2025 was an okay year in books for me. I read 17 books, a little lower than my typical. I am in progress of reading what would have been my longest book, Churchill: A Life by Martin Gilbert, which is 960 pages. That will probably be one of my first finished books in 2026.
Overall, this year was full of solid books and diverse topics ranging from politics to anthropological histories of people such as freed slaves from the South, Polynesian cultures, and the Irish. Most of my books this year were either memoirs or those types of cultural histories. All 17 were non-fiction. In 2026, I might try to throw in a fiction book for the first time since February 2023! I really loved Tevye the Dairy Man so I may try a folk fiction book.
Normally, I do a pseudo-unit of topics and I'll read a couple of books about that topic. This year I strayed away from that and struggled to feel consistently inspired by some of the books on my list. In 2026, I hope to read more like 20 books, my usual, and do some deeper dives. I'm more interested in political histories so I'm hoping to find some good books that dive deeper into wars and power brokers across the world and also spend more time reading about the brain & body.
Some interesting stats:
My shortest book: On Tyranny (127 pages)
My longest book: Warmth of Other Suns (640 pages)
My average length of book: 381 pages
Total number of pages read: 6,388.
Rather than giving an official ranking, I prioritized my favorite books qualitatively.
Most useful book: Leadership in the US Senate
This book was a great resource as a practitioner of political processes and I'd highly recommend it
Easiest to read: I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy, but Born a Crime by Trevor Noah is second.
Jeanette McCurdy & Trevor Noah both struck a balance of the writing style being relatable and easy to read but each book was filled with incredibly thoughtful insights.
Most unexpected book: Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe
This is the second book I've read by this author. His writing is nonfiction that is impossible to put down. The other book I read by him was Empire of Pain a couple of years ago and it blew my mind. I read knew nothing about the Troubles in Ireland before and I could barely put this book down plus I learned so much!
Honorable Mention: Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America, and Lost His Party
This book was probably the most relevant book I read all year and was incredibly good. I can't recommend this book enough for those who are interested in understanding today's political system. Reading this book with Leadership in the US Senate was a tiny unit of political history. I found them both to be extremely insightful, honest, highly informed, and like a reliable source of information much more so than the political chatter flying around most pundits. I put this as an honorable mention because I absolutely loved the book but I'm not sure it fits in cleanly into a reason why.
Best Blog Posts
Admittedly, most of my blog posts this year were pretty short. This year was busy and, because I wasn't inspired by a lot of my books, the blog posts weren't the best. That being said, my best are listed below-
Too Big To Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin
Leadership in the US Senate by Colton C Campbell
Prior Years:
2024 I didn't do one!
I enjoyed writing this and will try to start doing these in future years!
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