loves about reading is that it makes her mind calm and get immersed in the content, so we interviewed SUMIN about reading. She started off by taking out a poetry book she's into these days and a journal where she wrote down 12 books she wanted to recommend.

The Beginning of "Sum Library"

SUMIN: When I was young, I hated writing book reports and reading journals, so I didn't like reading as much as I do now. When I became a trainee in middle school, I had a hard time keeping up with my schoolwork, but I believed that reading would be more beneficial. And after all those times reading books whenever I had a chance, here I am now.

Reading Books

SUMIN: I don't have enough time to read because we're on promotion, but I always carry a book with me, like a poetry book that I can read in short breaks, and I read about 1-2 poems when I get a chance. During the photoshoot for the album jacket, I took some time and went to a place where I could be alone to read a book. But the best environment is when I'm alone in my room so that I can turn on my favorite music and just focus on reading. It's okay if it's music with lyrics. I'm not very good at multi-tasking (laughs), so I can't really hear the music anyway. I also read self-help books and essays from time to time. But for novels, once I start, I must finish it no matter what. I get so curious about the ending, so I try to read it as fast as possible. I can finish a book the same day I start reading, but I usually finish it in 2-3 days.

How to Become Familiar with Books

SUMIN: First of all, you can't force yourself to read. If you're reading, and you keep thinking about something else, you should stop reading. Even if you read in that state, you won't be able to process what the book is saying, so I recommend light reading. Don't try to go deep down from the beginning. You can just start reading before you go to bed just to help you fall asleep (laughs).

If We Can’t Go at the Speed of Light

SUMIN: I love Author Kim Choyeop. After reading her books, I started reading more novels. I even recommended "If We Can’t Go at the Speed of Light" on Weverse. It was so interesting that I kept thinking it could make hundreds of movies within that universe. Even though it's science fiction, every story had a moral, which made it even better. If I were to recommend a book I really enjoyed, I'd say "Ordinary Words" (Kim Eana). Even though I was just reading the text, I thought, "This author has a very healthy mindset," and it felt as if she was my life coach. And "On My 29th Birthday, I Decided to Die One Year Later" (Hayama Amari). As it says in the title, the author decides to die one year later, and the book is about her journey until that day comes. I'll stop here since the rest might be a spoiler. (Laughs) I also want to recommend "Only Han-ah on Earth" (Chung Serang). I don't really cry, even when I'm watching movies, but I teared up while reading these two books. That's how sad they are. I think I get more immersed when I'm reading a book than when I'm watching a movie or TV series. Since I can imagine things in the way I want as I read just the text, I feel like I get more involved. 

Entering the World of Poetry

SUMIN: I didn't really like poetry in the past. But these days (she takes out a poetry book), I started getting into poetry while reading "Love Like You've Never Been Hurt" (Ryu Shihwa). It's a collection of poems that were compiled by the author, and it's not difficult at all. It contains poems from different poets, and for some of them, you don't even know who the author is. Everyone carries different thoughts, right? So, each time I read a poem, I get very surprised. "How could they think this way? How could they express this in such beautiful words?" My favorite poem is "Love Like You've Never Been Hurt," which is also the title of the book. Should I read it for you? (Laughs) "Dance like no one is watching. Love like you've never been hurt. Sing like no one is listening. Work like you don't need the money. Live like today is your last day."

SUMIN, Reading Aloud

SUMIN: I'm a huge fan of Park Jungmin, and he wrote a book titled "Useful Person." I first read it in paperback, and then I listened to it through the audiobook, and it hit me much harder when I heard it in Jungmin's voice. I loved how he was reading his story himself. However, when I read a portion of "I Just Like You" (Cho Yumi) out loud on VLIVE or when I read the song lyrics at a radio program "STATION Z," it felt good, but the disappointment was bigger. I just wasn't sure if the listeners were able to feel what I was feeling and experiencing. But still, I thought, "I wish more people would know about this part," and I hope it would be helpful. If I get another chance, I'd love to try an audiobook as well.

