VOL.69/2024.04

4th Week, January 2024

Best seller Trends in the Four Biggest Online Bookstores in Korea

2024.02.19

With the start of a new year, the top best sellers for the fourth week of January 2024 gave us a glimpse into what Korean readers chose to start the year with. Most notable was the strong performance of business/management and self-help books, including last year’s favorite, Sayno Love. Also, the No. 3 book, Stock Investment: All About Day-Trading, is by Hong In-Ki, an MZ generation trader who started trading stocks in the second grade of middle school and made 1 billion won from 150,000 won. It contains the know-how of day trading stocks in a way that is easy to understand even for beginners. Coming in at No. 8, Hawaii’s Palace’s 100-Day Miracle is a so-called “challenge book” that helps readers set a mindset for wealth and success, following up with specific actions. The book includes encouraging comments from the writer and space for readers to try their own “write your goal 100 times for 100 days” challenge.
In addition, the popularity of various exam prep books on the list shows that many readers want to achieve not only financial success but also intellectual growth. For example, ETS TOEIC Regular Test Prep: Vol. 4 RC (Reading) and ETS TOEIC Regular Test Prep: Vol. 4 LC (Listening), books for studying for the TOEIC, a test that measures English communication skills, ranked 6th and 9th, respectively. Another book, Choi Tae-Sung’s Korean History Exam Prep Book: Advanced (Grade 1, 2, 3), Vol. 1, was ranked 9th on the list. It seems that the Korean readers’ desire to read and study hard to fulfill their wishes in the new year is reflected in the best seller list.
Meanwhile, the top 5 children’s books for the 4th week of January included books that help children build up their knowledge and inner strength. Among them, Must-Know News Articles for Elementary Schoolers features 100 top news stories on a variety of topics, including economics, society, environment, and science, at the level of elementary school students. It helps children develop the ability to analyze social issues in their own way. Another book, Pretty Words for Myself, presents lovely words with warm illustrations to help children learn how to speak and think in different situations in life. We hope that 2024 will be a year in which we spend our days saying beautiful things to others and ourselves, just like this book.

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

Top 10 best sellers for the 4th week of January
1		All the Beauty in the World Author│Patrick Bringley Publisher│Woongjin Thinkbig Genre│Non-fiction
2		Reading Schopenhauer at Forty Author│Kang Yong-Soo Publisher│Uknowbooks Genre│Humanities
3		Stock Investment: All About Day-Trading Author│Hong In-Ki Publisher│Gilbut Genre│Business
4		Be Your Future Self Now Author│Benjamin Hardy Publisher│Sangsang Square Genre│Self-help
5		Fu Bao, We Love You at All Times Author│Everland Zoo Publisher│Sigong Junior Genre│Non-fiction
6		Sayno Love Author│Sayno Publisher│Day One Genre│Self-help
6		ETS TOEIC Regular Exam Prep: Vol. 4 RC (Reading) Author│ETS Publisher│YBM Genre│Foreign Language
8		Hawaii’s Palace’s 100-Day Miracle Author│Hawaii’s Palace Publisher│Megastudy Books Genre│Self-help
9		ETS TOEIC Regular Exam Prep: Vol. 4 LC (Listening) Author│ETS Publisher│YBM Genre│Foreign Language
9		2024 Choi Tae-Sung’s Korean History Exam Prep Book: Advanced (Grade 1, 2, 3), Vol.1 Author│Choi Tae-Sung Publisher│Etoos Books Genre│Exam
9		Don’t Waste Your Life to Show Others Author│Arthur Schopenhauer Publisher│Page 2 Books Genre│Humanities

 

Top 5 children’s books for the 4th week of January
1		Red Pajama Yaco 2 Author│Red Pajama Yaco Publisher│Sandbox Story
2		Practical Tips for Children About Traveling the World Author│Hannal Publisher│Blue Garden Books
2		Greek & Roman Mythology 37: Gods’ Hometown, Greece’s Spirit Author│Park Si-Yeon Publisher│Owlbook
2		Must-Know News Articles for Elementary Schoolers Author│Shin Hyo-Won Publisher│Chaegjang Books
5		Pretty Words for Myself Author│Kim Jong-Won Publisher│Sangsang I
5		Momo Author│Michael Ende Publisher│Gimmyoung Publishing