2025 Reading Wrap-Up: Hidden Gems, Surprises (Good and Bad), and Page-Turners
2025 Stats
- # of Books Read: 70 (See full book list here)
- # of Pages Read: 20,922
- # of Re-Reads: 1
- # Read from the "Top 200 List": 5
You can also reference my previous Year in Review posts here:
2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024
Note: My answers pertain to books I read this year, no matter when they were published.
1. Best Book You Read in 2025?
Nonfiction
Die With Zero by Bill Perkins
Die With Zero is one of the most practical yet countercultural books I’ve ever read. It’s the personal finance book I didn’t realize I needed. I highly recommend this book for anyone who's already saved a lot toward their retirement and their future.
Perkins tells emotional stories, brings relevant data, and logically explains each point. By the end of the book, I was so convinced by his arguments that I immediately made a couple of big financial changes in my life.
Fiction
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
I don’t read much fantasy, but this one blew me away. It's a fun, rollicking ride through a dystopian Earth that’s been conquered by aliens. Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat Princess Donut struggle to survive while the universe watches on intergalactic TV.
If you check out this book, I highly recommend the audiobook. Jeff Hays is the best fiction narrator I’ve ever heard.
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going to Love But Didn’t?
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John Le Carre
I enjoy spy novels, and this one is on the Top 200 Books of All Time list, so I was looking forward to reading it. Unfortunately, I hated it. It's confusing, poorly written, and slow-paced. But so many people love this book that I'm wondering if I'm the problem.
3. Most Surprising Book You Read (in a Good Way or Bad Way)?
The Art Thief by Michael Finkel
What a wild true story! Stéphane Bréitwieser pulled off 200+ art heists, amassing a collection of roughly $2 billion of art. One of the reasons he got away with it for so long is because he didn't sell the art (most thieves get caught in the sale process). Instead, Bréitwieser stored all of the art in his room: the attic where he lived in his mom's house.
4. Book You Pushed the Most People to Read?
Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller
Miller shows that the story structure behind blockbuster movies and award-winning TV series can also be harnessed by anyone trying to sell a product or service. This book helped me revamp my website, change how I’m pitching my public speaking services, and rethink how I position myself on social media. I recommended it to several other creators and business owners.
5. Best Series You Started This Year?
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
Even if you just read the first book, it's well worth the time. Dinniman's sense of humor is on point.
6. Best Book from a Genre Outside Your Comfort Zone?
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
I haven't enjoyed most of the satirical novels I've read, so I don't read them often. I gave this one a shot because it's on the Top 200 List I'm working through, and I enjoyed it. The story is ridiculously over-the-top but well-told.
7. Most Action-Packed/Unputdownable Book of the Year?
The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis
Ellis brilliantly weaves elements from his own life (he's the protagonist) into a fictionalized story about a serial killer terrorizing Los Angeles. He kept me guessing throughout in this fast-paced novel. (Note: This book contains quite a bit of explicit content. After all, it's written by the same author who penned American Psycho.)
8. Book You Read This Year That You Are Most Likely to Re-Read Next Year?
Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller
I've already begun using several ideas from this book, but I know I'll want to re-read it soon because it's packed with actionable marketing advice.
9. Favorite Cover of a Book You Read This Year?
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
I recently discovered the Folio Society, which is a dangerous website for a book lover. If you're unfamiliar, they create custom cover art and internal book designs. The books cost a pretty penny, so I've only purchased one of them so far (Jurassic Park), but I plan to add new items to my Folio Society collection occasionally.
10. Most Memorable Character?
Princess Donut from the Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman
The protagonist Carl provides a ton of laughs on his own, but the most memorable character of Dinniman's series is a cat named Princess Donut. Donut is Carl's ex-girlfriend's prize show cat, and he feels responsible for caring for her when the world goes to shit.
11. Most Beautifully Written Book?
Finding Me by Viola Davis
Davis's memoir is a beautiful, heartwrenching look into her life and how she overcame many challenges to become a powerful actress and producer. My wife and I listened to the audiobook, which I recommend. Davis reads it herself.
