The stories behind their books

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

“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.”

“He is such an ardent fan of Park Saeroyi that he read the entire Itaewon Class webtoon in just one full day.”

“I tend to read several books at once, so there are quite a few books I start but don’t manage to finish. Unfortunately, Crime and Punishment became one of those books….”

“But I haven’t given up! It just means the perfect time to read that book hasn’t come yet. When I feel the time is right, I’ll definitely pick it up again, finish it, and tell W what I thought first!”

“Shoko's Smile is so much fun, too. Honestly, there were a few episodes I didn't quite understand, but it was still a novel that moved me deeply.”

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

“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.”

“I heard it was interesting.”

“I remember reading this book while crying. I hardly ever cry when I’m reading. The protagonist has a terminal illness.”

“<82년생 김지영>을 읽었는데 시사하는 바가 남달라 인상깊었다”

“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.”

“Knulp is a book I found after reading Demian and becoming curious about Hermann Hesse’s work.”

“I managed to get to Chapter 3.”

“And this book—I'm reading it now.”

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

“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 first read Itaewon Class as a webtoon a long time ago.”

““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.”

“유럽 가는 비행기 안에서 읽고, 호텔에서 읽었는데 좋은 상황이었는데도 그 책을 읽으니 마음이 버거웠다”

“글을 생생하게 잘 쓰셔서 인상 깊게 읽었다”

“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 first read this book in high school. As a trainee, I felt slightly off the usual path, while my friends seemed to be studying hard, going to university, and following a smooth course. I felt anxious because I didn’t know when I would debut as an idol singer. What God says to Knulp felt as though it was being said to me, and it brought me great comfort.”

“I'm slightly in love with it”

“It's an interesting book. It's fun.”

“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.”

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

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

“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.”

“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.”

“Having experienced it firsthand and then reread it, I thought, “This was totally a Kurly promotional book.” I was moved by a different aspect, thinking, “So you really can grow this much in six months.””

“So, it was a fun book to read.”

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

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

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

“The book I'd like to recommend is [Eleven at Night] by author Hwang Kyung-shin.”

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

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

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

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

“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.”

“저도 요시모토 바나나의 '키친'이 집에 있길래 읽고 있다.”

“[Unread Book with a Pretty Cover #1] 'Don't Let Your Mood Become Your Attitude' by Lemon Psychology”

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

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

“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.”

“And I ended up choosing these two.”

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

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

“I regretted not having read this book sooner.”

“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.”

“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.”

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

“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.”

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

“It’s difficult 🤤”

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

“So, if I were to recommend one, there’s a book called Snowball. It’s really dynamic and fun, so I think it would be nice to read it together.”

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

“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.”

“Guillaume Musso's *Will You Be There?* is a book I read in middle school. I liked it so much that I read it several times.”

““Torrent””

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

“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.”

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

“So, if it hadn’t been this cover…”

“It’s difficult.”

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

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

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

““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.””

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

“Personally, I found the book more interesting.”

“Orbital”

““It’s a book called The Psychology of Money. It made me think that it was something I really needed, too.””

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

“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 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.”

“I regretted not having read your books sooner.”

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

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

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

“When asked to recommend a book to readers, IU mentioned Haruki Murakami's *Hear the Wind Sing*.”

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

“To become better, we willingly became worse.”

“I’m reading the Neapolitan Novels!!”

“He has written many books, such as *Save Me*, *Will You Be There?*, and *Returning in Search of Love*.”

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

“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.”