The stories behind their books

“Father, I thank you for letting me know, even if only vaguely, the joy of a life focused on you.”

“A few days ago, I took that book out and read it again. It’s still on my desk.”

“I think that anyone who has ever struggled with dieting will be able to take some courage from this, and I think you’ll find all the information you’re curious about.”

““I read it when I was young, too, but it seems to mean something different each time I read it. As I get older, and at each stage of my life, my interpretation changes. There are lots of plays on words in the book, and it’s a world of make-believe, isn’t it? They stimulate my imagination, and it’s fun to picture a Wonderland in my mind. And above all, I think the book’s strength is that it doesn’t force a lesson on you.””

““The noble-minded are open and at ease; the petty-minded are always troubled.””

“Each chapter in this book is organically connected to an album track.”

“As I read this, I was able to learn a little about the CEO’s life before I joined the company, since I first got to know the CEO after I started working there. It was also a chance to spend that kind of time.”

“After reading Edgar Allan Poe's Short Stories, I wrote the lyrics for the song “Curse,””

““Rebonds” is a particularly special project to me. I’m very proud and excited to be part of this project supporting UNICEF. This initiative shows how important it is to protect and support those in need, especially children. Every child deserves equal opportunities in life, and it is our collective responsibility to ensure that the most vulnerable receive essential support.”

“I thought people working in the music industry would get a lot out of reading this.”

“I read a novel called Horrorstör.”

“This book and the “Gen Z Bookshelf” interview sparked my interest in reading.”

“Eugene’s book is packed with content.”

“Nevertheless, it was still such a beautiful novel.”

“I think I found a lot of comfort.”

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

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

“"The Little Prince feels different every time I read it—now, five years from now, or ten years from now."”

““An exquisitely beautiful and abundant work of art, meticulously refined over thousands of years.””

“This book shakes readers and ultimately changes them.”

“This is a silent human drama. It’s such a joy to see a friend you care about succeed. It brings back all those ambitions we had back then: we especially loved the weird and wanted to be even weirder, in some way. Thanks to this book, I feel as though a passion that will never rot, like Kim’s fruit, and the spirited Moonchi I was back then have come back to me. Thank you so much! And there’s nothing about me in it, huh?”

“I’m going to read my first book (manga) today! This was a recommendation. Actually, Ni-Ki has also mentioned this series before. So, I’m going to give it a go.”

““Don’t compare yourself to anyone else; compare yourself only to who you were yesterday. When someone else is speaking, think of them as someone who may tell you something you need to know. Speak clearly and precisely. Keep company only with people who expect the best of you. Choose the meaningful path, not the easy one. Through these and all twelve rules, I hope you can end a meaningless life and wisely ‘navigate’ the sea of life.””

“I highly recommend it.”

“I really want to recommend the book I’m reading right now to you all. A Man Called Ove. I bought it and started reading it without giving it much thought, just because people said it was fun. As I read, there were times I laughed, I almost cried, and I learned a lot. You should definitely read it 👍”

“The one I liked best among them was a writer named Cheongchun Yuri. It had this feeling of walking through the seasons. But it was really colorful.”

“It's interesting.”

“I recalled my solo trip, which moved between excitement and apprehension, anxiety and comfort.”

“I cried a lot, especially at the parts about parents”

“I did my reading with those.”

“Then, when the members made their remarks, I was really moved. “Ah… this is crazy, like a movie. Right, this is what I had been missing.””

“I’m studying Japanese on my own using Japanese books. I work hard at it whenever I have free time between schedules.”

“Reading this script while imagining the drama can be helpful and fun. Everyone, try reading it this way sometime.”

“There’s a book by author Kim Eana called *Ordinary Words*.”

“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.”

“The book has so many meanings and I have a lot to learn from the Prince. [Despite his age], he’s emotionally more mature than adults. His values are incredible,”

“She doesn’t express her feelings well, but in every action, sincerity is included. I think she and I deal with things similarly. I try to express my real thoughts and emotions truly to others, but it’s not easy.”

“I believe that sincerity does reach others eventually,”

“the bond depends on how much each [person] cares about developing that particular relationship.”

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

“Wow ㅠㅠ Make sure you read it all!!”

“At the time, I really liked the great insight I gained from the story of the Indians in writer Park Min-gyu’s book *Pavane for a Dead Princess*.”

