K-Book Trends - 3rd Week, June

3rd Week, June

Bestseller Trends in the Four Biggest Online Bookstores in Korea

2020.07.13

June is the perfect season to read books in a warm breezy room. Scorching hot summer seems to have arrived in Korea. What did Korean readers read in the third week of June? There is a book that hit the upper sales rank among bestsellers in June only within a month of its publication. It is the newly announced Take It Easy, Don’t Try Too Hard written by Kim Soo-Hyun, the writer of I Decided to Live as Me (Woods of Mind’s Books). Telling its readers how to engage in relationships that do not overwhelm one’s emotional capacity, the book has drawn support from the young generation in a short period of time. Another essay among bestsellers is In Our Daily Language written by Kim Eana, a famous Korean lyricist. In her book, she softly touches upon the delicate world of emotions embedded in the common words we use in our daily life.
Children’s books are also recording high sales as summer vacation is just around the corner. The new series of Seol Min-Suk’s Great Adventure in Korean History and Hunhan Nammae always become bestsellers right after their publication, as they are steadily beloved by children readers. In particular, recently published Seol Min-Suk’s Great Adventure in Korean History 14 drew a warm response from readers immediately after the pre-sale opened. On the other hand, the marketing efforts of the publisher helped Hunhan Nammae 5 to gain popularity as well, as it ran many events such as providing giveaways marking the first anniversary of the initial publication of the series.
Novels must not be missed, too. The La Boite de Pandore series by Bernard Werber has been one of the top 10 bestsellers since its initial publication, proving the influence of the star writer once again. Also, From the Eyes of by Chung Se-Rang, who has spent five whole years finishing the book, carries out the story from the viewpoint of female characters, topping the bestsellers’ list as soon as it was published. Meanwhile, the genre novel series Children of the Rune is one of the representative fantasy novels in Korea selling a whopping 1.6 million copies in Korea only, while making its way into the Japanese, Taiwanese, Thai, and Chinese markets. Appraised as the “most beloved fantasy in Asia,” the revised series of Children of the Rune is available in a full set (9 books in total), receiving tremendous love from fantasy-lovers.

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

Best sellers
1		*The Having* Author \| Lee Seo-Yun, Hong Joo-Yeon Publisher \| Suo Books Genre \| Self-development
2		*Take It Easy, Don’t Try Too Hard* Author \| Kim Soo-Hyun Publisher \| Noll (Dasanbooks) Genre \| Essay
3		*The Property of Money* Author \| Kim Seung-Ho Publisher \| Snowfox Books Genre \| Economics & Business Administration
4		In Our Daily Language (Hard Cover) Author \| Kim Eana Publisher \| Wisdom House Genre \| Essay
5		La Boite de Pandore 1 (Hard Cover) Author \| Bernard Werber Publisher \| The Open Books Genre \| Novel
6		Children of the Rune (Full Demonic Set) Author \| Jeon Min-Hee Publisher \| Elixir Genre \| Genre Novel
7		*Let My People Go Surfing* Author \| Yvon Chouinard Publisher \| Writing House Genre \| Economics & Business Administration
7		*Seol Min-Suk’s Great Adventure in Korean History 14* Author \| Seol Min-Suk, StoryBox Publisher \| Human Genre \| Children
9		*From the Eyes of* Author \| Chung Se-Rang Publisher \| Munhakdongne Genre \| Novel
9		*Hunhan Nammae 5* Author \| Hunhan Namme, Paek Nan-Do Publisher \| i-seum Genre \| Kids Comics