So at the end of last year I did a video reading all the nominees for the Goodreads Choice Awards category of mystery thriller and I had a fun time it was interesting with good ones and bad ones but I had a real fun time making that video and I thought let's do it again but this time I'm gonna read all the winners ever of the mystery thriller category. Ready? I don't think this is a very good idea. Come on you'll be all right. I've been putting off doing this video all year because I know I'm probably gonna have to read a lot of books. It's been on the docket since I did that video. A few people have done it since some people did a collaboration where they all different people read different categories so I'll leave that playlist linked down below but yeah we're gonna we're gonna read all the books. I've ever won the mystery thriller category for Goodreads. I'm nervous I don't really know what to expect. If you don't know Goodreads has been running the Goodreads Choice Awards since 2011 and I'm really excited to see what the trends are in the winners what's changed perhaps over the years and kind of just see what I think but going back to 2011 oh my god it's like a different world on Goodreads and in general whether there's gonna be some outstanding books or whether they're all gonna be fairly middle of the road like generic thrillers. I don't know what to expect but we're gonna experience it together. This video is probably already 10 years long so you don't need me chatting. Let's go see me find out what books I'm gonna be reading. To find out what I'm gonna be reading in this video what the best books the best mystery thrillers of like the past is it 11 years how many have we got yeah 11 years the best mystery thrillers of the past seven years um seeing what I think of them. I'm so nervous to find out what they're gonna be but we're here we're queer and we're ready to go so yeah we're gonna go back through each year find out what the winners I'm gonna write it down in my notebook I've got to be honest with you I've got to level with you I have looked at this before but I think like a year ago maybe or I remember the fact that it was forgettable it's not good vibes. What I remember is that there's a lot of Stephen King on here which I've never read Stephen King. I was hoping that my first Stephen King ever was gonna be like misery or something but we're gonna be reading some of his more recent stuff I guess which okay and I know that the last thing he told me one I remember that one I remember seeing someone speak about that lately and be like oh this one the Goodreads one yeah so that's all I know that's all I remember so let's go back through all the years of Goodreads awards okay are you comfortable? I'm scared. Are you scared? You should be. So yeah 2022 was the made by Need to Pose which I've read I gave four stars wasn't my winner but I did again the whole vlog where I read the nominees for that yeah okay 2021 okay so the last thing he told me was the winner for 2021 so this is one I've mentioned that I'm gonna be reading I think this is the only one that you know I'm gonna be reading and again I don't know much about the story and it's about a guy who's missing and his wife and daughter but the it's not the wife's daughter she's her stepmom I'm trying to find him I'm trying to find out the truth about who he was what's going on it's recently I did keep saying it's become a film it's become a TV show with Apple which I'm intrigued I do I would like to watch it if I enjoy this but I've heard really mixed things you guys have been in the comments been like Megan I don't know so there's that one okay right 2020 I'm hoping there'll be a few live okay the guess this I've read five stars this was the book that really got me into mysteries I owe a lot to it I'm glad I've read it go Lucy eh go Lucy yeah uh so I've read the guess this good okay the less we have to read the better the silent patient I've read as you can see I hadn't I had a different opinion about this one I gave this one two stars yeah the silent patient if I speak I am in big trouble in big trouble I can't believe that's one what was like second that year have I read anything else that got close to it my sister and turn of the key was second and third both of those should have won over the silent patient silent patient sucks sucks and is vaguely offensive and I'm never going to read anything but I asked my client he's ever again no thank you okay 20 what year 2018 what one in 2018 we've got our first student gang I don't know anything about this so I feel like he often was in horror but then he's also run a lot in the mystery thriller to my understanding this is the start of a series okay okay okay we're reading the outsider yeah I don't know what to think about so it's got a four average rating which is pretty good I don't know I've just never read Stephen King I don't know if now's the moment to begin with these books I'm assuming there'll be at least one more Stephen King on this list okay 2017 let's see oh into the water by Paula Hawkins so this is the author of the girl on the train but this is what one single mother turns up dead at the bottom of a river a teenage girl met the same fate okay so there's this water that the women keep dying in I've never read Paula it's so shocked oh 3.59 average rating I don't I've never even heard of this book how has a book won well maybe as we get further into the weeds in the years there'll be more that I've never heard of sorry my laptop's about to take off as well if you could hear that I can't believe a book that I've never heard of as one like 2017 wasn't that long ago and this one okay we're reading into the water 2016 oh okay okay oh shit fuck off um uh it's the last in a trilogy what what it I just like I'm a nice person why does something like this have to happen to me what am I supposed to do do I just read that book or do I have to read the whole trilogy to just read this book I don't even want to know I let me know okay in case I read the whole trilogy I'm not even reading the synopsis of that what how I'm sad what would you do 2015 what are we reading oh what okay okay oh the second one came second that year we're reading the garlic as if we're in two pool of Hawkins what has she written lately because I've never read a pool of Hawkins and I feel like I don't see a lot of people read pool of Hawkins oh a slow fire burning I own let me let me actually think before I speak because I own a slow fire burning okay but we're reading the other two interesting well I'm intrigued by the girl on the train what is this about again oh and then she sees something shocking and the train moves on interesting isn't that like 450 from Paddington back to Christie like same thing 2014 right okay right right right right okay okay okay okay okay okay so the first this is the first in that series right yeah okay so I guess I'm just gonna read the whole trilogy I'm gonna read the whole trilogy by Stephen King this whole Mr. Mercedes I just can't do it it ain't for me it's just not for me this show I found it really difficult okay so someone runs over a crowd we've got an ex-cop maybe he's trying to figure out what's happening okay right we're reading a whole trilogy from Stephen King because if I'm reading the first and the third I might as well read the second just to keep it going do you know what I mean I'm hoping at the very least was these would be quick reads but I don't even know if that's realistic for me right 2013 we're up to the oldest three years um absolutely not okay so in Fanno by Dan Brown hmm I okay I'm gonna have to ask I know my mum and some of her friends have read a lot of Dan Brown I'm gonna have to ask can I possibly please just read in Fanno like don't make me read the other I am I feel like it rings a bell that Dan Brown and this series you can just read the individual books so I feel like more people have read yeah oh no more people have read that one but I feel like the Da Vinci I don't know I'm hoping I can just read in Fanno because I'm not reading three other books just to read that book I'm sorry it's not happening what why am I gonna do this I I actually didn't even react to you because I'm just in shock that that well at least I'm not reading Robert Galbraith it must be grateful for small blessings what's next okay okay okay I can I've never read Gone Girl I vaguely know the twist or like some of the twist but I'm up for reading that I'm up for reading that that makes me I'm excited to that one I feel like it's such a classic I feel like it really put a twist on what the mystery thriller genre was and like really set the tone for the future that I'm excited for that last one what in God's name is this smoking 17 number 17 in a series what I have never even heard of this how many votes this got 4,000 votes 4,000 votes how many votes did the maid get to win in this same genre 78,000 4,000 votes is like number 17 okay okay okay so this is another one where I'm just gonna read this book I'm not reading fucking 16 books go up to this point it seems like a detective series Stephanie Plum that sounds like a cluedo character so those are the books that we're gonna be reading in this vlog are we excited oh my god I'm so excited wow my whole life has led up to this moment lots of Paula Hawkins which I was expecting I have gonna read a whole Stephen King trilogy as well as another Stephen King so before Stephen King I think what I'm gonna try and do apart from that Stephen King trilogy is I'm gonna read backwards in time so we'll start with the last thing he told me and we will go backwards in time through the books and seeing how I guess the mystery genre has changed mystery thriller genre has changed most of these will be more thriller than mystery so yeah I'm gonna go get all those books probably from my library and I'll see you soon when I've started the first one hi guys I'm halfway through our first book the last thing he told me um it's fine Hannah is our main girly she's a bit you know every woman I don't really know what her character is other than she loves her husband and her husband basically disappears because the company he works for is exposed as having like mass embezzlement fraud I don't know any of those words truly mean but that kind of thing his boss is arrested her husband seemingly goes on the run she's convinced he's running for like some deeper reason to protect his daughter to protect himself that's where her mind immediately goes it's clear he's involved in this to some extent but she's like there's some deeper like without having any cause really to suspect some deeper meaning or some deeper I don't know machinations at play other than he's just on the run because he's a criminal she's immediately like oh there's something I must uncover I'm confused okay so that's all you really need to know and she's left looking after his 16 year old stepdaughter and like it's fine you know it's fine I sorry yesterday I'm halfway through it's a very easy read right so I'm not struggling to get through it the pacing is good I don't feel like a ton has happened yet basically her and his daughter like trying to be detected that's what have