12. Most Thought-Provoking/Life-Changing Book?
The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins
I loved this book from Mel Robbins. It's basically a gateway book to Stoic philosophy: a great primer for anyone who finds themself caring too much about what other people think. This book definitely has life-changing potential for anyone who's been trying too hard to please others.
13. Most Unique Book?
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
The experimental structure of this book makes it an interesting read. It's narrated by 15 different characters over 59 short chapters, including the perspective of a dead character. Faulkner also uses other devices like Southern diction, inner monologues, and stream-of-consciousness writing that make the novel confusing at times but also unique.
14. Book You Can’t Believe You Waited Until This Year to Read?
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Dickens's story is a quick read (~100 pages), well worth an hour or two of your time. His visceral storytelling will induce you to hate Scrooge before his conversion and make you want to hug him afterward.
15. Favorite Passage/Quote From a Book You Read This Year?
From The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins
"If you're struggling to change your life, achieve your goals, or feel happier, I want you to hear this: The problem isn't you. The problem is the power you unknowingly give to other people...We all do it, often without realizing it. You make the mistake of thinking that if you say the right thing, everyone will be satisfied."
From Wisdom Takes Work by Ryan Holiday
"It's the irony of wisdom that the smarter you get, the less you need to feel like a smart person. The less you need to be right. The more comfortable you are with uncertainty and ambiguity and, of course, humility. Experience should reduce ego, not enlarge it. Study should make us less certain, not more so."
From The Art of Spending Money by Morgan Housel
"There are two ways to use money. One is as a tool to live a better life. The other is as a yardstick of status to measure yourself against others. Many people aspire for the former but spend their life chasing the latter."
16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read This Year?
Shortest: The Dip by Seth Godin (80 pages)
Longest: 11/22/63 by Stephen King (849 pages)
17. Favorite Book from an Author You’ve Read Previously?
11/22/63 by Stephen King
I've now read 30 books by King. It took me a while to get around to reading this one—partly because I was daunted by how long it is—but I'm glad I finally did! The story revolves around protagonist Jake Epping trying to go back in time to prevent JFK's assassination. But what made me love this book is that it’s so much more than a “go back in time to prevent a bad thing” story. It’s a story about love, loss, sacrifice, and more.
18. Best Book You Read This Year Based SOLELY on a Recommendation from Someone?
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
If not for my friends Ashlie and Rob raving about this book, I never would have picked it up.
19. Best Debut Book You Read This Year?
A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst
In 1972, Maralyn and Maurice Bailey set sail in a boat they purchased with money from selling their home. They hoped to live on the ocean, but a whale randomly punctured their boat and sunk it—leaving the couple stranded for months on a tiny raft. Elmhirst brilliantly captures their epic story of isolation and survival.
20. Best Biography or Memoir?
Dark Squares: How Chess Saved My Life by Danny Rensch
Rensch grew up in a cult. When the cult leader realized Rensch's talent at chess, he took Rensch away from his mom and made him devote his life to the game. He became one of the best chess players in America, but experienced trauma and alcoholism along the way. Remarkably, Rensch later became a co-founder of Chess.com, the largest chess platform on the planet. His honesty and vulnerability made Dark Squares my favorite memoir of 2025.
21. Best World-Building/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
Sunrise on the Reaping (Hunger Games 0.5) by Suzanne Collins
I love the Hunger Games world Collins has created. Even though I'm usually not a fan of writers milking a series by releasing multiple prequels, I'm glad Collins has continued to write about District 12. This book is arguably the most punishing installment of the series (you'll understand why if you read it), but it offers another great glimpse into the hierarchical and dystopian world of Panem.
22. Book That Was the Most FUN to Read?
A Mystery of Mysteries by Mark Dawidziak
I had no idea that so much mystery surrounded Edgar Allan Poe's death! What a wild story. On October 3, 1849, Poe was found semiconscious in Baltimore. He was wearing someone else’s cheap, shabby clothes (no one knows whose). His hat was soiled (and also belonged to someone else). He was raving and incoherent (some witnesses thought from alcohol but others disagreed). And no one knew where he had been for the past week (the last time someone saw him was September 26 in Richmond). A friend came and tried to nurse Poe back to health, but he was dead within the week. I flew through this book.
