Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

A book about K-pop.


I am SUPER excited about this category, because it's not at all something I would have come up with on my own. This is FRESH!

I first learned about K-Pop and K-Dramas a few years ago, when I was reading I Believe in a Thing Called Love, and there's an appendix at the end of the book listing suggested shows. No, I didn't watch any of them, and no I don't listen to K-Pop, so I'm in a bit of a pickle. Does a book about K-Drama count for a category about K-Pop? I say YES.

Luckily, Popsugar has got us covered here, and they already put together a list of suggestions: https://www.popsugar.com/entertainmen...


Listopia list is Here: A Book About K-Pop

I'm finding Same Bed Different Dreams a bit of a slog on audio, so I'm not sure I am giving it my endorsement but the blurb does say there's K-pop bands in it somewhere.

I have I Believe in a Thing Called Love on my TBR but Somewhere Only We Know by the same author is actually about K-pop rather than K-dramas.

Ellie wrote: "I'm finding Same Bed Different Dreams a bit of a slog on audio, so I'm not sure I am giving it my endorsement but the blurb does say there's K-pop bands in it somewhere.

I have [b..."



Good to know! Same Bed Different Dreams is also on the Tournament of Books Longlist this year.

And I have not yet read Somewhere We Only Know!! Maybe that's my book!

I enjoyed XOXO a couple of years ago. It could also work for "starts with X".
There's also a sequel, ASAP, coming out in 2024.

Literally saw this prompt and went "MY TIME HAS COME!" So excited for this one as I got into kpop in 2008 when TVXQ put out "Mirotic" :')

Can personally attest that K-pop Confidential/ K-Pop Revolution by Stephan Lee and I'll Be the One by Lyla Lee are AMAZING! And Shine (and it's sequel, Bright) is by Jessica Jung, who was a member of legendary group, Girls Generation (SNSD) (and was kicked out, so you know she has some tea!)

Personally, I'm probably going to save Gorgeous Gruesome Faces by Linda Cheng for this one, but there are some good recs here!

I'm looking forward to this prompt. I enjoy Kpop. I'll probably read XOXO but not sure what prompt I'll use it for. I can always read the BTS book that came out recently.

Christina Lauren are big BTS fans and keep thanking them in the acknowledgements. Their most recent book The True Love Experiment has the main character a fan of a band, BTS, and goes to their concert. For those who want to bend the prompt.

If you want to go in a different direction, The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture is a nonfiction look at the rise of K-pop (and the Korean Wave in general).

It predates the BTS-fueled surge of K-pop popularity, but is still a good look at how Korea packaged it's pop culture for wider consumption.

Y/N by Esther Yi looks intriguing and my library has it.

I love this one too because I don't really even know what K-Pop means!

Doni wrote: "I love this one too because I don't really even know what K-Pop means!"

Korean Pop. basically boy and girl groups that sing pop music in Korea.

C-Pop (china) and J-Pop (japan)

This one looks good too: Shrimp to Whale: South Korea from the Forgotten War to K-Pop

This is a tough one for me. I wouldn't mind a book about someone who is in a K-pop group, but a lot of these suggestions are romances like "[star girl] tried to focus on training and not dating, but it was hard once [cute boy] came along....". I'll have to come back to this.

I read XOXO for another challenge this year but think I'll be picking up its sequel ASAP for this prompt :)

I have less then zero desire for this prompt (I am betting most feel this way) so I will be looking for the shortest and easiest book I can find.

Christina wrote: "I read XOXO for another challenge this year but think I'll be picking up its sequel ASAP for this prompt :)"

Me and you, Jennifer :-D This one and NaNoWriMo really do not appeal to me...

P.S. So I found Shine on Scribd and it is under 10 hrs audiobook so that one it is.

Christina wrote: "I read XOXO for another challenge this year but think I'll be picking up its sequel ASAP for this prompt :)"

I just read this too. So annoyed because it works for 2 of the hardest prompts!

I'm reading Adventures of Fernando Private Detective and Ziz: Mystery of The K-Pop Collectibles, it costs a bit of money on Audible but is mercifully only 34 minutes long and is a kids mystery story too.

Looks as if I'll go for XOXO for this one. And that would take care of the "X" prompt unless I opt to reread Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone #24 book. Of course, that would also fulfill the 24th book prompt! I'm lovin' this! LOL

L Y N N wrote: "Looks as if I'll go for XOXO for this one. And that would take care of the "X" prompt unless I opt to reread Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone #24 book. Of course, that would also fulfil..."



I've got X and XOXO both pencilled in, too! If I end up using X for 24th and XOXO for X, there's still the sequel to XOXO coming out in 2024, ASAP for K-pop. OR (and more likely) I will read Maurene Goo's Somewhere Only We Know for K-pop - I've enjoyed her books before.