you I don't feel like a ton has happened in the 180 pages live right it's fairly short though I'm listening to audiobooks the audiobooks nice it's easy to get through it's not offensive but it's not I don't know doing anything that I think is particularly successful at the same time like it's just fine it's so like cookie cutter thriller it's so basic level I don't necessarily mean this as a read like I mean this is it's fine like it's so has been done before has been seen before that you know it's fine on what it does it's good as what it's trying to do but I don't feel anything towards it necessarily and like I said I feel like Hannah Armin character doesn't really have any personality traits other than loving her husband and like being angry like she keeps being like I'm really angry at him for what he's done to us but like not really being angry she's like got trying to figure out her relationship with his daughter and stuff it's fine you know I don't want to complain too much because this may be the high point of the vlog I don't want to read it at the moment it's like a three you some books I give a three and I expected so much more so I think I come off a bit disappointed but a three is like middle of the road you know it's fine it's good not necessarily my personal flavour but it's fine I hope you want to tell us to tell you other than that there's some characters in this and some character dynamics that I think could lead to interesting things being explored like there's just been a reveal about her husband and some of the truth behind him and who he really is that I think is interesting her ex-husband no ex-fiancé is like helping her out and I think they've got interesting dynamic there's stuff with like police force and like other people of power that is interesting there's some interesting places this could go but as a whole it's just fine it's fine okay guys I finished the first back I actually finished just a couple days ago and I'm already forgetting stuff which is not a good sign of the longevity of this book but I decided to give this a 3.5 on the whole so there is this section just after I last spoke to you from the halfway mark for like I don't know let's say to the three quarter mark right so a quarter of the book that I ate up that's a section that's really good it's where the book is this really is settled into this slow burn mystery we're finding things out we're like scooby and shaggy solving a mystery like an answer is given and that immediately raises a our next question and an answer is given that immediately raises our next question I thought the pacing about was so good it was really it was like a five star section for me but oh no I think this is pretty forgetful and the ending um I'm not sure I completely understand the logical leaps that we're making from point A to point B to point C for everything that happens in the ending and it's like this has to happen you know whatever I'm not going to give any spoilers but like it's like there is no other choice than this this is the only choice that we're faced with and I'm like wow and it just takes a turn I wasn't prepared for it to take it paints itself as a thriller then the whole middle half right so like the middle two quarters are this slow burn mystery that I did enjoy and then it kind of goes back to wanting to be like a thriller like a I don't know what the word is but there's a certain genre of thriller that the ending aligns itself with and I just don't know if it makes sense I'm very disappointed I'm very sad am I surprised at this one no because it has like something ridiculous like 700,000 ratings on Goodreads which is ridiculous and I was actually looking back through the the whole other 20 books were nominated this year of this book and considering it was a fairly recent year 2021 I've read a few of them I have not enjoyed a single book but this is probably the highest rated book that I've read and the books are there now I do think there's books that if I were to read them I would enjoy them more perhaps like Harlem shuffle I think was nominated Leanne Moriarty I really enjoyed Big Little Alive so maybe I'll enjoy that who knows but um I think that year was a bit of a stinker a bit of a stinker I feel like the mystery thriller genre has as we've seen with the 2023 list the video that I did last year has transitioned massively to mystery mystery is trending right now thanks to me single-handedly I have made mystery more popular and publishing is listening I'm joking but only half joking when previously it was overwhelming in the thriller right it was your gong girl right we're gonna read gong girl at some point that was a massive point I feel like in the genre of then we had many years of books kind of following on from that kind of vibe and spiel and what have you and I feel like 2021 was perhaps a bit of a transitionary period between thriller mystery and so a lot of the books are kind of like somewhere in between and they don't really know their identity whereas when you look at 2023's list there's so many all-out mysteries when there's not really that in previous years so I think it's just interesting I think 2021 is maybe a bit of like an in-between year for the genre as a whole and I just think that's interesting now I do have to tell you that the whole like going back in in years like reading the year before then reading the year before that is going out the window because I was watching Mara chat about this and Mara's done this video if you guys didn't know I still haven't watched it I didn't want her opinions because me and Mara booked few twins on this I probably have mentioned that already in the video I don't know but um yeah Mara's done this video and I haven't watched it because I didn't want it to color my opinions she said that the next one I would have to read The Outsider by Stephen King spoils the other trilogy of Stephen King's that is on this list so the whole reading every book going back in time is going out the window we're just reading the books in whatever order we want to read so I am going to start with Mr. Mercedes next I've got my bookmark already we're going to start with Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King this is my first Stephen King am I a bit concerned yes I would have liked if I was to every Stephen King to start with Misery or Carrie or whatever the one that's like November 11 something the one in numbers you know one of his older books I feel like is probably where me and Stephen can could have better luck if I did want to read him but fate has forced our hand so I am going to start with Mr. Mercedes I'll check with you I'm halfway through I'm hoping to finish this whole all today if we want to get this video up in time I'm ready so we're going to try and read this all today I'll check in with you when I'm halfway through okay evening where am I put the book here so same day god we're proud of me for reading and it's only quarter past eight I'm gonna finish this book tonight girlies I am just over halfway through Mr. Mercedes I read a bit and then I've listened to a lot of the audiobook whilst I was cooking dinner I make the best shepherds part on earth actually technically it's cottage part because I use beef but whatever whatever it's the best it's the best the best anyways not to chew my own horn but like halfway through Mr. Mercedes I'm quite enjoying it I wasn't expecting that okay there's a lot of caveats to that which we'll get into in a sec but I'll just give you the pot first all you to know I went into this knowing nothing which I thought I think is part of the appeal so basically all you to know is that following two characters one who's this retired police officer the other who is a serial killer who the police officer never caught right he was one of the big cases he committed a mass murder and it was like one of the big cases that police officer hadn't caught and now they're kind of playing this like cat and mouse game with each other these years on I need to think of all of my qualifications for me saying I am enjoying this firstly I went into this with zero expectations right I was kind of mad that I have to read the whole series like I was kind of upset about that so I went into it like resenting it and so I think I'm pleasantly surprised by it if you go into a book with high execution expectations and you enjoy them the same amount you have a different reaction to them because of expectations right secondly I just read a book I gave one star you won't see it in a vlog it was for my patreon book club I hated that book I hated it so much so this is like literally Gordon Ramsay saying finally some good fucking food like it anything in comparison to what I just read was going to set my mind on fire you know what I mean so there's that and thirdly this is my first Stephen King right and I feel like a lot of the negative reviews that I've seen for this are people who have read a lot of Stephen King and loved it right I reckon if I had read older Stephen King like classic Stephen King like misery carry etc I perhaps you know a lot of criticisms I see are like the characters aren't as good as usual what have you perhaps I would be disappointed by this but because I'm coming into this afresh like oh you know I'm not thinking this is the greatest thriller author to ever exist like levels that you expect from Stephen King but I'm having a fun time you know shits and giggles like I'm having a fun time well we'll get kind of so I wanted to take all of those you know all of this with a grain of salt but I am enjoying it I'm having a fun time you guys I have not been able to put it down I think I like a good detective story like I really like the main character the thing is I think detectors are good he's kind of not anything like he's like the most basic like ex-police man he's been gaining weight he's depressed because he's like don't mean it's like stereotypical everything you can imagine but like I kind of like it I kind of like him I don't think I read horrible stuff a lot you know like this begins with a gory horrible terrible scene and there's a few moments of that already in the first half it's probably gonna get even worse Stephen King seems like gore and I don't know how you feel about that I'm a little bit of a wimp and that makes you feel a bit sick those moments this is intense right this is intense when I say shits and giggles it's not shits and giggles like we've got some scenes like a lot and you know I'd say less than half but you're following two perspectives so like maybe like I don't know it's 60-40 split between the perspectives you know you are following the perspective of a crazed serial killer like that's it's not fun it's not enjoyable but it is enjoyable well I don't say enjoyable it's the wrong word describe it so I am enjoying it I'm enjoying it a lot more than I expected I'm enjoying the audiobook a lot more than I expected it's done by the audiobook narrator of the Raven Boys which I didn't like before but I'm actually enjoying him with this kind of grizzled police detective vibe I do want to um bring up there is the whole issue of Stephen King using the end word now yes the character