Open Books Challenge 2026: Set in South Korea or by a South Korean Author

The Open Books Reading Challenge is a year-long reading challenge for people interested in pushing the boundaries of their reading. For full details of the program, please check-out our page at: https://www.rplmn.org/books-more/discover-more/open-books-reading-challenge

These are suggestions that fit the 2026 category "In honor of Rochester's Sister City in Siheung City, South Korea, read a book by a South Korean author, or set in South Korea."

Happy Reading!

Updated December 31, 2025
RPL Staff
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Nineteen
Angkko
Paper Book
"[Ancco's] stories liberate us to be what we are: friends, artists, monsters, mothers, human beings."-- The Globe and Mail At nineteen, the idea that you have your whole life ahead of you with endless possibilities can leave you terrifyingly stiff. Throwing...
New clothes for New Year's day
Bae, Hyun-Joo.
Paper Book
The New Year is the start of everything new...Follow a young Korean girl as she dresses and prepares for celebrating the Lunar New Year:"A New Year, a new day, a new morning.New clothes.We start the year with new things.New things, for the year-older me."
I want to die but I want to eat tteokbokki
Baek, Sehee
Paper Book
The New York Times bestselling therapy memoir translated by International Booker shortlistee Anton Hur. PSYCHIATRIST: So how can I help you? ME: I don't know, I'm-what's the word-depressed? Do I have to go into detail? Baek...
Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop: The Heart-Warming Korean Sensation
Bo-reum, Hwang
Ebook
The good son
Ch ng, Yu-j ng
Ebook
"Ingeniously twisted." --Entertainment Weekly, "Must List" "Will leave even the most seasoned crime fiction readers guessing." --CrimeReads "[Jeong] maintains suspense about her inhuman-seeming protagonist's fate until the bitter end." --The...
Kim Jiyoung, born 1982
Cho, Nam-ju
Paper Book
Truly, flawlessly, completely, she became that person. In a small, tidy apartment on the outskirts of the frenzied metropolis of Seoul lives Kim Jiyoung. A thirtysomething-year-old "millennial everywoman," she has recently left her white-collar desk job--in order to care for her newborn...
Saha : a novel
Cho, Nam-ju
Paper Book
In a country called Town, a doctor named Su is found dead in an abandoned car. There is only one place the police intend to look for her suspected killer: the Saha Estates. Controlled by a secretive organization of ministers, Town is the safest, richest nation in the world...
DMZ colony
Choi, Don Mee
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2020 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR POETRY "Don Mee Choi's urgent DMZ Colony captures the migratory latticework of those transformed by war and colonization. Homelands present and past share one sky where birds fly, but 'during the Korean War cranes had no place to land.'...
Solo leveling. 1
Chugong
Paper Book
Known as the Weakest Hunter of All Mankind, E-rank hunter Jinwoo Sung's contribution to raids amounts to trying not to get killed. Unfortunately, between his mother's hospital bills, his sister's tuition, and his own lack of job prospects, he has no choice but to continue to put his life on the line...
Cursed bunny
Chung, Bora
Paper Book
A wildly original novel from a rising star of Korean literature--surreal, chilling fables that take on the patriarchy, capitalism, and the reign of big tech with absurdist humor and a (sometimes literal) bite.    From an author never before published in...
Grass
Gendry-Kim, Keum Suk
Paper Book
Appeared on best of the year lists from The New York Times, The Guardian, and more! Winner of The Cartoonist Studio Prize for Best Print Comic of the Year! Grass is a powerful antiwar graphic novel, telling the life story of a Korean girl named Okseon Lee...
The waiting
Gendry-Kim, Keum Suk
Paper Book
The story begins with a mother's confession...sisters permanently separated by a border during the Korean War Keum Suk Gendry-Kim was an adult when her mother revealed a family secret: She had been separated from her sister during the Korean War. It's not an uncommon story--the...
Bluebeard's first wife
Ha, Sŏng-nan
Paper Book
A woman spends a night with her fiance and his friends and overhears a terrible secret that has bound them together since high school. A man grows increasingly agitated by the apartment noise made by a young family living upstairs and arouses the suspicion of his own wife when the neighbours meet a...
The mermaid from Jeju : a novel
Hahn, Sumi
Paper Book
