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Asian-American pop history, sequels to K-pop Confidential and Jessica Jung’s Shine: five K-pop books to look out for
- Jung’s sequel Bright picks up where Shine left off, as a Korean-American girl pursues careers as a pop star and a fashion designer
- Stephan Lee has a sequel to his K-pop Confidential out in April, while the non-fiction Rise is subtitled A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now
Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
As popular as K-pop is nowadays, precious few books in English have been written about the industry and its stars.
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The past few years have seen an increase in English-language novels and non-fiction books about the Korean music scene, however, and there will some notable additions to the shelves of K-pop books in the next six months or so, including two releases in September.
1. Zero O’Clock by C.J. Farley (September 7)
For fiction with a sense of realism, this is a coming-of-age young adult book whose title is the same as that of a 2020 song by superstar boy band BTS, 00:00 (Zero O’Clock), with vocals by Jungkook, Jimin, Jin and V. Author C.J. Farley’s novel grapples with the stresses and trauma of 2020.
The main character deals with New York’s coronavirus outbreak – the start of the pandemic in the United States – and explores social justice as the Black Lives Matter movement unfolds, all while BTS provide her comfort.
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2. Idol Gossip by Alexandra Leigh Young (September 14)
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