who's using the end word is a horrible serial killer who has a lot of shitty ideas and shitty beliefs and does a lot of shitty things beyond just killing people and a lot of fucked up things beyond just killing people you know I'm not actually I'm not gonna tell you because it's a bit of a spoiler but like ooh there's certain things that make me very uncomfortable okay so there is that there is that element and um I've always been very against that you know author white authors using the end word but it is the most awful character to ever walk this out so I don't know I think it's my opinion is that it's a lazy way to show that that person is terrible there's other ways and I think he has shown that this person's terrible I think it's a easy cop out but there will be those that argue that it's showing another terrible side of this character you know so that is an element that if that was bothered you look out for in this so I'm gonna finish it tonight I'm gonna finish tonight I'm ready to like get through this whole series I now have every book that we need to read looking at this stack knowing I have to read it in like five days girl what am I even doing what am I thinking we're gonna do it though we're gonna try our best yeah we have all of them apart from gone girl I'm gonna read this whole series and then we'll take a break from Stephen King maybe we'll read the outside of like at the end and we'll get through some of like the pool of Hawkins like the fun quick ones you know what I mean so anyways I'm gonna finish it I'll check them with you in the morning okay I finished Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King and you guys I'm gonna give it false I don't know if that is an unpopular opinion I know Mar gave it like a two and a half because I saw it on Goodreads but I think you know Kaila gave this like a four as seems although albeit in like 2015 whatever I just think I'm willing to forgive a lot if you give me a page Turner that I read on less than a day which I did for this do you know what I mean I'm willing God I was trying to read it fast but I didn't want to put it down I wanted to get through it or I wanted to finish it and for me that that does a lot like I'm willing to look over character flaws you know and what have you if you give me a page Turner that I just can't put down so I feel like my first Stephen King was a success you know I'm pretty pretty happy I enjoyed the story I enjoyed the part that it took I think it was a page Turner I think it was thrilling this made me more uncomfortable I feel like then a lot of other stuff I read I feel like Stephen King my understanding is that he goes there with stuff like that he writes about taboo uncomfortable horrible stuff and it definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone with that I realized I don't read a lot of that when I read horror even I tend to go towards campy horror not horror that's really gonna tackle like horrible I don't do well I think with like tackling the horrible stuff in life and I feel like this started to do some of that and I guess I don't know I read a lot of books about murder but some of the deaths and the way that life and the way that murders happened in this and the reasoning for murders was a lot more like without reason without like I feel like when you read Knack of the Christie right it's like oh they killed them for the inheritance like there's like a solid reason whereas a lot of the death in this was just out of pure like craziness you know and someone not in their right mind and what have you it's more uncomfortable to read about so it was interesting being pushed out of my comfort zone but yeah I would stay on the whole it's what's in second to me out of all the books who have won ever so far which is crazy which is crazy I gave them age four stars as well but I think every time it's become more of a 3.5 so this does slot in second I mean it doesn't take a lot or you've got to give me a solid four and I also need the second best but have won the award to me but I'm pleasantly I was dreading Stephen King I'm not gonna lie to you I had such low expectations I was trying to keep a positive mindset because I didn't want this whole video to be like two stars which I feel like we're not actually gonna have anymore so even though it didn't win I am gonna go ahead and quickly read finders keepers I will give a review straight after this a brief of you once I've just finished the whole book because this didn't win this came second I think one year so we'll read it quickly because I think if I'm reading one in three even though my mom said she's read them and she said like you don't have to read all of them like they're kind of like individual books I do just want to read it so I finished the whole series so I'll read this quickly give you a review and then we'll get into third one which did win in a different year so I finished the second in the series finders keepers obviously this isn't going into our official ranking oh what have you whereas Mr Mercedes took me a day to read this took me like five which isn't good so yeah so the second in the trilogy it's not going into our official ranking because it didn't win it came second um um I've gone here in fiction guys it's making thinking hard so this one is quite different it we're not we don't follow Bill Hodges who is a detective so that we follow in the first book until like the halfway mark because we're kind of following the story of one character in the 70s stole some money and some unpublished books sorry from a famous author and then many years later following a young boy who discovers that money and those books and kind of the story of those and then Hodges comes into it halfway and I don't think that has really worked for me I'm gonna be honest with you like it was such a slow it took half the book to like set up the story it felt like for like the action to get going should we speed it up a little bit I feel like this wasn't even I think I could have missed this book out I don't think I needed to read it there was like zero character development any of the main characters that I know we're now gonna follow again a lot in end of what like I didn't need to read it and the dual timeline I just I just it has your timeline where we're following a bit in the 70s and we're following a bit in 2009 in the 70s 2009 in the 70s 2009 what have you and I'm just I'm not it doesn't work for me I know it works for everyone right but like I just prefer one timeline and so I just want to read that timeline and then when we switch to the other one I'm not interested I don't care I'm not incentivized to read it that's just how I feel I preferred the present day-ish timeline versus the 1970s timeline where we're following the thief I'm just not I don't care and I just didn't want to pick this up it took me ages to pick it up I just went days really without reading which isn't good because now I've got to read like two books a day it was fine I'm giving it three like I still enjoyed it it was still fun I enjoyed the kind of bookish reader writer element to it but I just wasn't interested as interested as the first in the series so it gets a three from me I think that this series works well and we've got Hodges from the start of the book which what I'm hoping is going to be the case and end of watch the last book which did win that did win yeah this just didn't work for me it felt like none of the characters grew the storyline was fairly predictable where it was going to go it was just a case how long have I not been in focus the world is testing me today it's testing me can you save us Britney Spears can we be saved god why is Satan controlling the universe you knew where the story is going to go you knew where the character's journey was going to go it just didn't work for me it felt like a very weird middle book so anyways I'm now going to start end of watch I'm going to aim to read as much of this as I can tonight I don't know if I'll check on you halfway because I know that this is following oh I don't have to phrase this antagonists from the first book in a very much different state perhaps this is kind of verging on supernatural it sounds like from the synopsis which is like the rest of the books have not had any hint of magic or supernaturalness and so I don't know if I'll check on you halfway or if I'll just read the whole book because I don't want to spoil anything for the first book and I feel like it would be difficult especially with the character that we're kind of following again to not spoil something so we'll see if I have thoughts that I know won't spoil it halfway I'll check in with you if not I'm just gonna read the whole thing morning morning I just woke up I will just chat I have nothing really major to say but I am halfway through end of watch I'm enjoying it we're back with the main characters of the story we're back with the character of the first book I don't understand why book 2 exists like it really has zilch zero absolutely no reason to exist I absolutely did not need to read that book but anyways you know we're following the same character same plot points of the first book and I'm enjoying being back with Hodges so much because I quite like him as a character he's kind of like your typical old detective like I said and I enjoy that and I thought I wouldn't like the speculative element that this book you can kind of tell from like book 2 this book is gonna have but I'm actually not hating it I'm not like oh my god this is my favorite thing in the world but I'm not disliking it I was just the doctor because I got an infection and the doctor was like I saw you're reading Stephen King she was like I had to stop he's too intense and I do think there is something to be said about the way that Stephen King writes about like violent things that is like it's I don't know I was trying to describe it again I think I've spoken to you about this already but I was trying to describe it to my patrons and they were like you love no exit I'm like yeah but it's a different it's a different way that it's described and talked about that I can't quite explain but it does leave me feeling a bit uncomfortable but I'm still in I'm really enjoying this it's fun you know quick thriller what have you I'm gonna go get ready and I'm gonna finish it the aim of the game the the aim of the game the aim of the game today is to finish this and another book and then start a third one that's what we're doing we're just reading today so I'm gonna go sit out in the garden and finish this up I've got reading sprints I probably will finish this at some point this afternoon in the middle of the reading sprints maybe okay end of watch is finished I just finished it and for most of it I was gonna give it like a 3.5 but the ending I did enjoy and I think on the whole it's a four it's not as good as Mr. Mercedes so it's gonna go under that in my ranking but you know I think I should give it a four the ending almost made me cry I was on reading sprints of my patrons and if I wasn't I probably would have cried but I didn't want them to see me cry obviously I can't say much about this because it is the third in the series