“I really like reading mystery novels, and there’s a book called *The Awakening of Magic* that I started but didn’t finish a while ago. It’s a quiet book, but the ending isn’t quiet; I think I might read it again.”

“I’m not really into scary movies, but I find it so much fun to feel tense while reading a book. I like thrillers and mystery novels.”

“I find it so amazing too, and hearing that the song I made as a gift for my child is coming out as a picture book like this feels quite moving.”

“The 8 Rules of Love, by Jay Shetty.”

“I spent a long time with him, but knew absolutely nothing about him. In fact, I never really asked. He was someone who laughed a lot, but his laughter didn’t seem particularly genuine. There was a bitter taste to his laughter and words, so I didn’t casually cross his boundaries. I wanted to help him protect himself in his own way, and that was my way of being a friend. I thought it was so like Yoon Seol-ya to put it into writing only now and tell his life story, and I was so glad there was at least this outlet for letting it all out. In a word, he’s such a romantic. I’m honored that one of the songs I wrote was included in it (I was a little surprised by the unexpected song choice)!”

“I hope that those who long to take some time for themselves and find themselves will be sure to read this book.”

“In the end, both those inside the book and all of us outside it were alive, and living.”

“A friend from my hometown whom I met then gave me a book by writer Yeonjeong called *The Sun Will Rise Tomorrow, but What About Tonight?* Rather than explaining how to overcome hardship, it simply presents difficult and happy moments as short episodes. It also has lots of beautiful words and comforting phrases. I was happy because, as I read it on the rooftop, I realized for the first time that I was enjoying that moment.”

“I brought a book”

““Since the book came out, I’ve been getting a lot of requests to write, so these days I’ve been focusing on writing. Writing song lyrics feels fresh and enjoyable. The appeal of creative writing is that you can take your time with it.””

“Recently, I read Stephen King's Billy Summers.”

“There was a passage I always carried in my heart on set.”

“The Recovering Mind is a book revised and supplemented from columns originally serialized in a newspaper.”

“This book is fun~!”

“Through that book, I discovered for the first time the nature of the jealousy within me.”

“I was able to look back on my jealousy toward the boys in my class who were tall, handsome, good at school and sports, and popular with girls.”

“I read this book four or five times.”

“Thanks to it, I had the opportunity to naturally encounter the wonderful wisdom left by the preceding generation.”

“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.”

“For anyone nurturing a dream of making music, this book lays itself bare, offering many treasures to take away.”

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

“고등학교 때, 서양고전문학 수업을 들었는데요. 『군주론 』, 『일리아스 』 같은 어려운 고전을 매주 1권씩 읽고 서평을 썼어요.”

“This book is called “Anyway, Memo” by Hyeyoon Jung.”

“I was worried that I might write down too many notes, but I felt comforted as soon as I read the title.”

“And I felt like my actions were being validated.”

“The first chapter is called “I Should’ve Written It Down.””

“This is the thought that comes to mind most often.”

“So I thought that as I read this book, I’d feel like my thoughts were really understood.”

“So if you write down notes as much as I do,”

“or if you’re the opposite and want to build a habit of taking thorough notes,”

“I recommend reading “Anyway, Memo” by Hyeyoon Jung. (Recommend) (recommend)”

“Please see it as an honest account of my experiences, not an autobiography.”

“I’ve been reading a lot of books lately. I read Kim Ji-young, Born 1982, and I also read One Night When Little Things Became Big Things.”

“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.”

“I cried so much reading Tablo’s Pieces of You. The very first chapter was so dry. The writing. From the second chapter on, the tears just kept falling, and I was like, “What do I do? I feel sorry.””

“It felt very fresh to learn that the sijo poems in *Cheonggu Yeongeon*, which I had encountered only in textbooks, are being newly reinterpreted as K-pop lyrics.”

“After Blonote, I think this book may become the book of my life.”

“At age 20, I suddenly remembered a book called *Reading the Analects Happily*. At the time, while reading it, I felt for the first time that my thinking was awakening, and”

““Even with my busy schedule, I try to make time to read. I love those moments when I can focus and organize my thoughts as I read.””

“Through stories of biblical figures, it explains the reasons for suffering and ways to overcome it to Christians going through difficult times. It even makes you look forward to the joy that may come after trials.”

