hey so i know this probably wont get a view, i mean it might you seem really cool, but i got House of Leaves yesterday for Xmas and I'm only 20 pages in and HOLY CRAP am i glad you made a video on it i would have never found it otherwise! so thank you!
Diogenes the drunk Yes I am implying that. I think this video would still be legit if it was as transparent as the website video. However with sponsored content there are rules on what can and cant be shown or said. This being his own thoughts without a product funding it makes it feel more genuine.
I watched that whole video and didn’t even notice it was 15 and a half minutes long. It held my attention the whole time. Crazy how well you can do that. And how motivated I am to read books. Very good video.
lol, stating you have a migraine while talking about humour being subjective is not about attention? ok, i'm just 13 so i don't really know about this, but event to me, it's kinda obvious that it's about seeking acceptance for your problems. because i am being passive-aggressive, ill use a condition that i have to use as a shield to defend any type of criticism. oh yeah, it doesn't help that i have asthma
+Kappakappa duk ur comment is the funniest thing I've seen today Using insults like calling me an edgy teen, even though your first sentence was "your age doesn't mean anything" Also calling me the one who wants attention, because calling someone out for something they said definitely means that I want attention. The point of the use of asthma was that it was meant to mock the way you used migraines as a defensive tool. Please don't bring politics into an argument about your migraines
I loved this video, but wanted to make one quick objection: I think I can safely say that watching video game rants *has* changed my life. A review of Undertale led to me playing the game, which led me to realize that games could be a form of art, which led me into game development. I'm now about to release a game I've spent hundreds of hours working on. So yeah, video game rants do change lives.
Ashley Zen Meadows don’t get me wrong, I love to read, I used to read a new book every week. But nowadays I can’t seem to find any new books. Once I’ve read a series of books it’s like I can’t find any new books to read for months. And I’m not asking for recommendations. Everyone has their own taste and mine varies wildly. I love the Kiterunner, but I didn’t like the authors other (very similar) book. I just seem to be in a bookless rut
I've read many good books this year too, including but not limited to; "1984" (George Orwell), "Animal Farm" (Also George Orwell), and a few Ray Bradsbury books too. I'm currently reading "The Way Of Kings," which is a really good (but really long), book by Brandon Sanderson. I doubt that this will be read by many people, but I suggest all of these, as they are all interesting and unique, with memorable characters and well-done plots. :)
The ending was dumb. Why don't popular books count? Does the value you obtain from a book somehow diminish the more people have read it? Why compare reading books to video essay's and video game streaming? Obviously it's not the SAME experience as reading a book, but no one was saying that anyway. They still have value in and of themselves, doesn't mean you can't read more books too.
I guess he is just saying that we should try to obtain relatively unique knowledge and perspectives and not all consume the same content and become part of a hivemind. Although I am very guilty of this myself, and don't plan to stop consuming popular content, I think he has a point.
I really just don't get why he's shitting on video essays. They're great if you can find people who upload them about very narrow topics. Plus aren't his videos kind of video essays?
I think he means like try going for books that aren't popular right now as you can be surprised? But at the same time he did read IT and The Shining which are King's most popular books (and IT became popular recently since the movie was coming out). But yah his videos are kind of like video essays so I guess he's also saying to not watch his videos at the same time...? Idk why he's shitting on a video type that he uses as well either.
George Meadway knowledge value is the inverse of the number of the people that know it. if you have an idea that everyone else has, your idea is useless, and if you keep reading and watching the same things other people do, your ideas will continue to be common and worthless. What's hard to get?
I made a resolution last year reading at least 14 books and I read 19 best seller books this year. I never read any books before. It was a life changing experience!
Great video man, I will definitely increase my book intake for 2018. I am a big urban fantasy fan but I'm going to try and move into more non fiction books and biographies. I will have to check out how to win friends and influence people, if it helped you that much I'm sure it will help me too.
If you'd like to branch out within fiction check out Steelheart if you haven't already - it's alternate world urban fantasy that feels like a grungy sci-fi.
