[Chungmuro Book Cafe] 'Donghak Gaemi' Crowding Even Bookstores

'Stock Investment Blindly Following' Ranks 5th, Stock Market Books Continue to Perform Well in the New Year
'The Age of Crisis, The Future of Money' Climbs to 9th, Post-Corona Economic Trends Also Draw Interest

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] The era of KOSPI 3000 has begun. The KOSPI index surpassed the 3000 mark for the first time in history on the 6th and soared to 3092.65 in early trading on the 8th. Compared to the plunge to 1439.43 in March last year due to the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), it has doubled in just nine months. KOSPI posted a hot year-end rally with monthly gains of 14.3% and 10.9% in November and December last year, respectively, and the momentum has not slowed down since the new year began. Interest in the stock market is naturally intense. The strong performance of books related to stock investment is also noticeable in this week's Asia Economy bestseller rankings.

Asia Economy Newspaper selected bestsellers based on book sales from December 31 to January 6. The rankings were compiled by referring to sales rankings from major online and offline bookstores such as Kyobo Bookstore, Interpark, and Yes24, combined with ratings from Asia Economy reporters to create a comprehensive ranking.

'Stock Investment Follow Without Hesitation' and 'Mr. Market 2021' ranked 5th and 7th, respectively. 'Stock Investment Follow Without Hesitation' is an introductory book on stock investment, and 'Mr. Market 2021' is a stock market outlook book for this year by five stock experts from the popular YouTube investment channel 'SamproTV.' Both books are directly related to the stock market. Although not ranked, 'Real American Stock Investment by a New York Resident,' which introduces the investment methods of a current Wall Street trader, is also popular.

The book 'The Age of Crisis, The Future of Money' by global investment giant Jim Rogers ranked 9th. It predicted the global economic trends in the COVID-19 era. 'Trend Korea 2021' by Professor Kim Nan-do of the Consumer Science Department at Seoul National University's College of Human Ecology, which analyzes new consumption trends with COVID-19 as the theme, ranked 2nd and has remained on the bestseller list for a long time.

Last year's unexpected COVID-19 crisis completely changed our daily lives, increasing people's curiosity about future economic trends. Yes24 reported that sales of books related to management strategy and management innovation increased by 36.5% last year due to the impact of COVID-19. This is the highest sales growth rate in the past five years. The long-standing popularity of 'The Nature of Money,' written by Kim Seung-ho, chairman and founder of the gimbap and sushi restaurant Snowfox, is also closely related to this trend.

The book that ranked first in the first bestseller tally of the new year is Im Yae's fantasy novel 'Dollar Gut Dream Department Store.' 'Dollar Gut Dream Department Store' is a shop where you can buy the dreams you want after falling asleep. Its unique theme that you can be happy by fulfilling your wishes even in dreams has received great responses from both children and adults. 'Dollar Gut Dream Department Store' was also selected as 'Book of the Year 2020' by Yes24 readers and 'Book of the Year 2020' by the reading platform Millie's Library. Son Won-pyeong's novel 'Almond' ranked 8th. The popularity of female authors' novels, which emerged at the end of last year, continues into the new year.

The poetry and essay category showed a sluggish trend in the second half of last year, but two books were included in the rankings this time. Poet Ryu Si-hwa's 'Poetry of Mindfulness' steadily attracted attention and secured a joint 10th place, while Kim Jae-sik's 'It's Enough to Be a Good Person Only to Good People' newly entered the rankings. In his new book, Kim talks about relationships between people. Since it is impossible to be a perfect good person to everyone, he advises that rather than trying hard to be good to others, it is important to realize that you yourself are a precious person.