“This time, I bought a book called The Practice of Not Reacting. I wanted to calm my mind. (Laughs)”

“Still, I’ve read three of this author’s books, and From the Shore is number one. I was reading it at a bookstore, then bought it right away and kept it.”

“Even amid those circumstances, the very act of somehow turning poignant episodes with the people I love into poetry made me feel a certain kinship with it. Maybe that’s why I like it all the more.”

“I hope you’ll love it. You won’t regret it.”

““One Piece””

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

““I wasn’t someone who read novels often. But as I was transitioning into acting, I thought I should read a full-length novel. Then I remembered that I had read Musso’s earlier work *Call from an Angel* some time ago, so I picked up his new book, *A Paris Apartment*.””

“Even though I may seem easygoing, I get hurt a lot. The book I read when the hurt caused by those words reached its peak was [The Temperature of Language]. I read whenever I have time. It gives me a sense of stability whenever I’m exhausted. And I feel the depth of words and the power of words with a ‘warm temperature.’”

“I like reading books.”

“Thank you, poet #NaTaejoo”

“I was immediately drawn into that book.”

“Even things I had never tried and couldn’t say I liked often turned out to suit me and become things I cared about once I actually experienced them.”

“Personally, I like spending my time studying and reading books!”

“The sentences in between, connecting one story to another, are also so, so beautiful, so I’m really enjoying reading it.”

“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.”

“예전에 봤던 책인데 가슴에 계속 남는 책이어서 한 번 더 가져와 봤습니다.”

“It’s okay not to read it all at once. Keep it on your bookshelf and take it out whenever you need it or feel curious.”

“Just as I comforted myself by saying, “Not everything is like that,” I hope that through this book, you too will find words of comfort or a perspective of your own.”

“I’m Karon’s mom, Kim Jae-kyung, pleased to greet you as an author.”

“That’s why the book is titled *Sometimes I Think About What Happiness Is*.”

“It was a book my older brother had received as a gift and that was at home. When I read it, it was so good. It’s a book I take out and read whenever I’m having a hard time.”

““I’ve been living in Korea for four years and have read many Korean literary works in English. Each time, I felt, ‘Ah, this is a translation.’ But I was surprised by how excellent the English was in these two works published this time. I think it’s at a higher level than the English I use. (Laughs.)””

“SODA’s first Photobook: Candid🍬”

“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 long ago. These days, my inner child helps me relax.”

“I highly recommend all of Matsumoto Taiyo’s works. For example, Ping Pong and Monster.”

“At first, it was hard because I kept trying to write only grand, impressive words. I completed it by making a great effort to take the force out of my writing.”

“I’m Going to Be Lovely Next Year Too”

“I’d like to recommend it.”

““I also read a book called ‘Shoko’s Smile.’””

“DinDin reading at 4 a.m., photographed by my salon buddy Seon-ho hyung #TheInterpretationOfMurder #ILoveYou #KimSeonHo #JongminHyungToldMeToVote #DontBeUpset #DinDin #2DaysAnd1Night #DanbiIProtectedYou”

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

“Rather, I think it’s a book that makes me look back on myself, so it has a lot of meaning.”

“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.”

“There are times when we can’t open up to anyone about anything, shut ourselves away, and feel empty. When our hearts are lonely like that, I think the most important—and truly necessary—thing is for someone to reach out first. The author describes that hand as “connection.” Just as I hope my music can reach someone like a hand reaching out, I hope this book will be like that hand, too. Hoping that love and peace will spread through the world instead of isolation, I recommend this book.”

“As a celebrity, there are times when people criticize you and times when people offer you comfort. Reading this book, rather than blaming others, I had various thoughts along the lines of, “That’s just how people are; I should at least try not to be that way.””

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

“I wondered how a lie could be elegant, and I was interested because it was by the author of Wandeuk.”

“I somehow ended up holding an exhibition, and apparently a woman saw it and cried. Then she left me a letter.”

““After reading The Power of Positive Thinking and The Secret, I changed even more.””

“The first flapping of wings toward freedom”

“After reading this book, I learned that it was a blessing just to have witnessed something invisible.”

“I’m a small-time singer performing under a stage name inspired by your work, but I’ll keep learning from the pure perspective and sincerity of your work as I make music.”

“and I recommend Summer Hill”

“You have to put down deep roots so you can stand more firmly as you rise.”

