The stories behind their books

“The most recent book I read was a novel called Whale, which comedian Park Ji-sun gave me.”

“The Giving Tree, but this feels less like it’s a person I am and more like an ideal I want to become.”

“As I was reading the book, my mom’s spicy whelk-and-noodle dish came straight to mind.”

“I even recommended If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light on Weverse.”

“There are times when my self-esteem hits rock bottom and my sense of self wavers. People around me say you need to have a hobby to relieve stress, but I haven't found one yet. So whenever I'm having a hard time, I read books like “Look at This Poem” and “Still, I Love You.” I don't read long texts very well, so I mainly look at books with lots of pictures and the words I want to hear.”

““This book contains stories that are hard to encounter in textbooks. If you enjoy history, I recommend that you read it at least once.””

“I told that friend I really enjoyed reading *Gills*.”

“I just hope everyone can be happy. Happiness isn’t something you can easily feel just because you want to, and it’s not an emotion you can copy or imitate, either.”

“everything I'd ever told you by Celeste egg that I read during this quarantine”

“So I started reading Guillaume Musso's books. As I read love stories such as Save Me and The Paper Girl, I wanted to read other kinds of stories too.”

“It's called 'The Big Picture' by Douglas Kennedy.”

“I read this in middle school... or high school.”

“It's very fun and provoking.”

“I read almost every book he wrote. I like this one the most among all.”

“I think it’s this very moment. I’m looking at “You Have to Look at It for a Long Time to Find It Lovely” right now. It’s a book I’ve been reading lately, and at some point while reading it, I just felt something romantic. I tend to find romance even in the smallest things.”

“One of the books I’ve read recently is Scythe.”

“It’s about a world where, with the emergence of something called the Thunderhead in the future, people no longer die, and a figure called a Scythe regulates the population. I think the concept is so unique: when an age comes in which people no longer die, someone still has to die, so the question is who should be the one to die.”

“La Divina Commedia Written by Dante Alighieri 1308-1320 (The Divine Comedy written by La Divina)”

“A book that spoon-feeds you.”

“I bought this book, “Magnolia Flower Blooms Again,” from Aladin.”

“My grandmother once told me, “You’re like a magnolia flower.””

“That really touched me and resonated with me. (Touched) (Almost teary)”

“So I went to Aladin bookstore and found this pink book—the color I really like! (Pink) (Pink)”

“The title, “Magnolia Flower Blooms Again,” felt like a message meant for me.”

“When I was going through an anxious, difficult time, I felt withered, like a flower...! But this book says “blooms again,” and that made me feel so comforted!”

“So I bought it as soon as I saw the title.”

“While I was reading this book, I felt lonely.”

“[Recommended for these people!] If you want to feel understood and comforted, reading this poetry book will really help.”

““Finally😭 finished reading””

“In books, you can see all the thoughts the protagonist has before taking action, and that’s so interesting.”

“In The Hedgehog’s Wish, when none of his friends come to visit, the hedgehog gathers his courage and decides to invite the animals, but in the end, he can’t bring himself to do it.”

“Nothing Big Happens to the Two of Us”

“It’s a book called Do It for Myself.”

“I haven't shown it to PD Park Jin-young yet.”

“Although it's really gross, I also like this kind of manga.”

“Writer! I read *Human Acts* in the military.”

“It’s a book I really hope you’ll make time to read.”

“I want to return to my childhood and reread Jules Verne’s classic science-fiction novels, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Around the World in Eighty Days, which I read a long time ago. These days, getting in touch with my inner child helps me relax.”

“If I remember correctly, it’s The Jindo Dog Baekgu Returns.”

“A time when I looked back on my own capacity for empathy, wondering whether I had been viewing socially disadvantaged people through a biased lens all this time.”

“Things one might call one’s absolute favorites are few and far between. I sometimes think of life as an unfinished movie.”

“Actually, there were many more kinds of baby food I fed Seo-a. I recorded them in a notebook or on my phone each time. They said the book shouldn’t be too thick, so I included about 20 recipes and snacks for each stage, making a total of 131 recipes.”

