K-Book Trends - South Korea's June Bestsellers

South Korea's June Bestsellers

Bestselling books at Aladin and YES24, the country's top online bookstores

2019.07.08

The top two bestselling books in the fourth week of June at South Korea's biggest online bookstores were both essay collections - author Kim Young-ha's Why Travel (Munhakdongne) and Tottenham Hotspur footballer Son Heung-min's Thoughts While Playing Football (Brainstore). Kim's Why Travel topped the charts thanks to a cover re-design just in time for the summer holidays. The book, released roughly two months ago, has been enjoying steady popularity since. Son's Thoughts While Playing Football is thought to have received a boost after Son recently played in several football matches as a national representative.These two books weren't the only essay collections on the bestseller list for June. According to Aladin, Youtubers Park Mak-rye and Kim Yura's Park Mak-rye, Can't Die Like This (Wisdom House) was the fifth bestselling book in June while in 8th place stood Sallie Tisdale's Advice For Future Corpses (Being). At YES24, K-pop boy band NU'EST's NU'EST ROAD, The Road We Go (Woozoo Books) jumped to third place in June.
In addition to essay collections, novels were also in demand among readers. Jeon Min-hee's Children of the Rune - Winterer Set (Elixir) was the third bestselling book at Aladin while following that was Kim Ae-ran's A Good Name to Forget (Yollimwon). Jeon was featured in last month's K-Book Trends under KOREAN AUTHORS. In seventh place on Aladin's bestseller list was Jo Jung-rae's The Question of a Thousand Years 1 (Hainaim). The Question of a Thousand Years 1, 2 (Hainaim)stood at fifth and tenth place on YES24's bestseller chart in June.
Both bookstore chains projected the popularity of essays and novels would go on for the foreseeable future as few other books on their bestseller lists were of different genres.

* The following bestseller lists were comprised from data taken from websites of YES24 and Aladin as of the fourth week of June.

〈South Korea's June Bestsellers〉

Aladin
1		Why Travel (Vacation edition) Author \| Kim Young-ha Publisher \| Munhakdongne Genre \| Essay
2		*Thoughts While Playing Football* Author \| Son Heung-min Publisher \| Brainstore Genre \| Essay
3		Children of the Rune - Winterer Set (7 Books) Author \| Jeon Min-hee Publisher \| Elixir Genre \| Fantasy
4		*A Good Name to Forget* Author \| Kim Ae-ran Publisher \| Yollimwon Genre \| Novel
5		*Park Mak-rye, Can't Die Like This* Author \| Park Mak-rye, Kim Yu-ra Publisher \| Wisdom House Genre \| Essay
6		*Zombie High School Comics 13* Author \| Yoo Dae-young (Written by), Lime Studio (Illustrations) Publisher \| Gametoon Genre \| Comics
7		*The Question of a Thousand Years 1* Author \| Jo Jung-rae Publisher \| Hainaim Genre \| Novel
8		*Advice For Future Corpses* Author \| Sallie Tisdale Publisher \| Being Genre \| Essay
9		*Depuis l'au-dela 1* Author \| Bernard Werber Publisher \| Open Books Genre \| Novel
10		*Depuis l'au-dela 2* Author \| Bernard Werber Publisher \| Open Books Genre \|Novel

YES24
1		Why Travel (Vacation edition) Author \| Kim Young-ha Publisher \| Munhakdongne Genre \| Essay
2		*Thoughts While Playing Football* Author \| Son Heung-min Publisher \| Brainstore Genre \| Essay
3		*NU'EST ROAD, The Road We Go* Author \| NU'EST Publisher \| Woozoo Books Genre \| Essay
4		*How Not to Hurt Children's Feelings* Author \| Lee Da-rang Publisher \| Gilbut Genre \| Education
5		*The Question of a Thousand Years 1* Author \| Jo Jung-rae Publisher \| Hainaim Genre \| Novel
6		*Depuis l'au-dela 1* Author \| Bernard Werber Publisher \| Open Books Genre \| Novel
7		*Depuis l'au-dela 2* Author \| Bernard Werber Publisher \| Open Books Genre \| Novel
8		*Genius Butt Detective and the Curry Mystery* Author \| Troll Publisher \| Mirae&Iseum Genre \| Picture Book
9		*Reading Strategy for Studying* Author \| Choi Seung-pil Publisher \| Chaek Guru Genre \| Humanities
10		*The Question of a Thousand Years 2* Author \| Jo Jung-rae Publisher \| Hainaim Genre \|Novel