■ Determined to Break Up With Bad News (by Kim Sung-jae, Singgeut)
A "news literacy guidebook" designed to help citizens develop the ability to filter out "bad news." Drawing on news coverage by certain media outlets during the three years of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, the author offers concrete explanations of what "bad news" is, why it is problematic, and how it is produced. He also lays out what the "media reform" that the public seeks should look like and what must be done to achieve it. "The media does not change easily. That is why readers must change," the author says. 26,000 won.
■ Masterpieces Are Deceiving You (by William Kane, The Quest)
A probe into the unconscious secrets hidden within masterpieces. Drawing on more than three decades of research, the author analyzes 22 Western painters who defined their eras and 89 of their masterworks, revealing the ways paintings captivate us without our knowing. The unnoticed details in familiar scenes, the inexplicable expressions, the objects placed with unclear intent — as you examine elements you once passed over, you encounter paintings that tell stories utterly different from what you thought you knew. 24,300 won.
■ Accumulation and Expression (by Shin Soo-jung, Woongjin Knowledge House)
Why do those who diligently and humbly build their skills so rarely come into the spotlight? In "Accumulation and Expression," the author searches for clues to this question. According to the author, accumulation and expression must occur simultaneously. Many people are accustomed to quietly building their skills and learning. Yet they are awkward when it comes to refining what they have built into outcomes, presenting them to the world, and receiving feedback. The author therefore emphasizes the importance of recognizing the value of expression — because no one will notice you first if you do not make yourself known. 18,500 won.
■ Asymptomatic Patient (by Moon Hye-jin, Nanda)
The fourth poetry collection by Moon Hye-jin, who debuted in 1998 through "Munhak Sasang" and won the 26th Kim Soo-young Literary Award. Released after a nine-year hiatus, this collection contains 51 poems along with "A Letter from Moon Hye-jin." The title piece "Asymptomatic Patient" portrays contemporary Koreans — carbon emitters, non-organic appetite holders, dopamine addicts, survivalist mutants — who toss and turn through the night in a place where "no one speaks first," and greet the dawn with "knock, knock, here comes Rocket Delivery."
In "A Letter from Moon Hye-jin," the poet recounts how, while lying down for some time waiting for her bones to mend after a fracture suffered on an icy road, she felt the pain of her mother — who had endured a hospital bed alone during the pandemic — spreading through her own body. She writes that she came to "achingly realize that without breaking and suffering yourself, you cannot fully accept even the pain of the person closest to you as a pain in your own body." 13,000 won.
