BTS RM’s Massive Book List Will Inspire Koreans And Foreigners To Curl Up And Read More

Pick from his most expansive selection of good reads.
Stories
Koreaboo

Of all the things BTS members have contributed to selling out, from outfits to household items, RM‘s “it” product is — well, as ARMYs have put it — “so Namjoon“.

As Korea’s leading online shopping website Interpark‘s literary branch BookDB revealed RM’s reading list, comprised of all books he has mentioned and/or was seen reading so far, ARMYs felt inspired to curl up in a cozy blanket and read away.

Note: The full list is provided at the bottom of the article.

The list, as BookDB explained, is “like a rainbow, covering a wide spectrum of genres.” From fictional novels to poetry, timeless classics to self-improvement essays, RM fueled his brain with anything and everything!

In an interview, RM once introduced author Hwang Kyung Shin’s 11PM and commented that he was surprised to read [his] thoughts expressed so accurately in words.

— BookDB

As apparent from his all-inclusive preference of reading material, RM seems to understand and appreciate how books can feed inspiration and creativity. It is no wonder, with all these great works in his head…

A person’s bookshelf tells a lot about that person… And these books have had somewhat of an influence in making RM who he is today.

— BookDB

… that he is able to produce BTS’s hottest hits!

Here is BTS RM’s Reading List for your consideration, with asterisks marking English and/or English-translated pieces:

1. Non-Fiction

  • 11PM, One Bite Elephant by Hwang Kyung Shin
  • Days At The Small Store Buying Happiness With Coins by Lee Me Kyeoung
  • When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi *
  • I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokpokki by Baek Se Hee
  • I’m Glad to Live Like Bonobono by Kim Sin Hoi

2. Fiction

  • Norwegian Wood, Kafka on the Shore, 1Q84, Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami *
  • Almost Transparent Blue by Ryū Murakami *
  • Snakes and Earrings by Hitomi Kanehara *
  • Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto *
  • The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera *
  • Me Before You by Jojo Moyes *
  • Human Acts: A Novel by Han Kang​ *
  • Kim Ji-young, Born 1982 by Cho Nam Ju *
  • The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams *
  • Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang *

3. Poetry

  • For This Short While, We From Some Star, Dear Daffodils by Jung Ho Seung
  • If I Knew Then What I Know Now, Love As If You’ve Never Been Hurt by Ryu Shiva
  • Seoul-Si by Ha Sang Wook

4. Classics

  • The Stranger by Albert Camus *
  • Demian by Hermann Hesse *
  • The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka *
  • 1984 by George Orwell *
  • Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson *

5. Others

  • Broad And Shallow Knowledge for Educated Conversations by Chae Sa Jang
  • How To Live by Rhyu Si Min
  • Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? by Michael J. Sandel *
  • Breaking Out of the “Man Box”: The Next Generation of Manhood by Tony Porter *
  • The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression by Andrew Solomon *
  • Don’t Take It Personally by Barbel Wardetzki *
  • Art in Literature by Kim Tae Jin
  • Basic Writings of Nietzsche by Friedrich Nietzsche *
  • Music: A Very Short Introduction by Nicholas Cook *
  • A Bigger Message: Conversations with David Hockney by Martin Gayford *
  • Denken wie Einstein by Theresa Bäuerlein (Translated in Korean)

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