The stories behind their books

“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.”

“I’m really enjoying 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 think I can take one step closer to becoming that kind of person only if I’m happy first and receive energy.”

“It's really fun.”

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

“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 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.”

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

“나의 해변의 카프카여”

“I’d like to give Françoise Sagan’s essay collection Life Is So Slow, and Hope So Wild as a gift.”

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

“I read Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982, and was impressed by how much it had to say.”

“[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'”

“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.”

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

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

“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.”

“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.””

“I like Bright Night, too,”

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

“And I ended up choosing these two.”

““It’s really, really interesting.””

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

“And this book—I'm reading it now.”

““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, really recommend this poetry book”

“I found a lot of good sentences.”

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

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

“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’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.”

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

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

“I recently finished reading My Brilliant Friend.”

“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.”

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

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