425 Books • Erinne Adachi

Books are more than just words on a page. They carry texture, weight, and the kind of quiet intimacy that screens can never quite match. A book slows down time, unfolds the quiet potency of a moment, and invites us into its rhythm.

In this conversation with Erinne Adachi—acupuncturist, editor, and devoted bibliophile—we explore her lifelong love of books and how it has shaped her path, from making stapled “newspapers” as a child to editing manuscripts and guiding authors, and eventually into the world of Chinese medicine.

Listen into this discussion as we touch on the tactile joys of paper and print, the hidden labor of editing and shaping a manuscript, the vulnerability of rough drafts, and how books and medicine both serve as vessels for stories that change us. Along the way we wander into questions of authorship, ownership, and how narrative itself might be as healing as a needle.

Erinne’s reflections remind us that medicine and literature share a common thread: both require attention, presence, and the courage to trust what emerges on the page—or in the clinic.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• Childhood fascination with making books and newspapers.
• Transition from storm-chaser dreams to pursuing writing and publishing.
• The tactile experience of books—the textures, weights, and rituals of reading.
• First encounters with acupuncture and how it reshaped her health.
• The role of vulnerability and the “rough draft” in writing and in life.
• How editors help structure content for clarity, flow, and audience understanding.
• Book design as user interface
• Structural editing vs. copyediting: moving furniture vs. fixing typos
• Knowing what your reader doesn’t know (yet)
• The parallels between editing and Qigong precision 
• The importance of beta readers and feedback in shaping a manuscript.
• Parallels between books and Chinese medicine as vessels for narrative and healing.
• Reflections on ownership, authorship, and whether stories (or needles) can be “plagiarized.”
  

Every book I read becomes a brick in the foundation of my practice. ​

I’m Erinne Adachi, and I am a professional editor and acupuncturist in Edmonton, Canada. I’m an editorial assistant for the Journal of Chinese Medicine, and I also run the Instagram account @acureads, wherein I read everything from acupuncture classics to pop-science health books. I post interesting excerpts and random musings based on the gems I find, along with pictures of my deck, dog and other bits of my life (it is Instagram, after all).

I’ve been in the Canadian publishing industry since 2004 and am well-versed in the inner workings of most styles of publishing. I’ve worked with publishers from coast-to-coast and have personally visited dozens of houses, including the kitchen-table solo operations of the prairies to the glass towers of the multinationals in Toronto. 

I made the transition into acupuncture in 2020 after a head-injury forced me to change trajectory. I thought editing was done for me, but time and the tools of Chinese medicine have reopened some of those doors, and now I’m excited to contribute my skills in editing and publishing to the acupuncture profession.

Links and Resources

Visit Erinne on Instagram for terrific reviews of books on practice and medicine.

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