 Hi everyone, welcome or welcome back to my channel. So a couple of weeks ago I did a worst rated books I have ever read video in which I went onto my Goodreads and ordered my red shelf by their average rating, and I discussed the 10 books that came up worst according to those ratings. That was a really fun video to film, I really enjoyed it. You guys seem to enjoy it as well. So here we are today doing a similar video but talking about the highest rated books I have ever read. This is very exciting. Will we be surprised by what comes up as the highest rated books? Will we agree with the ratings? Will these books align with what I believe to be the best books I have ever read? For some reason I doubt it. We will be discussing observations as we go about what genres seem to be coming up quite often, what don't seem to be coming up at all, and why this may be. Also, before we start, please do note that J.K. Rowling's books do rate incredibly highly, and they should technically make it onto this list, but let's not talk about her. So let's get into the highest rated books I have ever read. Coming in at number 10 is Homie by Danez Smith with an average rating of 4.5. So this is a pretty new contemporary poetry collection by queer non-binary American poet Danez Smith. It explores themes of self-identity and friendship and queerness, as well as a lot of broader social and political issues at the heart of modern-day America, such as racism and violence. So firstly, let's just talk about the fact that some poetry has made it onto this list. I don't really know why I'm surprised by this. On reflection, I actually think it makes sense. Like, less people tend to read poetry collections than read novels, and typically only fans of poetry read poetry, so I feel like there's kind of less room for people to dislike poetry collections than novels. I'm just guessing, but either way I am very pleased to see poetry on this list, and I'm very pleased to see Danez Smith on this list in particular, because I think they are a great poet. I read this collection at the beginning of this year and absolutely loved it. It is timely and unapologetic and bold. The imagery is striking and vibrant. The language use is just lovely. It's very easy to read aloud. I didn't love this collection quite as much as I loved Danez Smith's earlier collection, Don't Call Us Dead, but I still think it's brilliant. I would in fact agree with this average rating. I did give this 4.5 stars. It wasn't quite a five-star read for me, but yes, I am very pleased that so many people seem to agree with me. Coming in at number nine, also with an average rating of 4.5 is Ray Bearer by Jordan Ifueco. So this is a new YA fantasy novel, the first in a duology, I believe. I actually very recently read it and reviewed it in my September recent reads video, if you want to go and check that out. This novel follows a story of a young girl called Tarasai, who is sent to the Empire's capital by her perpetually absent mother known as the Lady, with the instruction to become part of the Crown Prince's most trusted inner circle and to then murder him. So I suspect, like with a couple of the books on this list, that the very high rating this book has got is in large part due to the fact it is so new. Tons of people haven't read this yet, only really the people who were very excited about it have read it so far, hence the high rating. That being said, I did really enjoy this book, and I can see it continuing to be incredibly popular in the YA fantasy community. So I loved the world in this novel. It was super rich and unique and interesting. There's a lot of cool history in here. We have a nice helping of magic. The plot is exciting and engaging whenever I wasn't reading this book, I wanted to be reading this book. And I also really enjoyed the characters. Tarasai in particular was such a cool character to follow, and also all of the side characters and the different people she meets at court. So again, I actually agree with this rating. I did give this 4.5 stars. I thought it was really good. That being said, I do not think this is one of the best books I have ever read. There are definitely some other fantasy books that I would have liked to have seen on this list above this one, but that's just my humble opinion. Coming in at number eight is The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas with an average rating of 4.52. This is another YA novel, this one being contemporary and incredibly, incredibly popular. I'm sure we've all heard of this book. I am not surprised to see it on this list. I can totally believe that it is rated so highly. This novel follows 16-year-old star who lives between two worlds, the poor, predominantly black neighborhood in which she lives, and also the fancy, predominantly white prep school that she attends. At the beginning of the novel, Star Witnesses, the shooting and murder of her childhood best friend Khalil by a police officer, and the novel it takes off from there. So this is a really, really great book. I read it a couple of years ago and loved it. It is very well written, very well paced. It is super emotional and impactful and powerful. One of the things Angie Thomas does particularly well