“A whole new world is opening up to you.” That’s what my great grandma said when I learned how to read.
I read 34 books in 2025, the most since college. Here are my favorites…
Book of the Year: On Writing by Stephen King
On Writing is King’s account of how he became a writer and his advice to other writers. Every day, I use what I learned.
One of my favorite tricks is to cut 10% of your first draft to reach a tight second draft.
Writing is thinking. If we get better at writing, we’re better thinkers too.
Runner Up: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Remains of the Day is a story about a butler. But it’s so much more than that.
Ishiguro creates a wonderful little world that I keep coming back to. This was the third time I’ve read this book.
Through the character of Stevens, Ishiguro explores the passage of time and the feeling of loss.
If you want to learn about storytelling, what could be better than reading the work of a Nobel Prize winner in literature?
Honorable Mention: Michael Jordan: The Life by Roland Lazenby
This is the definitive biography of Michael Jordan. I’ve read several other books on MJ, but none digs as deep.
I loved playing basketball as a kid, but I wasn’t that good. Still, I looked up to Michael Jordan.
If you want to excel in anything, Jordan will give you the blueprint.
The Rest of the List…
For the remainder of the list, I grouped books by theme.
If you have a strong interest in investing, biotech or fiction, feel free to jump to those sections!
Business and Investing
Hetty — Hetty Green was one of the most important investors at the turn of the last century. Called the “Witch of Wall Street,” she worked alone and amassed a fortune worth billions in today’s money.
Gambling Man — How Masayoshi Son came from obscurity to be the richest man in the world, lost a fortune, and made it back.
The New Tao of Warren Buffett — “Cryptocurrencies are like rat poison squared.” That quote alone was worth the price of admission!
Damn Right! — This biography of Charlie Munger gives great advice, like the importance of avoiding self-pity.
Warren Buffett Speaks — “… we like great companies with dominant positions, whose franchise is hard to duplicate, and has tremendous staying power or some permanence to it.“ This series of quotes from Buffett break down his investment philosophy.
Memos from the Chairman — Ace Greenberg was the chairman of Bear Stearns in its heyday. If they had stuck to his simple advice of serving the customer and being frugal, they’d still be around today.
Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits — This slim volume from 1958 is one of Buffett’s top book recs. Much of his approach of investing in high-quality companies at reasonable prices comes from this book.
eBoys — How Benchmark hit eBay and became one of the top firms in Silicon Valley.
Talent — Tyler Cowen and Daniel Gross explain how to spot top talent.
Grinding It Out — Ray Kroc’s account of building McDonald’s.
Thicker than Water — An inside account of the fall of Theranos.
The Default Line — Go behind the scenes as the EU deals with the fallout from the financial crisis. I ordered this book from England years ago. Since then, I’ve read it three times, often near market peaks.
The Courage to Act — Ben Bernanke’s account of steering the Fed through the financial crisis.
Boomerang — Michael Lewis tours the crisis-struck West in the wake of the financial crisis.
Population Plunge Meets AI Revolution
One Billion Americans — Matthew Yglesias explains that for the United States to stay number one, we have to grow our population big time.
Empty Planet — Exploring the fertility crisis from Korea and Japan to the developing world.
The Technological Republic — Alex Karp’s call to build in the real world, not just the world of bits.
Homegrown — The story of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. One surprising fact: had the GM plant in his hometown not closed, he might have become a normal factory worker like his father and grandfather.
Janesville — When Janesville, Wisconsin’s GM plant closed, the town never truly recovered. AI is going to cause a lot more Janesvilles.
Industrial Society and Its Future — The manifesto of the Unabomber. I find most of what Kaczynski says to be off base, but it does get me out of the techno-optimist echo chamber.
Breakneck — Dan Wang explains that although China is catching up to the West, its future is bleak.
Politics
Original Sin — How Joe Biden and the Democrats lost the presidency.
2024 — How Trump retook the White House.
Biotechnology
The Code Breaker — Walter Isaacson’s account of how Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier discovered CRISPR gene editing.
A Crack in Creation – Doudna’s first person story of discovering CRISPR.
The Billion Dollar Molecule — How a biotech startup developed a drug for AIDS.
The Antidote — A follow-up to the Billion-Dollar Molecule, this book traces how Vertex Pharmaceuticals developed drugs for hep C and cystic fibrosis.
Sports
Sacred Hoops — Phil Jackson recounts leading the Bulls to one championship after another using meditation and mindfulness.
Where Men Win Glory — How Pat Tillman gave up NFL millions to fight and die in Afghanistan.
Fiction
Treasury for Children — A beautiful storybook with wonderful animal illustrations. I particularly like the story of Bonny the horse. Fun for all ages!
The Exchange — John Grisham brings back Mitch McDeere! I plan to read more light fiction like this in the new year. It’s a great way to relax.
Wrap-Up
Trying to get better as an investor feels like being in school.
Reading, note taking, listening to the greats. I feel the same excitement I felt during the best parts of my education.
There’s no better way to learn than books. Grab one off this list and tell me what you think!
What was your favorite book of 2025?
More on books:
Janesville — Or Why AI Will Be a Disaster for Jobs
Street Fighters: The Last 72 Hours of Bear Stearns, the Toughest Firm on Wall Street
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