K-Book Trends - 3rd Week, August

3rd Week, August

Bestseller Trends in the Four Biggest Online Bookstores in Korea

2020.09.07

In the third week of August 2020, books written by famous figures drew popularity in Korea. For example, What Are You Living For? an essay written by JYP, a popular Korean singer, Reboot by the famous lecturer and Youtuber Kim Mi-Kyung, and The Reason for Living by film critic and celebrity Heo Ji-Woong topped the integrated list of bestsellers. In particular, The Reason for Living is a new essay eagerly written by someone who has gone through a significant struggle in life in 2018 - malignant lymphoma, which is a type of blood cancer - and has gotten a totally new perspective towards life. The writer offers warm consolation to readers who are fighting against their own struggles in life.
Some books have become bestsellers on the back of their original TV drama's success. For instance, “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay” is a popular drama in Korea featuring the story of a children’s book writer, and the book Finding the Real Face from one of the episodes was officially published, while the drama's scenario book It’s Okay to Not Be Okay ranked 10th. Having been included in the bestsellers’ list during their pre-sale period, the two are examples of how much a popular TV drama can influence book sales.
On top of these, Prosecution Reform & Candlelight Citizens, the no. 1 seller on the list, is a detailed record of conflicts that took place in Korean society. The book discusses the prosecutors’ investigation and news reports, and evolution of the candlelight citizens, which is expected to be meaningful for the advancement of democracy in Korea. Meanwhile, books of economy and business administration such as The Property of Money, You Can Do It!, and Great Wealth Transfer were popular titles in this period of difficult economic circumstances incurred by the pandemic.

* The rank of the bestsellers below was organized after integrating domestic bestsellers in the third week of August from the four biggest online bookstores in Korea - Kyobo Bookstore, Aladdin, Yes 24, and Interpark.

Best sellers
1		*Prosecution Reform & Candlelight Citizens* Author \| Cho Kuk Whitepaper Promotion Committee Publisher \| Omybook Genre \| Politics & Society
2		*Finding the Real Face* Author \| Jo Yong (writer), JamSan (illustrator) Publisher \| Wisdom House Genre \| Genre Novel
3		*The Property of Money* Author \| Kim Seung-Ho Publisher \| Snowfox Books Genre \| Economics & Business Administration
4		*What Are You Living For?* Author \| JYP (Park Jin-Young) Publisher \| EunHaengNaMu Genre \| Essay
5		*Reboot* Author \| Kim Mi-Kyung Publisher \| Woongjin ThinkBig Genre \| Self-development
5		*How Studying Became So Fun* Author \| Park Sung-Hyuk Publisher \| Dasan Books Genre \| Essay
7		*The Reason for Living* Author \| Heo Ji-Woong Publisher \| Woongjin ThinkBig Genre \| Essay
7		*You Can Do It!* Author \| John Lee Publisher \| Knomad Genre \| Economics & Business Administration
9		*Great Wealth Transfer* Author \| Oh Kun-Young Publisher \| Page 2 Books Genre \| Economics & Business Administration
10		*It’s Okay to Not Be Okay 2* Author \| Jo Yong (writer), JamSan (illustrator) Publisher \| Howooya Genre \| Drama & Scenario
10		*A Book for Highly Sensitive People* Author \| Jeon Hong-Jin Publisher \| Geulhangari Genre \| Liberal Arts