Why not make an online book club one of your Patreon rewards? Like a private group where you pick out a book every month (or take suggestions) and read a book a month then at the end of the month chat to see what everyone thought and what everyone got from it? Just maybe for people that don’t get the chance to go out often enough to join an in person book club
He's not saying you shouldn't read popular books! He's saying don't EXCLUSIVELY read popular books. Don't say, "I'm going to really expand my mind this year so I'm going to read 'Turtles All the Way Down' and that'll do it." Obviously Austin isn't saying a book is bad because it's popular or that you should avoid it because it's popular... You quote those two sentences as if Austin didn't notice that Star Wars and Stephen King books were fairly popular. The fact that those two quotes are together in the same video shows he's obviously aware of this fact and is therefore not telling you to avoid popular books.
Stay away from how to win friends and influence people if you want to stay an authentic human being. This book is less about feeling empathy and compassion and more about using those kinds of emotions in other people to your advantage. If your shy or introverted... I would recommend quiet: the power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking by Susan Cain... There is a part in the book where she does a nice job in showing how bad these kinds of books are... It made me think about dale carneign is a completely different way.
Great video apart from the weirdly elitist ending. Why should it matter how popular a book is, and why does it not count as a good experience if it is? For that matter for someone so concerned with reading things no-one else is you sure read a lot of Stephen King. Let people enjoy what they want, you're not helping anyone by telling them that their satisfaction doesn't count
A Humble Pear that same elitism always appears in people who start reading a lot of books. "Oh you read all of the Harry Potters Book this year, what are you 12?" "Oh you started reading Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, thats mainstream garbage" "Motivational and Self Improvement books dont really count" "Stop rotting your brain with videogames and read a book, videogames are just a way to entertain kids and are not art." "Read more books instead of watching movies". All quotes from the most detestable belitting bookworms ive had the displeasure to meet with.. I actually was compelled to read 3 or more books for my new years resolution but that ending threw it in the garbage for me. Like im not here boasting about learning my 5th language and finally begining to draw better as well as perfecting my drum play and picking up rollerblading just to diminish the value of the things you like to do.
A Humble Pear because every person you run into keeps on regurgitating the exact same ideas many people share in the exact same words. Reading unpopular books is really the only chance to escape that cycle and actually offer something new to the conversation. Of course most unpopular books are inspired by popular books anyway, which makes that harder, but you should understand the motivation behind the advice.
He didn't say your satisfaction doesn't count just that you wont get intellectual growth and many new ideas from watching a lot of twitch or youtube. The internets instant access for anyone and anything leads to a lot of aggregation or information, which is just another term for regurgitation. That's why he had that montage of every film analysis channel talking about David Fincher. Its a lot of regurgitation. He said he likes to read at least ONE book a year that nobody else is reading. That doesn't mean he's gonna look down upon the three most popular Star Wars books, or that he would refuse to read 4 Stephen King books including two of his most popular and well known ones.
There's nothing wrong with watching twitch and RU-vid lets plays, do what you enjoy in your free time! Also why don't popular books count? It comes off as a slightly hipster/condescending point. Maybe I misunderstood you? I'm not hating but I disagree with that part quite strongly. I really did like this video though, always need more book recommendations.
All I said was that watching Twitch and RU-vid as a replacement/substitute for reading is not going to help you learn anything useful. And, that if you only read the occasional popular book and nothing else, you're limiting your potential exposure to interesting and unique information. These aren't earth-shattering epiphanies, and I'm surprised a handful of people are taking such harsh offense to them.
austinmcconnell I'm not offended at all, I just disagree with what you said. Different people learn in different ways, reading has always been my go to but I know forcing people doesn't help. It sounded like you were judging people for their interests whether it was intentional or not.
