The stories behind their books

“A book that gave me a lot of courage.”

“First of all, Yamanhagu is, well, truly living up to its reputation.”

“I’m happy to be publishing my first book, and I hope many people will read it with me.”

“Thanks to this book, I learned a lot about what I hadn’t known about everything that goes into an artist coming into being. I felt grateful to everyone who was with me, and is still with me, on the journey to becoming the ‘Baek A-yeon’ I am today. If you’re curious about the idol industry, this book will be a great help.”

““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 wasn’t someone who read novels often. But as I was transitioning into acting, I thought I should read a full-length novel. Then I remembered that I had read Musso’s earlier work *Call from an Angel* some time ago, so I picked up his new book, *A Paris Apartment*.””

“Rather, I think it’s a book that makes me look back on myself, so it has a lot of meaning.”

“It was something that gave me insight and resonated with me.”

“If I were good at English too, I would have read it that way.”

“I think it’s right now. I can see <You Have to Look at It for a Long Time to Find It Lovely> right in front of me. It’s a book I’ve been reading recently. As I was reading it, I suddenly felt a sense of romance.”

“The scenes where Tsuchida, a bookstore clerk, delivers monologues about impressions he has formed while watching customers, family members, and others are striking.”

“I like writing by people who aren’t professional writers. They didn’t live in order to write; as they lived, their lives became writing.”

“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…”

“Anyway, I recently bought a book about psychology.”

“Poet Park Jun’s distinctive witty style was moving and touching.”

“It was my first time being photographed wearing lingerie, so please pay attention.”

“I think I've read these three books several times: The Lighthouse Keeper, You Too Are a Sky Lily, and Yeontan-gil.”

“Biases block the path to healing and change. To address the root of the problem, we must begin with affirmation through prevention and education, not law and punishment.”

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

“I am trying to convey a message of prevention and healing through 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 after a test.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Dad, you watched over my incredibly demanding training and supported me all along—what a thoughtful dad! I’ll keep the “empty jar theory” you told me so often engraved in my heart, and keep trying to fill it with clear water and fragrant oil. You can do it too, Dad!”

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

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

“My all-time favorite comic book from my school days was Comic MapleStory. I don’t know if you know it, but it was really fun. I think people from the first generation will relate.”

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

“I like the scene where the protagonist is standing in first place among the other aliens.”

“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.”

“It’s a book I really hope you’ll make time to read.”

“Finally 😭 I finished reading it”

“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.”

“This book shakes readers and ultimately changes them.”

“I did my reading with those.”

“A writer who portrays a natural attitude toward life with purity and precision. The moment I read her writing, I already belong to happiness. It is a clear and sturdy world that only those who live as themselves can enter.”

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

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

“It was the last birthday present my late grandfather gave me. He also wrote me a letter. Because it was a story about a grandfather and his granddaughter, so much of it resonated with me. I’ve read it over and over—two or three times.”

“The most recent book I read was *Almond*. A friend told me to give it a read, so I did.”

“This book is fun~!”

“I read a web novel again this week. Inherited 50 billion won? lol”

““I’m rereading the novel Almond, which takes me straight back to my middle-school days.””

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

“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.”

“Please see it as an honest account of my experiences, not an autobiography.”

“It’s a story about my cat. It’s called *I Love You Every Day*. But after I finished writing it, I realized there was a lot about my dad in it.”

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

“It really feels like a book tailored just for Lily.”

“It’s very good.”

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

““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.””

“This dog-food book is, of course, also a book I wrote to repay dogs for the happiness I’ve received as a dog owner. I think it’s especially a book for people who have lots of dogs, but actually, I wrote it in a fairly conventional format.”

“The three books I read during this South American tour. They have different themes, but perhaps they form a mysterious combination that ultimately leads to one thing. In this era when everything is changing rapidly, what kind of mindset should we have as we prepare to face the world? What kind of mindset do those who, unseen, quietly bring about change in the world have? The reunification that is sure to come is not simply a burden but an ‘opportunity.’ The very foundation and basis for all of it is the ‘Gospel.’ This Gospel is not simply a message of love; it is the power of God that has come upon us, sinners. I’ve gone on a bit, but anyway, it was really good.”

“The book I’d like to introduce to you is this graphic novel called Asterix Polly Wi.”

“When I go to a bookstore, I sit down 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 just the other day, too. I have *The Children of Gaeng-i-burimal*, *The Little Prince*, *Confession*, *March Is a Red Ravine*, *Norwegian Wood*, and a collection of poems by poet Lee Byeong-ryul, too. I get a lot of book recommendations all the time.”

“If you find out the title of the book, most of you will probably give up [trying to read it]... The Perpetual Fluctuation of Wealth ^^ Hahahahahaha, everyone will give up. You should read it all. I also bought a book called People Born in the ’90s Are Coming. Try challenging yourself [to read] this book too 😄”

“There are times when my self-esteem hits rock bottom and my sense of self wavers. People around me say you need to have a hobby to relieve stress, but I haven't found one yet. So whenever I'm having a hard time, I read books like “Look at This Poem” and “Still, I Love You.” I don't read long texts very well, so I mainly look at books with lots of pictures and the words I want to hear.”

“It’s a very warm novel about things that happen in a convenience store. They’re stories that could happen in our everyday lives, and they move and comfort you. I read it all in one sitting.”

“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.”

“This is exactly the book I want to find. It’s about the number 88 bus.”

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

“I think it might be worth reading at least once.”