VOL.75/2024.10

South Korea's October Bestsellers

Aggregate data as of the third week of September

 

2017.10.10

 

The prolonged rule of bestsellers

 

 

Young-ha Kim's Memoir of a Murderer has topped the bestseller list for two consecutive weeks. As the film adaptation of the novel gains momentum, interest in the original novel has spiked. As a result, Kiju Lee’s Temperature of Language lost some ground, but Lee's Dignity of Words rose two spots, enjoying steady popularity. Also, books like I Have Decided to Live as Me, A Lesson in Self-Eeteem and Miracles of the Namiya General Store also inched up, enjoying more time on the bestseller list. This was seen as reflecting readers' wanting to catch up on bestsellers that are guaranteed good reads over the long Chuseok holiday.

 

 

'News Effect' from award announcements, out of print books

 

 

Han Kang's Human Acts received new interest after news the novel had been awarded Italy's Malaparte Prize while Kwang-su Ma's 2013 Happy Sara saw interest after news of his death due to apparent suicide and announcements the book would soon go out of print.

 

 

Novels finding newfound attention

 

 

Sun-kyung Lim's Back Number found new interest from readers after being introduced on a book list on social media. It received a top award in 2015 for electronic publications but failed to make the bestseller list for over a year after it was published in book form in April 2016. Rather, the book recorded single-digit sales every month on average. The book tells the unique story of a young man who gains the ability to see numbers on people's backs after he is severely wounded in a serious car accident that kills his parents. After it gained interest on social media, it recorded 10.9 times the number of sales thanks to its newfound fame.

 

 

〈South Korean Top 15 Bestsellers, Sept 2017〉

 

 

 

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Written by Hyun-jung Kim (Kyobo Bookstore Brand Management Team)