Any suggestions for somebody not into kpop? I only found middle grade and young adult books.

Mina wrote: "Any suggestions for somebody not into kpop? I only found middle grade and young adult books."

I am in the same boat as you! I have 2 recommendations, with the caveat that I haven't read the second one, as it is the one I plan on reading for 2024.

Fiction: Y/N by Esther Yi. This is proper fiction (not YA or middle reader), and, while the plot is about a woman obsessed with a kpop band member, it focuses more on her obsession than the music. I read it because I really enjoy weird books written in weird ways, which this is. It's a bit of a fever dream and kind of feels like if Ottessa Moshfegh tried to write like Sylvia Plath.

Nonfiction: The Birth of Korean Cool by Euny Hong. The American-born author moved to Seoul as a kid, and the book is about how she actively saw the country remodel itself as a culture exporter. As it's nonfiction, I'm expecting it to teach me about the cultural revolution of Korea more than pander to fangirls.

Jennifer wrote: "I have less then zero desire for this prompt (I am betting most feel this way) so I will be looking for the shortest and easiest book I can find."

I haven't seen anything that remotely appeals to me so I've decided to make a switch. Because this year doesn't have a "pick your favorite prompt from a previous challenge" category, I'm substituting that for this one.

giralffe wrote: "Mina wrote: "Any suggestions for somebody not into kpop? I only found middle grade and young adult books."

I am in the same boat as you! I have 2 recommendations, with the caveat that I haven't re..."

Oh! the first one seems to fit the prompt really well and sounds interesting. I'll check it out, thank you :)

I’m kinda not really finding anything that I like. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Nadine in NY wrote: "Does a book about K-Drama count for a category about K-Pop?"

Only if a prompt about the music industry can be filled by a book about a TV show.


Oh crap. This prompt...

I literally stopped reading because I clicked a video on youtube one day and a KPOP group ate my brain. I spend all of my free time (and some of my work time) with them at least at the back of my mind. I am on day 381 of Duolingo Korean, one of the hardest second languages in the world, (and still would struggle to make a single sentence) just to be able to understand eight people. And I hate this prompt!

You wanna know why most of those books are about struggling trainees or secret romances? Because the industry is GROSS. Companies control Every. Thing. about their lives, they work them for days without sleep and fans won't let them date. They literally throw people out of groups for that. For people THINKING that. It's mean and vicious and abusive and they make them dress like Hello Kitty. Literally. I don't want to read a book about it.

I'll have to think about this...

WAIT! I HAVE THE SOLUTION!

For me, at least. Maybe you too, if you are interested.

My KPOP group HAS A STORYLINE and they publish it in the form of diary entries in the albums. You could say the story is about KPOP, since it's about "them" (versions of them are characters) and music is a vital part of the story! I haven't read the diary entries from the new album yet!

I am ABSOLUTELY going to count that! I won't be able to mark it "read" here but it absolutely forms a short story at least, and yes, I have physical books I can hold that contain pages of text.

It's a sci-fi story with found family, multiple dimensions, and lots of danger. If that's more your jam than a romance...

Like I said, I haven't read the diary from the new album yet but I feel pretty sure it marks an ending. I imagine like reading the first book in a series with an actual conclusion to something, even if it points to more in the future.

I haven't read them all at once, or as if I haven't seen any of the music videos and things... I'll try to do that, and if it seems pretty easy to follow as it is, I can post the link for anybody who would rather take a chance with android guardians than dating bans.

Oh NOW I'm excited about this prompt!

For people not into Kpop or Romance (aka me) here are some of the books I am considering (while the books may not be solely about Kpop, Kpop plays a role in the plots and character's lives and that's going to have to do):

If I Had Your Face
Let's Go Let's Go Let's Go
Hallyu!: The Korean Wave (a non fiction pick)
Our Country Friends

giralffe wrote: "Mina wrote: "Any suggestions for somebody not into kpop? I only found middle grade and young adult books."

I am in the same boat as you! I have 2 recommendations, with the caveat that I haven't re..."

Thank you for this recommendation!

I've got Idol, Burning by Rin Osami down for this one -- kind of a literary commentary on obsession from what i've gleaned! (also, could anyone tell me how to link books like everyone else is doing?)

laurel! wrote: "I've got Idol, Burning by Rin Osami down for this one -- kind of a literary commentary on obsession from what i've gleaned! (also, could anyone tell me how to link books like everyone else is doing?)"



the book link feature only works when you are using Goodreads from a browser - it's not available on the app because GR app has been woefully ignored over the years and needs a lot of improvements!!!

In a browser, in the text window as you type, you'll see "add book/author" link just above the window - click on that, search for the book or author, and Add.

I'm a kpop fan. This prompt just feels somewhat mean (?) to me. Books featuring kpop are usually ya, usually romance and if you know anything about that world, cringe and wrong.

