VOL.69/2024.04

1st Week, December 2023

Bestseller Trends in the Four Biggest Online Bookstores in Korea

2024.01.02

It is the first week of December, 2023, and diligent readers in Korea seem to be preparing for the coming year already. Some popular self-help and humanities titles, such as Trend Korea 2024 and Sayno Love, continue to dominate the integrated bestseller lists with their insights on life, wisdom and wealth.
In the meantime, the new titles by Korean literary legend Jo Jung-Rae - Golden Paper 1 and 2 - have been ranked in the top 10, filling the hearts of Korean fiction fans with excitement. Described as a “victory of the writer’s spirit,” Jo, who has devoted his entire life to literature, sharply examines the human desire for money. He captures the raw reality of our society, where people live and die for money, and raises a warning against the dehumanization of the world due to materialism. How about taking a look at the new novels by Jo Jung-Rae, a novelist of our time who asks the reader, “What is money?”

* K-Book Trends Vol. 16 – Go to the interview with writer Jo Jung-Rae

It has been less than a month since the Suneung (College Scholastic Ability Test), referred to as the Korean SAT, and a book that encourages students overwhelmed with studying, has reached No. 1 among Korea’s top five bestsellers in the young adult category. With more than 500,000 copies sold, The Moment When Studying Becomes Fun is a book that gives students the confidence and courage to believe in themselves when they think to themselves, “It’s too late for me.” The fourth-place book, The Real Tips to Enter Medical Schools, shares the writer’s “know-how for exam periods” after being accepted to six medical schools at the same time. It covers everything from how to control your mind before an important exam to how to set up a study plan that fits your goals, making it a great book for young readers who are preparing to take the Suneung this year.

* The rank of bestsellers below was organized after integrating domestic best sellers in the first week of December from the four biggest online bookstores in Korea – Kyobo Bookstore, Aladdin, Yes 24, and Interpark.

Top 10 bestsellers for the 1st week of December
1		Reading Schopenhauer at Forty Author│Kang Yong-Soo Publisher│Uknowbooks Genre│Humanities
2		Trend Korea 2024 Author│Kim Nando and others Publisher│Mirae Books Genre│Business
3		Aphorismen zur Lebensweisheit Author│Schopenhauer Publisher│Page 2 Books Genre│Humanities
4		Golden Paper 1 Author│Jo Sung-Rae Publisher│Hainaim Genre│Fiction
5		Sayno Love Author│Sayno Publisher│Day One Genre│Self-help
6		Golden Paper 2 Author│Jo Sung-Rae Publisher│Hainaim Genre│Fiction
6		Be Your Future Self Now Author│Benjamin Hardy Publisher│Sangsang Square Genre│Self-help
8		Jujutsu Kaisen 24 Author│Gege Akutami Publisher│Seoul Media Comics Genre│Comics
9		Psychology for Grown-ups Who Think Too Much Author│Kim Hye-Nam Publisher│Maven Genre│Humanities
10		Blue Archive Problem Solver 68 Business Diary 1 Author│NOGIWA KAEDE Publisher│Seoul Media Comics Genre│Comics

 

Top 5 young adult books for the 1st week of December
1		The Moment When Studying Becomes Fun Author│Park Sung-Hyuk Publisher│Dasan Books
2		How Do You Live? Author│Genzaburo Yoshino Publisher│Yangchulbook
3		The Most Optimal Brain for Studying Author│Yuji Ikegaya Publisher│Forest Books
4		The Real Tips to Enter Medical Schools Author│Gwak Min-Jung Publisher│Megastudy Books
4		Guns, Germs, and Steel for Teenagers Author│Kim Jung-Jin Publisher│Next C