the problem with the '100 best books of the century' list (as someone who contributed to it)

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FAQs:
😭 what happened to your intro? it got copyrighted ://///
🤠 how old are you? 25!
📆 when is your birthday? 18th october 1998 (libra)
🎓 where did you go to university? i studied english at durham!
🔎 where do you live? new york city
💼 what is your job? book critic
🎥 what do you film with? lumix gh5 + canon g7x
👾 what do you use to edit? final cut pro

sub count:
📊 1,388,234

[aamnahere]

It should have been titled 'The 100 best American books of the 21 Century' because if around 90% of the list is centered on American narratives and authors then the magnificent literature of entire continents was deliberately ignored as usual to cater to the sensibilities of Americans. There's nothing wrong with celebrating American literature but sidelining Asian, African and Latin American masterpieces to accommodate American books has been a recurring theme and it needs to change.

[matthewthompson]

you need to find book Hidden Manifestation by Oliver Mercer even if it's the last thing you do in life

[selinabock]

Honestly very shocked that not a single one of Khaled Hosseinis books are on the list. I consider them very influencial and they are still in my fav books of all time.

[sdfnuiteock]

I always come back to your videos because you have such a way of expressing yourself that’s so sure and confident while also leaving so much room for other opinions and truths. Your opinion is the only one I value when it comes to book recommendations because as you said my time (and money) are precious to me. I’ve read about 15 of your book recommendations this year and not a single one disappointed me.

[really.rileyy]

They played an old study video of yours in assembly yesterday.
The teacher talked very highly of you and I was very excited 😊

[Jo-dkmy]

Jack looks like a conspiracy theorist in the thumbnail, and I’m HERE for it

[Meekh]

I appreciated how thoughtful your discussion around the limits surrounding this NYT list was. You managed to strike a balance between acknowledging important context while also not shutting down the pleasure we have in debating our favourites despite the impossibility of achieving an objective truth.

[martinap]

the problem w a list like this is that it’s inherently going to be mostly novels from white western countries, who deserve to have their stories told, but there isnt enough emphasis on books from smaller countries and less common perspectives

[LovelyLittleLillies]

Hey Jack, I got a video suggestion if you already haven't done it:

Take characters from popular movies and shows (whichever you like) and create a list of books you envision them reading. Instead of relying on books popular characters have been seen holding - make your own inagined list and how well read you image this character to be, or what kinds of tastes you think they'd have. You can put in stereotypical books and then thrown in a plot twist one that you wouldn't assume they'd read at first, but then it kinda makes sense or makes them be dynamic.

[thegerda]

I had never heard about this list before the video, but I have one big opinion after watching this video!
I think my biggest issue with this list is from a statistical perspective - 500 people is either way too few people to ask, or 100 books is a way too long of a list for this sample size. 500 people, 5000 votes and 100 books?
I get a feeling that many of the books in the list got only two votes, and 'the little help from New York Times' was them deciding between all books that got 2, or it might even be possible that some of the books in the list got 1 vote only, and it was up to New York Times to decide which of those will fill in the remaining number short from 100.
And, quite frankly, I think that this would be the biggest flaw of this list. I truly believe that the books are great and very influential, but there is no way that you can call them readers choice if you only surveyed 500 people and tooka whole 100 books out of that.

[maminarmy]

Westerners favourite hobby is inventing awards for themselves then saying shit like “THE BEST IN THE UNIVERSE”

[JohnnyJonathanqa]

You gotta read Magnetic Aura from Borlest. Don't look it up or read anything about it. Just pick it up and read :D happy reading!

[mcmoon_]

it should be called
'The US' 100 best books of the century" or 'The 100 American best books of the century"

[MissRaindrop]

If the votes aren’t published it means that in theory books could be on that list that only got nominated by two people but because a few thousand only got one mentioned ones they maybe didn’t end up with enough books with multiple mentions to fill the 100 spots.

[jasminbird]

i’ve been watching you for years Jack and in the era of social media where advertising and marketing is at the forefront of most things online, your honesty and transparency is so so refreshing. your integrity as a creator shines through constantly and as a viewer i appreciate it so much

[PokhrajRoy.]

I’m never going to stop mentioning that Cindy and Jack gave us a great list of books. LISTEN TO THEM!

[annamd]

I was a huge reader as a child. Got out of leisure reading, except for the occasional non-fiction, in high school. I remember telling my high school English teacher “I just don’t see the benefit of reading fiction” and he was aghast. I fell in love with reading again in college and know now how wrong 17-year-old me was and why Mr. F was so disappointed. The way you talk about reading as “chasing the sun” is exactly how I feel about it. There is so much joy to be found in a hobby that never stops expanding your personal universe.

[undefined-maxwell]

there's a book called Hidden Manifestation by Oliver Mercer, and it talks about how using some secret techniques you can attract almost everything in life it's not some bullshit law of attraction, it's the real deal

[lindysmagpiereads]

Best books lists are fun to discuss and I very much enjoyed your take on this one from the NYT. My friend and fellow booktuber Jolene noticed how few Canadian titles made the top 100, so we polled Canadian booktubers and other readers (and literary luminaries) and came up with a “top 67 Canadian books of the 21st century” — not having a team of book editors to help with curation, we simply tallied votes. Our list has generated discussion and raised awareness, which is exactly what we hoped for.
BTW on the Book Riot podcast, there’s an episode with an interview with the NYT Books Editor answering questions about how the top 100 list was put together. The choice between two books follow-up exercises that you described was part of the curation process.

[clareashcraft]

My ten just for fun
1. They Can't Kill Us Till They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib
2. The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat
3. A Little Life by Hanya Yangahara
4. The Goldfinch by Donna Tart
5. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
6. On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
7. Babel by R.F. Kuang
8. Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky
9. The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression by Andrew Solomon
10. Educated by Tara Westover/ The Fault in Our Stars by John Green