In a world where every move is under the spotlight, Kim Nam-joon—better known as RM of BTS—finds sanctuary in stillness. And often, in literature.
His love for books is no secret to fans. Whether he’s posting from quiet libraries or referencing poets in lyrics, RM reads the way he writes: with intention, depth, and a hunger for truth. His bookshelf isn’t curated for status—it’s a reflection of a mind that questions, wanders, and seeks clarity in complexity.
These are not easy reads. They are philosophical, fragmented, and often uncomfortable. But that’s what makes them feel like RM—curious, self-aware, and unafraid of emotional excavation.
Here are just a few of the titles he’s turned to, each one revealing another corner of the inner world behind the mic.
1984 by George Orwell
What It’s About
A landmark dystopian novel, 1984 imagines a future ruled by oppressive surveillance, manipulated truth, and the erasure of individuality.
As protagonist Winston Smith quietly rebels against a regime that controls even thought, Orwell paints a chilling portrait of power, resistance, and psychological confinement.
Why It Resonates
For an artist like RM—constantly navigating fame, scrutiny, and expectations—1984 may offer a mirror of the modern world. Themes of surveillance and identity feel eerily familiar in an age where privacy is rare, especially for public figures.
This book aligns with his ongoing reflection on freedom versus conformity, individuality versus the collective, and the tension between self-expression and societal control.
Demian by Hermann Hesse
What It’s About
In this deeply introspective novel, a young man named Emil Sinclair wrestles with inner duality, morality, and the awakening of the self. Guided by the mysterious Demian, Sinclair embarks on a symbolic journey toward individuality and spiritual understanding—beyond the “good and evil” of societal norms.
RM has directly referenced Demian in BTS’s Wings era, making it one of the most influential books on his artistic arc. Its exploration of self-discovery, inner conflict, and the search for truth reflects the emotional and lyrical terrain RM often travels.
Why It Resonates
Like Hesse’s protagonist, RM is not content with surface-level existence. He seeks meaning in contradictions, and Demian speaks to that hunger with haunting precision.
Get Book: Demian by Hermann Hesse!The Stranger by Albert Camus
What It’s About
Camus’s existential classic follows Meursault, a man seemingly detached from conventional emotion and meaning.
After committing a senseless murder, he’s judged not just for his crime—but for his inability to fit into society’s expected emotional script. The novel explores absurdism, the idea that life is inherently without meaning, and that meaning must be made.
Why It Resonates
The stark emotional tone of The Stranger resonates with RM’s quieter, more meditative moments. His lyrics often echo questions of purpose, numbness, and internal dissonance. This book feels less like a statement and more like a mood he’s familiar with—a reflection of how detachment can be a shield, a wound, and a form of resistance.
Camus’s existential lens parallels RM’s own lyrical journey: not just through joy, but through confusion, stillness, and the ongoing question of what it means to live authentically.
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
What It’s About
A surreal and philosophical novel, Kafka on the Shore intertwines the story of a teenage boy running away from home with that of an elderly man who can talk to cats.
Blending dreams, metaphysics, music, and memory, the novel offers an abstract meditation on destiny, loneliness, and the subconscious.
Why It Resonates
Murakami’s dreamlike storytelling speaks directly to RM’s poetic sensibilities. Like the novel’s characters, RM often exists in liminal spaces—between global fame and private solitude, between expectation and imagination.
Murakami’s themes of wandering and inner mythology match the terrain of RM’s lyrics: vivid, symbolic, unresolved, but deeply felt. This isn’t just a book you read—it’s one you drift through. And RM, a known wanderer of both cities and thoughts, seems perfectly at home in its pages.
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo
What It’s About
A powerful feminist novel, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 traces the life of an ordinary Korean woman whose experiences reveal the quiet, cumulative effects of gender inequality.
Through her story, Cho exposes the structural and cultural forces that shape and suppress women’s lives from childhood to adulthood in modern Korea.
Why It Resonates
RM is known for his sensitivity to social issues and for using his platform to amplify marginalized voices. This novel, deeply rooted in Korean society yet globally relevant, reflects the kind of subtle resistance and empathetic awareness that characterizes much of RM’s public persona.
While he doesn’t center himself in feminist discourse, his admiration for this book points to his commitment to listening—and to encouraging thoughtful, necessary conversations.
