VOL.95/2026.06

2nd Week, August 2024

Best seller Trends in the Three Biggest Online Bookstores in Korea

2024.09.02

The unprecedented heatwave and tropical nights have led readers to take a break from the heat by reading books of all genres. It seems that they found books to be a great way to soothe their exhausted bodies and minds. In the second week of August, the best selling titles were spread across a wide range of genres, including fiction, humanities, business, and foreign languages.
To begin with, A Few Words of Encouragement for You by Kim Jong-Won continued to rank high following last month, as teenagers spent their vacation immersed in reading and growing up. The book, a philosophical essay on how to move past puberty, a common life rite of passage, and into adulthood, offers a chance for introspection and growth. Coming in at No. 4, Three-minute Philosophy in Cartoons is an easy-to-understand, cartoon take on philosophy that’s great for adults and teenagers alike. Also new to the best seller list is Socool’s Tips to Owning a House in Seoul, and in Gangnam, is a business book that focuses on real estate, which is a hot topic in Korean society, and Gangnam in particular. This book can be described as a “guide to owning your own home” that features various real estate know-how from the author, who has been called “the mentor of real estate mentors.”
Art books continued to dominate the top five bestsellers in the Arts & Pop Culture category for the second week of August. For example, Natural Pose Drawing at No. 1 is a book that teaches you how to draw the human body from any angle by understanding it perfectly. Coming in at No. 2 is Design Basics, a book about everything you need to know about design by the author under the pen name “AHOT.” As the subtitle suggests, “Design formulas that ‘pop’ out at you when you need them,” it is an entertaining book that explains 9 theories of design using various examples. Meanwhile, in addition to art-related books, the Lovely Runner script Book Set, a collection of drama scripts, and Editorial Thinking, a book about creative thinking, also made the list, showing that Korean readers are interested in a variety of fields.

* The rank of best sellers below was organized after integrating domestic best sellers in the second week of August from the three biggest online bookstores in Korea ? Kyobo Bookstore, Aladdin, and Yes 24.

Top 10 best sellers for the 2nd week of August
1		You Killed Someone Author│Keigo Higashino Publisher│Vookda Genre│Fiction
2		A Few Words of Encouragement for You Author│Kim Jong-Won Publisher│First Penguin Genre│Young Adult
3		Same as Ever Author│Morgan Housel Publisher│Seosamdok Genre│Business
4		Three-minute Philosophy in Cartoons Author│Kim Je-Hoon and others Publisher│Cassiopeia Books Genre│Philosophy
4		One Page a Day: A Transcribing Note for Your Vocabulary Author│Yoo Sun-Kyong Publisher│Wisdom House Genre│Self-help
6		Socool’s Tips to Owning a House in Seoul, and in Gangnam! Author│Socool Publisher│Jinseowon Genre│Business
7		ETS TOEIC Regular Exam Prep: Vol. 4 RC (Reading) Author│ETS Publisher│YBM Genre│Foreign Language
7		THE MONEY BOOK Author│Toss Publisher│Viva Republica Genre│Business
7		Blue Archive Official Artworks 2 Author│Translated by Shin Min-Sup Publisher│Haksan Publishing Genre│Comics
10		Hackers TOEIC Vocabulary: TOEIC VOCA Author│David Cho Publisher│Hackers Education Group Genre│Foreign Language
10		Sapiens: A Graphic History, Vol. 1 Author│Yuval Noah Harari, David van der M?len Publisher│Gimm-Young Publishers Genre│History

 

Top 5 books on Art & Pop Culture for the 2nd week of August
1		Natural Pose Drawing Author│Soeun Park Kyeong-Sun Publisher│Dongyang Books
2		Design Basics Author│AHOT Publisher│Gilbut
3		Lovely Runner script Book Set Author│Lee Si-Eun Publisher│Booklog Company
4		Manganese Blue Author│Jeon So-Young Publisher│Som Press
5		Editorial Thinking Author│Choi Hye-Jin Publisher│Turtleneck Press
5		Spooky Paintings Author│Lee Won-Yul Publisher│Big Fish