The Best Books of 2025

Last updated: January 13, 2026

I mentioned in yesterday's post that I'd read fourteen books this year. I would have read more had I not spent so much time patting myself on the back.

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 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 blog post, but for this one, I'd like to give you a recommendation of my top 2 books of the year.

First, the list:

1. Million Dollar Weekend, Noah Kagan. I enjoyed this book, despite not having made a million dollars in a weekend. I suppose in order to actually make a million dollars in a weekend, I suppose I should have implemented some of the advice in this book.

2. Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath. I really liked this book. The upshot: if you want people to remember things, you should tell a simple, unexpected, concrete, credentialed, and emotive story. Or SUCCES. Read my note on SUCCES as it relates to comedy here.

3. Ask the Dust, John Fante. It’s the LA version of The Great Gatsby.

4. What Are You Laughing At?, Dan O’Shannon. A nerdy scientific breakdown on comedy.

5. Authentic Commercial Voiceover, Dave Bisson. Very specific to the voiceover artist.

6. Truman, David McCullough. See below.

7. 1776, David McCullough

8. Thought of a Philosophical Fighter Pilot, James Stockdale. After being shot down over Vietnam, this guy spent almost 8 years in prison, much of it in leg irons. If you want to see how someone used Stoic philosophy to get through some tough stuff, read this book. It was a close third in my favorite books of the year, and one I’ve given to several friends and family members. Here’s the reading list from his Foundations of Moral Obligation Course that he taught at the Naval War College.

9. The Doorman, Chris Pavone

10. Revenge of the Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell

11. Nexus, Yuval Noah Harari

12. The Sailing of the Intrepid, Montel Williams (yes that Montel Williams) and David Fisher

13. Montaigne, Stefan Zweig

14. How to Be a Leader, by Plutarch. Truman loved reading Plutarch. Montaigne loved reading Plutarch. I did not love Plutarch. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a ton of great advice in here that’s applicable to us in the modern era. But you have to wade through lots of references to ancient people, places, and battles. And their names aren’t short. It’d be one thing if they said, “Don’t be like Ted in the Battle of the Bulge…” But it feels like half the text is “Don’t be foolish like Agamemnonides during the Siege of the Greekieplacelopenisian Sea!” I’d still recommend it.

Second, the winners:

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading the Truman and Montaigne 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.

Take Truman and 1776, for example. One is a biography; the other is a history. You learn about history in both, but one is a gripping story told through the lens of a central character, Truman, and the other is 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 post. This book is short, but that’s not a knock against it. I had a teacher in high school, Mrs. Doosenbury, who, every time we asked how long an essay 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. 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 waited, 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 were he alive today, he probably wouldn’t read the news or be on Facebook or Instagram. He probably wouldn’t forward YouTube videos to his family and friends, 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 Truman made me excited to read more outside of book club.

Have you ever read a biography that made you feel, by the end of it, like you knew the guy? And when he 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 see Truman landing a plane in a field when he’s running for office and pausing to barf before giving a speech. And I felt like I was there with him when he met with Churchill and Stalin at the Potsdam Conference. I also think Eisenhower’s a putz for how he treated Truman, even if Truman was the forgiving type.

This book is long. But it’s so 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 lead up 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.