The stories behind their books

“‘처음의 어려움을 두려워하지 말자’를 계속 마음에 새기면서 헤쳐나간 것 같아요. 힘이 정말 많이 되었어요.”

“I looked it up, and apparently one of them is water residue.”

“I like Kafka’s The Metamorphosis.”

“Our mountain grandfather, who grades our pointy day as a long oval.”

“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.”

“평소에 생각하던 것들이 언어로 잘 표현되어 있어 읽으며 놀랐다”

“책 읽는 걸 좋아한다.”

“I've been reading a book lately. It's called The Bare Minimum of Korean History. It does a very good job of explaining things concisely, from Gojoseon through modern and contemporary history. It made me think, “I should study more history,” and I hope many people will read it.”

“I like books, so I try to read.”

“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.””

““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.””

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

“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.”

“My mom bought it for me.”

“Achilles. I really love that book.”

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

“Uh, lately there’s an author I’ve been really into. I’ve been reading a lot of Hwang Jungeun’s books. The recently released Didi’s Umbrella is really good too, but I’m still reading it…”

““Please keep all the stories we shared in ‘1719’ as our own secret.””

“I was also very impressed by Anxiety.”

“So I brought along Amélie Nothomb’s *Hygiene and the Assassin*, which I enjoyed reading.”

“After finding the answer in the Bible, I became able to answer without hesitation when asked, “Why do you live?” That answer became the anchor of my life and the source of my passion. (Omitted) I earnestly hope this book can give a clear reason to live to someone who feels empty, lonely, isolated, anxious, afraid, or depressed—and, above all, to someone who is thinking of giving up on life (p. 10).”

“Sometimes in life, a single word from someone else can easily bring us down. This book talks about how to protect yourself and love others through “just the right amount of positivity and just the right amount of courage.” I sincerely hope that all of you readers will come away from this book with “just the right amount of positivity and courage.””

“The Giving Tree, but this feels less like it’s a person I am and more like an ideal I want to become.”

“These days, I'm reading Jonas Jonasson's novel *Killer Anders and His Friends*.”

“I read To Kill a Mockingbird back in school, and...”

“Yoon Ji-un’s <Pahanjip>. I started reading it a few years ago, and I pick it up once in a while when I’m bored.”

“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 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.”

“I changed even more after reading the books The Power of Positive Thinking and The Secret.”

“작은 위로라고 해서 마냥 작지 않거든요.”

“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.”

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

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

“It’s provocative and captivating. It’s the kind of book that makes you want to turn to the next chapter faster.”

“I also want to reread the Sherlock Holmes series, haha.”

“Ah, yes. Among the members, I like reading, so I often seek out books. I haven’t been able to read lately, but during the <Mansae> promotions, I’ve been reading <Sherlock Holmes>. I really like detective novels, especially the Holmes series; it really suits my taste.”

“I really like it.”

“Was it The Hound of the Baskervilles?”

“I learned about it through the novels and watched the English drama, too.”

“I like the Sherlock Holmes series.”

“Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles”

“Sherlock Holmes, haha.”

“I also recommend Happiness Doesn't Come Alone and Sister Hae-in’s essay book Just Cry When Things Are Hard.”

“Scary Stories Are the Best!”

“When that exact verse appeared before my eyes among the tens of thousands of pages on the shelf, I had no choice but to collapse completely before the presence of the living Lord. It was supernatural confirmation that ‘God is dealing with me right now.’”

“Please show lots of interest in my yoga book.”

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

“I think I used to follow it a bit like a fandom thing, reading comics too, reading Lee Mun-yeol’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel, and watching Chimchakman’s Three Kingdoms.”

“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.”

“As I read this book and worked through the problems, I don’t think “really good” is enough to describe it.”

“I read a poetry collection called *Forgiveness of the Sky* on a holiday. One line I wrote down was, “Would even angels know that their wings are symmetrical?” Isn’t that so cute?”

“It broadened my perspective and comforted me.”

“When I opened my eyes in bed, I imagined what the window would look like if I were in the protagonist's position in the novel, what the desk would be like, and how I could open the drawer.”

“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.”

“This is a book I’d recommend to anyone who wants to encounter and delve into a variety of poems within one book, and to anyone who wants to read carefully written prose.”

“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.”

“Today's book”

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

“Jeolchang is really fun.”

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

“These days, I’m reading *So My Heart Won’t Get Hurt*.”

“The command of language is so impressive, and it really draws you in. Right, it has that immersive quality.”

““20살 때 접했던 ‘행복한 논어 읽기’라는 책이 갑자기 떠올랐습니다. 당시 책을 읽다가 생각이 깨어난다는 느낌을 처음 받았고, 그 기억 덕분에 공자 이외의 사상가들을 알아보다 제자백가의 주요 사상을 쉽게 풀어낸 ‘동양철학 에세이’를 찾게 되었습니다. 다양한 사상과 해석들이 아름답게 꾸며지거나 편협한 모습이 없어 스스로의 판단과 생각 속에서 읽을 수 있다는 부분이 좋았습니다. 철학에 대해 관심이 없는 분들도 쉽게 접하며 자신만의 철학을 갖기까지 도움닫기가 되어주는 책이라고 생각합니다.””