““I’m really often hurt by words, and when that reached its peak, I needed kind words. When I thought I should soothe my heart with a book, I came across a book called The Temperature of Language. The title felt warm from the start, so I was drawn to it. Since then, I keep reading it whenever I have time. It gives me a sense of calm whenever I’m tired. I often feel the depth of words and the power of words with a ‘warm temperature.’””

“It’s a work that reflects on the value of human life through a doctor named Sashal, who is a metaphor for a “lucky person” in modern society, where most people are unhappy. But more than that, what resonated most with me was Sashal’s way of embodying the ideal human relationships I hope for.”

“I wanted to build my own stage with “Ruby.””

“Slam Dunk is a manga I revisit regularly; it’s one of my all-time favorites. I’m not much of a crier, but works like Slam Dunk, which make my heart burn with passion, bring me to tears.”

“I was interested in negotiation studies. I thought it would be good to apply them to everyday life.”

“I did my reading with those.”

“My life will be divided into before and after this book is published. If my life up to now was given to me so that I could write this book, then I think my life from now on has been given to me so that I can make people want to read it.”

“I think I used to follow it a bit like a fandom thing, reading comics too, reading Lee Mun-yeol’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel, and watching Chimchakman’s Three Kingdoms.”

“A song inspired by Haruki Murakami’s novel 1Q84”

“Actually, while creating the music for this show, I think I drew a lot of inspiration from books and videos I liked when I was young. For example, I worked with books like Peter Pan and Snow White, and videos of myself playing outdoors as a child playing in the background.”

“Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince”

“Book: The Little Prince”

“#RomanceWillKillMe I met lyricist Seo Ji-eum, who has such a girlish air~ Please show lots of love for writer Ji-eum’s book too~”

“This book is fun~!”

“It's a book I really like.”

“Eugene’s book is packed with content.”

“I decided to publish a book to share the happiness of cooking for myself.”

“This is a book I'm reading. It's called The Consciousness of Seth Nutter. I went to the store, saw it right there, and thought, “Oh, I'm curious,” so I opened it up. I was struck by one sentence, and that's why I bought the book.”

“I had to appear on a broadcast and comment, and I referred to *The Temperature of Language* at the time.”

“The moment you embrace hope, a miracle happens.”

“When I go to a bookstore, I sit down and read with a huge pile of books. I like that people at bookstores don’t pay attention to others. I bought a whole stack just the other day, too. I have *The Children of Gaeng-i-burimal*, *The Little Prince*, *Confession*, *March Is a Red Ravine*, *Norwegian Wood*, and a collection of poems by poet Lee Byeong-ryul, too. I get a lot of book recommendations all the time.”

“It is set during the Japanese colonial period, a time when society was highly unsettled. Although women had relatively fewer opportunities than men at the time, she fought for the social course she believed was right. It was a book that made me reflect on myself.”

“I recently read the book *Philosophy Changes the Weather*.”

“For me, this is another bittersweet seize-the-day story about the preciousness and fleetingness of all the beauty around us. And it’s a heart-stopping, heartbreaking romance, rolled into one. I just love the way Jojo Moyes creates such compelling, emotionally layered characters.”

“I read Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982, and I also read One Night When Little Things Became Something.”

“And I ended up choosing these two.”

“My mom told me to take another look at this.”

“I think I’ve read these three books many times: You Too Are a Sky Mallow and Yeontan-gil.”

“The Little Prince!”

“This book shakes readers and ultimately changes them.”

“It’s a book that brings so many emotions, from warmth to sadness. In particular, it made me reflect on my mother once again.”

“The book I read quickly and enjoyed just as much is Dante’s Divine Comedy. Turning each page is so enjoyable and fun.”

“I shouldn’t laugh, but that last line is so powerful.”

“It had such a strong pull that I’d throw my entire last paycheck at it. Reading this, I got such an intense feeling, and this kind of reading as a 10-minute read...”

