The stories behind their books

“If I had read The Stranger earlier, I wouldn’t have chosen my original name, Rap Monster.”

“Books are difficult. I didn’t understand it, so I closed it around halfway through.”

“I received a book called The Creative Act as a gift. I don’t often read self-help books, but this one made a strong impression because I related to it and found a lot to learn from it.”

“I’m really enjoying it.”

“Have you read <A Person Harmless to Me>?”

“Not long ago, I read The Unbearable Lightness of Being, which tells the story of four men and women who are very different from one another. It seems to me that people are born as light as feathers and gradually take on weight as they go through life. Personally, I thought Sabina’s life was wonderful.”

“So, if it hadn’t been this cover…”

“I read 'The Vegetarian' (2007) while serving in the military. Congratulations,”

“This is the first book I’ve ever read while crying.”

“I was surprised while reading because things I usually thought about were expressed so well in words.”

“I think I was tempted by that blurb and read it. But it was such a predictable story... I read it in the bookstore and left it there.”

“The protagonist, Jun, resembles me in his habit of not judging anything hastily and thinking things over again and again.”

“The books I’m reading these days are The Portrait of Dorian Gray, Contradiction…”

“I can now carry the collection of poems by Han Kang, which I received as a gift, in my bag.”

“A book I'm reading these days. I'm still in the early part, so it's too soon to say what I think of it.”

“Because *Memoir of a Murderer* was the book that introduced me to the world of books, and”

“This is documenting us, so I want to talk about everything.”

“I bought volumes 1 and 2. I’ve finished volume 1, and I have about half of volume 2 left.”

“It’s something like a debate among philosophers about love, and, well, it lets us seriously think once again about how love is being consumed in modern society, and about our attitudes toward dating and things like that.”

“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.”

“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.”

“But I apparently read it.”

“It's really fun.”

“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.”

“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.”

“I read *Human Acts* while in the military. Congratulations.”

““It’s a book called At Ease Without Trying Too Hard.””

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

“I’ve been a fan for a long time, and since this was a new release after such a long time, I bought and read it without a second thought. It didn’t disappoint, and gave Sacho lots of inspiration. Definitely a must-have, a definite must-have.”

“[Next is 'Hunger'] And 'Hunger' is”

“a love story”

“But it's an extremely tragic and sad love story”

“What struck me the most was…”

“After Gu dies, Dam becomes determined to eat him”

“But as I was reading…”

“I knew what the plot was about before I started reading”

“By the time I finished reading, I was kind of convinced It felt like that”

“There were so many lines that resonated with me”

“But that book is really polarizing”

“There are a lot of graphic descriptions too”

“But the people who like it will really like it”

“I personally loved it!”

“I did well in January The book for January was 'Hunger'”

“It felt like a drama that portrayed a very mature love.”

“Recently, I enjoyed reading a book called Little Nicolas. It's like a fairy tale for adults.”

“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.”

“Managing your mood means managing your life.”

“LOL, my mom might say something if she sees that I read these, but these are the books I picked up from January to March at the beginning of this year while talking about things like “the energy of the universe.” The Nature of Money and Rich Dad Poor Dad, at least, seem like books worth genuinely reading two or three times, and the other books left me with a lesson along the lines of “use your heart for good.” You shouldn’t live a narrow-minded life, you know.”

“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.”

“It's an interesting book. It's fun.”

“I still like this song, just as I did before the album came out.”

“I enjoyed reading Animal Farm, so I’ve been trying other books too. Recently, member Yujin and I have been having lots of book talks.”

“And I ended up choosing these two.”

““I’ve started another new book.””

“I started reading it for the first time on the plane, and it was so interesting that I read about half of it.”

“Personally, my goal this year is to read more than twenty books. I really enjoyed reading Human Acts again last year, so this year I’ll read lots of interesting books too.”

“I really, really recommend this poetry book”

“The book I read yesterday was one called Maldok, and it was really interesting.”

“I find myself drawn to the second brother, Ivan.”

“I naturally found myself listening to the Analects. If the Analects seem difficult, maybe you could start with short phrases like this so they’re a little easier to read?”

“It isn't a classic itself, but I have a book about classics: 『Classics Answered: On the Life We Ought to Live』.”

“It's a book about how we ought to live this difficult life. Nothing in it feels difficult; it just tells you plainly, point by point. It's very clear.”

“Classics are actually difficult, and you can interpret them in so many different ways. I think that's part of the appeal of reading a book about a classic, too. You get to read that author's distinctive interpretation, and there's the pleasure of thinking, 'I found that classic difficult or it didn't really resonate with me when I read it, but I can read it this way too.' I think it's a really good thing. I think the real answers lie in the classics.”

“I found a lot of good sentences.”

