The stories behind their books

“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.”

“I stopped watching The Ravages of Time partway through.”

“This is a book I'm reading. It's about how the story keeps going back through the generations—my mother's mother, my mother's mother's mother, and so on. So it's really interesting and has a great atmosphere. It's a healing book to read.”

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

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

“My attitude seems to have changed, so I recommend reading the short story called *Ahopsu Gawi*.”

““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.””

“A book I’m so glad to find, for me, who dreams of becoming a showbiz singer at sixty.”

““I got into poetry by reading ‘Love, as if You Have Never Been Hurt (Ryu Si-hwa).’””

“This book is called "If I Could Life My Life Again" by Hyenam Kim.”

“She wrote "What would've been better if I had known at age 40."”

“So like this, it was like messages that are very professional but also messages from my mom.”

“So I cried while reading this book too.”

“Unlike the poetry books I recommended earlier, this book is not abstract.”

“I recommend this book to those who want to feel comforted in a direct manner.”

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

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

“It’s about how she became a star when she was young and what life as an actor was like; it’s a really sad story.”