I don't want you to know what characters are still alive or what like any of that I do like the characters in this they are a bit like one-dimensional you know but I do enjoy their relationships they have it's fairly like easy reading you know like I enjoy them I enjoy the characters but it's not exactly like you know it's not hard to read I can't believe I've read a whole trilogy in one go that is just like not me like who is she who is she and I'm glad to have begun my Stephen King journey because now I do want to read some of his throwbacks I've said I don't know if I said this to you but I'll say to my patrons I'm not going to read his horror because his violence is just too like it's just too much I can't imagine that in a horror like it's already no thriller like but I don't think I'll be reading Stephen King's horrors anytime soon but his thrillers are good now something before we get on to the next one I do just want to point out I don't know if any of you have realized this but to my knowledge now I've looked all these authors up to my knowledge the mystery thriller category on the Goodreader's Choice Awards has never been won by an author of color these are all white authors all the authors I'm reading for this video and all the authors that I've read previously they are all white I think we should just sit for a moment on how awful that is like it's almost like unbelievable but I really think it is a problem with the mystery thriller genre I don't know how this might be the case with other Goodreader's Choice Awards if there's any other categories that haven't been won by an author of color there's probably a few other ones but I think you know previously as we have seen more authors of color winning I know this past year was pretty bad for it like they're not being enough but um I really think it is a problem in the mystery thriller genre and I really want to see a change because I noticed when I discovered that I loved mysteries right before that I used to do a lot more contemporaries like YA contemporaries right when YA contemporary contemporary romance you know the all fantasy now even I feel like the YA um genre or like age category as a whole is so much better for promoting and uplifting authors of color still not perfect still not great but is better and I feel like there was such a marked difference in how many authors of color I was reading from when I started to transition more into mystery and leaving like YA contemporary behind I even remember once I was doing a video like reading your most popular your favorite mystery books right and I had to specifically ask like does anyone have a favorite mystery book by an author of color because I was getting fed up as how I was only reading from white authors yes I do seek them out there are authors of color writing mystery out there but it is so much lower than other genres I feel like and people struggled to come up with an answer I asked specifically I want an author of color mystery book and people were messaging me going oh it's not by an author of color but I love this one and I'm like what the f*** it's like a bio white man and I'm like that's not how this works I want an author of color mystery book I really think not enough authors of color being published in the mystery genre and I think that them never winning this category is a reflection of that I think it's terrible so keep in mind keep that in mind during this whole vlog that this is just white people and I really think the mystery genre needs to do better I think it is one of the worst for diversity out of all genres I really do so anyways we have how many books do we have left oh gosh we have six books left to read I fully am within my right to DNF and listen I DNF'd one book I think in the other Goodreads Choice Awards video that I did if I need to DNF I'm going to but I also don't really want to like I'm kind of excited for all these I think let's pick up and tick off the quickest one off the list which is the first one let's throw it back back to 1999 this isn't 1999 this was published in 2011 wows but it is only like 270 pages and the font is freaking massive so this was the first winner of the Goodreads Choice Awards for Mystery Thriller I'm intrigued to see what I'm going to think of this because this is like number 17 in like this mystery series or what have you but I don't know I mean I don't know what to expect I don't know what the plot is at all but I think this will be a nice quick read and then we'll try to get through as much of another one on the list as we can today is the plan so yeah I'm gonna go read this and I'll probably just let you know my thoughts when I finish it I've just woke up again why do I keep filming when I've just woken up like I look rough I haven't even brushed my hair okay right but I have to talk about this I finished it last night and I just need to like talk about it so that it's out of my life I don't even know where to start with this you guys I don't even know where to begin so this is like the 17th book in a series right so like we are you know starting off not knowing anything like in the middle of this but it seems like Stephanie missed our Stephanie she works for like bail bonds which we don't have something like that okay because you have to like bail doesn't work the same way I don't think but she like has to get people to go to court or something I don't know and there's all these bodies like murdered bodies turning up on the kind of like a state where she's working it's a long story you don't need to know all of it um this was bad this was really bad it was so bad I'm giving it a two the only reason it's a two I'll tell you one positive thing about it is that it's like funny I don't know that I found it funny but it's like a nice respite from the violence that was Stephen King's books like the darkness the kind of depth that the humanity can go in terms of like horribleness like this is like jokie not that I found it funny not that it was funny but you can say that I wasn't funny okay you may not like what I was saying but you cannot say I wasn't funny at least it gave me a break from what I had been reading that's the only reason it's two stars it's terribly written we have a best friend sidekick called Lula Luna one of those who I realized halfway through the book is black and like I should have guessed because every like slightly problematic stereotype that you can have was there like she loved fried chicken she was a voluptuous woman who tried to wear like skimpy clothes she used to be a pucker maybe that's what they referred to her as I don't that's not me using that terminology that's what they refer to her as so I mean like there's that also there's barely any mystery in this it's kind of like obviously I get the sense that every book in this series is the same thing basically but like the mystery isn't a big thing there's I swear to God like 30 scenes where characters are eating in this book they just go places and get food like that's all that this book is it's like going places and getting food that's all that it is and it's like a love triangle you know I assume this love triangle goes on for the whole series and she's like with one of them for a bit with one of them she's like dating this one guy and they're like in an open relationship but like she says we say we are but neither of us dates other people but she is fucking this other guy too much drama for me who's in the love triangle like she sleeps with her multiple times in this book but the other guy's her boyfriend and she says that if she found out that he was sleeping with anyone else she'd like beat the woman up and I'm like this makes no sense maybe that's like a very 2011 young person kind of I don't know or maybe I'm just like I just don't like that in books okay like as long as your boyfriend just makes me a boyfriend like you don't need to be sleeping with people just decide like I don't I don't like it because he doesn't know here's the thing like it's like secretive and like whenever she's in trouble she calls both of them and they both turn up that oh not that I'm saying she needs to tell him oh I slept with him last night but like she's kind of hiding it from him I've gone right I just hated it it was so bad it was like beyond bad but I think it's supposed to be bad like it's supposed to be quick read like lighthearted ridiculous you know the ladies who read this get excited about her sleeping with these men but like it wasn't even sexy like the sex scenes were comical they weren't I don't know you guys I guess this was from a different era right it's the first book that ever won it's from a different time we liked different things but yeah it was terrible I'm proud of myself though I still haven't seen after book I'm not promising I won't because that might happen we've got five books left I'm gonna start today gone girl now here's the thing I know some of the twists in gone girl I've tried to stay away from it as much as possible so I don't really know the plot I just know that she goes missing like a woman goes missing and everyone thinks it's the husband but I know a few of the twists but then I think there's more twists that I don't know about so anyways it has no reason to be this long gone girl the audiobook is 20 hours what thriller needs to be 20 hours I'm sorry but I'm excited to read this because this book defined the thriller genre for like at least five years afterwards you know it really defined the books that people are reading at the time now I think the trends are shifting but this kind of like domestic thriller was with husbands and wives like hating each other whatever was massive right so I'm excited to see the effects that this book has had on other books that I've read other books I'm gonna read in this video so I'm just gonna go ahead and start reading but I'm gonna try and read it as quick as I can because why the fuck is it 20 hours long what's going on there um I don't want to say I don't want to say because this is like the book the thriller it's just not quite doing it for me I don't know if I'm going into it with two big expectations right so you probably know the synopsis of this Amy Dunn has gone missing on her and her husband Nick's wedding anniversary and like kind of like you know Nick we're reading from his perspective and Diaries that Amy has written and you're kind of like Nick you're a little bit a little bit sus like he's a bit stupid he's just dumb dumb man right and I just don't think I like reading from Dunn men's perspective I'm not interested I'm halfway through by the way I just don't like reading from Dunn men's perspective like why why should I have to do that why should I have to do that I should be free of the constraints of reading from Dunn men's perspective and the thing is I know the twist right or at least the like what I think is going to be like the halfway twist I know it I know the twist right and so there's certain thrillers that I think are still fine to read if you don't know the twist like I remember Big Little Lies I'd found out a massive twist of it but I still loved reading and the reading experience but this one I'm just feeling like I