The stories behind their books

“I'm also continuing to read it, curious to see whether I'll make it to the end. Since it's a book that's received so much praise, I want to make sure I read it all the way through, if only out of curiosity.”

“To briefly explain the story, a pilot who crash-lands in the desert is one of the protagonists, and a little prince who suddenly appears before him asks him to draw a sheep. The two then build a friendship and get to know each other; it’s that kind of enjoyable novel.”

“I tend to have a lot on my mind, especially before album promotions. I recently picked up again a book I read when I need to find my center.”

“I first read Siddhartha in November 2025. My family is Buddhist, and that summer we all went to see a monk we had been close to for a long time. He gave it to me as a gift, saying, ‘It’s a book I truly cherish and have read over and over, and one that helped me a lot in not losing myself.’”

“Before, whenever things got too hard, I would turn away from the situation and hide behind a mask. That was how I got through life. But I recently realized that someday I would have no choice but to face the weaker side of myself. I also came to understand that when that time comes, I can meet my true self, and the path forward becomes clearer. While I was thinking about those things, I came across Siddhartha, and its sentences came to me as if by fate.”

“That’s right. I remember a childhood moment when I saw my younger sister playing guitar and asked her to teach me too. After that, I taught myself guitar by watching YouTube and started writing songs. It was a turning point that made me who I am today.”

“I think that’s the central message this book is trying to convey. I, too, am constantly changing like a river, but at the same time, I was able to firmly inscribe in my life the wisdom that I am the river, and that my existence as me does not change.”

“The first manga I saw when I was seven was a slightly older manga, so I was like, “What is this? Glass Mask, Glass Mask.””

“So I said I read about the scaly thrush’s call in The Rapids.”

“So, Dune is a novel that's been around for a long time, and I really like the book. It's very big and thick, but the story is really solid. I've known about it for a long time, so I've read the book and looked into it, but I haven't actually read it in English. You have to read it as a book.”

“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.”

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

“That's why it has become a truly unforgettable novel of my life, even to this day.”

“A book? It’s one I got as a birthday present last time.”

“These days, I’m reading *Reading Schopenhauer at Forty*.”

“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.”

“To recommend books I enjoyed reading, first, “Ordinary Words (Kim Eana).” Even though I’d only read it, I thought, “The author’s thoughts are so healthy and profound,” and the author felt like a “senior in life” to me. And then, “On My 29th Birthday, I Decided to Die a Year Later (Amari Hayama).””

“The book is called "Verbal Abuse of Comfort."”

“It's a poetry book by Doyoon Na.”

“This book is summarized in one sentence on the cover.”

“Although it's a poetry book, it's like... realistic, and it describes negative and sad emotions so well.”

“You might wonder, "Huh? How's reading that book gonna help you get comforted?" but...”

“Just like the title of this book "Verbal Abuse of Comfort,"”

“So here's a poem. Let me read it to you.”

“So there are lots of poems with this kind of a vibe.”

“I think the overflowing comfort from these poems really will comfort you.”

“So I recommend you read this poetry book when you're exhausted and going through a hard time.”

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

“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.”

“I haven't shown it to PD Park Jin-young yet.”

“My favorite series is Percy Jackson.”

“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.””

“It was impressive because it had so much to say.”

“Facts are sacred. Facta sacra sunt”

“When I go to a bookstore, I sit down, pile up a ton of books, and read. I like that people at bookstores don’t pay attention to others. I bought a whole bunch just recently, too. There are The Children of Gwaengiburi Village, The Little Prince, Confession, March Is a Red Ravine, Norwegian Wood, and a poetry collection by poet Lee Byung-ryul. I get a lot of book recommendations all the time.”

“it looks like the illustrations from the book the little prince.”

“on the side, it looks like the boa constrictor from <the little prince>.”

“This book helped me a lot. It says exactly what I want to hear. I didn’t read it just once; I read it several times. There are sentences that speak to me the second time, and sentences that speak to me the third time. It’s a book I keep reaching for, so I recommend it to ONCE.”

“A while ago, a director I know gave me What Is Death? as a gift. It compiles lectures by Professor Shelly Kagan of Yale University, but honestly, it’s very difficult.”

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

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

“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.”

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

“Writing a book had been one of my New Year’s plans since I was young. In 2014, I felt I had to do it.”

“There are many passages that resonate with me, so I keep reading it.”

“There’s a book I’ve been reading lately. It’s a novel called *Mail from Postbox No. 110*—it’s heart-fluttering and gentle in tone.”

“I read it some time ago, but it has stayed with me, so I brought it again.”

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

“I'm reading *Contradiction* right now.”