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)