VOL.78/2025.01

1st Week, December 2024

Best seller Trends in the Three Biggest Online Bookstores in Korea

2025.01.06

The first week of December marks a time to stand at the year’s end and reflect on the time that has passed. It’s also a good time to curl up with a nice book, review the year, and prepare for the new year ahead. In Korea, the excitement over Han Kang’s Nobel Prize in Literature has yet to fade. Readers continued to celebrate Han’s award this month, and the reading fever has never stopped. The book, Trend Korea 2025, which came in at No. 4 despite the competition with Han’s works, has been on the best seller list since its publication, showing readers’ interest in new year trends.
Meanwhile, Happy Birthday, which came in at No. 8, is a book by Baek Hee-Na, winner of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, which is regarded as the Nobel Prize for children’s literature. It is a picture book that tells an extraordinary story of realizing the power of taking care of oneself - the magic of the ordinary. The No. 10 title, Adult Happiness is Quiet, is an essay that sends a heartwarming message to modern people weary of life. Through 58 life stories about wise happiness—living one’s own life unfazed by a noisy world—it provides a calming way to close out the year and prepare for the new one.

* K-Book Trends Vol. 26 – Go to the interview with writer Baek Hee-Na

* K-Book Trends Vol. 78 - Introduction of Adult Happiness is Quiet

The end and beginning of the year is a time when self-help books become more popular than ever. This is because we all need time to introspect, better ourselves, and lead better lives. At the top of the best seller list in this category was Work and Sense by Cho Soo-Yong. The author, who was in charge of brand marketing and design at NAVER and co-CEO of Kakao, explores the delicate “sense” of a “working” person through his essays. Also, Kim Mi-Kyung’s Deep Mind, by No. 5, is a book by mind mentor Kim Mi-Kyung that reveals the essence of life and new insights for those who have lived hard but are suffering from emptiness and burnout. Tied for the fifth spot, The Classics Become a Weapon of Life is a book that is fueling the classics frenzy, encouraging readers to seek answers to life through the classics.

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

Top 10 best sellers for the 1st week of December
1		Human Acts Author│Han Kang Publisher│Changbi Publishers Genre│Fiction
2		The Vegetarian Author│Han Kang Publisher│Changbi Publishers Genre│Fiction
3		We Do Not Part Author│Han Kang Publisher│Munhakdongne Genre│Fiction
4		Han Kang: Special Edition Author│Han Kang Publisher│Munhakdongne Genre│Fiction
4		The White Book Author│Han Kang Publisher│Munhakdongne Genre│Fiction
4		Trend Korea 2025 Author│Kim Nan-Do Publisher│Mirae Books Genre│Business
7		I Put the Evening in the Drawer Author│Han Kang Publisher│Moonji Books Genre│Poetry
8		One Page a Day: A Transcribing Note for Your Vocabulary Author│Yoo Sun-Kyong Publisher│Wisdom House Genre│Self-help
8		Happy Birthday Author│Baek Hee-Na Publisher│Story Bowl Genre│Children’s Books
10		Adult Happiness is Quiet Author│Taesoo Publisher│Page 2 Books Genre│Poetry / Non-fiction

 

Top 5 self-help books for the 1st week of December
1		Work and Sense Author│Cho Soo-Yong Publisher│REFERENCE BY B
2		Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? Author│Seth Godin Publisher│Feelm
3		Be Your Future Self Now (special edition commemorating 300 thousand copies sold) Author│Benjamin Hardy Publisher│Sangsang Square
4		Unstoppable Author│Brian Tracy Publisher│Hyundae Jisung
5		Kim Mi-Kyung’s Deep Mind Author│Kim Mi-Kyung Publisher│Awake Books
5		The Classics Become a Weapon of Life Author│Ko Myung-Hwan Publisher│Lagom Book