The stories behind their books

“But I apparently read it.”

“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.”

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

“That is so true. I’m in such a good mood today. Even if something bad happens while I’m feeling happy, I feel like I have the leeway to just laugh it off.”

“I’m not someone who reads a lot, but I started reading books while working. I like philosophy.”

“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.”

“I heard it was interesting.”

“I like Bright Night, too,”

““It’s something like a debate among philosophers about love. It makes you think seriously once again about how love is being consumed in modern society and about our attitudes toward dating.””

“I really empathized with it to the point of experiencing catharsis.”

“[Recently Read Book #2] This is The Path of the Dinosaur's Movement by KIM HWA JIN.”

“On my day off, I went to Kyobo Book Centre with my sister.”

“I just wanted to spend a day browsing books and stuff… [A literary girl's day].”

“So I went with my sister, browsed around, and bought this book.”

“[The reason she picked this book] When I got to Kyobo Book Centre, there were so many books—well, it is a bookstore—so I felt overwhelmed.”

“I wanted to buy a good one, something fun that I’d really enjoy reading. I wanted to pick the perfect book.”

“So, inside Kyobo Book Centre, I looked up book descriptions on my phone and tried to see which book caught my eye.”

“[The title alone sounds fun] I saw the title The Path of the Dinosaur's Movement.”

“[GAWON is a famous dinosaur lover] I love dinosaurs, right?”

“I thought, “I’m not sure about it, but let’s just go for it.””

“It’s also a novel, which I love. There was a line that really got to me.”

“Before I buy a book, I read the whole blurb.”

“[GAWON later found it and sent it] There was a line in the blurb that really resonated with me.”

“This book has a strong slice-of-life vibe, and the perspective changes in every section.”

“[The story of four friends] You can read each person’s perspective on the process of losing a cherished friend and the emotions they experience as they go through it.”

“I enjoyed reading that, too. There were lots of cute and relatable lines.”

““I wrote to hold, to leave behind, and to remember.” “So I wouldn’t forget.” “To record it before I forget.” “To keep it by recording it.””

““I still can’t tell apart the moments when lies and truth are stuck together. A lie is nothing else but the act of deceiving oneself—truly believing that what I’m saying right now is sincere. Lies come from sincerity.””

“Lines like these come up throughout the book.”

“So even within this kind of everyday story, thoughts you usually keep to yourself pop up from time to time, which made it a fun book to read.”

“The book for February was supposed to be this one, [the book in question] The Path of the Dinosaur's Movement, but I couldn’t finish it, so I finished it in early March.”

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

“A little while ago, I read a book called *The Wizard’s Bakery*.”

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

“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.”

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

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

“<82년생 김지영>을 읽었는데 시사하는 바가 남달라 인상깊었다”

“I think every artist should read it at least once”

“I’m really enjoying it.”

“I thought it was art that I, as a Korean Confucian girl, couldn't understand. Maybe it was because some parts were difficult, or because the characters were hard to remember. Let's try reading it again in about six months.”

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

“This is also a book I really did order from Yes24 recently, you know? It arrived really quickly (laughs). I bought volumes 1 and 2; I’ve finished volume 1, and have about half of volume 2 left.”

“Because I enjoyed reading Animal Farm so much”

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

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

“'이방인'을 더 일찍 읽었더라면 랩몬스터란 원래의 이름을 택하지 않았을 것이다.”

“A book I’ve enjoyed reading this year is *Goo’s Proof*.”

“As I thought about what book would be good to recommend (or introduce) to all of you—people of different ages and living different kinds of lives who will read this article—I browsed the bookshelves and, after much deliberation, chose this book.”

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

“Managing your mood means managing your life.”

“I regretted not having read the writer’s book sooner.”

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

“How love is being consumed in modern society, and our attitudes toward dating, for example”

“And I ended up choosing these two.”

“These days, I'm reading a book called *Such Clumsy People* for about the fifth time...”

“Watching this, I thought, “The mystery novels I’ve read up to now were only fragments. The real roots were here.””

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

“So, it was a fun book to read.”

““It’s really, really interesting.””

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

“The premise of the novel is very unique.”

“The books I’m reading these days are The Picture of Dorian Gray and Contradiction.”

“I found a lot of good sentences.”

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

“I thought this really summed up the book The Contradiction very well.”

“So I brought it with me”

“I’m reading the Neapolitan Novels!!”

“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.”

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

“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.”

“It was so much fun that I read it quickly.”

“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.”

“It’s difficult 🤤”

““A Thousand Blues,” something like that.”

“Orbital”

“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.”

“To become better, we willingly became worse.”

“Rather than self-help books that offer comfort, just something intuitive…”

“It’s difficult.”

“I like writing handwritten letters, and I’m very grateful to receive them, too. A letter is something you put your heart into, and you write it because you really like that person. In fact, (fans) can’t always see me. There are so many times when we’re far apart, but when I think that they must have pressed their feelings into each and every character as they wrote while thinking of me, I really can’t take the letters lightly. I feel like I get a lot of strength from reading them.”

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

“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.”

“Alain de Botton’s books are difficult even for adults, so there are many parts I don’t understand. But if you read them five or six times, you come to understand, “Oh, that’s what it means.” There’s a shock that comes from that.”

““Torrent””

“I read when I’m bored. The book I’d recommend is <Castella>. It’s a short story collection by author Park Min-gyu. I really enjoyed reading it. It’s psychedelic, really!? So at first it can be a little disconcerting, but as you keep reading, you can get completely absorbed in it.”

“I thought about it a lot. Our fans range across different age groups, but there are quite a lot of younger fans.”

“So I brought some must-read books that I hope you’ll read during your teenage years.”

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

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

“That author had a lot of books listed as bestsellers in Korea, including one called *Save Me*, and”

“I regretted not having read this book sooner.”

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

“I regretted thinking, “Why did I only read the author’s book now?””

“Even as it makes you chuckle, there isn’t a single scene that doesn’t somehow leave a corner of your heart sad.”

“So, if it hadn’t been this cover…”

“As soon as you turn the first page of this book, the voices you’ve missed may come tumbling out in a lively chorus.”

““I enjoyed 'Animal Farm,' so I’ve been exploring more of his works. These days, I often talk about books with IVE member Ahn Yujin.””

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

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

“I recommend the Japanese novel *Please Eat Something Warm*.”

“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.”

“I like it. I especially like it then, too. It makes me feel very calm and lets me think a lot, so I’ve been writing quite a lot of lyrics. I like it.”

“I watched the movie and read the book, and the book is overwhelmingly more fun. It's really fun.”