Readers choose the ‘Book of the Year’... YES24 voting open through the 27th

[Financial News] Voting has begun for readers to choose the ‘Book of the Year’ from among the books they read over the past year. The event also invites readers to revisit past winners and turn their reading time into donations.
According to YES24 on the 2nd, voting for the ‘2026 Book of the Year’ runs from today through 9 p.m. on the 27th. Now in its 24th edition, the event invites readers to take part.
The nominees are 300 books published between October 1 last year and September 30 this year. They were selected from YES24’s ‘Book of the Day’ picks and books that resonated with readers, following recommendations from book editors (PDs).
Readers can vote for 3–6 books, regardless of category, that inspired them the most. All participants will receive 1,000 won in reading support funds and a 30-day Crema Club pass.
Last year’s vote drew 1,195,900 votes, surpassing one million for the first time since the event began in 2003. Of the 24 books ultimately selected, nine were novels or essay collections. Seong Haena’s ‘Honmono’ ranked first in the literature category and third overall.
The event also features the ‘Book of the Year Rematch,’ a tournament-style vote pitting major books from past winners against one another in each category. It will run weekly this month, in the following order: novels and poetry, essays, humanities, general knowledge and arts, then business and economics and self-help. Past winners include Kim Young-ha’s ‘The Reason for Traveling’ (2019), Johann Hari’s ‘Stolen Focus’ (2023) and Claire Keegan’s ‘Small Things Like These’ (2024).
The reading-donation campaign ‘Book of the Year Reading Run’ is open to books published from October last year through September this year, including the 300 nominees. Every 10 minutes of reading counts as 1 km. Participants complete the Starter course by reading for 100 minutes, the Half course in 210 minutes and the Marathon course in 420 minutes.
For every 1,000 additional finishers in each course, donations of 1 million won for Starter, 2 million won for Half and 3 million won for Marathon will be raised. The 24 books with the highest cumulative reading times will also be revealed in real time.

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