I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Sehee
What It’s About
This bestselling Korean memoir is structured around the author’s sessions with her psychiatrist, as she navigates persistent dysthymia (chronic depression) and everyday life.
Blending internal monologue with clinical conversation, it’s a quietly powerful exploration of mental health, self-doubt, and the small things that make life worth holding onto—like tteokbokki.
Why It Resonates
The book’s title alone echoes the emotional honesty often found in RM’s lyrics. His work doesn’t shy away from vulnerability—it invites it. This memoir, stripped of performance and full of gray-space emotion, aligns with his public reflections on burnout, anxiety, and the complexities of simply existing.
It’s not a dramatic tale—it’s a mirror. And for RM, who speaks often of growth through stillness and introspection, it’s the kind of book that feels more like a companion than a story.
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
What It’s About
This memoir by neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi chronicles his final years as he faces a terminal cancer diagnosis in his thirties.
Through elegant, unflinching prose, he reflects on life, death, identity, and purpose—grappling with the question: What makes life meaningful in the face of death?
Why It Resonates
Few books embody the poetic realism RM often channels in his lyrics quite like this one. It’s not just about dying—it’s about living with intention, choosing grace, and staying awake to beauty, even in pain.
As someone who publicly contemplates impermanence, RM might find comfort in Kalanithi’s search for clarity amid uncertainty. When Breath Becomes Air is a meditation on time, legacy, and love—all themes that echo in RM’s quiet philosophies.
Get Book: When Breath Becomes Air!Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
What It’s About
At its heart, Me Before You is a love story—but not in the traditional sense. It follows Louisa Clark, a spirited young woman who becomes the caregiver for Will Traynor, a once-adventurous man now paralyzed after an accident.
Their relationship unfolds with humor, heartbreak, and difficult questions about autonomy, love, and dignity.
Why It Resonates
While RM may not be known for reading romance, this novel offers something deeper: a story about emotional transformation and the right to choose one’s path. Will’s character—complex, stubborn, deeply intelligent—reflects the kind of internal struggle RM has hinted at in his more vulnerable writing.
At its core, Me Before You explores how we show up for others while holding onto ourselves—something RM has often modeled for fans and bandmates alike.
Get Book: Me Before You!The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
What It’s About
This novel imagines a library between life and death, where each book represents a different version of the protagonist’s life—lives she could have lived if she’d made different choices.
Through this metaphysical journey, she confronts regret, purpose, and the quiet beauty of the present moment.
Why It Resonates
Matt Haig’s introspective storytelling feels like it could be soundtracked by one of RM’s solo albums. The novel’s central question—what if I had done things differently?—mirrors the reflective nature of RM’s lyrics and interviews.
In a world that often glorifies big wins, The Midnight Library encourages readers to see the value in quiet survival and imperfect choices, something RM has long expressed through his art.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
What It’s About
This cult-classic sci-fi novel opens with Earth’s destruction and quickly spirals into an absurd, intergalactic adventure. It follows Arthur Dent—a thoroughly average human—as he’s whisked across the universe by a crew of misfits and aliens, armed with nothing but a towel and a guidebook full of cosmic oddities.
Beneath the humor, the novel offers philosophical musings on existence, randomness, and the search for meaning in a chaotic world.
Why It Resonates
Though playful and absurd on the surface, this book aligns with RM’s fascination with existential questions wrapped in unconventional packages. It reflects the kind of humor he appreciates—dry, observational, and unexpectedly profound.
In many ways, The Hitchhiker’s Guide is about embracing uncertainty, laughing at the madness, and still asking big questions like “What is the meaning of life?” (Adams jokingly answers: 42). That blend of humor and depth? It’s very Namjoon.
Final Thoughts…
RM doesn’t read for performance. He reads the way he creates music—with curiosity, quiet discipline, and the desire to understand what it means to be human. His book choices reveal a reader who is unafraid of difficult questions, who drifts toward solitude not to escape, but to listen.
Across memoirs, fiction, philosophy, and science fiction, a pattern emerges: he seeks stories that wrestle with identity, mortality, purpose, and time. Some are tender. Others are absurd. But all of them are honest.
To trace RM’s bookshelf is to trace a mind in motion—not loud, not hurried, just deeply alive. For fans and readers alike, his literary journey isn’t just a reflection of who he is, but an invitation to slow down, think deeply, and read like it matters.