I'm going to try Jessica Jung's Shine. Jessica is a retired idol. A very successful one at that.

Hallyu (non fiction essay collection) looks fantastic but access is a problem for me.

I recommend Gorgeous Gruesome Faces by Linda Cheng if you like sapphic, horror, or supernatural gothic! It's about a former K-Pop star who joins her ex-bandmate at a star camp to find out what really happened to their former costar who died a few years previously. Starts out as a contemporary YA mystery, then pivots into something else entirely. I just finished it and LOVED it (and I'm VERY picky about YA books, especially contemporary ones).

Jen wrote: "I enjoyed XOXO a couple of years ago. It could also work for "starts with X".
There's also a sequel, ASAP, coming out in 2024."

Ooh, I was going to suggest this book, and hadn't heard about the sequel!
: )

Just looked up ASAP, and it totally works for "second chance romance," as well as "book coming out in 2024."

If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha

Laura wrote: "For people not into Kpop or Romance (aka me) here are some of the books I am considering (while the books may not be solely about Kpop, Kpop plays a role in the plots and character's lives and that..."

Thanks for the suggestions, Laura. I will be reading Let's Go Let's Go Let's Go for this prompt.

I read Y/N for this prompt - it is a weird book - definitely not YA or romance - had Ottessa Moshfejh vibes.

I found an ebook at my library BTS: K-Pop's International Superstars which seems to fit this prompt and is short. I may also read the Christina Lauren True Love Experiment book. I tried XOXO and only lasted a few pages.

So, one surprising thing I've learned from this year's Challenge is that there are A LOT of books about K-Pop that I want to read!! I am honestly shocked by this because K-Pop itself is not that interesting to me. But I am now in the position of not knowing which ONE book to choose!! I think I need to read them all!!

XOXO
ASAP
Y/N
If I Had Your Face
Somewhere Only We Know (this is my top contender since I actually have it borrowed from the library right now)


It's such a surprise when a category that at first glance seems really narrow ends up having multiple candidates. (Same for the "X" category - I could read X or I could read XOXO)

Just finished The Yakuza's Bias, Volume 1- a manga about yakuzas becoming k-pop stans. It's absurd and so much fun- I loved every moment.

I love kpop, but with the way the industry treats their idols getting into relationships, I realized reading a kpop romance was just too farfetched for me. But a bunch of gangsters becoming hardcore stans? Sure, that I can get behind

Jen wrote: "I enjoyed XOXO a couple of years ago. It could also work for "starts with X".
There's also a sequel, ASAP, coming out in 2024."

I had no interest in reading about K-pop but I read XOXO and loved it. I'm happy to hear a sequel is coming out, I'll definitely pick it up!

I guess i'm going to read K-pop Confidential since it's sitting on my daughters bookshelf (she's a huge k-pop fan)

I am currently reading Once Upon a K-Prom and it's OK. I mean, I am hardly (HARDLY) the target audience for this and can't connect with anything in it (it's been ages since high school, proms, and pop idols), but it isn't terrible. This prompt won't revolutionize my world, but I'm glad it isn't putting me in a reading slump either.

I read If I Had Your Face. It's not purely about K-Pop but one of the characters has a huge crush on a K-Pop star.

I thought this was very well-written, described a world that was completely new to me, and ultimately was very sad.

Here's my review of XOXO, a YA romance by Axie Oh:

http://www.lauraruthloomis.com/whats-...

This has been such an interesting category for me. I read Somewhere Only We Know, and I loved it, but it also took place in 24 hours (which is a tough category for me) so I used it there instead. Then I read If I Had Your Face, and used it for K-pop even though it's not really ABOUT K-Pop - that was a powerful book, it has stayed with me weeks later, and now I kinda don't like the entire K-Pop industry after reading it. And I'm currently reading XOXO for "starts with X" - although maybe I should use it for "K-Pop" instead idk.

Nadine in NY wrote: "And I'm currently reading XOXO for "starts with X" - although maybe I should use it for "K-Pop" instead idk."

If you like it, there's another set in the same world with side characters, ASAP. So my plan is to use XOXO for "starts with X" and ASAP for K-Pop. I just read XOXO and did not love it, I am definitely beyond the target audience, but it was okay, and a quick enough read that I'm sticking to the plan.
Funny, though, I would have considered K-Pop to be one of the hardest categories, and here you are with multiple options read.

ASAP also works for second-chance romance.

I read #fangirlproblems: A Kpop Romance Book

It was kind of an "instalove" book but not bad.

If you want non fiction and have a history with boy bands, Larger Than Life: A History of Boy Bands from NKOTB to BTS is about the history of boy bands in general, and it goes into some chosen examples in more detail. The last part (the culmination of boy band-dom?) is about k-pop.