VOL.74/2024.09

Best Sellers

1st Week, November 2021

Bestseller Trends in the Four Biggest Online Bookstores in Korea

2021.12.06

It's the first week of November, and we're just one step ahead of the end of the year. And there's one book that has ranked first along with Trend Korea 2022, which has not conceded its place since last month – World History Read Backwards, written by Rhyu Si-Min, a bestseller writer. Since its first edition published in 1988, it has been a frequent favorite of Korean readers. This revised edition includes a complete change. The book World History Read Backwards, which has gone through a comprehensive revision since its first publication in the past century, contains events of the 20th century that could not be covered in the previous edition. As the "first edition" was created by writer Rhyu Si-Min who has "the power of story" that captivated a million readers, World History Read Backwards is still touching the hearts of Korean readers from 33 years ago until now.
In 2021, Korea was flooded with books on business and money. New books of this type were published on the market each month, and the bestselling books selected by readers changed each time after a fierce competition against each other. In the first week of November, new books on business and money went on the list as well. For example, Absolute Principles of Stock Investment is a book that contains the writer's secrets to investment, who has achieved a return of about 4,500 times. Writer Park Young-Ok, who is known to be a successful investor that has made hundreds of billions of won by only investing in Korean stock, talks about principles of investment that he wants to share with the readers. Meanwhile, Don't Just Do It! Your Every Move is the Message covers the last 10 years and the next 10 years from the perspective of a data analyst – the writer. It looks at large parts of the upcoming future through the past and the present, and is currently receiving much love from readers by unraveling the story through big data which he analyzed for about 20 years.
Among the top five humanities books, books written by a young man and a middle-aged man draw our attention. The book I Decided to Live as Me, written by Sohn Him-Chan, which came up three years after his I'll Take a Break Today (Studio Odr) advises readers to live their own life, in a stronger voice than his first book. As a person with dual nationalities, Korea and Japan, experiencing confusion of identity, he convinces young readers that "you can understand others and the world when you are capable of living your own life." Meanwhile, The Analects of Confucius Read at the Age of 50 is a book written for middle-aged readers who have reached the mid-point in their life running non-stop to be strong and not waver. The author points out that direction is as important as speed in life, through the teachings of Confucius and the wisdom of Confucian analects.

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

Top 10 Bestsellers for the 1st week of November
1		Trend Korea 2022 Author│Kim Nan-Do, Jeon Mi-Young, Choi Ji-Hye, Lee Hyang-Eun, Lee Joon-Young, Lee Su-Jin, Seo Yu-Hyun, Kwon Jeong-Yoon, Han Da-Hye, Lee Hye-Won Publisher│Miraebook Genre│Business
1		World History Read Backwards Author│Rhyu Si-Min Publisher│Dolbegae Genre│History
3		Absolute Principles of Stock Investment Author│Park Young-Ok Publisher│Sensio Genre│Business
4		Don't Just Do It! Your Every Move is the Message Author│Song Gil-Young Publisher│Book Stone Genre│Business
5		Dollagoot Dream Department Store 2 Author│Lee Mi-Ye Publisher│Sam & Parkers Genre│Fiction
6		Masterpiece Art Daily Pad Calendar (365 Days) Author│Kim Young-Sook Publisher│Big Fish Genre│Art/Pop Culture
7		Dollagoot Dream Department Store Author│Lee Mi-Ye Publisher│Sam & Parkers Genre│Fiction
8		Children of the Rune Illustration Book Author│Yukei Nakagawa Publisher│Elixir Genre│Art/Pop Culture
9		The World That I Just Left Author│Kim Cho-Yeop Publisher│Hanibook Genre│Fiction
9		I am a Shining, Little Star (Limited Edition Commemorating the Sales Record of 100 Thousand Copies) Author│Soyoon Publisher│Book Romance Genre│Non-fiction
9		Seol Min-Seok's Korean History Adventure 18 Author│Seol Min-Seok, Storybox Publisher│I-Human Genre│Children's Comics

 

Top 5 Humanities books for the 1st week of November
1		The Socrates Express Author│Eric Weiner Publisher│Across
2		I Decided to Live as Me Author│Sohn Him-Chan Publisher│Studio Odr
3		The Analects of Confucius Read at the Age of 50 Author│Choi Jong-Yeop Publisher│Uknow Books
4		The Encyclopedia of Absolute and Relative Knowledge Author│Bernard Werber Publisher│Open Books
4		2022 Daily Pad Calendar of Life Author│Minumsa Editing Team Publisher│Minumsa