VOL.69/2024.04

Former Newscaster and YouTube Creator’s Pick

2022.11.07

In Korea, there is a saying, “Autumn is the season of books.” Just like the saying, it feels as if you have to have the romantic moment of reading a book at a park, cherishing the red, falling leaves. But, on the other hand, autumn might be the season farthest from reading books. They say that people read the least in the fall. I think maybe that’s because many of them go out for a picnic in good weather.
Another paradox related to books can be found in the bestsellers’ trend. If you go to a bookstore, you will see books written by popular YouTubers lining the shelves. Just look at the sales record – non-fiction bestsellers are mostly written by YouTubers. But, according to the readership status report announced by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism in 2021, a majority of people, across generations and gender, said that one of the biggest reasons they cannot read books is “other media and content.” In other words, they don’t get to read books due to other media such as YouTube, but ironically they read many books written by YouTubers or find books after watching a video on YouTube.
So, I think this is good evidence that the types of media that encourage people to read books have largely changed from the past. I myself am a YouTuber, and I am also the writer of the bestseller To You, Who is Bound to Succeed (Book Romance), published in August. So, I would like to introduce two books that reflect such a trend these days.

This country, Korea, is known for being the land of diligent people. Its culture is characterized by the unique desire for winning and growing up to the next level, and its environment, where there’s nothing but human resources, makes people work hard. That’s why quality self-help books are popular. For example, the book Counter Your Life (Woongjin Jisik House) is written by Jachung (Song Myung-Jin), a businessman and YouTuber. It is a strategy guide for your life – it introduces how the writer, who had bad looks, a poor environment, and nothing-special-at-all abilities, overcame the challenges and completely changed his life in the 7 stages he set. Today, the author has achieved economic freedom by running various businesses and is making content that inspires people. As the book sold more than 100 thousand copies since it was published in June, you can easily see how many people wondered about his financial success, time management, and changes in destiny.

“Why do all the successful people I have met say that they were lucky?” Writer Kim Do-Yoon, who runs a YouTube channel called “Kim’s TV (김작가TV)” with 1.46 million subscribers, tried to figure out what the successful people had in common through their interviews. Then, he concluded that they were all “lucky.” Based on his realization, the book Lucky (Book Romance) talks about luck, from its definition to the kind of people it comes to, and whether you will be able to recognize it when you are put in the same situation.

Just like the weather getting chilly, the global economy seems to be freezing, too. There’s nothing but anxiety as people say that things are going to be tougher next year. What opportunity will this crisis bring us? Perhaps it is a chance for us to become more resilient. If so, reading will be your friend. I hope you have a wonderful autumn enriched with books.

Written by Choi Seo-Young (YouTube Creator)