Yoo Si-min's "Reading for Youth" and Lee Jae-myung's "Ultimately, the People Make It Happen" Top Bestseller List

Yes24: Yoo Si-min's "Reading for Youth" Tops the List
Kyobo: Lee Jae-myung's "Ultimately, the People Make It Happen" Takes First Place

In the second week of May, Yes24's overall bestseller list saw "Reading for Youth" by author Yoo Si-min reclaim the top spot with its 330,000-copy commemorative deluxe hardcover edition and special expanded edition. The new book by Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, "Ultimately, the People Make It Happen," ranked second, while "Beneficial Conservatism, Righteous Progressivism," co-authored by former lawmaker Choi Kang-wook and his brother Choi Kang-hyuk, came in third, reflecting the popularity of social and political books. Han Kang's new essay collection "Light and Thread" was in fourth place, and Kim Young-ha's newly released essay collection "A Life Only Once" took fifth place.

Notably, "Reading for Youth," which took the overall number one spot, saw its sales increase by 53.4% compared to the previous week (May 1-7), drawing significant attention. Among all purchases, readers in their 40s and 50s accounted for 80.8%, showing overwhelming support. Meanwhile, Korean literature continued to enjoy steady popularity, with Han Kang's "The Boy Is Coming" at ninth place, Yang Gui-ja's representative steady seller "Contradiction" and Seong Hae-na's "Honmono" at 11th and 15th, respectively, and Kim Geum-hee's new work "First Summer, Wanju" at 22nd.

This week, new books from a variety of fields caught readers' eyes. In addition to the third-ranked "Beneficial Conservatism, Righteous Progressivism," the new business and economics title "Stock Investment Techniques That Turn Failure into Success" ranked 14th. The health and hobby book "Coach Eoni's Natural Plant-Based Diet," which introduces healthy recipes, landed at 16th, while the self-improvement book "The Real Mindset," featuring the life of a Seoul National University graduate and popular soccer YouTuber with 900,000 subscribers, came in at 17th. "Chaekmun, The Questions of Our Time," a history book by Eastern studies scholar Kim Tae-wan first published in 2015, received renewed attention after ten years and made a comeback. This book, which introduces 13 fundamental policies for the nation and its people, sold about 2.5 times (145%) more than the previous week (May 1-7), ranking 19th overall and 2nd in the history category.

The new release "Stock Investment Techniques That Turn Failure into Success" is a comprehensive guide to 40 years of real-world investment know-how by stock market expert and popular YouTuber "Rich Dad" Jung Jae-ho. Upon its release on May 9, it immediately ranked 14th overall and 2nd in the business and economics category. In particular, male readers in their 40s and 50s who are interested in investing accounted for 47.1% of the readership. The book offers insights from an expert, including how to find the right timing for buying and selling and how to select stocks that are set to rise, providing readers with an opportunity to take their first steps toward successful investing.

At Kyobo Bookstore, Lee Jae-myung's "Ultimately, the People Make It Happen" continued to receive attention, taking the overall number one spot for the second consecutive week. "The Road We Walk Together Is Not Lonely" ranked 17th overall, and "Lee Jae-myung's My Boy Worker Diary" climbed to 26th overall, with previously published books also rising in the bestseller rankings as reverse bestsellers. In addition, as the presidential election season enters full swing, interest in political books has surged. Choi Kang-wook's "Beneficial Conservatism, Righteous Progressivism" debuted at sixth place overall upon release.

Yoo Si-min's "Reading for Youth" and Han Kang's "Light and Thread" followed in second and third place overall, respectively, with the top-ranked books maintaining their positions. As the film adaptation of Gu Byeong-mo's "Pagua" shows signs of box office success, interest in the original work has also increased, climbing 12 spots to reach 10th place overall this week. With strong interest from female readers in their 20s, the book has re-emerged as a "screen-seller" after a long time, drawing attention.

In addition, Gu Byeong-mo's recent work "Pashoe" entered the Korean novel category at 13th place, and other books by authors who have become reverse bestsellers in the Korean novel category also saw increased sales. Yang Gui-ja's earlier work "I Wish for What Is Forbidden to Me," beloved for "Contradiction," continued to attract interest, ranking 11th in the category. Choi Jin-young, author of "Proof of the District," saw her book "To Where the Sun Sets" rise to 20th in the category, suggesting that word of mouth is drawing renewed attention to other books by authors who have become reverse bestsellers.