Learning Through Books

SUMIN: A SWITH gave me "We Need to Talk" (Celeste Headlee) as a gift, and it's about verbal habits. As I was reading this book, I realized my bad speaking habits, and there were things I wanted to fix. This book was very helpful to me, so I recommend it a lot. After reading "We Need to Talk" (Celeste Headlee), I wanted to learn more about conversation skills, so I also bought "Nonviolent Communication" (Marshall B. Rosenberg). Since it's about professional conversation skills, it was a bit more difficult than I thought, so I couldn't finish it in one go. I've been dividing it up into chapters and reading it when I have time. You know I'm a radio DJ, right? I'm actually someone who easily gets nervous, and I'm quite introverted, so I felt like I'm not very good at making conversations when talking with guests. I'm studying through these books because I want to improve. When you study the things you really want to delve into through books, you can understand better, and I think it stays with you longer.

Changes Through Reading 

SUMIN: In the past, I didn't really have a specific way to relieve stress. So, it was hard for me to control stress when I was at my limit. I realized that if I read books at times like that, I become calm. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I'm pretty sensitive, and I have a lot of things going on in my head. In the early days of my debut, I worried so much, and people around me used to say that I can just worry about the little things later. So, back then, my motto was "Don't look at the tree. Look at the forest," but it has changed a bit now. I think "This moment is important" a lot more, and I try to live the moment as best as I can every day. In this promotion period, the director came to me and said, "Something is different about you. There's no more spite, in a good way." I think all the reading helped me. 

Happiness from "Hector and the Search for Happiness"

SUMIN: My favorite book that I always recommend to SWITH is "Hector and the Search for Happiness" (François Lelord). It's about the main character Hector and how he goes on a journey to find "true happiness." I read this book around five times, and I even saw the movie. The meaning of happiness is different for every person that Hector meets on his journey. I was in middle school when I first read this book. I never thought much about happiness then, and this book made me think, "Maybe happiness has an important role in our lives." There are so many good quotes too. And these days, I feel like we don't need to treat "happiness" as something so special. (Laughs) Just talking like this can be happiness, and my life itself can be happiness. It's too hard to find one from so far away. I believe happiness is always next to you.

Giving and Receiving Through Books

SUMIN: Since I'm a singer, I read a lot of books that I can empathize with from my perspective. When I recommend a book, I usually talk about parts that I think will be helpful for other people as well or parts that I was truly impressed by. I'm not very good with my words, so I sometimes share with SWITH the parts that express "what I really wanted to say." So whenever someone tells me that they loved the book I recommended, I get so relieved. Since I read the book before them, I already know it's good. So, I get very happy that it was also helpful for SWITH. That's how I feel. In reverse, I also read books that SWITH recommend to me. Everyone knows I love to read, so I get a lot of books from SWITH as gifts. Sometimes, certain parts are underlined, or notes are put on as well. Whenever I see those, I feel so grateful, and I empathize with them. When I see notes where they wrote down their stories or their thoughts, I think, "So this is what they thought while reading this book, and this is the life they're living," and I enjoy that.

Message to SWITH

SUMIN: The "Picking Apples" episode from "I Just Like You (Cho Yumi)" that I read on my last VLIVE was very impressive. It said that even though everyone's timing and method of picking apples were different, they all reached the same goal. I was a trainee for quite a long time. But I think everyone's timing is different. There are people who don't seem to work as hard as me, but they become successful quickly. Or there are people who obviously worked super hard, but they don't have as much success, which even makes me disappointed. I think about myself like that sometimes, too. "Why am I so slow? Why am I not getting better?" Everyone thinks this way at least once in their life. I hope that our SWITH don't fall too deep in these thoughts. Everyone will find success someday, and we'll all achieve our goals. I just want to say that the speed and timing are different for each person.