The stories behind their books

“I enjoyed reading Han Kang’s Yeosu’s Love and The Vegetarian, Yang Gui-ja’s Contradictions, Jeong Dae-geon’s Torrent, and others.”

“It’s very good.”

“I think this passage very well symbolizes the lives of artists who carried art like a divine punishment until the day they died, so it seems to be a passage that broadly symbolizes the book.”

“I read this book twice. Actually, the first time I read it, I put it down before I’d even gotten halfway through. Then, after some time had passed and I’d read more classics, I read it again and found it enjoyable.”

“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.”

“Kim Do-hoon is truly a hit songwriter. This book does not simply focus on explaining theory; it also explains the know-how of a popular music composer, so I believe it will be a great help to aspiring composers.”

“I like books, so I try to read.”

“It’s Hwang Sok-yong’s The Evening Star. I first read this book in my second year of high school. By chance, I picked just one book from the many in the library, and it was The Evening Star. I was thinking a lot about my future at the time, so the main character, Yu Jun, felt just like me.”

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

“Still, I thought, “I hope lots of people get to know about this,” and I really hoped it had helped, even a little.”

“The book we'll read together this time is The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman, the second book in the Thursday Murder Club series we read last time! You're curious about how the story continues, right?! Me too! I want to read it together… It was so much fun reading the first book together!”

“Please read this author's book *Cocktail, Love, Zombie* too. It's fun.”

“It's been quite a while since I bought Douglas Kennedy's The Big Picture, but I've been so busy that I still haven't started it.”

“Even when I read books, I imagine all the scenes as I go.”

““I read the Analects and so much of it really resonates with me. I love learning from it. One thing that comes to mind is, ‘The noble person is at ease, while the petty person is always anxious.’ That brings comfort to my heart.””

“I read *Romantic Love and Its Aftermath*. It’s such an adult book that I couldn’t understand all of it, but there was this line: “You can’t be in a relationship on feelings alone.” It meant that feelings of love or liking someone aren’t enough to be with a person; their tastes, depth of thought, and values have to align for you to become truly close to them. Just because you like someone doesn’t mean you can have a deep relationship with them. It made me think that the adults who say that, as time passes, only one or two friends remain really have a point.”

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

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

“Almost everything I know about love, I learned from my relationships with my longtime female friends. Love is laughing together so hard you can hardly breathe. It’s walking down the street together on a Saturday night and feeling that the whole city belongs to us.”

“I recently read the memoir Everything I Know About Love. The author talks about what she realized after spending her life pursuing romantic love.”

“It shocked me a lot, and it was a book that gave me many realizations and resonated deeply with me.”

“I held back until the end, then burst into tears. It makes you cherish life.”

“I enjoyed reading Han Kang’s *Love of Yeosu* and *The Vegetarian*, Yang Gui-ja’s *Contradiction*, Jeong Dae-geon’s *Torrent*, and others.”

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

“I guess I replied to another post... As for books, I’m trying to read The Vegetarian now...”

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

“This is a book called *Mythology*.”

“I’ve been really interested in Greek mythology since I was little. When I was young, I only liked the main figures, but there are so many other gods too, you know. I want to read about them because I’m curious about them…”

“I even recommended If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light on Weverse.”

“read the book twice.”

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

“i recently read a book called <me before you>. it was really touching. you should read it.”

“as i said earlier, there's a book called <me before you> and i hope you try and read it once. i think it'll be really fun if carats read it.”

“Among the books I’ve read recently, I read a book called Reading Schopenhauer at Forty. Schopenhauer is pessimistic, but there are times when I actually find comfort in that aspect of him.”

“As I read it, I found it incredibly delicate. Not only the expressions and descriptions, but also the emotional threads are woven together so intricately that it pains my heart as I read. I think it’s a book every Korean should read.”

““It’s really, really interesting.””

“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.”

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

“I remember crying so much when I read The Giving Tree as a child.”

“I have it open to a page.”

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

“A book I found because I was feeling a strong thirst for travel”

“무라카미 하루키 소설 ‘1Q84’에서 영감을 받아 탄생된 곡”

“I think they came up with a really good title. We often say, “I want to die.” But even while saying we want to die, it’s true that we also feel like having soju or eating tteokbokki. As someone who has also gone through dark times, I couldn’t help but relate deeply.”

“When I was grappling with questions about life, I drew a lot of strength from Hwang Sok-yong’s The Evening Star.”

“I really, really recommend this poetry book”

“Even just reading her writing, I thought, “The author’s perspective is so healthy and profound,” and she felt like a “senior in life” to me.”

“Oh, I did like that. I did like that classic. That was was a good book,”

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

“I also bought a book called *People Born in the ’90s Are Coming*. Try challenging yourself [to read] this book too 😄”

““I also like the Analects. I didn’t like it before, but after reading it, a lot of it really resonated with me, and I like learning from it.””

“Professor Jung Jae-seung’s *Twelve Steps*. It was the first book I read in the military. It made me realize that what I’m worrying about and finding difficult right now is actually perfectly natural. It was a book that guided me so I wouldn’t fall into self-pity.”

“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.”

