A Year In Books
What's on your reading list for 2025?
Welcome to a bonus edition of SGNR because … why not? We’ve made it 1/12th of the way through 2025. That’s cause for celebration—and an extra post!
As we wrap up the first month of 2025 (where the heck did January go?!?), I’m curious to know …
What was the most interesting book you’ve read in the past year?
What was the least inspiring or most overrated read of 2024?
And what are you planning to read in 2025?
I’m currently reading three books: The Pivot Year, by Brianna Wiest; Creep, by Myriam Gurba; and Opinions, by Roxane Gay. Each is really good, in its own way.
In 2024, I read or listened to 13 books (or possibly more, I’m not confident I kept an accurate count).
I strongly favor non-fiction—10 of the 13 (76.9%) fell into this category, and a number of these were autobiographical in nature.
I listened to 8 (61.5%) of the 13, which surprised me. I actually prefer reading physical books, but can consume them more quickly when I listen while doing other things—the downside being I don’t retain the information as well and can’t easily go back to parts I enjoyed or want to reflect on more deeply.
Books I read/listened to in 2024, in alphabetic order:
Atomic Habits, James Clear
Burn Book, Kara Swisher
Caste, Isabel Wilkerson
How to Be the Love You Seek, Dr. Nicole LePera
How to Know a Person, David Brooks
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, Lori Gottlieb
One Day in December, Josie Silver
The Best Strangers in the World, Ari Shapiro
The Devil’s Highway, Luis Alberto Urrea
The Fixed Stars, Molly Wizenberg
The Silent Patient, Alex Michaelides
When Women Were Dragons, Kelly Barnhill
You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir, Maggie Smith
As you can see, I read very few “business” books. I find so many business books have an okay concept, but it’s not a book’s worth of content.
They get super repetitive, and I get super bored.
In fact, the least impressive book I read (listened to) this past year was Atomic Habits. Everyone raved about it. I didn’t learn anything novel or new from it.
If you’re interested in habits, I find the behavioral economist Katy Milkman to be much more interesting. (Disclosure: I’ve never read her books, but have seen her talk and read articles she’s written.)
Anyway … I read books for pleasure. To learn about new people and places. To go deeper on topics I care about. To leave the world around me and enter a new one. To quiet my mind. To engage my mind.
And I like to find the more non-linear connections between what I’m reading and the world of work.
So with that in mind, my reading list for 2025 currently includes books by Naomi Klein, Colson Whitehead, Luis Alberto Urrea (a new-to-me author I discovered this past year), and more:
It was interesting to compare my list above with the last time I wrote a year in books post—in 2010. I read some great books during that time … most of which were (again) not business books. I guess some things never change. 🤷🏼♀️
What would you recommend I add to my 2025 reading (or listening) list? What are you planning to read in the coming year?
One author I am not likely to read this year is Seth Godin:
If you enjoy Some Guy Named Rae, please share it with a colleague or friend! I’d love to continue to grow a community of like-minded leaders who can learn from each other.
I just grabbed a new book called “Small Acts of Resistance: How Courage, Tenacity, and Ingenuity Can Change the World” I’ll let you know if it’s any good!