VOL.94/2026.05

Best Sellers

 

April Blooms:
Bestsellers of the Month

 

 

2026.05

 

 

Major franchises dominate the majority of South Korea's offline bookstore market. Currently, four major franchises—Kyobo Book Centre, Youngpoong Bookstore, Jongno Books, and Arc N Book—are competing in the offline retail sector. Starting with Kyobo Book Centre, which has the largest number of branches, followed by Youngpoong Bookstore, Jongno Books, and Arc N Book, we will examine the top 10 best-selling books.

 

In our previous issue, we examined the bestsellers at Kyobo Book Centre. For our May edition—the third installment of our offline bookstore analysis—we focus on the bestseller list from Jongno Books for the first week of April. Taking the top spot at Jongno Books this week is Project Hail Mary, published by RHK (RH Korea). This surge in popularity is directly linked to the cinematic release of the film adaptation, 〈Project Hail Mary〉, which hit theaters this past March. The film’s success has reignited massive interest in Andy Weir's original novel, propelling it to No. 1. Similar to last month, children's literature continues to show strong performance, with two titles making the Top 10. Notably, Mellow TV: Idol Trivia Debut Challenge, Vol. 1, an educational comic (learning manhwa) designed to teach general knowledge to young readers, has climbed the charts alongside popular picture books. Other mainstays in the Top 10 include Goethe Said Everything, Contradictions, and Rapid. These titles, which were favorites last month as well, indicate that the fiction category remains a dominant force at the top of the charts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Editor. Jeong, Haneul (The Contents Factory Co., Ltd. Researcher)

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