K-Book Trends - 2nd Week, February 2021

2nd Week, February 2021

Bestseller Trends in the Four Biggest Online Bookstores in Korea

2021.03.08

When we look at the top 10 bestsellers analyzed by major online bookstores in Korea for the second week of 2021, half of them were from Economics & Business Administration. This implies that it has not lost its strong influence in the Korean book market. For example, My First Investing Lesson Vol 1, 2 scored high from the moment of its pre-order period. Investor Kim Jung-Hwan, the writer of this book, is a major value investor in Korea. He has been gaining public fame across the nation, which is well-reflected in his Youtube performance of recording 450K subscribers in 5 months. The book turned into an issue in the market as the news spread that he has put secrets to investment, which he said he only taught his daughter, in two volumes of a book rather than in a video.
While books about economics and business administration are at the center of the bestsellers, the novel Pachinko has joined the bestsellers’ list. Published in 2018, the book is gaining popularity once again as Korean celebrities Lee Min-Ho and Yoon Yuh-Jung, who has won an award for the film “Minari,” joined the cast of its drama adaptation scheduled to be produced by “Apple TV Plus” in the United States. Pachinko is a full-length novel by Lee Min-Jin, who moved to the US when she was seven. She has vividly manifested the desperate life of Koreans living in Japan into letters. The literary value of the book has already been recognized by several news outlets, including “10 Best Books” selected by the New York Times, “USA Today,” and “Book of the Year” chosen by BBC.
Meanwhile, The Little Prince (Gyeongsang-do Dialect) has joined the bestsellers’ list eight months after its publication. This book is a translation of the globally famous classic Le Petit Prince, special in that it was translated into the Gyeongsang-do dialect in Korea. The unique point of this book reinterpreted by a Korean dialect is that its 300 copies were first published in Europe in June last year. After being widely popular among Korean fans living overseas, it was published in Korea in October last year. The Little Prince (Gyeongsang-do Dialect) began when Choi Hyun-Ae, a Korean writer in Singapore, met a German publisher that publishes Le Petit Prince in unique languages in each country at the Singapore Writers Festival (SWF). With love and support from readers across the world, it is scheduled to be translated into various Korean dialects such as Chungcheong-do, Jeolla-do, and Jeju-do dialects.

* The rank of bestsellers below was organized after integrating domestic best sellers in the 2nd Week, February, from the four biggest online bookstores in Korea – Kyobo Bookstore, Aladdin, Yes 24, and Interpark.

Best sellers
1		*The 77 Most Important Questions for Novice Stock Investors* Author \| Yeom Seung-Hwan Publisher \| Mate Books Genre \| Economics & Business Administration
2		*How Today’s Biggest Trends Will Collide and Reshape the Future of Everything* Author \| Mauro F. Guillen Publisher \| Leaders Book Genre \| Economics & Business Administration
3		*Dollargoot Dream Department Store* Author \| Lee Mi-Ye Publisher \| Factory Nine Genre \| Novel
4		*The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good?* Author \| Michael J. Sandel Publisher \| Mirae N – Wiseberry Genre \| Politics/Society
5		*Pachinko. 1* Author \| Lee Min-Jin Publisher \| Literature &Thought Genre \| Novel
6		*The Little Prince (Gyeongsang-do Dialect)* Author \| Antine de Saint-Exupéry Publisher \| Ipap Books Genre \| Novel
6		*My First Investing Lesson – Vol. 2: Investment* Author \| Kim Jung-Hwan, Kim Yi-Ahn Publisher \| Trust Books Genre \| Economics & Business Administration
8		*My First Investing Lesson – Vol. 1: Mindset* Author \| Kim Jung-Hwan, Kim Yi-Ahn Publisher \| Trust Books Genre \| Economics& Business Administration
8		*Even if the Truth is Worth a Grain of Sand* Author \| Park Wan-Suh Publisher \| Segyesa Genre \| Essay
10		*The 8 Principles of Advertising* Author \| Oh Doo-Hwan Publisher \| Daehan Book Genre \| Economics & Business Administration