BTS’ RM: The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin

For those who are looking for a short but impactful read, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin is for you. Through an omniscient narrator, readers are introduced to the city of Omelas, a utopia where people only live in happiness — but with a hidden cost. In exchange for the city’s eternal prosperity, one child has been locked away and forced to suffer in perpetual misery. A thought-provoking take on what it means to achieve utopia, Le Guin’s story has inspired the music video of South Korean boyband BTS’ ballad Spring Day and has been recommended by the septet’s leader RM.

Girls’ Generation’s Sooyoung: Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Namjoo

Cho Namjoo’s protagonist is 33-year-old Kim Jiyoung, a woman who gave up her job at a marketing agency to be a housewife. She cooks, cleans and cares for her infant daughter at home while her husband is at work. She is your everyday Jane Doe — painfully average — which is precisely why this book is so powerful. An honest depiction of the millennial everywoman, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 is a polarising yet telling reflection of everyday sexism and misogyny. It ignited a nationwide discussion on gender quality in South Korea and left a lasting impression on numerous K-pop idols, notably Girls’ Generation’s Sooyoung, who named her reality TV show Choi Sooyoung, Born 1990 after the novel. Her thoughts on the book are printed in the foreword of the Canadian edition.

Kendall Jenner: How To Cure A Ghost by Fariha Róisín

Every person is haunted by their own “ghost”. Some are haunted by regret, others by loss. For Fariha Róisín, her ghost is many things, from white supremacy and Islamophobia to ancestral trauma. In exploring human pain as a queer Muslim female, Róisín seeks to heal through poetry. Much like fellow poetry chart-toppers such as Milk and Honey, How To Cure A Ghost has been spotted in the hands It-girls around the world, including Kendall Jenner.

 

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Dua Lipa: A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life was hailed by The Guardian as a modern-day classic that everybody should read, and Dua Lipa got the memo. The novel follows four young men who move to New York City after graduating from the same university and explores the complexity of human relationships as they navigate ambition, addiction and pride in the ruthless concrete jungle. Whether you are soaking up the sun like Dua or cosied up in your room on a gloomy day, A Little Life will take you on a rollercoaster ride — one that plunges deep into the raw and the real of life without slowing down.