In 2025, I set a goal to read 40 books. It was going well. Then I did not finish anything for a span of three months, but I managed to complete the goal. Overall, it felt a sustainable year, though I’d like to read more books.
I won’t list out all of the books I managed to read this year. But if you are curious, I use Goodreads to track my reading challenge and the books I have read. I completed the challenge and went on to complete 64 books. Also, for the first time, I completed a manga series, and I am looking to dive into more manga in the future.
Books I recommend
- Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb: This was an absolute delight to read a fantasy novel after a pause of many years. Easy to get into. It’s not one of those epic fantasies, but there is just enough.
- Above the Shoulders by Jason Nacey: A book for the mind. Each battles starts in mind and resilience is deciding your response and moving forward even without confidence. It provides a mental mastery pyramid. I feel the core takeaway is to choose discomfort on purpose, repurpose negative spirals quickly, practical visualization, and repeated action to form habits.
- Letting Go by David R. Hawkins: A book for the soul.
- Owning Your Own Shadow by Robert A. Johnson: Quite thoughtful.
- Earthly Remains by Donna Leon: One of the best in Commissario Brunetti’s series.
Other stats
- Total books read: 64
- Pages read: 13,312
- Longest book: Prompt Engineering for LLMs by John Berryman and Albert Zeigler
- Most Shelved: Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb
- My average rating: 3.6
Wrap up
There were at least a dozen titles I recall that I did not finish. I am not going to share a list. I might come back to them. I have already set up a goal for reading 26 books in 2026. I am not sure what reading adventures I’ll be taking in 2026. As long as I am reading, I think that will be great.
Reach out to me. I’d love to hear some of the books you’d recommend from 2025. I’m happy to add them to my TBR. I’m always looking for more.