is write characters. All of their voices are so authentic. Angie Thomas is just a really great writer and a really great woman. I am very happy to see her on this list. While it isn't a personal favorite book of mine, I do think it's fab and it deserves all of the praise. Number seven is Don't Call Us Dead by Denez Smith with an average rating of 4.52. Denez Smith again, wow. This is Denez Smith's debut poetry collection. I believe I read this in 2018. It was definitely one of my favorite reads of the year. It explores what it is like to be a gay black person in America, what it is like to be HIV positive, what it is like to experience police racism and brutality, and it generally explores wider themes of race and sexuality and illness. As with Homie, this is another absolutely superb, impeccably crafted poetry collection. As I mentioned earlier, this is actually my favorite collection out of the two and it is probably one of the best poetry collections I have ever read. The poems in here are so striking. They just utterly transport you to where Denez Smith is. They evoke such gorgeous imagery and sounds. It is so impactful and emotional to read. I'm very pleased to see this on the list and I'm not massively surprised, to be honest. I know it is a very popular book, especially here on Booktube. There was a time when every man and his dog was reading this collection. Personally, I would actually go higher than this rating. I gave the collection five stars, but it was never going to have an average five star rating, I guess. Coming in at number six is The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, with an average rating of 4.53. Another fantasy book, interesting. This is one that my husband, yes, husband, will be very pleased to see on this list because it is one of his favorite books of all time. This is the first novel in an epic high fantasy trilogy called the King Killer Chronicles. It follows our protagonist who, when he was younger, attended the university, a renowned school for magic. He became very powerful, very well known, did a ton of cool shits, but at the beginning of this novel we realize that he is actually living under a fake name, pretending to be an innkeeper and living a very subdued life, and we don't know why. This is indeed a very, very good fantasy novel. It is probably one of the best fantasy novels I have ever read. Such rich, delicious writing, the world building is brilliant, so fully fleshed out. The magic system is awesome, it feels very academic, it's underpinned by almost scientific principles. So yes, I can't really argue with this rating. It isn't one of my personal favorite books, but it's pretty well deserved, I'd say. Coming in at number five is Heartstopper Volume One by Alice Oseman, with an average rating of 4.53. Bloody hell, Alice Oseman rates so highly. When I stop and think about it for a second, I guess I'm not too surprised at this rating because that woman has fans. So this is a graphic novel for those of you who don't know. It follows the friendship and eventual romantic relationship between Nick and Charlie, two teenage boys who meet at school. So I don't know what to say. I like Alice Oseman a lot. I think she is great. She writes great YA contemporary novels with great characters and great themes and great rep. And this was a very enjoyable, very sweet graphic novel, but does it deserve a 4.5 plus average rating? No. Is it one of the best books I have ever read? No, it is not. I know that a lot of people really love Alice Oseman and really see themselves in her books, and I can totally see why people fall in love with them. But this just doesn't really deserve to be one of the highest rated books I have ever read. I'm sorry. Coming in at number four is Brazen by Penelope Baguio, this one with an average rating of 4.54. Another graphic novel. So it is highly surprising that two graphic novels have come up on this list because I have read about two graphic novels ever. Perhaps I've just done remarkably well and managed to pick the two best graphic novels in the world. Similarly with poetry, I guess, but to a far lesser extent, I have read far more novels than I have poetry collections, but poetry collections are doing really well on this list. This must just be due to the fact that loads more people read novels, so there are far more people to disagree about the ratings. Also, people who read poetry collections and graphic novels tend to be quite dedicated to those mediums, I feel, whereas like tons of people read novels. So this graphic novel was one that I actually borrowed from a friend at work. It is a non-fiction graphic novel telling the stories of lots of different amazing women throughout history from around the world. So this was a good book. I did enjoy it. I particularly enjoyed the art style. I thought it was gorgeous. If you enjoy graphic novels or you're interested in these feminist around the world type books, then this is a great read. But honestly, I am surprised to see it on this list. Like I'd kind of forgotten about it. The fourth best book I have ever read, never. Coming in at number three is The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss with an average rating of 