[Chungmuro Book Cafe] 'Nalchaja' 'Jageun Assideul'... The Rise of Drama and Movie Originals

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] A novel has finally reached number one in the Asia Economy bestseller rankings. Since the JTBC drama of the same name aired on the 24th of last month, the full-length novel "If the Weather Is Good, I Will Find You" by author Lee Do-woo, published in June 2018, has topped this week's bestseller list.

The marketing strategy of the publisher Sigongsa, which reissued a special limited edition on the 1st of last month to coincide with the drama broadcast, also proved effective. This is the first time a novel has reached number one since the first week of July last year, when Bernard Werber's "Death" topped the charts.

With the release of the film of the same name, "Little Women" by 19th-century American novelist and poet Louisa May Alcott (1832?1888) also entered the bestseller list, bringing renewed vitality to the novel market.

Asia Economy selected bestsellers from books sold between the 27th of last month and the 4th of this month. The rankings were compiled by referencing sales volume rankings from major online and offline bookstores such as Kyobo Bookstore, Interpark, and Yes24, combined with ratings from our culture department reporters.

"If the Weather Is Good, I Will Find You" unfolds a warm and simple story set against the backdrop of a small bookstore called "Goodnight Bookstore," located in an old tiled-roof house in a small rural village.

These days, voices advocating for "social distancing" to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) are growing louder. It is a time when unavoidable disconnection is important. Moreover, many people choose self-quarantine even without being hospitalized.

In this context, the title "If the Weather Is Good, I Will Find You" carries a subtle resonance, perhaps reflecting a hope that the COVID-19 situation will be resolved quickly.

The book ranked second, "The Secrets of the Top 1 Percent at Harvard," is also not a new release but was published in October 2018. A limited edition recover edition was recently introduced. This book, which contains writings about the laws of success, gained popularity on social networking services (SNS) and rose to the bestseller ranks.

The third-place book, "When I Don't Even Know What I Want," is a new release published on January 8. It was written by Jeon Seung-hwan, who runs the "Man Who Reads Books" channel on various SNS platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. It contains comforting words that soothe the tired body and mind in a busy life. Its ranking rose three places compared to two weeks ago.

New entries to the rankings include "Habit" at ninth place and "John Lee's Habits for Becoming Rich" at tenth. As their titles suggest, these books are about habits. Professor Wendy Wood of the University of Southern California's Department of Psychology emphasizes in "Habit" that cultivating good habits is more important than human willpower to achieve goals.

John Lee, author of "John Lee's Habits for Becoming Rich," is the CEO of Meritz Asset Management. He stresses that anyone can become wealthy by changing their lifestyle habits.

The eighth-place book, "1cm Diving," is about the effort to find small happiness. It stands in contrast to books like "The Secrets of the Top 1 Percent at Harvard," "Habit," and "John Lee's Habits for Becoming Rich," which teach how to achieve goals and succeed. It questions whether the narrow door of the top 1 percent truly guarantees happiness and instead suggests seeking small happiness measured in 1cm.

The author of "1cm Diving" revealed that they wanted to find ways to enjoy life even without something and wrote about the struggle to find that very small 1cm happiness. The authors are one man and one woman. The man was thirty years old and resigned four months before his wedding when he wrote the book last year. The woman resigned two years ago and also received psychological counseling. The unique title "1cm Diving" was born from the author's idea that happiness is like buying a plane ticket and diving into the sea for fun.

The humanities and general knowledge books "One Page a Day, The Shortest Liberal Arts Lesson in the World 365" and "Wide and Shallow Knowledge for Intellectual Conversation: Zero Edition" have maintained their bestseller rankings for a long time. "One Page a Day, The Shortest Liberal Arts Lesson in the World 365" rose two places compared to the previous ranking, while "Wide and Shallow Knowledge for Intellectual Conversation: Zero Edition" dropped one place. "Little Women" climbed five places to fifth.