“I read a lot while thinking, ‘It must be made-up stories.’”

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

“Yes. I think I came to appreciate novels like that through The Unbearable Lightness of Being.”

“In the early hours of Friday, I finished reading A Little Life.”

“I’m especially enjoying the webtoon <The Return of the Mount Hua Sect>.”

“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.”

“There is a poetry collection by Na Tae-joo called I See You as a Flower. It was a book that helped lift me up when I was feeling a little down.”

“Actually, there were many more kinds of baby food I fed Seo-a. I recorded them in a notebook or on my phone each time. They said the book shouldn’t be too thick, so I included about 20 recipes and snacks for each stage, making a total of 131 recipes.”

“When I come across a passage I like while reading, I take a photo of it on my phone.”

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

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

““I’m proud of my mentor.””

“It’s a work that allowed me to get absorbed in the story and completely focus. It’s also good for killing time. It was made into a movie, too, but I recommend reading it as a book.”

““A favorite book? The one I read this time was My Own Secret.””

“I recently read Almond, but I don't know what it was about. I'm the type who only reads the beginning and can't make it to the end.”

“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.”

“천년의 사랑, 아버지.”

“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 a long time ago. These days, getting in touch with my inner child helps me relax.”

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

“I don’t know much about painting, but I found the story of solving the riddle very interesting.”

“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.”

“And the poetry collection I’ve read until only its cover is worn out—my favorite poetry collection—is…”

“Things one might call one’s absolute favorites are few and far between. I sometimes think of life as an unfinished movie.”

“That book, Na Tae-joo’s *Wildflower Life Lessons by Na Tae-joo*—my dad went to a bookstore, bought it, and got me a copy to read on the way.”

“I read Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982, and I also read One Night When Little Things Became Something.”

“メイクアップチームや撮影チームと家族のように過ごすことができて、温かい雰囲気で楽しく撮れました”

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

“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.”

“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*.”

“Since it was a book that prominently covered stories about Italy, the birthplace of poisoning, I brought it along on my business trip to Italy and read it twice during the journey.”

“It really deserves it. It’s entertaining, and I imagine a lot as I read.”

“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.”

“I realized that Gu Byeong-mo's books really aren't a good fit for me.”

“A book called Iroseok, on the topic of… Looking at this book, I thought the keyword “god” was just right for you, experiencing life for the first time, to whom everything in the world is unfamiliar and difficult. So I bought this book too, and since I declared it and lay down…”

“I collected about 20 volumes of the Conan manga.”

“After discovering Keigo Higashino through The Devotion of Suspect X, I’ve read everything of his that has been translated into Korean, and this was one of the books I picked up relatively early on. “It really pulls you along.””

“For those who are a little tired and want to go to a church somewhere, I recommend reading *At the Iche Western-Style Restaurant*.”

“I decided to take part in this project because I thought this book could give many people an experience like the one they might have from a moving film or song.”

“I highly recommend it.”

“When I go to a bookstore, I sit and read with a huge pile of books. I like that people at bookstores don’t pay attention to others. I bought a whole stack recently, too. There’s “Children of Gwaengiburi Village,” “The Little Prince,” “Confession,” “March Is a Red Abyss,” “Norwegian Wood,” and a poetry collection by poet Lee Byeong-ryul. I get so many book recommendations all the time.”

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

“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.”

“I received this question and gave it some thought. So I reread the book and thought about it, but it was difficult.”

“Bias block the path of healing and change. To solve the root of the problem, it must begin with affirmation through prevention and education, not law and punishment.”

“I hope that through this book, readers can truly sympathize with the dangers of drugs and focus on healing,”

“I am trying to convey a message of prevention and healing with music. I hope this book will also create a peaceful world where you do not doubt yourself at the end of a day, just like a test.”

“It’s a book that brings so many emotions, from warmth to sadness. In particular, it made me reflect on my mother once again.”

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

““One Piece””

“At first, I read it as a print book, and then I tried listening to it as an audiobook too; hearing it in the actor’s voice made it resonate with me more.”

“Thank you, poet #NaTaejoo”

“Though our nationalities, languages, and ways of expressing ourselves are all different, I feel that sincerity always gets through.”

“I bought a book, not a poetry collection. <Quiet Excitement>. It's a book about what happened during the author's three-month trip to Europe. Even the really trivial things are written down, and they're all so cute.”

“What do pigs live on? A delicious read recommended for thinking pigs.”

“At the time, I read Han Kang’s novel The White Book, recommended by the head of my agency, and from the line, “Even if I am sullied, I will pass on only white things,” I thought, “I should become this kind of singer…”

“헌책방에서 우연히 만난 책인데요. 생태와 자유가 마침 제가 찾고 있던 주제였어요. 당시 제 안의 가치들이 무너져 내리고 있는 듯한 느낌이 들었는데, 책을 읽으면서 돌아가야 할 곳은 어디인지, 앞으로 찾아나가야 할 것은 무엇인지 실마리가 됐던 것 같아요.”