“I read books whenever I have a moment to gain indirect experiences.”

“Still, I thought, “I hope lots of people get to know about this,” and I really hoped it had helped, even a little.”

“I think being a singer or entertainer is a profession where you’re only recognized if you achieve something big. You always have to come in first, set records, and win the grand prize at award ceremonies. People who are used to focusing only on major achievements—which can seem futile in a way—need to learn, as this book suggests, to appreciate the small joys of everyday life, or I don’t think they’ll avoid depression.”

““I also read the slice-of-life novel The Uncanny Convenience Store,””

“A perfect novel in every respect—the readability of the prose, the characterization, the trick, and the structure! It was what got me hooked on Keigo Higashino’s works and on mysteries.”

“These days, I'm reading Three Kingdoms again.”

“Recently, I enjoyed reading author Kim Ho-yeon’s book *The Inconvenient Convenience Store*. It’s about a homeless man who works part-time at a convenience store, comforting various customers and reflecting on himself. It’s a book with an emotional impact I can’t convey just by explaining it this way.”

“Today's book”

““Usually, I write with a different attitude than when I rap. For starters, I take out a lot of the playfulness.””

“Alain de Botton’s *Status Anxiety* and Lee Seok-won’s *The Ordinary Existence*. They left a deep impression on me when I read them, and have stayed in my memory for a long time.”

“That's right, people would tear it out and take it.”

“Wow, author Shim Yong-hwan’s new book #365DaysOfKoreanHistoryInOnePage is coming out soon 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻”

“This is a book I really recommend to people wondering how they can do their work well.”

“It feels like only yesterday that I started yoga, and I’m truly happy to have earned my instructor certification and even published a book like this.”

“I stopped watching The Ravages of Time partway through.”

“A Thousand Years of Love, Father.”

“I remember crying so much when I read The Giving Tree as a child.”

“It broadened my perspective and comforted me.”

“I'm slightly in love with it”

““I’ve started another new book.””

“I recently read Harry Potter.”

“These days, I think I’ve come to prefer books and works with this kind of humanism.”

“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.”

“After reading No Longer Human, I sought out and read The Setting Sun as well.”

“It’s difficult.”

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

“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.”

“When I was in middle school, I received The Age of Loss as a gift from my aunt and read it.”

“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.”

“Likewise, I'm really into Stewart Lee Allen's *In the Devil's Garden: A Sinful History of Forbidden Food*, which is now out of print. It's kind of a world history told through food.”

“Book: The Little Prince”

“I remember the quiet shock I felt when I read this book. Since then, whenever I’ve gotten stuck with improvisation or fallen into routine and been unable to give a good performance, I’ve often returned to it.”

“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.”

“There was also a book called _Eleven Steps._ It was kind of a philosophy book. But with any of the different books, I found myself putting myself into the text. Like imagining myself as a character in a novel, for example. I was so deep in my imagination at the time. Was it helpful? I’m not sure.”

“The book we'll read together this time is The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman, the second book in the Thursday Murder Club series we read last time! You're curious about how the story continues, right?! Me too! I want to read it together… It was so much fun reading the first book together!”

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

“Recently, I read José Saramago's *Blindness* and *Seeing*.”

“I couldn't finish reading The Three-Body Problem because it had more pages than I expected.”

“Since I’m not a children’s book author, it was difficult to create new characters. I thought it might be a good idea to use Tori and Seoa, the dogs who actually live with us at home.”

“My all-time favorite comic book from my school days was Comic MapleStory. I don’t know if you know it, but it was really fun. I think people from the first generation will relate.”

“The book gave me time to think about the wounds of the victims and their families, the perpetrators and their families, and the people around them.”

“All I could bring was a book and two pairs of AirPods.”

““Nietzsche’s Words,” compiled into short pieces for easy reading (the first philosophy-related book I managed to finish).”

“I think Nausea should be read slowly, at a measured pace. One of the characteristics of the humanities is “slowness,” isn’t it? That is about “oneself” …”

“Among the many books, one is Music Short Story Collection, a book that gathers short stories inspired by music by five novelists.”

“it looks like the illustrations from the book the little prince.”

“on the side, it looks like the boa constrictor from <the little prince>.”

“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 like the title ‘Knowledge and Love’ better than ‘Narcissus and Goldmund.’”