4.56. Again, happy, happy Cameron. This is the second book in the Kingkiller Chronicles trilogy following on from The Name of the Wind. I'm not going to tell you anything about this book. All you need to know is the synopsis from the first one, and the books tend to follow on from one another quite seamlessly. So I mean, it does make sense that sequels in series rate higher than the first books in series because more people will have read the first book, some will like it, some won't, and then the people who don't like it typically won't go on to read the other books in the series. I do think that sequels are often actually better than the first books in series because a lot of the groundwork has been done, and you can really jump off of that. But that's kind of a different point. But interestingly, I actually liked The Name of the Wind more than I enjoyed The Wise Man's Fear. It's controversial, but I just thought this book was slightly too long. I think it could have done with being edited down a bit. But like I said before, brilliant writer, brilliant series. This is a very good book, and I know it is so loved by so many people, so I'm not really shocked to see it here. Bravo, Patrick Roffus. Coming in at number two is The Empire of Gold by Essay Chakraborty with an average rating of 4.56. Fantasy again, what can I say? The fantasy fans are passionate. Honestly, this one makes me very, very happy. This is the third and final book in my favorite fantasy series of all time, The Dave Abad Trilogy. Set in an alternate 18th century Middle East, this series follows a young woman called Nari who makes a living by fortune telling and tricking rich nobles, when one day she accidentally summons a gin warrior and discovers the magical kingdom of Dave Abad. I love this series so, so, so much. You've probably all heard me rave about it before, so I won't go on about it too much now. But just know this series is so wonderful. It has everything that I want from a fantasy series. I was obsessed with it from beginning to end. This final book is pretty new, so I'm not surprised that it's got such a high rating. Everyone was very excited, but generally this series is very popular anyway and for good reason. Very happy to see it in at number two. And coming in in top place, the highest rated book I have ever read, and by some way as well, is Anti-O-Metic for Homesickness by Romelin Anty with an average rating of 4.72. A poetry collection making the top spot how very, very exciting. This is a very new contemporary poetry collection telling the story of generations of migrants from the Philippines to the UK. It looks at one's homeland and colonisation and family, and it is steeped in Filipino folklore. Again, this is a very new book. There are not a ton of ratings on it yet, so I do suspect that is helping with the high rating, but nevertheless I do think this is a very good poetry collection. I read it a few months ago and loved it. I loved the way two worlds really collided in this collection. I loved learning about rich Filipino culture and family traditions. I found a few of the poems in particular to be very hard-hitting and emotional. A really great insight into some of the struggles that can come along with assimilation. That all being said, I would never have guessed that this would have been the highest rated book I have read. It just wouldn't have crossed my mind. I do not consider it to be one of the best books I have ever read, but I do think it is a really, really good collection, and I'm very pleased to see it being received so positively. So there we go. Let's do some observations. New books rate quite highly as less people have read them, and typically the people who read them first are the people who are very excited about them. Poetry collections and graphic novels also do very well, presumably, because less people have read them, so there is less room for people to disagree. And also because readers of those formats are typically quite dedicated to those mediums rather than the average novel reader. Fantasy does very well, perhaps because of the passion of fantasy readers, but also probably because fantasy is quite a specific genre. If you aren't a fantasy fan, you are pretty unlikely to just stumble your way through a 700-plus page novel. And finally, there are no literary fiction or classic novels on this list. Basically just my two favorite things to read ever. Don't worry about it. I can only assume this is because tons more people have read contemporary novels and classics than the other genres I have mentioned. And also classics in particular are particularly contentious. Tons of people love them, but tons of people really don't as well. Let me know if you've made any other observations from my ratings as well. I would love to hear. It's genuinely been really fun looking at these ratings and reflecting on them. If you go on your Goodreads and find out your best rated books, then please, please let me know what they are. It will be so fun to hear. Tell me if you agree, if you disagree, if you're surprised, or if you're just confused. Thank you so much, everyone, who has watched this video. It's been fun, and I will hopefully see you soon with another one. Bye, everyone.