“They say the book is called A Thousand Blues. If many of you also felt a strong pull toward this passage, I recommend giving it a read.”

“Because I want to make the contents of the book my own.”

“It’s a story about my cat. It’s called *I Love You Every Day*. But after I finished writing it, I realized there was a lot about my dad in it.”

“카뮈의 <이방인>을 재미있게 읽었어요.”

“As I read the book, I found myself agreeing and thinking, “Oh, that’s right, I was born in the ’90s too.” I think it could help people born in the ’70s and ’80s understand those born in the ’90s. As time goes by, we could become “old fogeys” too. People born in the 2000s might find us really hard to understand. In that sense, I think it would be good for people born in the 2000s to read it as well.”

“When I get stuck writing lyrics on my own, I find myself wondering, “How would Aunt Ina work it out?” As someone who does that, I’m genuinely glad this book exists.”

“A while ago, a director I know gave me What Is Death? as a gift. It compiles lectures by Professor Shelly Kagan of Yale University, but honestly, it’s very difficult.”

“When I come across a passage I like while reading, I take a photo of it on my phone.”

““I found The Buddha’s Words in a Modern Translation really impressive when I read it, and hearing the words gave me so much strength, so that’s what stayed with me.””

“I enjoyed reading Han Kang’s *Love of Yeosu* and *The Vegetarian*, Yang Gui-ja’s *Contradiction*, Jeong Dae-geon’s *Torrent*, and others.”

“It’s very good.”

“I also want to reread the Sherlock Holmes series, haha.”

“Ah, yes. Among the members, I like reading, so I often seek out books. I haven’t been able to read lately, but during the <Mansae> promotions, I’ve been reading <Sherlock Holmes>. I really like detective novels, especially the Holmes series; it really suits my taste.”

“I really like it.”

“Was it The Hound of the Baskervilles?”

“I learned about it through the novels and watched the English drama, too.”

“I like the Sherlock Holmes series.”

“Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles”

“Sherlock Holmes, haha.”

“SODA’s first Photobook: Candid🍬”

“My favorite series is Percy Jackson.”

“I’ve really liked The White Book for a long time. It’s an easy, relaxing read.”

“At first, I read it as a print book, and then I tried listening to it as an audiobook too; hearing it in the actor’s voice made it resonate with me more.”

“Sometimes my self-esteem hits rock bottom and I feel my sense of self wavering. People around me say you need a hobby to relieve stress, but I still haven’t found one. So whenever I’m having a hard time, I read books like “Look at This Poem” and “Even So, I Love You.” I’m not very good at reading long texts, so I mainly read books with lots of pictures and the words I want to hear.”

“I really enjoyed reading the book. It helped me see the world a little more deeply and broadly.”

“I’m honored to receive the Content of the Year award. Grapefruit Apricot Club is a work that sincerely captures the reality the children face and the pure solidarity through which they hold on to one another and try to make it through.”

“When I first started writing, I felt more fear than excitement, but now I’m glad I can share my stories in writing.”

“감명 깊은 책은 '시간 여행자의 아내'... 책도 너무 재미있지만, 영화도 너무 좋고, 여자주인공이 너무 마음에 들어요~”

“There’s also a book I recently bought after it was recommended to me, which I’m planning to read: The Laws of the Mind by Volker Kitz and Manuel Tusch. My acting mentor, Min Jun-ho, head of the theater company Ganda, recommended it, and I’m planning to read it soon.”

“Next, this book. That book too, now, Mr. Na Tae-jun...”

“I think I first saw this in the bestseller section [Actor Park Jeong-min’s PICK, “The Real Thing”]. I also understood that actor Park Jeong-min had recommended it, and hearing that made me even more curious about the novel.”

“[I like long novels] I tend to like long novels, but since The Real Thing is a short-story collection, it reads really easily and quickly × 2, you know? So [Gaeul’s Book Club reading journal / Recommended for people who find reading difficult] I think it would be a really good book for people who find books difficult and want to challenge themselves.”

