2025 Book Review

#personal #reading

In this post, I want to share the books I read in 2025, along with a short review for each.

I measure a book’s quality by how much it changes my thinking or behavior.

Reading Summary

  • Engineering & Tech: 6
  • Business & Startups: 7
  • Psychology & Behavior: 5
  • Wisdom & Philosophy: 4
  • Finance & Investing: 3

Books Read in 2025

Elon Musk

Start from principles. Take risks. Use checklists.

Trading and Exchanges

A must-read to understand the financial market. It is more like a textbook, and it took quite some effort and time to force myself to read through 3/4 of the book, but it was rewarding. It explains the bid-ask spread, market making, arbitrage, and many other concepts with clear reasoning. The financial market no longer seems like a mystery to me.

Poor Charlie’s Almanack

A must-read for anyone, no matter who you are.

I listened to the audiobook version during my road trip from NY to Seattle. This book was the catalyst for reading the rest of the books on this list across different genres. It taught me the importance of multidisciplinary learning: the world is complex, so no single discipline can provide the full picture.

The Selfish Gene

Another audiobook from my NY-Seattle trip. It blows my mind how evolution and genes play such a large role in shaping behavior.

How to Read a Book

I only read the first part. “Always read the table of contents first.”

Make it Stick

Listened to the audiobook on my way to the office and during lunch. “Recall is the best way to consolidate learning.” “A growth mindset is the key to great achievements.”

The Philosophy of Software Design

A must-read for software engineers. It explains the key principles of software design: managing complexity, information hiding, and modularity.

Head First Design Patterns

“A ‘has-a’ relationship (composition) is better than inheritance in many cases.”

A Tour of C++

I only went through the first quarter of the book. I like the style; if you want to learn C++, this is a good start. It explains the “why” instead of just listing features.

Code Complete

A must-read for software engineers. It includes similar ideas to those in The Philosophy of Software Design and covers more aspects of the software development life cycle, such as requirements gathering, testing, and debugging.

The Almanack of Naval Ravikant

Your interest, passion, and innate talents are your competitive advantage. Don’t play status games. Wealth comes from compound interest. Aim for leverage: create value by making decisions, not just by trading time. Lead a balanced life. Taking a day off to do nothing but think is important.

AI Engineering: Building Applications with Foundation Models

Good reference book for building AI applications; very easy to understand.

Zero to One

Monopolies create substantial wealth, which enables further research and development. Competition drives profits away.

The SaaS Playbook

I only read about a quarter of this book and honestly can’t remember much of it.

The Lean Startup

I think I only got halfway through; I plan to read it again in 2026. Get validated learning from customers early on. Iterate until you find product-market fit.

Deep Work

I’ve only read the first chapter so far, but the core idea of deep, distraction-free work is something I want to master.

Thinking Fast and Slow

The human brain takes shortcuts to save energy and time, which makes it easily influenced and tricked.

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

A must-read for anyone. One of the most mind-blowing books of the year. God tier. After reading, you will have a much broader perspective on history, economics, and civilization, and a deeper understanding of the fundamental factors that drive change.

A Brief History of Intelligence

I’ve read about a third of this book. It explores the evolution of intelligence from both biological and computational perspectives.

Design Data Intensive Applications

A must-read for software engineers building systems that scale. The book explains how things work clearly. To be a problem solver, you must understand how things work.

The Most Important Thing

I only read the first chapter or two, but I will finish it in the future. “Unconventional returns come from unconventional thinking.”

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

Currently reading; I like it so far. Similar to Thinking Fast and Slow, it finds its roots in scientific experimental results.

The Mom Test

Currently reading; I like it so far. It teaches you how to talk to and understand your customers.

One Page Marketing Plan

Currently reading; I like it so far.

Top 3 of the Year

  1. Poor Charlie’s Almanack
  2. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
  3. Trading and Exchanges

Books I will continue reading

  • The Most Important Thing
  • Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
  • The Mom Test
  • One Page Marketing Plan
  • A Brief History of Intelligence
  • Deep Work

Books I Plan to Read in 2026

  • Models of My Life: Herbert A. Simon
  • Nonviolent Communication
  • Guns, Germs, and Steel
  • Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder
  • The Beginning of Infinity

On Developing a Reading Habit

  • Yes, we can read multiple books at the same time; read what interests you in the moment.
  • Yes, we don’t have to finish every book; read what serves you and move on.