While reading is reading and I wholeheartedly encourage everyone to do it, you can get book burn out from reading only "popular" books. The newest popular books (especially teen/YA books) tend to have the same subject. Dystopian was a big one for a while. With so many books out there it's better to find books similar to ones that you like rather than just reading what the newest trends are. I mean, obviously still read the new popular books if they interest you. But, also seek out some hidden gems. And, no, you dont need to go to a bookstore and pay a ton of money. Libraries are always a great alternative. If not, places like the Dollar Tree and Salvation Army also have cheap books.
I was on board until you said not to read books everyone else is reading, as if reading popular fiction made the task of reading less rewarding or worthy of praise. What? Chill. Everyone go read whatever you want. You’re not a lesser person if you read the books everyone else is reading, especially when you consider I don’t know anyone who (including this creator) hasn’t read It.
I'm not saying said popular fiction is less rewarding or worthy of praise. I'm saying reading the annual John Green novel alone and thinking that will be sufficient isn't a good plan. The more sources you read, the more expansive your knowledge base will become - and often the most rewarding reading experiences come from places other than the New York Times Best Seller list.
Your channel is one of the hidden gems that seems to get swept under the fridge with a freezer that is RU-vid. I feel as though I finally cleaned the space of that fridge and found enough change to buy a Twix. A truly glorious feeling! I look forward to seeing this channel on my home page.
Austin, seriously, I appreciated this video so much. I get so caught up in my RU-vid watching, and so often my time on here feels so wasted. Yet, so often with your videos, I feel my time is well spent. This one made me feel that way especially. I have such high intentions of reading, yet more often than not, plans and intentions fall flat. This video reminded me the importance of getting back into that. Thanks. Keep doing your thing. I really appreciate everything you do.
Talk about a timeless book. No matter where our wonderful (I use the word wonderful in the most sarcastic way possible, but there is some truth to it as well) species goes and does, that book will probably will always remain relevant. That shit is hard to do.
I spend WAY to much of my time on my phone or watching TV shows, especially for how great of a reader I used to be. I was already planning on doing this, but watching this video just gives me more incentive. I am going to try to read 1 book a week... it sounds challenging, but I have successfully done it before... wish me luck! (Also, I don’t know how this would work, but to have a book club here would be wonderful so we could all rely on one another)
"How to Win Friends and Influence People" is one of my mom and dad's favorite books. They keep it on their nightstand. Dad says he's going to give it to me next year before I go to College; networking there will be crucial and I'm an awkward art girl as of right now.
Videos like this are why this is my favorite channel on RU-vid. I never know what's going to be posted, but it's always entertaining and oftentimes inspiring. Thank you. I think I'm going to try reading a book each month this year, too.
Little Sister I'm at the beginning of it. Have you listened to the podcast Wound & Stab? They're reading and analysing sections of House Of Leaves and other books too.
I haven't heard of them, but I will listen to one of their podcasts once I find the time. I have, however, looked through many MANY theories - don't do what I did.
I caught that map of Toronto immediately, I didn't know I lived in Bangladesh! Amazing list, I read over 13 books this year and it felt amazing. Its improved my writing immensely, my artwork, and the way I see the world. Thanks for the video.
Very nice video except for that ending. Unnecessarily elitist dude. "This doesn't count." Uh, yeah it does. If that's what you like, it absolutely counts.
There are only a handful of people I subscribe to on RU-vid who, beyond just making videos that are entertaining, have a genuine gift for storytelling. You are one. Thank you for all of your hardwork on this channel, especially this year when myself and many just needed an escape from reality, and an optimistic and honest one at that. Have a fantastic new year. I can't wait to see what you do with it.