“[Munsu: left behind by Granny Jangsu, a shaman with no god] And since the subject itself is shamanism, [Granny Jangsu / Sin-aegi: Granny Jangsu, who left Munsu and became the tutelary deity of a spirit-afflicted person] it feels very fresh, but also has that eeriness. And I didn’t know this, but when I looked it up, [honmono: real / nisemono: fake] I found that “honmono” means “real.” So, between me (Munsu), who goes mad and devotes myself to it like that, and Sin-aegi, who received the spirit initiation, which one is the real one? At the end, the two of them perform a gut ritual like mad [Spoiler warning]. That scene was, as expected, the most memorable. [A book that made me think a lot about “what does ‘real’ actually mean?”] It was a book that made me think a lot about what it means to be real.”

“[Author Sung Hae-na, born in 1994] So I understand that this author is young, and our generation really is one that grew up watching videos rather than reading books, right? I heard that when the author writes, she writes in a way that makes it play out like a video, and I felt that too. I was impressed, thinking, “So a picture can form in my mind just from imagining it.” But I think it would be fun if this came out as a drama or a movie. I think that would be even more fun, because a gut ritual has such strong imagery.”

“The book is called "Verbal Abuse of Comfort."”

“It's a poetry book by Doyoon Na.”

“This book is summarized in one sentence on the cover.”

“Although it's a poetry book, it's like... realistic, and it describes negative and sad emotions so well.”

“You might wonder, "Huh? How's reading that book gonna help you get comforted?" but...”

“Just like the title of this book "Verbal Abuse of Comfort,"”

“So here's a poem. Let me read it to you.”

“So there are lots of poems with this kind of a vibe.”

“I think the overflowing comfort from these poems really will comfort you.”

“So I recommend you read this poetry book when you're exhausted and going through a hard time.”

“I read a book called “Courage To Be Disliked” which something you read in life, it really helped when I was stressed, it also helped me to become more mature.”

“Perhaps the process of experiencing contradictions firsthand and making choices ultimately enriches a person’s life. I, too, want to live while gradually expanding the breadth of my life.”

“I was intrigued by the way he invited people close to him to a funeral before he died, so they could share their memories of one another. It even made me want to have a funeral like that before I die.”

“There is a poetry collection by Na Tae-joo called I See You as a Flower. It was a book that helped lift me up when I was feeling a little down.”

““The person who knows how to love themselves is the greatest person.” (From *315 Proverbs Worth Reading Even a Hundred Years from Now*)”

“Reading this book made me think that I should cherish and love myself more.”

“I started receiving psychological counseling in 2018, and I was advised that it might be good to try writing a book. I thought sharing my writing as well might help people understand my music.”

“I brought “20th Century Boys,” which I’ve really enjoyed reading recently. It’s so good. I have the complete series.”

“Writer! I read Human Acts in the military. Congratulations.”

““When I first read Blindness, I had a primal feeling.””

“The book I’m going to read to you today is *As Long as I Can Remember* by author Baek Eunbyeol.”

““The Temperature of Language” is a book I always keep close and read whenever I’m having a hard time. The title itself felt warm and drew me in. So I read it whenever I have a moment. It gives me a sense of stability whenever I feel worn out.”

“It was the last birthday present my late grandfather gave me. He also wrote me a letter. Since it was a story about a grandfather and granddaughter, a lot of it really resonated with me. I kept reading it again and again—two or three times.”

“When I was grappling with questions about life, I drew a lot of strength from Hwang Sok-yong’s The Evening Star.”

“Wow... Thank you... I wanted to share my sincere feelings with all of you, so I didn’t use a ghostwriter—I wrote it myself, one character at a time. I’m truly overwhelmed that you’re showing it so much interest. Thank you so much.”

“That is a definitive answer. If this is the Gertrude Stein who supported Picasso and Matisse, then isn’t this a kind of conclusion from someone who supported artists endlessly? It’s a book I enjoyed reading six or seven years ago.”

