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Books I Read in 2025 (and Why They Stuck With Me)

By Jimmy Lindsey

Dec. 31, 2025 | Last Updated: Jan. 1, 2026 | Categories: thoughts, books, year-review

This is a bit of a departure from my usual tech-focused posts, but since it’s the last day of the year, it felt like a good time to reflect on something else I care about: reading. I’m an avid reader, and this year I read 37 books.

I generally try to alternate between fantasy or sci-fi and history, tech, self-help, or other nonfiction, although that plan often gives way to library availability or whatever I happen to be in the mood for. A lot of what I read comes from Libby, which means I don’t always control when a specific book becomes available.

This post is mostly for me, but it also happens to be my 11th blog post this year. Considering my first post went live on July 21st, I’m happy with the consistency. I set a goal of publishing two posts a month and hit it every month except November. I’ll be back to regular tech content next week.

My Overall Top 10

  1. The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons

    The whole Hyperion Cantos is an amazing series, but the best book is by far the second one. The first book in the series is pretty down-to-earth, following seven characters on their journey with each character drawing straws to tell their backstory. The second book continues right after the first book ends, and immediately gives a lot of payoff for what was discovered in the first book. I found it hard to put down, and as a result, it was my favorite book of the year.

  2. Shin Buddhism: Bits of Rubble Turn into Gold by Taitetsu Unno

    I got very interested in Shin Buddhism (also known as Pure Land Buddhism) in the middle of this year. One review suggested I read River of Fire, River of Water first. However, I think Shin Buddhism is the better book about Shin Buddhism. It’s very thought-provoking, and I can recommend it to anyone who has an interest in Buddhism.

  3. I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

    This is not an easy book to read, but I think it's an important one. Jennette's acting career hit its stride around the time I stopped watching Nickelodeon, so I am not that familiar with her work. All the same, you would never imagine everything that she had gone through in her life. While it is hard to read because of all the hardships she faced, the book does end on a very inspiring note.

  4. So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport

    In order to find a career that will make you happy, Cal Newport suggests that you become so good at what you do that you cannot be ignored. He bases this off the idea that the traits that define great work are creativity, impact and control. These traits in a career are rare, so the only way to achieve them is to be able to offer rare and valuable skills yourself. In the book, he contrasts the passion mindset with what he calls the Craftsman mindset. In particular, he notes that the Craftsman mindset focuses on the value you are offering to the world, whereas the passion mindset asks what value the world is offering to you. This doesn’t mean he thinks passion is unimportant; rather, he argues that passion tends to be fickle, and instead argues that you need to build the skills required for the job you want in the future. I will probably read this book again, as I thought the way it approaches this subject was a breath of fresh air.

  5. Atomic Habits by James Clear

    We all have bad habits that we wish we could get rid of. In this book, James Clear sets out a better way to build good habits and break bad ones outside of our goals. He suggests a system where, to build a good habit, you need to make it obvious, attractive, easy and satisfying. On the contrary, to break a bad habit, you need to make it invisible, unattractive, difficult and unsatisfying. Having read this book pretty early in the year, I wish I followed it more. Maybe that's a hint that I should re-read this book this coming year or the year after. Regardless, I am sure I will read it again in the near future, as I think it is one of those books that will be even more useful on a re-read.

  6. In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson

    I love history, but stories of World War II simply have been told to death. I understand that part of this is that it is the most significant event that has happened in the last 100 years, and that it had a huge effect on the present day. Yet there’s so much untold history that I wish received a bit more of the spotlight. In this book, Erik Larson managed to find an interesting tidbit of history that takes place just before World War II kicks off. William Dodd, head of the History Department at the University of Chicago, is appointed as Franklin D. Roosevelt's ambassador to Germany just as Hitler has come to power. Dodd had hoped the position would be an easy one where he could work on his magnum opus: a history of the South. As you can imagine, he got a lot more than he bargained for.

  7. Conquerors by Roger Crowley

    This is the kind of history that I love to read. Portugal was very powerful at this time, but that doesn’t seem to be discussed much in popular history. In this book, Crowley explains Portugal's domination of the Indian Ocean after finding a viable sailing route around the Cape of Good Hope. One thing I found particularly interesting was that the Portuguese had legends stating that Christians were the dominant religion in most of India, and so when they came to meet the Hindu and other religious groups there, it took them some time to realize they weren't Christians. In a twist, it turns out that their legends were partially correct as there were indeed some Christians living in India at the time, just that they were a small minority of the population.

  8. Co-Intelligence by Ethan Mollick

    Co-Intelligence is the kind of book I can recommend to anyone, whether they work in tech or not. LLMs are tools, and that does not mean everyone needs to use them. However, if you haven't learned to use them properly, how can you be certain they will or won't be effective for your workflow? This book goes over how LLMs are made, their strengths, weaknesses, and some very helpful methods to use them. As a result, I think this book is a useful read for everyone, even those who ultimately decide not to use LLMs for their work.

  9. The Dark Archive by Genevieve Cogman

    I had a great time reading the whole Invisible Library series. It's hard to pick any individual book in the series as the best, but I am going with the penultimate book for my selection here. The Invisible Library follows Irene, an agent of the enigmatic Invisible Library, as she travels to different realities in order to acquire unique works of literature. Along the way, Irene meets individuals from two competing factions in the multiverse, the Fae who represent chaos and the Dragons who represent order. I highly recommend this series, even if it does feel like the last book was a bit rushed and probably should've been split into two books.

  10. The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson

    This book was the biggest surprise of 2025 for me in terms of reading. I bought The Square of Sevens on a whim when I saw it was for sale on Amazon for $2.99. The Square of Sevens follows Red, also known as Rachel, in 1730s UK, who learns how to read fortunes via a method called the square of sevens before her father passes away. She later learns that she is the legitimate heir of Nicholas De Lacy, who is the deceased patriarch of the wealthy DeLacy family. She makes it her goal to get what is rightfully hers, but there are many people who either want to stop her or use her. The book has a lot of twists and turns, and I won't spoil it for you. I will be keeping an eye out for other books written by Laura Shepherd-Robinson.

History

Sci-Fi and Fantasy

Tech

Other

Conclusion

Looking back on this list, I’m struck less by any single book and more by the range of ideas, genres, and perspectives I moved through over the course of the year. Reading has a way of quietly shaping how I think; sometimes directly, sometimes only in hindsight. Putting this list together made that more visible than I expected.

This post was primarily an exercise in reflection, but if it also surfaces a book you haven’t read yet or nudges you to revisit one you enjoyed in the past, that feels like a nice side effect. I’ll likely keep doing a post like this at the end of each year, if only as a way to pause and take stock before moving on to whatever comes next.