Long story short - almost every verse of the Psalm can reference other parts of scripture, which (in return) references history that spans hundreds of years, so what you have is a 176-verse text that is intricately connected to a lot of other bits of noteworthy information.
just- real quick first of all, loved this video, i'm really happy to see you as one of my favorite channels have something up about how great books are. i completely agree with the points you brought up on having intelligent discussions on books and everything, but i rlly dislike the example you brought up with the new john green book? i'm probably just being really petty rn, it was only like a second of the entire video, but i just wanted to say that just because a book becomes really popular for one reason or another doesn't mean it can't be used as a point of discussion. i don't just mean this for turtles all the way down in particular, but as that is the example you provided, and having personally loved it, it's what i'm going to use to get my point across. so turtles all the way down as a book means a lot to me personally. i'm not a fan of john green's other books, and so was rlly surprised when i picked it up and rlly loved it. the main character has OCD, and even though i don't suffer from it myself, i do have really obssesive thoughts and even have to go to therapy to deal with it. there was this one line in the book that really, really resonated with me about being constantly scared of an unnamable entity, and when i'm at my worst that's just exactly how i feel. the main character is afraid of contracting this disease as a part of her OCD, and for a really long time i had the exact same problem. any mention of someone with terminal cancer would send me into a tailspin of believing that i had cancer, that i was going to die young. i could barely read the fault in our stars because of this issue. i saw so much of myself in this book and just because it isn't some underground artsy story doesn't mean really interesting discussions can't be sparked from it. just because everyone is reading it does not mean new perspective can't be gained from it. you saying it 'doesn't count' is just completely untrue and rlly bothers me. as long as you get anything from any book, as long as it effects you in any miniscule way, it most definetely counts. sorry for this rlly rlly ranty probably nonsensical comment. i rlly love your content, and i'm not trying to attack you persoanlly in any way, and please correct me if i just took the point you were trying to make completely incorrectly.
As someone who has had diagnosed OCD, I haven't read Turtles All The Way Down but am really, really glad there's something in popular media accurately educating people about it who might not have known what it was otherwise or think it's just about washing your hands. OCD was scary.
Okay, first off, it's awesome that you're going to make a new film! I can't wait to see it! Secondly, holy crap! Tag and Bink are in Solo! That's incredible! Well done all around, Austin!
Books I've read this year: (in no particular order) Star wars Aftermath Trilogy, Star wars Catalyst: a Rogue One Novel, Star wars Thrawn trilogy, Star wars: Propaganda, Star wars: On the Front Lines, Star wars Outbound Flight, Star wars Rogue One Novelization, Star wars Thrawn, Entire Tintin series, Star wars Omnibus: Infinities, The Outsiders, A Christmas Carol, The History if the World in 100 Weapons, Weapon: a visual history King Solomons Mines, A bunch of other miscellaneous history and Star wars books. Probably a few more that I can't remember.
Sup Bryan it was very interesting. It started by giving a weapon for each sort of "age" in ancient times, likes the bronze age and Iron age. It later moves to centuries, decades, and individual years. It gives good information about each weapon and reads well not like a boring textbook.
Currently, I am reading the Throne of Glass series, and am up to the 4th book, Queen of Shadows (not including the prequel, then I would be on book 5). This has inspired me to write my views on it so far, to get the discussion going, even if I haven't finished.
Him saying it's not saying a lot is because a lot of the star wars books aren't good so a book doesn't have to be that good to already be better than most of them.
Little preachy toward the end, bro. I watch a couple hours of RU-vid almost daily and read almost as many books as you did this year while also working 50 hours a week.
Okay. Good. Other people watch video games on RU-vid and do next to nothing else. If that’s not what you do, then that comment doesn’t apply to you. :)
You, my friend, have inspired me. As of tomorrow I'll be taking a day to unplug from the "hive mind" of The Internet, just a day. Maybe two depending on how the day goes. You have inspired me to make my New Years Resolution to read more. And, more specifically, finish what I start reading [I have a habit of not doing that]. I don't watch Let's Plays or whatever, but your entire message still hit home with me. So for that, I thank you. Thank you sir, and God Bless You.
Can't recommend 'Dark Matter' enough, even to those who (unfortunately) think of themselves as "non-readers". This book is such a breeze to read, a quintessential page-turner in every sense. You won't want to put it down. The ending gets pretty... weird, but it's got enough surprises and heart to be worth it.
I don’t recommend against it. I just don’t think reading popular books exclusively will help you learn anything outside of the popular hive mind. Read popular and obscure.