“I wanted to express the thoughts I usually have not only through music but also in other ways.”

“There’s a book called The Shell with Two Sides. The Shell with Two Sides. I thought it was one story, but it turns out there are several episodes. So I’ve been reading it, and I think it’s fun.”

“The most recent book I read was *Almond*. A friend told me to give it a read, so I did.”

“I read To Kill a Mockingbird back in school, and...”

“I want to reread Norwegian Wood. I read it so long ago that I don't remember it.”

““They say that there are five languages of love: ‘words of affirmation,’ ‘quality time,’ ‘gifts,’ ‘acts of service,’ and ‘physical touch.’””

“I was really burdened by it. When I heard they were making a musical about Big Bang’s story, like *Shout to the World!*, I was scared at first. And since this was only my second musical, I also wondered whether it was too soon to perform our songs. There were a lot of things I felt cautious about.”

“When I go to a bookstore, I sit down, pile up a ton of books, and read. I like that people at bookstores don’t pay attention to others. I bought a whole bunch just recently, too. There are The Children of Gwaengiburi Village, The Little Prince, Confession, March Is a Red Ravine, Norwegian Wood, and a poetry collection by poet Lee Byung-ryul. I get a lot of book recommendations all the time.”

““It was content that gave me insight and resonated with me.””

“So I said I read about the scaly thrush’s call in The Rapids.”

“So I brought it with me”

“I bought the book! I'll enjoy reading it.”

“There’s a book I finished in two days. It’s called The Greenhouse at the End of the Earth. It’s really good.”

““A favorite book? The one I read this time was My Own Secret.””

““TWICE’s Nayeon gave me I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki as a birthday present. We used to talk about books from time to time. That book gave me a lot of comfort.””

“As I read it, I kind of feel like I don’t know that much after all.”

“Whereas my previous book told, almost in diary form, various stories about life that a woman in her twenties learns while living with a cat, with Sweet Remedy I wanted to use as few words as possible and, alongside the flow of the photographs, give readers the feeling that we are traveling “together.””

“좋은 책이에요. 한번 보세요. 가볍게 보시기도 좋고 추천드립니다. 남녀 노소 모두가 봤으면 좋겠어요.”

“Saying, “Am I a fan or a disciple?”—the book I’ve been working hard to read lately. I wonder if I’m going to stop being a fan and become a disciple now, or if I’ve become more resolute at heart. Because I’ve lived like a fan, I find stories about life in the world really interesting; I’ve thought I was lucky, liked having lots of money, and felt proud when I achieved my goals. But I don’t want to miss it.”

“I really enjoyed reading a book called *One Very Light Feather*.”

“It's been quite a while since I bought Douglas Kennedy's The Big Picture, but I've been so busy that I still haven't started it.”

““Don’t be attached. If you don’t cling to anything in the world, there’s nothing to be a problem; but the moment you become attached, that mindset gives rise to suffering and makes things hard.” Seeing those words gave me a lot of strength.”

“There are many passages that resonate with me, so I keep reading it.”

“I’ve read a lot of Bernard Werber’s works, and I’ve read almost all of the Thanatonauts series.”

““The way it looks at events from a fresh perspective felt refreshing, and it’s an immersive book that allows you to think about the human nature the author intended to portray.””

“It was my first time being photographed wearing lingerie, so please pay attention.”

“It really feels like a book tailored just for Lily.”

“It's really fun.”

““I got into poetry by reading ‘Love, as if You Have Never Been Hurt (Ryu Si-hwa).’””

“Someone recommended a book called Look at This Poem to me.”

“A book one must read”

“I'm also continuing to read it, curious to see whether I'll make it to the end. Since it's a book that's received so much praise, I want to make sure I read it all the way through, if only out of curiosity.”

“I hope this book can offer even a little strength and comfort to those standing at a crossroads of choice or feeling exhausted and weary.”

