Top 3 Bookstore Trends in Q1 According to YES24 Bestseller Data

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo Mideum] Yes24 bookstore identified three notable bookstore trends in the first quarter based on the overall bestseller trends from January to March this year.

#1 From Fantasy to Everyday Life... Changes in Novel Bestseller Trends

After last year's healing fantasy novel trend led by titles like Dallergut Dream Department Store and Midnight Library, the first quarter saw novels depicting the joys and sorrows of life set in everyday spaces such as convenience stores and bookstores, including Uncomfortable Convenience Store and Welcome to Hyunamdong Bookstore, gaining attention.

While the Dallergut Dream Department Store series and Midnight Library were set in fantastical spaces like a dream department store accessible only when asleep and a magical library that opens just before death, respectively, Uncomfortable Convenience Store and Welcome to Hyunamdong Bookstore share the commonality of being set in neighborhood convenience stores and bookstores that could be found on any street corner, focusing on stories of neighbors encountered in daily life.

According to Yes24’s analysis, Uncomfortable Convenience Store maintained a high ranking within the top 5 of the overall bestseller list for 12 consecutive weeks from the first week of January to the fourth week of March, while Welcome to Hyunamdong Bookstore, published in mid-January, ranked within the top 10 for four consecutive weeks starting from the first week of March. Both works delivered warm comfort and empathy to many readers and showed continuous sales growth over the past two months.

#2 Science Books Embracing Philosophy Captivate 2030 Readers

Among the bestsellers in the first quarter, one natural science book stands out. It is There Are No Fish, published in mid-December last year. The book began gaining word-of-mouth attention after being featured on a YouTube channel at the end of December, receiving positive responses from readers and maintaining a high ranking within the top 5 of the overall bestseller list for five consecutive weeks from the third week of February to the third week of March. This is the first time since the second week of January 2020, when Cosmos ranked within the top 5, that a natural science book has entered the top 5 of the overall bestseller list according to Yes24’s data.

Notably, the high interest from the 2030 MZ generation readers is remarkable. According to Yes24’s data, while the purchase ratio of people in their 20s and 30s for all natural science books in the first quarter was about 26.7%, the purchase ratio for There Are No Fish among the same age group was 53.9%, accounting for the majority.

Written by science journalist Lulu Miller, the nonfiction There Are No Fish tells the life story of a 19th-century scientist who tried to impose order on the natural world in a biographical format, raising questions about the order and reality of life we have believed in. Although it is a science book based on biology, it is analyzed to have attracted young readers in their 20s and 30s by captivatingly combining elements of philosophy and reflection.

#3 Popular Drama Script Books and Photo Essays Spark Buzz

The last key trend that cannot be missed when looking back at the first quarter bestseller flow is drama script books. From January to March this year, a total of nine dramas were published as script books, which is 4.5 times more than in the first quarter of last year. The best-selling script books in the first quarter were the uncut script books Our Beloved Summer 1 and Our Beloved Summer 2 from the SBS drama Our Beloved Summer, which ended in late January. These books ranked first and second, respectively, on the Yes24 overall bestseller list in the first week of February.

Interest in drama photo essays is also noteworthy. The Semantic Error Photo Essay, which captures iconic scenes from the recently hot web drama Semantic Error, ranked third on the overall bestseller list in the fourth week of March, drawing explosive reactions.

Kim Yuri, Essay and Arts MD at Yes24, said, "As the public’s active consumption of K-drama content becomes established as a massive culture, the popularity of script books and photo essays is expected to continue. These works are recognized for their collectible value because they allow readers to understand and reflect on detailed settings and character emotions that the drama videos could not fully capture, and to enjoy special aftertastes through comments from writers and actors."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.