At the beginning of every year, I take the time to update my records of what I've read the previous year and write up a summary.
Previous summaries: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.
I've continued to keep track of my reading using Goodreads. My profile has nearly the full list of the books I've read since 2010.
2025 Goals
For the last month or so, I've been better about reading with a regular cadence. I'd like to keep that up.
I don't particularly feel like I kept a good cadence, but when I look at the chart of pages and books per month, it seems fairly well distributed over the year. Success, I guess?
One thing not captured here is that I'm doing a lot more long-form reading online. I'm okay with that not showing up here, but it's accurate to say that some of my reading time has been taken up by long articles from authors I follow on Substack.
Highlights
Below are the highlights from 2025. Any title link will bring you to Goodreads.
Five-star books
Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky
This was the first Adrian Tchaikovsky book I've read, and it was great. I thought it built an interesting world and wrestled with good questions.
I was so hopeful that I had found a new-to-me science fiction author with a large catalog of books. Unfortunately, I've found Tchaikovsky's other writing not as compelling.
This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race by Nicole Perlroth
I might have been a bit generous with my stars here, but I did enjoy this book. It doesn't leave the reader feeling great about our world. I was already familiar with a lot of what this book covers, but I've probably been exposed to the topic more due to my profession. Still, a bunch of this was new to me, and even the parts that weren't were interesting.
Adapt: Lessons Learned Climbing 100 5.13's by Kris Hampton
I'm a huge fan of Kris Hampton's work and I'll continue reading it and listening to it over the years to come.
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
I enjoyed it and thought it was compelling. Here are two other reviews (one, two) that can give you an idea of what you're getting into when you pick up this book.
A Deepness in the Sky (Zones of Thought, #2) by Vernor Vinge
I also read the first book in this series in 2025 and would recommend you read both of them. I preferred this book to the first but, from talking to some friends, I know others feel the other way.
It touches on one of my favorite topics in science fiction: what does it mean to be human? Parts of that leaked into another article I wrote about using recent AI tooling.
This was the second book I read in 2025 where spider-like aliens exist.
Endling by Maria Reva
I'm not entirely sure I can describe why I like this so much. It was funny and dark with a fair amount of meta self-awareness.
If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: Why Superhuman AI Would Kill Us All by Eliezer Yudkowsky
I bought this book with the goal of helping it reach bestseller status. I was already sold on the arguments before reading the book. I think this is an important topic that is undercovered by media and not thought nearly enough about by people (both in power and normal folks).
Playground by Richard Powers
Richard Powers does it again. He continues to deliver some deep emotional moments wrapped around neat and interesting technology that either exists or you can imagine existing in this world. To me, this is up there in quality with The Overstory.
Other highlights
Here are some other highlights from the year. Most of these are probably four-star books, though some might have been three-star.
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
Time travel and workplace romance/comedy. Of course it was enjoyable.
Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
That was weird. I liked it a lot.
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
Perfect length of a novel for living in this odd, unexplained world.
Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
What can I say, I like Adichie's writing.
Children of Time (Children of Time, #1) by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Probably my second favorite book by this author. Shares a similar alien race with Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky. Again, science fiction that makes you wonder about society.
Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee
Slow-motion train wreck of a story presented through excellent writing. Shortly after reading this, I listened to Tyler Cowen's podcast on South African crime and that helped me understand this book.
What We Can Know by Ian McEwan
It was good.
Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance by Alex Hutchinson
I learned a ton reading this book. I think quite a bit of it will be applicable to my own sports practice.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
I thought it was a good and entertaining book, if predictable and not really surprising. If you liked The Martian, you'll like this book.
Stats
I read 37 books in 2025.
| Year | # of Pages | # of Books |
|------+------------+------------|
| 2025 | 14661 | 37 |
| 2024 | 12919 | 37 |
| 2023 | 14956 | 53 |
| 2022 | 10127 | 35 |
| 2021 | 19564 | 57 |
| 2020 | 12093 | 43 |
| 2019 | 15994 | 42 |
| 2018 | 13538 | 36 |
| 2017 | 18317 | 48 |
| 2016 | 22790 | 59 |
| 2015 | 21689 | 51 |
| 2014 | 24340 | 71 |
| 2013 | 19815 | 60 |
| 2012 | 14208 | 44 |
| 2011 | 9179 | 19 |
| 2010 | 14667 | 46 |
Reading was fairly well spread out over the year.
Electronic books continue to dominate.
| | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
|-----------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------|
| audiobook | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ebook | 35 | 35 | 51 | 34 | 56 | 41 | 43 | 37 | 37 | 56 | 47 |
| hardcover | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 1 |
| paperback | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
My non-fiction reading increased last year.
| | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
|---------------------------+--------+--------+-------+------+--------+--------+--------+--------|
| fiction | 26 | 33 | 47 | 28 | 46 | 26 | 28 | 29 |
| non-fiction | 11 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 17 | 23 | 14 |
| fiction:non-fiction ratio | 2.36:1 | 8.25:1 | 7.8:1 | 4:1 | 4.18:1 | 1.53:1 | 1.22:1 | 2.07:1 |
Here is the star rating distribution.
| | 2 stars | 3 stars | 4 stars | 5 stars |
|-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------|
| fiction | 1 | 9 | 11 | 5 |
| non-fiction | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
2026 goals
I'd like to keep up a regular reading cadence. I've done a pretty good job this month of making a little progress on books almost every day. I'd like to keep doing that. Maybe not every day, but most days, I'd like to read at least a little.