“I had a strong feeling that this book by Park Jun, Nothing Will Change Just Because You Cry, seemed to contain his own life.”

“There are so many parts I relate to that I sometimes take photos of them and share them with fans.”

“I'd like to recommend Osamu Dazai's *No Longer Human*.”

“Elizabeth, the protagonist of the novel Pride and Prejudice. I admire her bold approach to life, even in a time when women were socially oppressed.”

“I’m reading the Neapolitan Novels!!”

“Because I enjoyed reading Animal Farm so much”

“<The Sound of Your Heart> is really entertaining. I don't think I've ever seen a comic this entertaining in my life.”

“I actually don't like science fiction that much. I hardly ever watch sci-fi movies, either. Did I get this book recommended to me on social media? Not directly, but I saw someone recommending it, got interested, and decided to read it.”

“This book—[there's so much to say about this one]—as you can see, is incredibly long and hefty... [in a nutshell,] not an easy book to take on. But! [Here comes the sales queen] The appeal of a long novel is that... once you get past the beginning, where you memorize the characters' names and get some explanation of the situation, [the twists never end &] there really are endless twists and [one shocking scene after another] so many scenes that leave you stunned.”

“Honestly, I find these doorstopper books challenging, too. I tend to read them over the course of several months. Me, too? But this book is really difficult in terms of its ideas. It makes you think a lot, but the sentences themselves aren't difficult! [Thoughts that keep spiraling / Easy to read, but full of ideas you can't simply brush aside] It's a book that's easy to read, but makes you go back and think about it afterward.”

“When I try to sell people on this book, I tell them that even in a world this advanced, after so much change, the feeling of love is still so precious and powerful. [If you don't understand how wonderful love is, I feel sorry for you] There are so many things the characters do because they love each other. Rowan thinks he could die in Citra's place because he loves her, and Citra risks danger and takes action because she loves Rowan. Watching things like that made me feel that, in every generation, [an emotion that transcends time: love] emotions have such a powerful effect on people. That's what lies at the heart of who we are.”

“That's right. I felt the same way while reading it, too—the translator, Lee Soo-hyun, seems to have done a great job. [A style that draws you in without difficult sentences] There aren't any difficult sentences, so every line really catches your eye, and each and every one is a gem. I really want more people to know about the red-covered book Scythe. [I want to finish it and talk about it with everyone] While reading Scythe, [a book that makes you reflect on respect for life and ethics], I found myself thinking a lot about how we regard life and about ethics.”

“To become better, we willingly became worse.”

“This is a very warm and easy-to-read book.”

“I watched the movie and read the book, and personally, I thought the book was more beautiful and better.”

“I think young adult literature would probably be best for our baby DIVEs. I thought a book called The Wizard’s Bakery would leave more of an impression on your heart if you read it when you’re really young. So, our baby DIVEs, let’s read a fun book together sometime.”

“People seem to be born as light as feathers, then gradually shoulder more weight as they live.”

“Since I like mystery novels, even just the cover and title made this feel so exciting. If you’re a mystery novel fanatic, this is exactly the kind of thing you’d love.”

“As I turned the last page of the book, I thought how lucky I was to have met you, teacher, as a child who could hear those precious stories for free.”

“This book was written by my uncle—my aunt’s husband, you know?”

“I got it as a gift, and brought it from home to start reading today.”

“I regretted thinking, “Why did I only read your books now?””

“Strangely, I feel as though I’ve taken one step closer to Park Jun-myun through a single cookbook.”

“This book was written by my uncle, you know?”

“I recently finished reading My Brilliant Friend.”

“Actually, I was in the library club in my first year of high school, and around my second year I joined another club. Was it the economics club? We read things like 『The Prince』 and 『An Essay on the Principle of Population』, summarized them, and gave presentations in PowerPoint.”

“The Door of Morning is a really, really shocking and good work. It’s a beautiful work, so I’ll recommend it to you.”

““I enjoyed reading Animal Farm, so I’m looking for other works, too.””

“It’s difficult.”

“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.”

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

“Personally, I found the book more interesting.”

“It’s good. Especially then, it’s good too. My mind gets very calm, and I can think a lot, so I’ve been writing quite a lot of lyrics as well. It’s good.”

“Since it was recommended in many places as a classic masterpiece, I trusted those recommendations and read it. There’s a reason a book is a proven classic.”

“The books I'm currently reading—I’m reading two at the same time: one called *Consolation for Sorrow* and *Strange Comfort*.”

“I regretted not having read this book sooner.”

“It's really fun. I read it in no time.”

“As for books, I enjoyed Ito Ogawa’s The Snail Restaurant.”

“I also liked his newly released *Me Without You*.”

“If I were to recommend a book I've read recently... it would be Alain de Botton's Why Do I Love You?”