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...
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
Hwang, Po-ræum
Ebook
Kim Jiyoung, born 1982. [online electronic book]
Cho, Nam-ju, 1978-
Ebook
The runaway bestseller that has sold over one million copies internationally, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 is the most important book to have come out of South Korea since Han Kang's The Vegetarian. Kim Jiyoung is the most common name for Korean women born in the 1980s.
Saha.
Cho, Nam-ju, 1978-
Paper Book
The much-anticipated follow-up to the multi-million-copy international bestseller Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982, Saha is a piercing battle cry for the dispossessed. In a country called Town, Su is found dead in an abandoned car. The suspected killer is presumed to come from the Saha...
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, 1976-
Paper Book
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...
The mermaid from Jeju
Hahn, Sumi
Paper Book
When sea diver Junja convinces her mother to let her go on a trip to the mountains, she didn't mean to fall in love with a mountain boy. Even less so did she expect to return home to find her mother dead, having completed a sea dive herself in Junja's absence. Spiralling in grief, in a Korea still...
Greek lessons : 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   NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE * A...
Human acts.
Han, Kang, 1970-
Paper Book
A riveting, poetic and unrelentingly powerful work from the author of the 2016 Man Booker International Prize-winning novel The Vegetarian.
The vegetarian.
Han, Kang, 1970-
Paper Book
A beautiful, unsettling novel in three acts, about rebellion and taboo, violence and eroticism, and the twisting metamorphosis of a soul. Winner of the 2016 Man Booker International Prize. WINNER OF THE 2024 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE.
We do not part : a novel
Han, Kang
Paper Book
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
Umma's table
Hong, Yeon-sik
Paper Book
The joy of food and tradition unites a family faltering in the face of illness and loss Madang is an artist and new father who moves to a quiet home in the countryside with his wife and young baby, excited to build a new life full of hope and joy, complete with a garden and...
Mater 2-10
Sok-Yong, Hwang
Paper Book
SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE International Booker-nominated virtuoso Hwang Sok-yong is back with another powerful story -- an epic tale that threads together a century of Korean history. In contemporary Seoul, a laid-off worker stages a months-long sit-in atop a...
7fates : Chakho, vol. 1.
Hybe
Paper Book
One day, Zeha wakes up in a hospital bed with a nasty wound on his chest and no memory of what happened. Before he can get his bearings, a city detective reveals that he was found collapsed on Inwang Mountain, the sole survivor of a grisly mass murder. This was only the beginning. The Beom,...
Dark moon
Hybe
Paper Book
The seven most popular boys at Decelis Academy all share a secret--they're vampires. Keeping their identities concealed and dealing with their werewolf rivals is trouble enough, but the appearance of a mysterious new student only further complicates things. The girl, Sooha, also has hidden powers,...
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.
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
Paper Book
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...
Blood of the old kings
Kim, S ng-il (Science fiction writer)
Paper Book
Named a Best Fantasy Book of the Year by NPR, Amazon, Paste, and Book Riot! From award-winning Korean author Sung-il Kim & translated by the world-renowned Anton Hur, Blood of the Old Kings begins an epic journey unlike any other. There is no...
Blood for the Undying Throne
Kim, Sung-Il
Paper Book
Blood for the Undying Throne, the sequel to Blood of the Old Kings, from award-winning Korean author Sung-il Kim and translated by the world-renowned Anton Hur, is an epic fantasy adventure where the corpses of sorcerers power an empire and ordinary people rise up to tear it down...
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...
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 "mesmerizing" novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Pachinko, the Korean-American daughter of first-generation immigrants strives to join Manhattan's inner circle (USA Today). Meet Casey Han: a strong-willed,...
8 lives of a century-old trickster : a novel
Lee, Mirinae
Paper Book
"Fantastically original doesn't begin to describe this exhilarating globe-spanning, decade-hopping masterpiece. Lee has achieved the impossible--from a fractured century of agonies and betrayals, she has woven a novel of immense beauty and regeneration." -- Junot Díaz, author of ...
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...
Snowglobe
Park, Soyoung
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The groundbreaking Korean phenomenon that Entertainment Weekly called "The Hunger Games meets Squid Game"--now in English for the first time! A COSMOPOLITAN BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF THE YEAR * A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST...
I Decided to Live As Me : An Illustrated Checklist for How to Stop Comparing Yourself to Others So You Can Learn to Love Yourself
Suhyun, Kim/ Hur, Anton (TRN)
Paper Book
The million-copy internationally bestselling illustrated life guide about how to stop comparing yourself to others--especially on social media--and how to find the strength to be yourself In a world where it can seem impossible to feel that you are ever good enough, and where it...
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...
Dallergut Dream Department Store : A Novel
Paper Book
THE #1 KOREAN BESTSELLER WITH OVER A MILLION COPIES SOLD For fans of magical realism and the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series by Toshikazu Kawaguchi comes this cozy fantasy debut. What if there was a store that sold dreams? Which...
The disaster tourist. [online electronic book]
Ko-Eun, Yun
Ebook
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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