“As I read it, I found it incredibly delicate. Not only the expressions and descriptions, but also the emotional threads are woven together so intricately that it pains my heart as I read. I think it’s a book every Korean should read.”

“I think it’s right now. I can see <You Have to Look at It for a Long Time to Find It Lovely> right in front of me. It’s a book I’ve been reading recently. As I was reading it, I suddenly felt a sense of romance.”

“I chose Hermann Hesse’s novel Siddhartha as my first book. Appearing on Minumsa TV’s YouTube channel got me interested in classical literature, and since it was a story about Buddhism, I thought it might calm my mind. I usually like mystery and thriller genres, but for the first book of this year, I wanted to start with one that could help me find peace of mind.”

“This book is called “Schopenhau to Read Before Bed.””

“You can see there are so many bookmark tabs.”

“There were so many passages I could relate to and wanted to learn from! [How YVES Reads #2]”

“So I can’t finish this book! lol I have to read it over and over again.”

“So that’s what he said. But on the very next page, he says, “In life, suffering and concerns are necessary.””

“Then I get all confused while reading!”

“I’m like, “But you just said they’re the two enemies!””

“And then again, it’s like, “Suffering and concerns are common in life.””

“Ah, I see.”

“Mmm... I see what you mean.”

“This book is also very realistic, and it’s a great book to read if you want to be comforted and clear your mind of your worries.”

“So I recommend this book too.”

““While reading *Contradiction*, I was struck by the phrase ‘the volume of life.’””

““I read Tuesdays with Morrie with my private tutor while studying English.””

“A book I read while at the TWICE dorm. A book that made me focus on myself. A book that helped me not be consumed by pressure.”

“Although many stories I didn’t want to make public became known, I had never properly told my own story. As I kept those things bottled up, they began to fester.”

“It's another manga I like. I bought all the collected volumes. It really feels like actual people are in it.”

“Cool, cool. #LifeBalancer”

“Until now, I’ve thought imagination was the greatest power music gives us. Songs leave their beginnings and endings open. When you sing about a breakup, no one tells you why the couple broke up or what happened afterward. I wondered whether a single story running through my music, whose beginnings and endings are ambiguous, might bring out more complex emotions and clearer images. That curiosity led me to write it.”

“I define a singer as “someone who conveys.” Elements like pitch and performance are certainly important, but in the end, the most important thing is conveying a song and its meaning to someone.”

““Ah, Paris” is something the author wrote after going to Paris, like a diary. At first, I bought it because the style was pretty and because I wanted to go to Paris. I’d never been to Europe. It feels like I’m secretly peeking into someone’s diary written in Paris. It captures the little details and atmosphere of everyday life in Paris—the restaurants, the streets, and so on—so I felt as if I were there in Paris myself.”

“Whenever that happens, I reread it, and perhaps because my own experiences are added to it, I feel that what moves me changes with age.”

“I’d like to introduce a book called At Dusk. Its main character is also extremely busy. This person is worn down by life and has a very hard time, yet still meets many people, falls in love, and keeps doing their best to live. I think seeing that comforted me too. If I met the main character, I’d want to give them a big hug.”

“This book lets you see again, feel again, and think again about the things around us that we miss and pass by, through the perceptive and discerning eyes of Kim Hyung-seok. When you read this book, you too will feel what I feel when I talk with Kim Hyung-seok. I hope you will immerse yourself in a conversation with Kim Hyung-seok.”

“Its implications were particularly distinctive, which left a strong impression.”

“Excuse me Jungkook has bought a copy of Crying in H Mart!!!!!”

“Most recently, I read a book called Almond that a friend gave me.”

“It’s a book written for artists, and I felt like it really opened up my perspective.”

“Ah, recently, for the first time in my life, I closed a book while reading and cried. I sobbed.”

“When I go to a bookstore, I sit down, pile up a ton of books, and read. I like bookstores because people there don’t pay attention to others. I brought home a whole stack recently, too: “Children of Gaeng-i-buri Village,” “The Little Prince,” “Confession,” “March Is a Red Ravine,” and “Norwegian Wood.” I also have a poetry collection by poet Lee Byeong-ryul. I get a lot of book recommendations, really often.”