struggle to know how I would have read it would I have figured out would it have been really obvious like I don't know if it would have been like a gag moment like I feel like it's pretty obvious but obviously I know the twist so I can't say that but I don't think I would have been gagged you know it hasn't happened yet but I don't think I would have been gagged the writing is just fine I don't think the pacing is great I don't think it should be as long as it is I think we could have cut a hundred pages from this not from the half I've read but from the book as a whole you know I think you could have easily cut some I think it's slow and a bit meandering with like the two perspectives like we've got the dire entries of stuff happening years ago from her perspective and I understand why they're in there but like I'm not loving it yes it's a concern and a worry is it because I have come into this with such high expectations because it is the book like it's such a popular book it defined the genre or would I feel the same it just feels average it doesn't feel incredible to me unless it pulls out the stops in the second half it's like a three I don't like reading from the next perspective I think it's fairly obvious it's too long I mean here's the thing right I'm reading this many years on right when did this come out 2013 probably 2012 okay the twists to me feel generic but like was this the first book to do those twists or like to really like mainstream book to really twist in this way but for me the twists seem generic they seem obvious in a domestic thriller anyways and it's too long it's too long it is too long in my opinion so I'm gonna go finish it I'll let you know I'm just gonna like read the whole thing in the garden now so we'll see we'll see okay can we just not I finished this last night it's now the afternoon I was like check my watch it's the afternoon the next day um I have barely any opinions on this book and that's really upsetting me because if I'm gonna come here and tell you I gave this a three star which I did I feel like I should at least be able to like back up my opinions but I don't really have any I don't get it I don't get it okay no I think I do get it I think firstly the kind of thriller that this book spawned the married couple who are both shitty people who hate each other one of them maybe kills each other like I've read that a thousand times and I feel like this really began that kind of trend like particularly domestic thrillers between husbands and wives and I just could not give less than fuck I never like them I never like thrillers about husbands and wives I don't know why I keep reading them because I just find them so boring the themes that get played upon when looking at why why husband wife might be clashing I just find so boring someone's cheating someone's lying about who they are I don't I don't care like I don't like the second half of this was a bit better but I know some of you are gonna think I'm crazy for saying this but I think it should have gone harder with what it was doing I don't want to say what it is like with some of the characters changes and what have you that we have in the second half like I think it should have gone harder I don't think it went hard enough and I know it's crazy all the reviews are like oh my gosh holy shit this is mad I didn't I was just okay okay okay I feel nothing towards this book I feel like I'm gonna forget it in a day but I don't think it's bad it was readable like I read it in a day I had a good time reading it but I think it's incredibly forgettable and I don't I don't get the hype this type of thriller isn't for me it's not for me it's not something I enjoy I like mystery I like thriller mystery adjacent stuff it just is so boring to me it's so boring and I think there was some character inconsistencies that you know I don't want to they're spoilers but like inconsistencies occurred just to help the plot move along in the direction the author wanted and I hate when that happens I was like one of my biggest pet peeves is like that only happened so that the story could go in the direction the author wanted it doesn't actually fit with the character's personality traits that we've that we've known it just felt a bit ridiculous now I will say I think Gillian Gillian Gillian not sure Miss Flynn I think she's a good writer like there's certain lines in this that gave me pause and felt way better written than a typical thriller so I can see why people would enjoy it because of that but it was too long for me there's no reason to be as long as it is I don't like dual perspective dual timeline stories so that's not gonna do it for me I don't like husbands or wives that's not gonna do it for me so I just think me in this book don't work but I feel like this is such momentous book it was such an integral book to the genre that I feel like I can't just come here and sit here and be like well not for me it was fine I don't have a burning reason as to why I didn't love it I just didn't love it and it's just not for me I'm glad I've read it because now I know all the fuss about and I just don't understand it but that's okay that's okay so we have four books left I think next let's get into Paula Hawkins because we've got two to read I'm gonna go for the one I'm actually a bit less excited to read because I think the synopsis of Into the Water sounds like more my thing so let's read The Girl on the Train next which again is like you know a super hyped thriller and we'll see what I think draw more everyone um we have our first dnf what's gonna happen gonna shoot me I doubt it you have to catch me first I'm like a whip it I'm not doing it any longer you guys I gotta be I gotta level with you I didn't want to show weakness because I want to show weakness I'm a boss bitch but this video is ruining my life these books are taking far too long to read I've been doing it for weeks at this point and it's Friday and I'm getting this video up by Sunday come hell of her water I'm just all I'm doing in my life is reading these books at the moment and so I'm not gonna stick around anything I'm not enjoying I got about 150 pages into this so I feel like that's a good go you know it's what like 400 pages long I almost got halfway um I detest this vague synopsis you've got Rachel who gets this train every day and she sees she like spies on these people in their gardens and then she sees something and then the woman goes missing and she's like entangling herself up in the investigation basically and um we also have the perspective of that woman okay um I hate it I'm so prevailing feeling boredom boredom I don't understand I don't understand don't understand don't understand don't understand why this is so it's a popular book because nothing has happened nothing is interesting nothing is intriguing there's nothing to make me want to read it's the truth I think at the end of the day right multiple problems here this type of thriller isn't for me it's very gongarly like I can tell it's been inspired by gongarly horrible characters horrible characters who like they don't even feel real these none no one in this book feels like a real person they are all thriller figments of imagination I hate that in thriller books so I every thriller I rate low is because it's like here's the thing I know I know I can't take it anymore I know sometimes I say I love caricatures in thrillers and mysteries that's when it's camp and fun right this is not giving me camp or fun it's just giving me nonsense nonsensical I'm quite impressed by how long that's staying on my forehead I love when in a mystery book you've got these characters who are like larger than life and like stereotypes almost of like I don't know a rich man like it's fun it's fun to play off that this is not giving me fun there's no characteristics I I I'm not enjoying it so it's gone it's gone we're done here the narrator is an alcoholic who has blackouts and so she's not alive or narrator and here's the thing I've always said in my life I don't mind unreliable narrators but like both this and in gongal something about it just pisses me like I just think it's in a cheap easy way it's not exciting it's not innovative well maybe it is innovative but it's just been so overdone since that I just don't get it and it's not my kind of thing I don't like any narrators they all sound there's like multiple sectors and they all sound the same um and it's just not fun it's not a fun read it's miserable it's gray it's dreary but like if you're gonna be miserable give me like like visceral misery this is just gray drab dreary it's gone whoop it's a library book I'm not throwing it I thought we weren't gonna get a dnf and here's the thing like it would have taken me just a couple hours to read the rest of this but like I need to allow myself dnfs I'm not a dnf uh I don't dnf but I need to be kind to myself and allow it for my own sanity so I think next let's start Inferno by Dan Brown I know this is the fourth in a series but I'm hoping I'll just be able to like pick up and get a good sense of of roughly what's going on I don't really know much about this whole series like this whole Da Vinci Code series but I'm gonna give it a go I'm gonna read it it's 600 pages long but I've got the audiobook and I'm gonna try and read this whole thing tonight it's like what time is it it's quarter five I'm gonna try and read the whole thing tonight I believe in myself I'll check in with you when I'm halfway through good morning I just woken up and I have some not the best news what is that there's like an alarm outside my window can you hear that my room is a mess I'm trying not to let you see any of it can that alarm stop thank you I have gotten halfway through Inferno by Dan Brown I'm I can't even I've taken my book mark out but I've got 300 pages in I've read 300 pages of this book right okay um I'm DNFing this one as well it's been playing on my conscience I don't like DNFing if you're a regular here you know I never but I have a big reason for this one and it's it's a soft DNF unlike the other channel never reading that again this one I'm not gonna mark as a DNF on Goodreads I'm just gonna delete it from my books because I'm open to reading this series in the future I gave a quick plot we've got this Harvard man Robert Langdon wakes up in hospital bed no idea how he got there who he is and he's on this like chase because he has something that these other people want and my big problem with this is with it being the fourth book in a series despite everyone being like oh yeah you can just read that one every time we meet a character I'm like am I supposed to know you from a previous book or are you new to the book the whole series and it's pissing me off it's like I can't enjoy the book at all I can't focus on the book because I'm so concerned with wondering what information I would have had from like the previous three books that is like doing me a disservice and not understanding aspects of this so like a character whose friends with Robert Langdon just died right and I'm like is that supposed to be emotional because we've met you in previous books or is this the first book that you're in and I just