“Even today, when the word “sublime” has been reduced to a tedious and stifling word, it is unavoidably sublime.”

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

“This book is called “Schopenhau to Read Before Bed.””

“You can see there are so many bookmark tabs.”

“There were so many passages I could relate to and wanted to learn from! [How YVES Reads #2]”

“So I can’t finish this book! lol I have to read it over and over again.”

“So that’s what he said. But on the very next page, he says, “In life, suffering and concerns are necessary.””

“Then I get all confused while reading!”

“I’m like, “But you just said they’re the two enemies!””

“And then again, it’s like, “Suffering and concerns are common in life.””

“Ah, I see.”

“Mmm... I see what you mean.”

“This book is also very realistic, and it’s a great book to read if you want to be comforted and clear your mind of your worries.”

“So I recommend this book too.”

“So I started reading Guillaume Musso's books. As I read love stories such as Save Me and The Paper Girl, I wanted to read other kinds of stories too.”

“I watched Bait, and it wasn't childish at all. I really enjoyed it.”

“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.”

““Watching people from all walks of life take on challenges with courage filled me with a sense of adventure!””

“<내 새끼 손가락 아들>이라는 책인데요, 소아조로증이라는 희귀질병을 앓고 있는 홍원기 군과 오래된 인연을 통해 추천글을 적게되었다”

““I’m really often hurt by words, and when that reached its peak, I needed kind words. When I thought I should soothe my heart with a book, I came across a book called The Temperature of Language. The title felt warm from the start, so I was drawn to it. Since then, I keep reading it whenever I have time. It gives me a sense of calm whenever I’m tired. I often feel the depth of words and the power of words with a ‘warm temperature.’””

“Because I enjoyed reading Animal Farm so much”

“일제강점기가 배경인데, 당시 사회적으로 혼란이 많던 시기다. 상대적으로 여자들이 남자들에 비해 할 수 있는 것이 적은 시기임에도 불구하고 자기가 옳다고 생각하는 사회적 방향으로 맞서 싸워나간다. 나를 돌아보게 했던 책”

“The first flapping of wings toward freedom”

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

“I recently bought this book. It’s called *8 Rules of Love* by Jay Shetty. Um, it’s a cute title, right? It feels a little cheesy. So normally, I don’t think I would have picked it up at a bookstore.”

““They say that there are five languages of love: ‘words of affirmation,’ ‘quality time,’ ‘gifts,’ ‘acts of service,’ and ‘physical touch.’””

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

“People who are at a crossroads, people who want to travel but don’t have time, people who are curious about Hawaii, and people who need healing.”

“This book is fun~!”

“Even recently, the works I keep rereading are Phoenix and Buddha.”

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

“I brought it because Demian is my favorite.”

“A piece that once again reminds us how precious and radiant it is, in the midst of life, to ask one another how we are.”

“A time when I looked back on my own capacity for empathy, wondering whether I had been viewing socially disadvantaged people through a biased lens all this time.”

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

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

““Thrillers are the best airplane reads and this one is an all-time fave when I need a little escape from reality. I am personally addicted to stories about people who will go wild lengths to get what they want.””

“Until now, making music was the only way I knew how to talk about myself. I’m not someone who likes to go on at length to people about myself, so I had only put my voice into music. Now that I’ve had the opportunity to talk about myself through a book, in writing and photographs, I decided that since I was doing it, I might as well be honest.”

““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.””

“Because I never even imagined that I would publish a book, I feel more fulfilled than I did when releasing an album.”

“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.”

“If your memories were slowly fading, who would you least want to forget?”

“Finding this book was a great stroke of luck. It helped me understand fans a little better and made me want to become a better version of myself. I too want to hold on to the precious feeling of admiring someone.”

“He gave me a book as a gift.”

“It’s a book called The Joy of Young Werther.”

“I haven’t read it yet, but I think my dad gave me a book he’d already read. It wasn’t new!”

“Not that famous book! I think it’s another essay!”

“Actually, I haven’t read The Sorrows of Young Werther either, so I’m going to start with The Joy of Young Werther!”

“Yeah, yeah, maybe he hoped I’d find the wisdom in the conversations I’d had with my dad in this book, too. I should read it!”

“Anyway, I thought that someday I want to be someone who can pass on this kind of wisdom to someone else in my own way!”

“I find that wisdom in our ATINY, too, so I should become that kind of person myself.”

“I read a book called “Courage To Be Disliked” which something you read in life, it really helped when I was stressed, it also helped me to become more mature.”

“I did my reading with those.”

“It’s kind of giving me chills, but when I read this first sentence, I realized I’m the one who became Spencer as Holfield grew up.”

“I recommend “Holding Hands in Midsummer,” which is good for a light summer read.”

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

““I read The Buddha’s Words: A Modern Translation and was deeply impressed by it.””

“It’s a book called *Obsession*. Annie Ernaux writes candidly, like a diary, about how awful she became when the lover she’d been seeing got a new lover. I think that’s when I first became a little curious about it.”

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

“Anne Napolitano’s novel Hello Beautiful”

“올해 읽었던 책인데”

“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.”