“It shocked me a lot, and it was a book that gave me many realizations and resonated deeply with me.”

“I read this book twice. Actually, the first time I read it, I put it down before I’d even gotten halfway through. Then, after some time had passed and I’d read more classics, I read it again and found it enjoyable.”

“I recently read Philosophy Changes the Weather. I’ve always been quite interested in philosophy and found it fascinating, but this book discussed philosophy through everyday topics that were easy to relate to, so I really enjoyed it. After reading it, I wanted to try books that explore philosophy in greater depth.”

“I found it interesting while reading Small Things Like These, so I finished Foster and am having coffee now.”

“If we're talking about books that have stayed with me, I think I've read these three books many times: The Lighthouse Keeper, You Too Are a Daylily, and Yeontan-gil.”

“On my birthday, TWICE’s Nayeon gave me a book as a gift. I received a book called *I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki*; its title was unusual, and it was a book I had wanted to buy.”

“Writing a book had been one of my New Year’s plans since I was young. In 2014, I felt I had to do it.”

“I recommend giving it a read.”

“I think at least The Attributes of Money / Rich Dad Poor Dad are books really worth reading two or three times.”

“I made Zeze from the perspective of Mingyu, the lime-orange tree in the novel. Zeze is innocent, but cruel in some ways. Looking only at the character, Zeze has many contradictions. That’s why I found Zeze appealing and sexy.”

“I also recommend Happiness Doesn't Come Alone and Sister Hae-in’s essay book Just Cry When Things Are Hard.”

“I found ‘The Buddha’s Words, Newly Translated’ an impressive read.”

“Anne Napolitano’s novel Hello Beautiful”

“I rarely imagine, while reading a novel, “What if I were to play this character?” But I feel like I might want to play Nakahara, the protagonist of this novel. Though it seems difficult.”

“When I read books, I imagine everything in the scenes. These days, I’m reading a book called Dallergut Dream Department Store, and when they talk about the dream department store, I can see it in my head. I imagine I’m shopping there as I read. It’s not just novels, but other books, too—for example, if there’s a sentence where Einstein is talking, I imagine him saying it. (Laughs) That’s probably why I was able to learn video production so quickly.”

“If I were to buy [a dream], it’d be one where I’m flying through the skies or swimming freely in the deep sea. But those kinds of dreams don’t sell well.”

“I read Dallergut Dream Department Store.”

“For me, I’d buy one where we become whales and swim together in the sea. What’s the relation? Because it’s a whale, I’m a whale shark.”

“I’ve told this to CARATs several times. After reading Dallergut Dream Department Store, I haven’t been able to read a book because I’ve been busy with work.”

“Lily's book rec for today: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie.”

“Oh, I started reading Guns, Germs, and Steel, but then I stopped, remember? It was so hard.”

“I also recommend “One Person on Earth” (Jung Se-rang).”

“The three books I read during this South American tour. They have different themes, but perhaps they form a mysterious combination that ultimately leads to one thing. In this era when everything is changing rapidly, what kind of mindset should we have as we prepare to face the world? What kind of mindset do those who, unseen, quietly bring about change in the world have? The reunification that is sure to come is not simply a burden but an ‘opportunity.’ The very foundation and basis for all of it is the ‘Gospel.’ This Gospel is not simply a message of love; it is the power of God that has come upon us, sinners. I’ve gone on a bit, but anyway, it was really good.”

“I also like Sapiens, which I’ve been reading recently, in a similar vein.”

“I enjoyed author Park So-young’s Snowball. It’s a mystery with sci-fi elements, and it has so many twists. There’s also the pleasure of imagining.”

“This book is called "If I Could Life My Life Again" by Hyenam Kim.”

“She wrote "What would've been better if I had known at age 40."”

“So like this, it was like messages that are very professional but also messages from my mom.”