VOL.74/2024.09

Best Sellers

2nd Week, July 2021

Bestseller Trends in the Four Biggest Online Bookstores in Korea

2021.08.02

It’s the second week of July, and the summer vacation season is back, signaling the beginning of a scalding hot summer. Comic books such as Common Siblings and The Whale Star are trending in bookstores celebrating summer vacation. These two comic series have been proving the love they receive from their readers with concrete figures, as they have been hitting the bestsellers’ list as soon as a new volume is released. The Common Siblings series gives laughter to young readers with humorously drawn episodes of “Common Siblings” uploaded on Youtube. And The Whale Star series, originally created as a webtoon, was selected as the “2020 Cartoon of the Day” last year, keeping its place among the top-tier romance webtoons on Naver.
Many Korean readers are still highly interested in accumulating “wealth,” as can be seen in books about business and money such as Scenario of Wealth and Oketing: You Don’t Have to be Special to Become Rich, becoming the talk of the town. Hence, it is notable that Complete Happiness, fiction, has taken the throne in the comprehensive bestsellers list. The book is the newest title by writer Jeong You-Jeong, who wrote The Good Son (EunHaeng NaMu Publishing Co., Ltd.) and Seven Years of Darkness (EunHaeng NaMu Publishing Co., Ltd.) that mesmerized readers across the world. Just follow how she skillfully creates suspense, and you will be able to hear her voice saying, “We are responsible for others’ happiness as well.”
On the other hand, some young adult fiction books have dominated the top 5 bestselling young adult fiction list. Two books written by Lee Kkochnim have particularly put dominated the list. Also, the grand winner of the 8th Munhakdongne Award for Young People’s Literature – I Will Cross Time For You published in 2018 – is a book that makes you think about your relationship with your loved ones again and again. Meanwhile, The Kid I Want to Kill, published in June this year, is a story about fragmented truth and shattered trust, evaluated by young readers as an “unpredictable and immersive story with an amazing power.”

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

Top 10 Bestsellers for the 2nd Week of July
1		Complete Happiness Author│Jeong You-Jeong Publisher│EunHaeng NaMu Publishing Co., Ltd. Genre│Fiction
2		Scenario of Wealth Author│Oh Kun-Young Publisher│Page 2 Books Genre│Business & Money
3		The Mysterious Candy Store #11 Author│Reiko Hiroshima Publisher│Gilbut School Genre│Children
4		Common Siblings #8 Author│Common Siblings Publisher│Mirae N Co., Ltd. (I-Seum) Genre│Children
5		The Midnight Library Author│Matt Haig Publisher│Influential Genre│Fiction
6		The Socrates Express Author│Eric Weiner Publisher│Across Genre│Liberal Arts
7		Oketing: You Don’t Have to be Special to Become Rich Author│Oh Doo-Hwan Publisher│Daehan Publishing Company Genre│Business & Money
8		The Whale Star #5 Author│Na Yoon-Hee Publisher│RH Korea Co., Ltd. Genre│Comics
8		Cho Kuk’s Time Author│Cho Kuk Publisher│Hangilsa Corp. Genre│Politics & Society
10		The Whale Star #4 Author│Na Yoon-Hee Publisher│RH Korea Co., Ltd. Genre│Comics
10		The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II Author│Svetlana Alexievich (СВЕТЛАНА АЛЕКСИЕВИЧ) Publisher│Munhakdongne Publishing Group Genre│Non-fiction

 

Top 5 Young Adult Books for the 2nd Week of July
1		The Moment When Studying Becomes Fun Author│Park Sung-Hyuk Publisher│Dasan Books Co., Ltd.
2		Paint Author│Lee Hee-Young Publisher│Changbi Publishers, Inc.
2		I Will Cross Time For You Author│Lee Kkochnim Publisher│Munhakdongne Publishing Group
2		The Kid I Want to Kill Author│Lee Kkochnim Publisher│Woori School
5		This Post is Password Protected Author│Hwang Yeong-Mi Publisher│Munhakdongne Publishing Group
5		All About Your Body: Doctor’s Guide for Girls Author│Yoon Jung-Won, Kim Min-Ji Publisher│Woori School