23. Book That Angered You?
Separation of Church and Hate by John Fugelsang
The Christian church in America has become known for hate rather than love, judgment rather than forgiveness, and division rather than unity. Fugelsang explores how we got to this point. This book was simultaneously angering and hilarious because Fugelsang writes in a comedic, sarcastic fashion throughout. It's one of those books that's so spot-on that you read it thinking, "I'm laughing about this so I don't cry about it."
24. Hidden Gem of the Year?
Book and Dagger by Elyse Graham
Shout-out to my buddy Thad for giving me this book! Did you know that librarians and college professors were recruited to serve as American spies in WWII? Neither did I! The government realized that bookish people were not only great at research but proved to be unassuming agents. Incredible true story.
25. Favorite New Author You Discovered This Year?
Jimmy Soni
I loved Soni's book The Founders, which tells the story of PayPal's founding and how its founders and early employees eventually spawned dozens of other tech companies. Soni is a fantastic researcher and a brilliant writer who can whittle a complex story into the nuggets that readers need to understand. I also enjoyed his recent interview on David Perell's podcast, and I'm looking forward to his forthcoming book about Kobe Bryant.
26. Author You Read the Most This Year?
Stephen King. He's my favorite novelist of all time. I even had the chance to visit his hometown of Bangor, Maine, last year. I read the following Stephen King books this year:
- 11/22/63
- The Long Walk
- Cycle of the Werewolf
27. Overall, What Were Your Favorite Fiction and Nonfiction Reads This Year?
Non-Fiction Highlights
- Die With Zero by Bill Perkins
- Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller
- Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono
- Separation of Church and Hate by John Fugelsang
- Dark Squares by Danny Rensch
- Book and Dagger by Elyse Graham
- The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins
- A Mystery of Mysteries by Mark Dawidziak
- Tiny Experiments by Anne-Laure Le Cunff
- A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst
- The 5 Types of Wealth by Sahil Bloom
- The Business of Being a Writer by Jane Friedman
- The Founders by Jimmi Soni
- The Art of Spending Money by Morgan Housel
- Marcus Aurelius by Donald Robertson
Fiction Highlights
- Dungeon Crawler Carl (DCC Book 1) by Matt Dinniman
- 11/22/63 by Stephen King
- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
- The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis
- The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis
- Carl's Doomsday Scenario (DCC Book 2) by Matt Dinniman
- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
- Sunrise on the Reaping (Hunger Games 0.5) by Suzanne Collins
- A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
- The Long Walk by Stephen King
1. One Book You Didn’t Get to This Year But Will Be Your Top Priority Next Year?
The Power Broker by Robert Caro
I've been trucking my way through this book for months, and I'm about 3/4 of the way through. It's fantastic but MASSIVE (1,300 pages). I'll finish it in early 2026.
2. Books You Are Most Anticipating Next Year?
- 1/27 - Why We Click: The Emerging Science of Interpersonal Synchrony by Kate Murphy
- 1/27 - Unhinged Habits by Jonathan Goodman
- 2/3 - Flourish by Daniel Coyle
- 2/3 - How to Live a Meaningful Life by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans
- 3/10 - Beyond Belief by Nir Eyal with Julie Li
- 3/17 - Everyone in This Bank Is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson
- 4/7 - London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
- 4/7 - What to Make of a Life by Jim Collins
- 4/14 - Those Who Are About to Die: A Day in the Life of a Roman Gladiator by Harry Sidebottom
- 4/21 - Monster in the Archives by Caroline Bicks (cool book about Stephen King's work)
- 5/5 - Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better by David Epstein
- 5/12 - I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to Do (Almost) Everything and Replace (Almost) Everyone by Joanna Stern
- 5/19 - Steve Jobs in Exile by Geoffrey Cain
- 6/2 - You Can Just Do Things by Cate Hall & Sasha Chapin
3. Sequel You Are Most Anticipating Next Year?
Everyone in This Bank Is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson
4. One Thing You Hope to Accomplish in Reading & Blogging Next Year?
- Read 70+ books again (I've been doing that for a decade now)
- Read 8+ books off the Top 200 list
- Continue publishing articles on Substack every Tuesday and Thursday
- Continue publishing my email newsletter every other Sunday
This article was originally inspired by the year-end survey hosted by Perpetual Page Turner.