can't I can't do it guys so sorry I'm so sorry like I I don't want a dnf I'm not a dnf but um I've read 300 pages so I'm open to reading this in the future I think his writing's okay down but there has been certain moments where particularly when he's writing kind of like from the woman's perspective that like has rubbed me up the wrong way a little bit and not gonna lie the way that like Sienna is this doctor that he's with oh the way that she's talking about her feelings towards the doctor they're like two minutes of meeting him I'm like oh okay okay it's just such a man writing stuff and I'm gonna be honest this era of thriller Dan Brown was bigger like in the pre 2010 naughties although this is the fourth book in the series like this kind of thriller is like what kind of was before gone girl and so yeah I feel like it's very indicative of what the genre used to be like and that's not my favorite thing either like it kind of just feels like we've been running around for 300 pages like running from one place to another and I'm not especially interested in that so we're dnfing but we're not gonna dnf the last two books we've got okay don't worry we're gonna read them both I'm gonna go ahead and start and hopefully read the whole of today the outsider by Stephen King I know this is like a standalone technically an 11 year old boy is murdered everyone thinks it's the town's little league coach but I think we're gonna have Holly back as a character in this from the Mr. Mercedes trilogy and I do just want to say one thing about the Mr. Mercedes trilogy it's been playing on my mind and I didn't really know how to phrase it when I was reading the series and it's just that you have Holly who's new i divergent and Jerome who is black and they're kind of the two sidekicks to Bill Hodges right and my opinion is I like them as characters I really like reading about them and you know from the perspective I really like them as characters but I'm not entirely comfortable with how their marginalizations have been presented by Stephen King and I feel like that perspective isn't going to please anyone because there's going to be people in the comments who are like want me to call Stephen King racist and problematic and what have you and there's going to be people who are going to say you know writers can write what they want and he's put a lot of care into these characters and what have you and I don't necessarily fall on either side of that I my opinion is I really like reading about these characters but I don't think that they're I don't think their representations have been necessarily totally handled with care but also I am not neurodivergent I'm not black so like I can't entirely speak on it but I would just put that out there as like a warning if that makes sense anyways we're gonna read my next Stephen King my fourth Stephen King who is she I'm gonna go ahead and edit a bit more of this video and then start the outsider but yeah we're aiming to read this all today it's like 450 pages long so I will check in with you when I'm about halfway oh wait no hang on I realized one other thing I meant to tell you turns out there were two more years of Goodreads Awards there was a 2009 and 2010 but they're not on that main Goodreads Awards page where you can go back through and look all the years I only found it through googling because they weren't presented in that way we could see the votes all the books got it would just say it was like a blog post and it would say this was the winner with 30% of the vote um I think the girl with a dragon tattoo series won both the mystery thriller in those two years and we're not going we're not going to read them we're counting the ones that Goodreads has decided to leave in the canon because 2009 2010 are not on the list on the Goodreads Choice Awards page anyways that was all the news I'm going to go start the outsider okay I am halfway through the outsider and I am pleased to report I'm enjoying it I'm enjoying it so the basic premise of this book all you need to know is that a kid has been murdered in a brutal horrible way and all the evidence points to the little league coach right he's also like our English high school teacher it all points to him but he also has an alibi a solid tight verified alibi that means he couldn't have committed the murder but his fingerprints his DNA everything is with the body of this child so it's like the question how could he do it how could be two places at one what's happening here and I'm really enjoying it it was a very strong hook like it got me but that question of like impossibility how could this happen when this is impossible was really really hooking which made me really want to read on I didn't know though that Stephen King had such speculative elements in his books I knew the horror but I thought his thrillers were kind of like grounded in reality now I still don't know the way this is gonna go like it could go many ways you know with end of watch there was that speculative element and now with this there is a speculative element like could there be a creature or something I don't know I'm making this up because what my what my brain is thinking not necessarily what the book is making is like saying but my brain is thinking is there a creature that can like sheep shift or whatever I don't know it's crazy it's crazy I think this is crazy I didn't I wasn't prepared for that I didn't know Stephen King did that I knew like there's pets and mature over which is I think is like dead pets coming alive I don't know yeah I'm really enjoying it it's not gonna be a five star I'm yet to read any Stephen King in this video where like I start and I'm like oh this could be a five star it's like a solid four is what this feels like you know but I already feel like there's some certain tropes that are being reused around types of people around plot points around crimes around he loves Subaru's I mean I don't know what Subaru is I don't know cars but he can't shut up about Subaru's I don't know and you know I am not a part of the Stephen King discourse like around stuff people don't like about him people stuff people like about him around what his books usually like like I have never really listened to a lot of people talk about Stephen King I feel like I've always almost phased it out so like I don't know what the discourse is I could be like touching on stuff and everyone as if I'm like a genius and everyone's like yeah we know everyone knows that about Stephen King but Holly's about to appear again from the trilogy that I read and I'm excited for that I really like Holly as a character like I said not entirely comfortable with how she is represented and the different aspects of her represented but I do like reading about her as a character so yeah it is the evening but I am just gonna try and finish the second half of this tonight or as close as I can get to finishing the second half of this tonight I've read pretty much the first half just out in the garden now and like I said it's really gripping I'm really enjoying it you know I do get the thing though it could be a bit long like I feel like we should be getting a bit further than we've maybe already got in like 240 pages so we'll see but I'm looking forward to finishing this tonight and I will check in with you in the morning okay I just finished the outsider and I don't know what to think because I okay here's the thing I enjoyed like the whole reading experience of reading this I loved Holly being back in the book I really enjoyed like the intrigue at the start like I said it really hooked me but I kind of finished the book and I was just like okay like I didn't feel anything push me up against the wall give me a kiss then I might get excited I have no idea what to rate this I really don't maybe the ending felt a bit rushed and just felt a bit like okay do you know what I mean like it didn't shock me the ending was just like I guess the natural course of events it didn't grab me it felt like a bit like the easy ending but I don't know like I genuinely I don't know if it's like I've read too many thrillers in one go and like let's be honest for a second let's be completely frank and honest with each other all of these books that have one I don't even need to like this is probably be my conclusion to the video I'll probably repeat myself in the next clip I don't need to read this last one to know this all of these books are the most cookie cutter made for the average reader thriller book none of them really have anything like special to them I've read all of them and I'm just like okay like they're all just fine they're all basic they're all for the general reader you know I feel like with The Guru's Choice Awards it's a popularity contest so like even with a nominee is you're already going to get like the most popular basic thriller with a few sprinkled in that I think do something imaginative and different like for example last year with Wrong Place Wrong Time I really loved the winners are going to be even more some of that just like the most basic thriller and I just feel like I am my mind like has been whittled down to like nothing by reading one of these books I never usually read this many of one genre in one go so I don't think that helps I think usually I read a lot of variety and so I'm just kind of like done with thrillers you know what I mean but also these are all the same these are all the same not to mention we've read three Stephen King but like they're all the same they're all for the same reader none of them are doing something really different this was fine but I'm probably not going to remember it in a long time to come I'm going to give it a 3.5 I really did enjoy aspects of this like I don't want you guys to think I think it was bad I there was like the intrigue the possibility holly in it but I just don't get a four star feeling but I think in terms of the ranking I'll put it above the last thing he told me so it's like a number five so that's where I put this overall it was fine but it didn't do yeah I didn't do a ton for me okay so last book you guys I'm so ready for this to be done this vlog has ruined my life I am fed up for reading these effects I don't know if you can doubt we're going to read into the water I'm probably going to go read this whole thing in one go and then I will check them at the end because this video is already over an hour long so we don't want anymore let's just go read this whole thing and see I'm intrigued obviously I DNF the girl on the train but I'm hoping for good things from this I feel like the synopsis is more my kind of thing so let's see I am I have a sneaking suspicion that Paula Hawkins is not for me I did not like this at all it's not for main park I feel terribly ill all of a sudden I don't even know where to begin with this let me tell you the plot so basically all you need to know is that a single mother has been found drowned in this pool where over the years many girls and women have drowned there it's unclear at first whether she has done that herself or whether there's foul play involved but yeah over the kind of course of history witches used to be drawn there that kind of thing and we're