Seong Haena's "Honmono" Craze Continues at No. 1 on Bestseller List

Seong Haena's "Honmono" Tops Bestseller Charts at Major Bookstores
Ryu Sooyoung's "Ryu Sooyoung's Lifetime Recipes" Sees Rapid Rise in Rankings

In the first week of July, "Honmono" by Seong Haena topped the YES24 overall bestseller chart. Seong Haena has been drawing attention as a young icon in Korean literature, having ranked first in the YES24 "2024 Future of Korean Literature: Young Authors" readers' poll.

Actor Ryu Sooyoung, known as Korea's representative home-cooking master, released his first cookbook, "Ryu Sooyoung's Lifetime Recipes," on June 25. Within about a week of its release, it entered the overall chart at number two.

"Books of Youth" and "Reading of Youth" by author Yoo Si-min took third place. Kim Aeran's new short story collection, "I Said Goodbye," published after eight years, ranked fourth. Interest from readers in their 40s was particularly high, accounting for 41.5% of the literary fanbase.

Kim Geumhee's new full-length novel, "First Summer, Wanju," ranked fifth. "Contradiction" by Yang Gwija placed seventh, "The Boy is Coming" by Han Kang ranked eleventh, and "Rose and Knife" by Higashino Keigo came in at twentieth.

There was also notable interest in new releases in the economics, business, and self-development categories. "Global Economic Upheaval" by economic expert Park Jonghoon ranked tenth, while "Design the Initiative of Thought," the first new book in ten years by bestselling author Park Yonghoo, ranked eighteenth. These two books were especially popular among men in their 30s and 40s (41.6%) and men in their 40s and 50s (36.2%), respectively.

As the Netflix show "Unknown Seoul" entered the global top 10 for five consecutive weeks, the "Unknown Seoul Script Book Set" ranked nineteenth overall and first in the arts category. Since pre-orders began on June 17, sales of the script book surged by 127.2% compared to the previous week, just this week. In particular, the script book received an enthusiastic response from women in their 20s and 30s (62.8%), who deeply resonated with the main characters, "Yoo Miji" and "Yoo Mirae," who are of a similar age group.

The popularity of Seong Haena was also evident at Kyobo Bookstore. "Honmono" maintained the top spot for three consecutive weeks, while "First Summer, Wanju" by Kim Geumhee and "I Said Goodbye" by Kim Aeran each climbed two spots to rank third and fourth, respectively. "Contradiction" by Yang Gwija and "Rapid Current" by Jeong Daegun remained in the upper ranks, driven by steady interest from readers in their 20s.

"Proof of Gu," the reverse-running bestseller by Choi Jinyoung, rose 14 spots to rank thirty-eighth overall, following the release of its recover edition, which reignited reader interest.

Ryu Sooyoung's "Ryu Sooyoung's Lifetime Recipes" also climbed to sixth place overall, continuing its popularity. This book, which compiles recipes featured on entertainment programs, attracted significant attention from female readers. "The Classics Answered: On the Wealth One Should Rightfully Possess" by Ko Myunghwan, who is currently active as an entrepreneur, ranked second overall. The gender ratio among purchasing readers was nearly equal, with women in their 40s accounting for the highest proportion at 22.2%.