The Best Books of 2025
I mentioned in yesterday's post that I'd read fourteen books this year. I would have read more had I not spent as much time patting myself on the back for reading.
I'm not proud that I read fourteen books. When I look at the list—and this is the first year since college that I've read enough books to constitute a list—all I can think is that's it? That's barely more than one book a month. What the hell was I doing with all my time?
That's an answer for another article, but for this one, I'd like to give you a recommendation of my top 2 books of the year.
First, the list:
The Sailing of the Intrepid, Montel Williams (yes that Montel Williams) and David Fisher
There's a variety in there—a few fiction, a few business and productivity books, one very specific voiceover book—but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading the biographies. Zweig quotes Montaigne, "all those who write biographies provide the tastiest dishes for me. Since they attach more value to the motive than the event, it's more about what comes from within, rather than what happens on the outside." I agree.
I read Truman before 1776, and found the former a gripping story told through the lens of a character, Truman, and the latter to be an interesting, albeit drier story about characters. They're both great books—I don't think you could pick up a McCullough and think otherwise—but his biography of Truman made him come alive, and his history of 1776 made it seem just pretty cool.
And that's one reason why my runner-up recommendation is Montaigne, by Stefan Zweig. I heard about this book—and many others on my shelf—from Ryan Holiday, who’s been posting about his favorite reads for years, and who served as the inspiration for this particular post. This book is short, but that’s not a knock against it. I had a teacher in high school who, every time we asked how long an should be, always answered the same way: "It should be like a woman’s hemline, long enough to cover the topic, but short enough to be interesting.” This book is just that. Zweig covers Montaigne with verve, bringing him to life just long enough for us to get to know him and learn from him. But the book is short, perhaps in part due to the fact that Zweig committed suicide not long after turning in the manuscript.
But thank god he turned it in so we could learn about such a fascinating character, a character who, despite living nearly 500 years ago, seems relevant today. Montaigne lived through tumultuous times and found a way not to lose his mind. It makes me think that if he were alive today, he probably wouldn’t read the news or be on Facebook or Instagram, unless it was to post his writings. He probably wouldn’t forward YouTube videos to his family, with the caption, “Omigod, can you believe this?!” He’d probably be holed up in his study, surrounded by books, writing an essay, and trying to ignore all my questions as I sit next to him trying to be him.
Speaking of someone you might like to be more like, Truman is my recommendation for best book of 2025. I also heard about this book from Ryan Holiday, and I’m glad I did, because this book reignited my enjoyment of reading. I mean, I’ve been in a book club for the past fifteenish years, but we only read four or five books a year because the four of us live in three different states, and the other guys are all uber-successful businessmen. I’ve enjoyed reading all those books, but this book made me super excited to read more outside of the book club.
Have you ever read a biography that made you feel like, by the end of it, you knew the guy? And when the guy inevitably dies at the end (spoiler alert) you tear up a little and need a minute to compose yourself? *dabs eyes*. Uh…me neither… McCullough made Truman come alive. I can still landing a plane in a field when he’s running for senator and pausing to barf before giving a speech. And I felt like I was there when he met with Churchill and Stalin. I also hate Eisenhower—that putz—for how he treated Truman, even if Truman was a forgiving type.
This book is long. I think it’s 1000 pages or so. But it’s worth it. McCullough won the Pulitzer prize for it, and I understand why. I feel like I learned more from this book about World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, and the setup to the Vietnam War than I have in any other books. Not just that, but it was incredibly interesting to learn what kind of man Truman was, and what kind of legacy he left to the world.