Seeing that Austin uploaded is like finding out you won the lottery. It's guaranteed to be great while it lasts, but when it's done you just want more.
I started reading it this year. Got about six chapters in and was too bored to go any further. Does it get any better? Maybe the translation ruins the writing style (which I hear is a strong point of the book), but to me it seems like the ironic/sarcastic style is too overdone in our time to be enjoyed any significant amount. If you say the story gets more interesting, I’ll go back and read it, but the book is far too long to be read solely for appreciative purposes.
I read it and I disagree. The book wasn't fun to read and I was really hoping it to be. There are just so many characters and adventures but I thought only a few of them were interesting. Also there are a lot of plot holes, the author even adresses them in the beginning of the second part (not all of them, for example why does Sancho's wife have 3 different names in the book). I mean I get the character dynamic and how it's just this satire on formerly popular knight novels but the story really didn't do much for me.
I have been gathering quite a few books now (I need a fourth bookshelf now) and I am planning on just trying to read as many books as I can this next year. I am not gonna set a limit, butterflies I do like that "1 book a month" idea for a minimum. This really helped inspire me so thank you!!
I totally agree, I have 1-1 1/2 hour drive to work and then home, I listen to audiobooks. I also listen @ home when I clean, cook, and paint. I'm currently 42 books in to this year. I have always loved to read since I was a young child. :)
Ah, I was nodding along so much until you dismissed mainstream books! I completely get what you're saying about delving into unknown and obscure books and I love doing that, but for someone who's just getting into reading, 'Turtles All the Way Down' might be the perfect book to read in 2018. (My sister is reading that one atm, actually, and it sounds like a great insight into the mind of someone with anxiety and might help the target audience emphasise more with friends who suffer from that kind of thing, if your point was that people should be reading books to expand their world view!) Who knows, maybe some 13 year old's life long reading obsession will start through it! Far from those kinds of celebrity books 'not counting', I think they're an awesome way to introduce people who might not otherwise pick up a book to the world of fiction. Asides from that, loved this video! I found the Psalm 118 stuff especially interesting. Keep up the awesome work in 2018! :)
The last book intrigues me now since I am from Dhaka, Bangladesh but haven't lived or visited there for quite a while now. Great video as always and Happy New Year. :)
This inspired me to rank the books I've read this year 1. A Clockwork Orange 2. All Quiet on the Western Front 3. Johnny Got His Gun 4. For Whom the Bell Tolls 5. The Divine Comedy: Inferno 6. A Farewell to Arms 7. First Blood 8. The Road Back (All Quiet sequel) 9. God's Battalions: Case of the Crusades
whoaa, that's insane you read that. I just got back from Bangladesh a few days ago and I can confirm what you said. Travelling in Dhaka is especially dangerous and unforgiving, toxic air quality, jam packed conditions, and inefficient planning all has led to the development of a city with one of the highest death rate due to accidents and a place where even ambulances are stuck for hours in traffic. It makes you think how great we have it in the states. i love watching your videos austin, it's a real treat and I can't wait for your upcoming project and work in 2018!
I hope The Familiar is here Edit: I am disappoint, but still luv u austin PS: I printed our your profile pic and taped it on to a naruto body pillow, now i can always be with u
A friend of mine's dad is John Scalzi. I haven't read any of his stuff since I'm not into science fiction, but you can at least take comfort in the fact that his daughter is pretty cool.
The thing with books is that they miss soundtracks, its the thing that i enjoy the most in in a movie that could have been adapted from a book. I would be missing a fundamental reason of why I enjoy most movies and Anime based on books and manga. But I'm barely open minded enough to give it 1 try. I enjoy movies that are thought provoking with plot twists or sometimes movies with paradox concepts like time travel loops. Can you guys give me the 1 title to give it a chance?
Meeting The Community I stopped reading after I graduated high school. I used to read 12+ a year because my school didn't allow any sort of electronics. Now I just play Vidya.