A POPSUGAR Best Book of December 2020 An AMAZON Editors Pick December 2020 A SHE READS Best Historical Fiction Novel Winter 2021 A BUSTLE Most Anticipated Winter 2021 Read A LIBRO.FM Influencer Pick, December 2020 Inspired by true events on Korea's Jeju Island...
Human acts : a novel
Han, Kang
Paper Book
From the internationally bestselling author of The Vegetarian, a "rare and astonishing" (The Observer) portrait of political unrest and the universal struggle for justice. In the midst of a violent student uprising in South Korea, a young boy named Dong-ho is...
The vegetarian : a novel
Han, Kang
Paper Book
FROM HAN KANG, WINNER OF THE 2024 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE "[Han Kang's] intense poetic prose . . . exposes the fragility of human life."--The Nobel Committee for Literature, in the citation for the Nobel Prize A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ...
We do not part : a novel
Han, Kang
Ebook
WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER FINALIST FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN FICTION LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD, THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD, AND THE NBCC BARRIOS BOOK IN TRANSLATION PRIZE
The white book
Han, Kang
Paper Book
FROM HAN KANG, WINNER OF THE 2024 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE "[Han Kang writes in] intense poetic prose that . . . exposes the fragility of human life."--from the Nobel Prize citation SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE * A "formally daring, emotionally...
The cabinet
Kim, ?n-su
Paper Book
Winner of the Munhakdongne Novel Award, South Korea's most prestigious literary prize. Cabinet 13 looks exactly like any normal filing cabinet...Except this cabinet is filled with files on the 'symptomers', humans whose strange abilities and bizarre experiences might just mark...
I'm waiting for you : and other stories
Kim, Bo Young
Paper Book
"Her fiction is a breath-taking piece of a cinematic art itself. Reminiscent of the world we experienced in Matrix, Inception, and Dark City, still it leads us to this entirely original structure, which is a ground-breaking, mystic literary and cinematic experience. Indeed, powerful and graceful....
Concerning my daughter : a novel
Kim, Hye-jin
Paper Book
Prize-winning Korean author Kim Hye-Jin's debut confronts familial love, duty, mortality, and generational schism through the incendiary gaze of a tradition-bound mother faced with her daughter's queer relationship. When a widowed,...
I am the subway
Kim, Hyo-Å­n
Paper Book
A cinematic journey through the Seoul subway that masterfully portrays the many unique lives we travel alongside whenever we take the train. A poetic translation of the bestselling Korean picture book. SIX STARRED REVIEWS ★ "Lucky readers, climb aboard: extraordinary...
The depth of the lake and the height of the sky
Kim, Jihyun
Paper Book
'Astonishing to behold.' --The New York Times It's summertime and a boy and his dog are leaving behind their apartment in the busy city. His grandparents' home in the countryside feels like a different world. From the window, the curious boy sees a path leading enticingly into the...
Beasts of a little land : a novel
Kim, Juhea
Paper Book
"A spectacular debut filled with great characters and heart." --Lisa See, author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan FINALIST FOR THE 2022 DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE · FINALIST FOR THE BALCONES FICTION PRIZE · LONGLISTED FOR THE HWA DEBUT CROWN AWARD An epic story of love, war, and...
City of night birds : a novel
Kim, Juhea
REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK "This story left me thinking about the ways we overcome setbacks and redefine what truly matters." - Reese Witherspoon (Reese's Book Club December '24 Pick) A once-famous ballerina faces a final choice--to return to the world of Russian dance that nearly broke...
Diary of a murderer : and other stories
Kim, Young-ha
Paper Book
"Filled with the kind of sublime, galvanizing stories that strike like a lightning bolt, searing your nerves . . . It's easy enough to see why Kim . . . is acclaimed as the best writer of his generation; pick up this book and find out for yourself." -- Nylon   It's...
The old woman with the knife : a novel
Ku, Pyŏng-mo
Paper Book
*A New York Times Book Review Notable Book* *An NPR Best Book of the Year* *An NPR Book We Love* *A New York Times Editors' Choice Pick* *A Most Anticipated Read in LitHub, CrimeReads, Thrillist, and Popsugar* *A Boston Globe Thriller...
Lemon
Kwŏn, Yŏ-sŏn
Paper Book
New York Times Book Review: Editor's Choice  Philadelphia Inquirer: Best Book of the Month   World Literature Today: Notable Translation of the Year   CrimeReads: Best International Crime Novel of the Year Ms. Magazine:...
