Recently I was striking out with audiobooks... Well, that is certainly no longer the case! I’d compare the experience of listening to Zauner as a mashup of Kelly Corrigan and Ruth Reichl. YEP - total GOATs. I received Crying in H Mart as part of my first editions subscription from Third Place Books - but since I cannot resist memoirs read by the author on audiobook, I also got a copy from libro.fm. This is the first time that I’ve had both mediums of a book and it was perfectly serendipitous.
Listening to Michelle tell her story was so real and raw, I teared up multiple times. I think most women can relate to the complexities of the mother daughter relationship, which is usually fraught at one time or another, and I empathized so much throughout the evolution of their relationship.
I also learned so many new things about traditions and food! It is a feast for the senses, and listening to Michelle talk about food was transcendent. If I was only taking in the print version, I might have glazed over the many, new to me, words involving her Korean heritage. I am so glad to have the print copy to look back at and see on paper. The way that food is so intertwined with family, traditions, memory and love is powerfully illustrated in her prose.

“There was no one in the world that was ever as critical or could make me feel as hideous as my mother, but there was no one, not even Peter, who ever made me feel as beautiful.”

I cannot recommend this book enough, especially the audiobook. And thank you so much to Third Place Books for putting this on my shelves with my other favorite books.