I'm genuinely happy that a creator with a following is asking for everyone to read. Most channels are telling their followers to.. well follow them, but you're different Austin - a very good different. (I'm an English major btw, so this stuff is right up my alley)
Have you read the Outsiders? Well I’m pretty sure you have for a book report for school, but my school hasn’t and never will. But I was smart and read it in 7th grade for what I can remember is one of the only book report where could choose the book we wanted that year. I read it and it’s my favorite book. The characters are written well and act and talk like real Oklahoma kids in the 60’s. The way the murder happened was a bit of a surprise to me, but I still enjoyed the book and it is my favorite book. If you enjoyed that book I recommend That Was Then This Is Now by S.E. Hinton (same author of the Outsiders) it’s a story that takes place in the same universe, (Ponyboy makes an appearance) it’s a good underrated book and it even has a hard to find movie adaptation. So, I just realized I wrote a book report so I’m going to end this comment right here. But before I go, got any good-not-so-hard reads for a high schooler?, I need some audiobooks to listen to when I do those boring long madden solo challenges. PS: did you know the Outsiders had a TV series?
MLBoss I waited waaay too long to read The Book Thief, really fantastic book, high school level or otherwise. I'd also recommend The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson. It follows the life of an experimental childhood upbringing during the American Civil War and explores some great themes you wouldn't expect with the vastly interesting backdrop of a war
Try out the Enderverse books by Orson Scott Card. The first book was introduced to me as a school assignment but I liked it so much that I decided to read the entire series.
I loved this video however to say that the internet is not advancing culture is silly and close minded. Because of the internet the world has changed in such an amazing way. People are consuming and spreading information at a rate that was previously never possible in human history. So while I do agree with your message about reading more books, I disagree that people need to get off the internet. Because video games are an art form, and that person watching that angry video game rant might learn just that small little bit of information that helps him transform the medium.
I read it in around 6 months, and I still regret it to this day. The stuff with the adults is terrible imo, meaning that a large portion of the book was practically unreadable for me. Plus, King wrote some weird ass shit in that book *cough* child orgy *cough*. I’ll just stick with the movie from now on lol
Adrienne Guillou I wish I were kidding but I’m not. After the kids beat It, they get confused on how to get out so Beverly lets them all... um... yeah... so they can get out. King said it’s supposed to signify their growth from childhood to adulthood, but it’s completely unnecessary tbh
Mr. McConnell, I like to make a quick comment with you. When I was growing up, I was always an avid film lover (still am) and never thought once of picking up a book to read for fun. It wasn't until seeing this video that it made me think, "What would happen if I did?" I cannot thank you enough, Mr. McConnel, for encouraging me to go out and read for pleasure and enjoyment. My goal for this year is to knock off the impossible task in my bucket list and read 100 books this year. While I admit to having slacked off in January and February due to some mental health issues, I think taking the time to read will be a good thing for me. Sure, I missed the first two months, but I'll make up for it. I'll update you on how I'm progressing later on. Thank you, Mr. McConnell, for giving me a love for something I didn't know I had.
"Something a little different" That implies that anything about this channel is consistent. This channel is like a pile of different shapes of awesome and I'm here for it.
The ending felt like hero worshipping of your preferred medium of learning. It personally felt like a blanket put-down of everyone who makes the kinds of content you mentioned, saying you're wasting your time, if you don't do books then you're nothing. So what if video essays cover similar topics? You spent a portion of this video discussing a whole list of books all about the same subject. I understand your passion for the medium but don't put yourself above everyone just because you read books. People learn in different ways and react differently to different things. Not everyone gets the same fulfilment out of books that you do. We shouldn't judge people for not reading as much as others. It's not productive or healthy.
Michael Otis I refuse to accept that you did not intend that pun 😁 Perhaps I am reading too much into it. Those are still just my thoughts on it and the subject in general.
WhitePointStar Productions lol I honestly intended no pun. I respect your opinion if you felt that way about the ending... And that's the thing - respect. After following Austin's content for over a year now, it's clear to me he respects his subscribers and does not talk down on em. He assumes viewers are smart enough to think for themselves