following I don't even know how to tell you we're following her sister comes to look after her daughter and we're following all these other characters kind of in this small town as well now firstly Miss Paula there does not need to be as many perspectives as there are considering so many of them are boring there is I kid you not like 10 povs in this we don't need 10 povs like there's so many characters I had to keep going back to the start where there's a cast list now here's the thing in a murder mystery I like a cast list because I feel like that's more of a convention of the genre this stinks of the editor being like yeah I think people are gonna get lost on who's who and like whose relation is to everyone else and Paula's like just stick a stick a cast list in the start that'll that'll fix it because I up until the end I had to keep going back and checking who was who because I just could not keep like I just keep it in my head who any of these people were I don't think the writing it was great obviously there's just something about Paula Hawkins I don't like because I do have to go on the train I just feel like this is so like I said in the last clip bog standard thriller I don't understand why this one like why did this win I don't get it like it's just so nothing I'm telling you not to say to you it was a snooze fest guys this book was a snooze best it was boring I thought I'd enjoy this from the synopsis but like it somehow managed to just be so boring and also towards the end like with all the reveals that are coming out because we had so many characters it was like this person did this but this person did that and that made this person do this and that made that person do that like it was so convoluted yes I like a complex mystery but like considering all these characters are boring and I didn't care who any of them were like I just I didn't care I didn't care I will forget I read this in a week like it is so forgettable it's it was crap I'm sorry I'm sorry Miss Paula I'm sorry but I own another Paula Hawkins I own her most recent one a slow fire burning I don't know whether I did I got it for a pound at the charity shop so like you know it's not even the world if you don't like it but I did like the sound of it so maybe I'll give her one last go but both of these sucked ass in my opinion I give it have I told you I'm giving it I'm giving it a 2.5 because I think quality wise it is a bit better than the twos I've given out and did I give more than one two out I don't know but the two at least soaking 17 I gave a two and this is better than that so I'm giving it a 2.5 but I'm rounding it down to a two on Goodreads it was not great so there we have it that is all the books I read on this vlog dear god dear god what a sad little life Jane so this is my final ranking of all the Goodreads winners for mystery thriller ever apart from those first two years because Goodreads removed them from the canon that's on them not me the guest list is still my top one ever I don't think anything else has topped the guest list for me um but that was a very important book for me you know got me into mysteries as a genre it really was influential for me but other than that my favorite was Miss Mercedes by Stephen King of my favorite from this video but even then like this was solid but I just feel like most of these books I don't get how they want they all just felt fine that's my overall prevailing feeling from this video that they're all just I guess it makes sense because they are for the common denominator they're for the people who read like I don't know only thrillers but read like 10 books a year and that means that person has read them and they can vote in it or they've heard of Stephen King and they can vote in it or they've heard of gong girl do you know what I mean I don't know I didn't love any of these and I was a bit disappointed with some of the hyped ones that I thought I would enjoy that gong girl girl on the train like I thought I could have good luck with those books considering they've been so hyped but anyways I will leave now because this video is 10 years long already but I hope you enjoyed it this was um a taxing video for me I'm glad I'm never doing this again because well I'm gonna do the Goodreads towards the end of the year but I mean I can only read the winners once right so it's never happening again thank you guys so much for watching this video thank you for going through this with me and I'll see you very soon in another one bye


It's a big one Yes, it's a good one. I Watched immediate just like the other one came right out of that shade Yo, what's poppin people welcome back to another episode of kicking the rest TV if you guys are new to the channel hit that Subscribe button hit the notification bell also the like button you guys have been enjoying the content today We're actually doing some kayak fishing in the super clear lake We had a lot of fun out here in the past and it's been a long time since we've been out here So we're like, you know what let's whip out the kayaks today. It's been a long time Let's go out to this lake that we haven't been to in a while and try to put a hurtin on these fish It's actually really hot today. It's the heat index is around 105. We're in the middle of the day right now The fishing has been really tough. We try to film in this morning and we barely had any bites So it's gonna be a grinder today, but we're gonna get out there and make it happen Put her heads down throw a lot of baits try to catch these fish and just have a good time So you guys want to see some more kayak content like this? Let us know hit the like button Let me know down below. I'd really appreciate it But we have two bona fides and then we have this bass pro kayak right here that we're gonna be putting in Got my man Connor right here. He's gonna be going out with us This is like one of your first times in like an official kayak to right? Yeah, never really done kayak fishing So I think we have a good chance today, and I got no with me Make it happen. We'll make it happen. Then we got my man Cody Right here, so we're gonna go ahead and put the kayaks in see if we can catch some fish and hopefully just load up on some really good ones Let's get it Alrighty guys before we get today's video started. We got to rig up a few rods So I have My new kicking their bass ex lose combo right here By the way, if you guys want to be the first to know when that rod drops go to kickingthebest.com It's gonna be a pop-up. This is be the first to know Type in your phone number and you will be notified when they drop because they're gonna sell out instantly so If you guys are interested go ahead and go do that and then I have A mock two with a custom pro on this bad boy that we're gonna be rocking and rolling with so We're gonna go ahead and rig up I think I'm gonna put a texas rig on that rod and then some sort of moving bait on this And we're gonna cover a lot of water and I think we'll end up catching some good ones So we have just a weightless ewg right now So what I'm gonna do is some weights and hooks in this box Get one of these bullet weights. This is a quarter ounce Put her on the line Take our hook right here Tie her onto here if you guys are wondering what knot I'm tying it's a standard old union knot My favorite knot Very strong Tie her on there boom And the crawl that I'm actually going to put on here is a summer crawl rage crawl and this is My favorite color in the old rage crawl this thing gets munched especially when you're fishing clear water I just seem to catch a lot of fish on that bad boy If you guys want to check out any of the baits or rods that I use I have the discount codes and links right below in the description You guys can go get you some baits for a cheaper price But we're gonna rig this bad boy up and start covering water with it That's gonna be our first rod right there a little slow moving bait for this custom pro on a mach 2 I'm probably gonna put on like a jerk bait to be quite fair with y'all I might be able to get a few on a jerk It might put me on a trap. I don't know.  I'm gonna put on just a little natural color a little bit of purple on top green on the body with white It's one of my favorite colors in the jerk bait But we're gonna tie this bad boy on and I think I wish the wind was Whipping a little bit today one it would make it a lot less hot And two I just think it would help this fish bite and position them a little better Especially for this jerk bait But you know, we're gonna give it a shot and see if we can catch some I know the last time I came out here.  We might have to slow down for these bass But we're just gonna have some fun with it try to hunt down these fish and And try to have a good time You guys know when it gets so hot, you know, especially 100 degree days like this it can get really tough and Be hard to catch fish, but we're just gonna put our heads down today and we're gonna catch them I ain't gotta doubt about it. I'm not taking a no for an answer I'm gonna have a good attitude about it and just go at it. So Let's go ahead and start casting around and try to catch a big fish Got our main conner right over there. I think he's just working the Main grass edge with a texas rig Which is a pretty good plan with how today the sun's very high this fish should be up in that grass I really wish I had a punching rig because we could tear him up on it today The last time we went out I actually caught him on a punch rig really good too Thing is when that sun is beaming down on them like today They get way up in that grass and it can gotta be hard to get that texas rig where it needs to be So that punch rig is good, but Then again, that's really hard to fish on the yaks. I ain't too stressed about it All right, so we're gonna start right here on this little grassy point start off with this texas rig kind of flipping cast on the edge and I think we might be able to get on a few good fish right off the rip If they're on this edge good that's what I'm hoping I'm hoping they're not too far up in that grass to where This texas rig is kind of useless, but I know there would be some on the edge Well guys, I actually just caught the first fish of the day on a jerkbait. It was such a good dang bite And I happened to look down and my GoPro overheated and I didn't want to repair the file. So I freaking hate that but Cody got a drone shot of it and so you guys can see that we'll roll that right now Yeah, that was our first fish of the day. It wasn't nothing big, but you know, he slammed that jerkbait. It was a good little bite and One thing I was talking about, you know caught a fish down this bank right here Pretty decent one on a moving bait One thing I noticed about this bank versus the bank we were fishing right at the beginning Is this bank has a little bit of wind going down it So when you're fishing a jerkbait, you definitely want to be fishing this thing around wind At least that'll help out the bite So it's got a slight little ripple little breeze pouring in here Right here on the edge of this grass is a perfect little spot to work this bait So we should have some more bites. I was working it pretty fast.  