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

“There was also a book called _Eleven Steps._ It was kind of a philosophy book. But with any of the different books, I found myself putting myself into the text. Like imagining myself as a character in a novel, for example. I was so deep in my imagination at the time. Was it helpful? I’m not sure.”

“It’s really good, and...”

“There’s a book by bell hooks called *All About Love*. In English...”

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

“I’ve only read about twenty pages, but you know that thrilling feeling, that kind of feeling…”

“I was surprised as I read it because the things I usually think about were expressed so well in words.”

“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.”

“I have so much I want to talk about that even writing it as an epic novel on the scale of *Toji* wouldn’t be enough, but…”

“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.”

“Hello! I'm Lily. The book we're reading together this time is [The Man Who Died Twice] by Richard Osman, the second book in the Thursday Murder Club series we read last time! You're curious about how the story continues, aren't you?! I am too! I want to read it together…”

“I always carry around about two books like this.”

“I didn't really like it before, but after reading The Analects, so much of it resonated with me, and I enjoyed learning from it.”

“It's a book that gives me a sense of security.”

“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.”

“Like imagining myself as a character in a novel, for example.”

“I read a memoir recently called Everything I Know About Love where the author pursues romantic love her whole life, only to realize something profound in the end: She had always been surrounded by amazing friends, and always been loved, and always gave love—that she’d been experiencing it all along, and that love had always been there by her side. When I read that, I kept thinking about the other members of the group. When I think about the future together with them, I feel like I could end up thinking something similar to the author. Being with them has made me learn to appreciate friendship even more.”

“And maybe that’s essentially what love is—learning to be kind through friendship, then practicing and showing it, like the book says.”

“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 was so immersed in the work that I read it in one sitting despite being busy with activities. I even recommended it directly to the members.”

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

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

“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.”

“But I apparently read it.”

“I had read it once before, and it was really difficult.”

“The premise of the novel is very unique.”

““The noble-minded are open and at ease; the petty-minded are always troubled.””

“The book *The Power of Being Alone* was a comfort to me. I read it when I was consumed by self-reproach, wondering if there was something wrong with me.”

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

“Because I enjoyed reading Animal Farm so much”

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

“I read Ernest Hemingway’s *The Old Man and the Sea*, and it was so much fun. It’s quite short, but I finished it in about two hours.”

“In life, you do things with many different people, and this book helps you keep the focus on yourself amid all that. I especially want to share the words, 'You don't have to do it well.' I recently tried acting. Wanting to do well matters, but that desire can also make you feel pressured and nervous. 'So what if I don't do it well?' Sometimes it's good to take things lightly”

““I was drawn to the line on the first page of this book, ‘You’re crazy because of the person you love,’ so I bought it right away and read it.””

“그 책을 통해 내 안에 있는 질투의 본질을 처음 발견했다”

“반에서 키도 크고 잘생기고 공부와 운동도 잘하며 여자아이들에게 인기가 많던 친구들을 향한 질투를 되돌아볼 수 있었다”

“이 책을 네다섯 번은 읽었다”

“덕분에 선배 세대가 남긴 훌륭한 지혜를 자연스럽게 접할 기회를 얻었다”

“When I was really into novels, I read the Japanese novel *The Age-70 Death Bill Passes*.”

“I sought out and read Pachinko because I suddenly wanted to get a feel for Korea’s modern history.”

“And I like poetry collections. I really enjoyed reading the collection The Definition of Love Is a Cat.”

“Achilles. I really love that book.”

“I really like it, and <A Certain Secret>.”

“Recently, among the books I’ve read, there’s one called *Schopenhauer at Forty*… People read it at forty, but I wanted to read it at twenty, thinking it might be good to know about it at twenty… So Schopenhauer is quite, kind of… pessimistic…”

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

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

“What is the most important book you have read?”

“I asked a friend: “Hey, I want to read! Do you have any books to recommend?” And he got really excited and recommended books by Han Kang and Keigo Higashino. So, that was literally everything I read. There was also a book called “Eleven Steps.” It was kind of a book about philo…”

“It’s really fascinating: by coincidence, I always end up reading a book connected to our next album. After ‘EASY’ wrapped up and before we started promoting ‘CRAZY,’ I read a book called *The Madman* by Lee Hyuk-jin. The protagonist was literally a real madman. (Laughs.) So I read it thinking, ‘CRAZY—this person is really CRAZY.’ It was a book about how you can go that far when you become obsessed with something. So this book came to mind when we were promoting ‘CRAZY’ and then ‘HOT.’”

“This is a book I started reading because it was at the TWICE dorm, and I think this book is exactly what its title says: “doing something for myself.””

“I underlined it because I really related to this description. When I have some kind of realization or feel really happy, I feel the same way: “Ah, this is what it feels like.””

““시간이 더 지나기 전에 데뷔부터 지금까지를 돌아보고 싶다.””

“Reading it at the same age, I found another point of interest. I wondered whether, when I was that age, I could do serialized labor like that, and whether I could put my story out there so starkly for the world to see. I guess I’m not there yet.”

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

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

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

““Strangely enough, with just one cookbook, I feel as though I’ve taken a step closer to senior Park Jun-myeon. Perhaps it’s because this book resembles the senior I know.””

“'Contradiction'”

“Author! I read Human Acts while I was in the military. Sniff, congratulations!”

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

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

“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.”