Recent books

Forensic Entomology: An Introduction

Dorothy Gennard; translated into Korean from English by Shin Sang-un, Hyun Chul-ho; Gloseum Publishing Co.; 304pp., 14,500 won

With horrendous crimes sending shockwaves through society nowadays, this book gives background knowledge on how insects can be used to find hard evidence at crime scenes that can lead to the arrest of suspects.

A number of criminals dismember the corpses of their victims and even move them far from crime scenes to destroy any possible evidence.

The author, a forensic science professor at the University of Lincoln in England, explains that insects found on bodies can be crucial to establishing exact times of death and precisely where crimes occurred.

Gennard provides several cases in Europe, where investigators commonly observe flies, maggots and other insects as they begin to inhabit dead bodies depending on the process of decay.

This easy-to-read book offers a good understanding of forensic entomology for readers unfamiliar with the subject, as well as providing useful content for forensic investigators here.

— Yi Whan-woo

Advertising Media in the Smart age

Lee Kyung-yul, Lee Soo-bum, Khang Hyoung-koo, Lee Hee-bok, Byun Sang-kyu and Kim Yoo-kyung; Hanulbooks: 288pp., 23,000 won

The term “smart” is evident everywhere in our lives and is an overused buzzword in society.

In this “smart era,” the biggest change has been in the way people communicate. Real-time interaction through social media such as blogs, Twitter and Facebook, has altered the method and speed of sharing information and the numbers of people becoming connected through social media continues to rise dramatically.

People today live under the increasing influence of an adaption of popular acronym “TGiF,” which stands for Twitter, Google, iPhone and Facebook within the book.

Advertising plays a significant role in this interaction revolution; the era of smart advertising has begun.

The book “Advertising Media in the Smart age,” written by six Korean professors, comprises six chapters covering the chief concepts of the smart era, strategy, case studies in Korea and brand management.

The six professors, currently conduct relevant research as well as teach. Each contributed different experiences gained from their respective fields.

— Rachel Lee

Live Your Dreams

Celina Lee; Dal Publishing; 375 pp., 15,000 won

Celina Lee is a lawyer in New York who also hosts a radio talk show on a Korean-American radio channel.

Based on her interviews, she has published this book detailing the success stories of nine Korean-Americans in various fields.

She says she wrote this “to inspire and encourage young people to pursue their dreams by showing them that there isn’t a conventional path to achieving what we deem as success.”

Mentors covered in the book are U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health Howard Koh; robot scientist and the creator of the car for the blind, Dennis Hong; Washington State Senator Paull Shin; Chairman and CEO of UBS Asia, Yoon Chi-won; former Director for Asian Affairs at the White House and Georgetown Professor Victor Cha; chef of the first Michelin starred Korean restaurant Danji, Kim Hoon-I; artist Kim Won-sook; real estate developer Margarette Lee; and Alex Jeong, judge of the NYC Criminal Court.

— Do Je-hae

Eastern Windows

Elizabeth Keith; Translated from English to Korean by Song Young-dal; Cum Libro: 286 pp., 25,000 won

Following British artist Elizabeth Keith (1887-1956)’s journey to Asia some 100 years ago, “Eastern Windows” takes readers back to 20th century Asia, including Korea, Japan, China and the Philippines. She was the first Western painter to hold an exhibition in Seoul in 1921 and had a great deal of affection for Oriental culture.

Born in Scotland in 1887, Keith travelled to Japan when she was 28, staying for nine years. Keith travelled throughout East Asia and produced many paintings of oriental subjects, which were received in the United States and Britain.

She captured scenes and life of the East with delicate descriptions. The 1928 book is a compilation of her letters and drawings to her sister. It has been republished with a beautiful hardcover, complete with color pictures of Keith’s paintings.

At the end of the book, an essay by translator Song Young-dal gives further details of Keith’s life.

— Kwon Mee-yoo