It's a big one Yeah, it's a pretty good one, dude Oh, I watched him eat it Oh, it's a good one Yes That is what we've been waiting on all day. It's a pretty good one. He choked it too guys I mean ate it head first. Look at this fish Yes, all I like two and a half or the head on it's like a two and a half Body's freaking skinny as can be Oh man. Well, there we go guys technically our first fish on video, but second fish today He had that sucker head first. That's what you want guys.  That's a beautiful fish. You got one biggin Connor's got one. Oh, dude, you got a biggin Dude, Connor's got a biggin Yo He came off in the boat Look at that. That's a pretty one. Let's go over to the Connor and check out his he looks like he's got one bigger than mine But man, that's a good fish on a jerk bait Let's go. That's what we're looking for. Here we go guys. We had to get something started I hooked one and then technically a little double up here We're gonna go over to Connor and see his fish.  It was pretty crazy Look at this. What you got Connor? Got an aggressive one Moron, it's gonna break my rod All right, look at that guys. That's a good one, bro Nobody's just got one over there and I was just burning a What am I throwing rage crawls burning a rage crawl like a couple feet down. He smoked It's aggressive. That's a good one It's a good like almost three pounder. Yeah, it's not too bad But if there's ones we got yours is a lot more filled out than mine It'll be good She goes nice dog That's sweet. Let's start in double up on two good ones. Let's go baby I was a little bit worried over there because I wasn't getting any bites, but no it's crushing them over here So I came over and made a nice one. We'll get some more though. All right Well, we just got us both two good bass Almost broke my rod in the process, but we're all good Yeah, I wasn't paying attention dude.  It's kind of crazy Um, the ones that I caught were off a little bit but I know there's a lot in that grass. It's just we don't have a punching rig We had a punching rig dude. I mean they would be Crank Yeah They get in that stuff real good. Yes It's a good one I watched him eat it just like that other one came right out of that shade And slammed it. Oh, it's a good one Dude That's bigger than my first one.  It don't get much better than this baby.  Look at that one right there, baby Look look at the head on these suckers They're just skinny.  That's still a three pound fish, but it should be a four pounder Head's so big on these fish. The body's just so skinny You can tell he was hungry Look at that beautiful fish Oh man You gotta love that man, especially after a day like today. That's very tough I will say the bites that we're getting are freaking big man All three of the bites we've had have been big boys. That's a long freaking fish Only if you were more filled out, buddy, you'd be a four pounder Thank you for biting man That's a good bass Let's go that other one that I caught was the same way I found some shade on this bank a little bit of grass a little bit of trees And that's where that other big one was too. So maybe that's something we needed to duplicate if we can find that shade Next to the trees and the grass that's where these big ones are sitting up in there. All right guys That's two big boys that we got Connor got him a pretty good one too Let's even get another one in this shade That'd be awesome catch one in the same spot. It's even bigger That would just be the best thing in the world So cool watching these I'd say the coolest part about this like, you know I'll top water fishing so dang cool because you see them come up and eat it This jerk bait bite right now is very similar because you can just the water's so clear And you can just see that fish come out and eat it and it's just like so really it's so cool There might be another one down this bank. I might have to pick up that crawl and throw it a good bit, but I can catch another one on this jerk bait. I'm going to I think one just boiled behind me.  Finally ate it That's so cool We'll say the ones that we're getting today guys have been some good fish. This is the smallest one I want you guys to look at some look at how dark this fish is This fish has been living All up in that grass You know when those fish get up in something like that some thick vegetation They sit up there for a long time. They actually start to turn colors So if you go fish some heavy like lily pads or Thick grass and you pull the bass out and he's like a kind of a golden dark look It's because he's up in that stuff But look at that one. That's a pretty one not a big one, but it's still a nice fish. Yeah, he's super dark, man He's living up in that grass Yeah, so what happened, I mean I threw on the edge, but I called him out, you know Yeah Because he's been living up in there. I mean, that's why is that color. It's a pretty bass guys Fourth one today on the jerk bait not bad at all Been a little grime, but we're getting it done Well guys, we just got off the water got the truck right there boat right here old kayaks in the grudge And man, we had a good time on the water. We only caught like five or six fish But we had some pretty good ones and it was a fun time The one thing that we could have done today was punched if we would have a punching rig and punching that thick grass Especially with how hot it was today. I mean it was like 105 We would have slammed the fish So what I'm going to do is I'm actually going to show some of the clips from the beginning of the year of Us punching and we're going to roll some at the end of this video just because this is what we could have got on If they would have been really good and we ended up bringing out the punch rig But thank you guys so much for watching this far in the video. Hit the like button if you guys are enjoying it Let's get to these crazy catches Got a whole bucket of salad with him Let's go Or that's how you want to catch them. I don't even know if I want that weighed anymore. That's fun That's so much fun. Look at that one. That's my first fish today three fish total, right? And that is awesome to catch one punching like that flipping the edge of this grass He actually bit me the cast before and I got him that second time Let's get him back in the water. She's got pretty markings on these fish and this clear water She just Blashed me all over my face.  Oh god. He's a good big one, dude I thought he was off That's the four pounder Get him chance. That's what we need right there, brother Get him boy He's three pounds They look big in that clear water. That's a good one though Nice Oh, yeah That's the ones that we're looking for today The punching rig that's a good fish. This is just a mean-looking guy That is a good bass right there.  So that's a pretty fish right there Let me see if we can keep on catching some and uh upgrading. Yeah, I got him Dude, I'm already getting my workout Oh, yeah, he's right there.  I'm good, dude I'm telling you I'm getting a workout early today. I still haven't gone to the gym, but hey We getting in with these fish pulling them out of this slop. It's another little nice one nice That's a good one too Fat as can be dog. Look at that fish.  Look at that one right there guys I don't know if that's the biggest one, but I can definitely say that's the fattest fish of the day You look on his tail. You can almost see these black markings on this bass and It's crazy because we were so close to that patch right there right in that corner had a lot of deep water on it That fish is over three pounds right there.  That is a that's a football. That's the ones we've been looking for today He ate that punching rig right in front of us There she goes


So where does location-based gaming and storytelling come from? Well, location-based storytelling comes from, for example, games like geocaching, where you find hidden treasures in your environment, which might be linked to a narration, for example. There are geocaches that have elaborate stories around them, but there are also some which are very technical, where you just have to find out the coordinates. We don't have a binary distinction between story-no-story, but we have a continuum of things like that. That means, although the evolution of today's location-based games, apps and stories is directly linked to the evolution of mobile and GPS devices, its basic principles are not new. Let's look at the origins of geocaching, for example. Everybody might be familiar with the scavenger hunt. Often used as children's outdoor activity. A scavenger hunt makes the players or hunters follow hints, maps and riddles to find the way from one place to another to a treasure hidden at some secret location. If we now look at geocaching and how it works, we'll find the same treasure and scavenger hunt principles here, but combined with electronic means. An easy way to explain geocaching, therefore, is to say it's a scavenger hunt using GPS data and mobile devices to locate the hidden treasures or caches. One way to create a scavenger hunt is to give the players coordinates of the locations they have to find. This results in a location-based game, maybe, but not always a location-based story. It's always possible, though, to implement a story within. For that, you need a fictional setting or a challenge that has to be solved. One way is to create a fictional character, like Max in Secret City, who's lost and has to be found. Or you could create a fictional companion for the searcher via letters or else, who helps find the hints hidden at several locations. The possibilities, of course, here are endless. Then we have location-based games like Can You See Me Now from Blast Theory from the year 2001, which was kind of a milestone for location-based games. And this is a story about absence and a story about mixing virtual and physical worlds together, which was really, really a great project. Can You See Me Now is an online game that's also played on the streets. Members of the public can visit the website from anywhere on the internet, and when they arrive, they're dropped into a virtual city. In this case, it's a small virtual model of the Cop Fan Seed, the area that we're in now. The players then use the arrow keys to move around this virtual model, and they have a chat window where they can text each other. The aim of the game is for them not to be seen by three runners, and the three runners are on the real streets of the city with handheld computers, global positioning systems, and a walkie-talkie. And those three runners are chasing the online players to see them or to catch them. They have to get to the same place in the real city that that player is located in the virtual city. We have things like Mr X Mobile from Ravensburger Digital, which is like putting a board game into the city, but it also tells a story like you are on the trace of Mr X. You have to hunt him, and he has to escape you. And we should take a look at Ingress, the game by Google, by Niantic Labs. That shows like how location-based game mechanisms, different mechanisms function in the physical space. Location-based storytelling has evolved, I would say, since 2000 and has more and more differentiated.