“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 mainly like poetry collections. Poetry seems like the genre that best reveals a poet’s temperament and sensibility. Poets look at things we often see in everyday life from a different perspective and express them in a few words. I think those words often resonate deeply. In this collection, I like the poem ‘Knot.’ In particular, when I read the passage, ‘Do not call it a knot. The hardest part—once, this too was so tender and fragile. It was only that passion went too far, and after a single wound, it could never bloom again,’ I thought that a poet could see a tree’s ‘knot’ in this way, too, and something about it really struck me.””

“While browsing Instagram, I saw a book posted by an upperclassman from school and bought it. It was a book called *Lessons in Self-Esteem*.”

“Inspired by Shakespeare’s play As You Like It, it explores the themes of birth, love, conviction, and reaching the peak.”

“The lyrics and poems by poet Won Tae-yeon that touch my heart are always a gift. 『Today, Here, Us』 feels like an even more special gift.”

“I think I got through it by continually reminding myself, “Let’s not fear the difficulties at the beginning.” It gave me so much strength.”

“I’ve read it all once, but it made such an impression on me that I wanted to read it again, so I brought it: Even If This Love Disappears from the World Tonight.”

“A writer who portrays a natural attitude toward life with purity and precision. The moment I read her writing, I already belong to happiness. It is a clear and sturdy world that only those who live as themselves can enter.”

““I’ve always liked author Kim Yeon-su. Many people may sometimes feel as though they’re losing, even when they try to find strength in their own circumstances. I feel that way, too. At times like that, a warm book that says nothing can become a very good friend. The author says he came to a realization while considering the various meanings of ‘the words that we don’t lose’ and discovering concrete examples of them: ‘To reach hope, one must inevitably accept despair.’ We’ve come to live through a difficult time, with many unavoidable realities, when everyone is having a really hard time. Even so, I recommend this book, hoping that each of us will find a way to make things better in our own way.””

“Through this book, I want to share the happiness of cooking for yourself.”

“When I hear this song, I think of the book Toward the Place Where the Sun Sets.”

“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.”

“So it was a great help in forgiving myself.”

“Publishing a photo book wasn’t something I had planned. Since these were photos I’d taken on my phone in my spare moments, I was hesitant to release them, but thinking of it as leaving a record of everyday life, I’ve made it this far.”

““Let’s take courage from reading this book. Aging is a disease.””

““I recommend ‘Laugh Like Haha’s Mom.’””

“Reading a book in Queensland, where my parents live, made me even happier and more excited. The writers describe places that are good to stay in while visiting—not only Brisbane and the Gold Coast, but also other parts of Queensland—in their own distinctive language. It was interesting to read, almost like looking through a diary.”

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

“The book I read recently is *I Almost Lived Diligently*. Because I almost did, too.”

“I did buy it when I was just thinking, among the people around me, “Why is everyone so weird?””

“And the book I’d like to recommend today is The Tea House at Cape Rainbow. It’s a book I read as I entered my thirties. Lately, I’ve found myself drawn to the author’s descriptions of scenery and flavors. When I encountered abstract and emotional ideas, I felt a deep attraction to the writing, savoring it as I formed my own images from my experiences.”

“Because I enjoyed reading Animal Farm so much”

“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.”

“This is a book I came across when I was inexperienced and had many worries about my career, relationships, and everything else as a young person just starting out in society. It was full of stories I desperately needed at the time, and I loved it so much that I underlined almost every page as I read. Meeting this book in my twenties was truly a great stroke of luck. I sincerely recommend it to everyone who wants to live a little better. Now that I’m in my thirties, I plan to open this book again and try to feel once more the excitement I felt then.”

“For me, who has been running nonstop since my debut, books give me a little breathing room and help me gain insight.”

“After reading the book, I also gained the courage to take on a field I want to study, using my spare time even when I’m busy with group activities.”

“The Little Prince!”

“Every sentence, every sentence is beautiful, and I want to recommend it.”

“In a few passages, it does feel like things are simply being forced to fit, but overall it seems plausible, so I was able to enjoy reading it. It was so enjoyable that I savored it.”

“Thanks to this book, I learned a lot about what I hadn’t known about everything that goes into an artist coming into being. I felt grateful to everyone who was with me, and is still with me, on the journey to becoming the ‘Baek A-yeon’ I am today. If you’re curious about the idol industry, this book will be a great help.”