Brother's keeper
Lee, Julie (Children's fiction writer)
Paper Book
With war looming on the horizon and winter setting in, can two children escape North Korea on their own? WINNER OF THE FREEMAN BOOK AWARD! North Korea. December, 1950. Twelve-year-old Sora and her family live under an iron set of rules: No travel without...
Pachinko
Lee, Min Jin
Paper Book
One of the New York Times 100 Best Books of the 21st Century In this New York Times bestseller, four generations of a poor Korean immigrant family fight to control their destiny in 20th-century Japan-the inspiration for the television series on...
Free food for millionaires
Lee, Min Jin
Paper Book
In this One Book, One New York 2019 nominee from the author of National Book Award Finalist Pachinko, the Korean-American daughter of first-generation immigrants strives to join Manhattan's inner circle. Meet Casey Han: a strong-willed, Queens-bred daughter of Korean...
Magic candies
Paek, Hu?i-na
Paper Book
A quirky story about finding your voice, from internationally acclaimed author Heena Baek. Tong Tong could never have imagined what everyone around him was thinking. But when he gets hold of some magic candies, suddenly there are voices everywhere. He can hear how his couch feels,...
Moon pops
Paek, Hu?i-na
Paper Book
A witty, weird, and wonderful spin on a classic Korean folktale, the first picture book to be published in English by internationally acclaimed Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award winner Heena Baek "Whimsically varied perspectives and the unusual depth of field offered by Baek's technique make...
Love in the big city : a novel
Park, Sang Young
Paper Book
A funny, transporting, surprising, and poignant novel that was one of the highest-selling debuts of recent years in Korea, Love in the Big City tells the story of a young gay man searching for happiness in the lonely city of Seoul Love in the Big City is the English...
Violets
Sin, Kyŏng-suk
Paper Book
Longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Barrios Book in Translation Prize By Man Asian Literary Prize winner Kyung-Sook Shin, "a moving delve into a lonely psyche" that follows a neglected young woman's search for human connection...
At dusk
Sok-yong, Hwang.
Paper Book
Facing a corruption investigation, and in the twilight of his life, a wealthy man begins to re-examine all. Park Minwoo is, by every measure, a success story. Born into poverty in a miserable neighborhood of Seoul, he has ridden the wave of development in a rapidly modernizing society. Now...
Almond : a novel
Son, W¿n-p'y¿ng
Paper Book
A BTS fan favorite! A WALL STREET JOURNAL STORIES THAT CAN TAKE YOU ANYWHERE PICK * ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY'S STAY HOME AND READ PICK * SALON'S BEST AND BOLDEST * BUSTLE'S MOST ANTICIPATED  The Emissary meets The Curious Incident of the Dog in the...
Broken summer : a novel
Yi, Chŏng-myŏng (Novelist)
Paper Book
A death, a lie, a secret. For twenty-six summers he didn't have the courage to face the past. Lee Hanjo is an artist at the peak of his fame, envied and celebrated. Then, on his forty-third birthday, he awakens to find that his devoted wife has disappeared, leaving behind a soon-to...
The starlet and the spy
Yi, Chi-min
Paper Book
"This story of the unlikely meeting of two vulnerable women is a beautifully woven page turner. The battle-weary woman and the pin-up girl who meet, connect, separate: each changed by the brief union." --Heather Morris, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Tattooist of Auschwitz ...
The picture bride
Yi, KÅ­m-i
Paper Book
Winner of the Nautilus Award for Historical Fiction "Lee Geum-yi has a gift for taking little-known embers of history and transforming them into moving, compelling, and uplifting stories. The Picture Bride is the ultimate story of the power of friendship--a must read...
Close encounters with humankind : a paleoanthropologist investigates our evolving species
Yi, Sang-h i (Professor of anthropology)
Paper Book
What can fossilized teeth tell us about the life expectancy of our ancient ancestors? How did farming play a problematic role in the history of human evolution? How can simple geometric comparisons of skull and pelvic fossils suggest a possible origin to our social nature? And what do we truly...
The disaster tourist : a novel
Yun, Ko-Å­n
Paper Book
This stunning "dystopian feminist eco-thriller" from an award-winning South Korean author "takes on climate change, sexual assault, greed, and dark tourism" (Ms. Magazine). Welcome to the desert island of Mui, where a paid vacation to paradise is nothing short of a...

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