Wonderful summary of your reading year.
Let’s see — here I interact with your list a bit from the bottom up–
As you know I just finished A Marriage at Sea. I was pretty conflicted about my feelings on this one. Maurice was such a hard person to like and I couldn’t relate to the project to the project, especially without any technology. I’d love to chat with you about this one. // Separation of Church and Hate is on my TBR. Do you think it was helpful in any way in terms of being able to understand or talk to folks who are so trapped on the hate side? // I think Collins was back to her initial form with Sunrise on the Reaping after losing her way with Mockingjay and the Ballad of Songbirds novels. // I read for the first time A Christmas Carol last year (2024). Funny that we both waited so long, but of course I waited longer than you. // As I Lay Dying was indeed unique and in my opinion, awful. I even hated the movie // Don and I listened to the Art Thief together on one of our many trips to Eugene this fall. Incredible story with such a tragic outcome to most of those pieces of art. // The Confederacy of Dunces is one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. Also an audiobook experience. Hilarious. Is the book on your list of the Top 100 Books?
Thanks for keeping up the tradition of summarizing your year in books with me.
(1) Yeah, I know what you mean about Maurice. My favorite part of that book is that it’s such a crazy true story, and I loved reading about Maralyn’s optimism and creative games that kept them (psychologically) alive. But Maurice is a total downer. He seems like a hard guy to love.
(2) I really enjoyed “Separation of Church and Hate,” but it’s not a great book for understanding the “other side.” It’s moreso filled with a bunch of witty barbs rather than thoughtful investigation of what others believe. If you haven’t done so yet, you should read Jonathan Haidt’s “A Righteous Mind” and Ezra Klein’s “Why We’re Polarized.” Both of those are FANTASTIC, and both do a great job of helping the reader put themselves in the shoes of someone with different religious or political beliefs.
(3) I thought “As I Lay Dying” would be way better based on all of the praise it’s received through the years (and all the Top 100 lists it’s on).
(4) Yes, you’re right: “A Confederacy of Dunces” is on that Top 200 list I’m working through. That’s why I read it. 🙂
I always love checking out your EOY list! I’m glad we’ve both continued to do it.
Hi Bobby,
Your email newsletters are inspiring and motivating. Your lists are golden pathways for my mind, heart and soul.
I’m just finishing “Blink”. Such an eye-opening read. I grew up knowing how to ‘blink’. I’m Southern having a Southern mom and sisters. They were all masters at the ‘quick read’, and they were always spot on!
Don’t know how, but I read and documented 158 books in 2025. The Palisades fires in January gave me a 21 book head start on the year, and I just kept on reading. Tragedy compelled me to read to escape from all the destruction around us.
Happy reading.
Happy January.
Happy writing!
Thank you,
David Woodbury
Thanks so much, David! And I’m glad you’re loving “Blink.” That book was really what started it all for me as an adult reader. I read it in college and fell in love with Gladwell’s storytelling, which made me start reading nonfiction for the first time.
Dang, 158 is a LOT! That’s impressive. What were some of your favorites from what you read in 2025?
#06 Atomic Habits – James Clear
#10 Seven Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen R. Covey – Audible 1.10.25 Evacuated
#19 How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie – Audible – 1.23.25
#28KINDLE – Unbroken – Laura Hillenbran – 2.16.25 The best book I have ever read.
#29 (Feb 09)
The Body Keeps the Score – Book by Bessel van der Kolk – Audible 2.17.28
46 (Mar 12 3.15.25)
AUDIBLE – Building A Life Worth Living – 2020 (340 pages) Marsha M. Linehan – Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), a form of psychotherapy, focuses on teaching skills for emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and improved relationships, helping individuals better manage intense emotions and navigate challenging situations.
#47 The Wounded Healer (Mar 13 3.20.25) 1972 Henri J.M. Nouwen Audible (100 Pages)
#70 Kindle- “Seabiscuit”
Laura Hillenbrand
Kindle
Great list! I’ve read the first three you mentioned and LOVED all of them.
I’ve seen those two books by Hillenbrand around a lot, and I’ve always wondered how they are. It’s good to know they were worth the time. Thanks for the recs, David! 🙂