2025's Books
My reading goal this year was 24 books. I read almost double that, which sounds impressive (even to me), until I remind myself that I was alternating between reading some very short Young Adult (YA) novels and other things. This is a practice I highly recommend if you're trying to increase your reading, reduce stress, or if small accomplishments help motivate you.
I won't cover all of the books I read this year, but here are a few, my endorsements (or lack thereof), and takeaways.
Non-Fiction
Practical Design Discovery
Dan M. Brown
My team nominated this as our book club book. If you aren't familiar with product and design discovery or corporate research at all, this is an excellent place to start. I really appreciated the vast number of visuals to help articulate concepts or serve as templates for getting started yourself.
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
James Clear
This was the company-wide book club book for the second half of 2025, and it surprised me—because it was preaching things I discovered on my own years ago and already practice. I'll write a bigger post related to this soon. If you have trouble with executive function, getting started, or building habits, I recommend checking this out.
The Design of Everyday Things
Donald A. Norman
This is the second time I've read The Design of Everyday Things. While I recommend this to any new product and design professional, it can be a bit dense toward the second half. Considered foundational in many UX and design circles.
Empowered: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products (Silicon Valley Product Group)
Marty Cagan
This is probably the fourth time I've read this book, this time as one of our book club books at work. I've brought the "Empowered" model to several organizations now, helping folks work more collaboratively and cross-functionally, eliminating dangerous siloed heroics as teams begin to scale with the organization. As we read this together, my team kept remarking, "Oh my god," in response to how closely some of the pitfalls outlined accurately described what we were facing and how they saw me attempting to combat them.
Pond Life: Revised and Updated (A Golden Guide from St. Martin's Press)
George K. Reid
The circle of life, infographics galore, and excellent illustrations. I had a weird memory that my grandfather had this book or one like it, which is what initially drew me to it.
How to Forage for Mushrooms without Dying: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Identifying 29 Wild, Edible Mushrooms
Frank Hyman
I've been trying to read a few nature and survival books each year as I get back into camping. I have to say, I was sadly surprised by my complete inability to notice or recognize poisonous mushrooms. A side note about reading a book like this is that the way the information is presented gave me a lot of ideas for quickly getting to the point about research at work and about voicing support for or against something.
Great Thinkers: Simple Tools from 60 Great Thinkers to Improve Your Life Today
A highly consumable book, you hear there are over 60 people to learn from, and it can seem daunting, but this one went by way faster than I expected. This led me down several rabbit holes, looking into many of the great thinkers mentioned, and I even took a philosophy course earlier this year. Overall, several bite-sized reminders as to why critical thinking is so important right now.
Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything
Joshua Foer
I really appreciated Josh Foer's accounts of learning competition-winning memory techniques and was surprised to realize I had used similar techniques in the past without realizing it. I'm referring to the whole "Mind Palace" thing you may have heard of.
My main complaint about this book was that it dragged out Josh's personal stories, opinions, and feelings about memory, rather than imparting any techniques.
The Ultimate Book of Mind Maps
Tony Buzan
Tony Buzan's books and memory techniques were recommended in Josh Foer's book, Moonwalking with Einstein, and while I think there were a few interesting methods in here, I couldn't recommend it to others. Anything you want to know about mind maps is a simple web search away, instead of reading a whole book on them.
Product Operations: How successful companies build better products at scale
Melissa Perri
This should be required reading for any product operations person (obviously), product designer, product manager, or adjacent profession. It goes into what Product Ops is, as well as techniques, examples of application, and more.
The Communist Manifesto
Karl Marx
I had a lot of very frustrating conversations over the last few years. Suddenly, everything bad was being called "Communist" by my more far-right family members. Why? Why was the education system, or such-and-such company, or product suddenly communist? I decided to read the primary source material on the subject so I could better engage with these family members and, hopefully, inject some critical thinking.
The Communist Manifesto is short and highly consumable, and not at all as scary as so many public voices had made it out to be. I saw many flaws in it and could see how certain governments and organizations might instantly demonize it. I've done this in the past with Christianity, Buddhism, and other political and religious topics. I'd rather be informed and form my own opinion than be told how to feel or think.
YA Fiction
Animorphs
The Change (Animorphs, #13)
The Reaction (Animorphs, #12)
The Forgotten (Animorphs, #11)
The Android (Animorphs, #10)
The Secret (Animorphs, #9)
The Alien (Animorphs, #8)
The Stranger (Animorphs, #7)
The Capture (Animorphs, #6)
K.A. Applegate
In between every other book, particularly after a heavier read, I will toss in something like a YA novel, and Animorphs are at the top of the list. I can easily read one of these in a night or two, cleansing the palate, maintaining my reading habit, and just enjoying reading.
One of my favourite things about Animorphs has always been the morals of teamwork, collaboration, courage, and fighting "The man." A lot of people think I'm joking when I recommend Animorphs to get them reading again as adults. I think there's an assumption that if you're an adult, you need to be reading some super heavy fiction or biography, and I've never understood that. Reading helps keep my mind sharp, hone my focus, and help me fall asleep.
The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1)
Rick Riordan
All of the above being said about Animorphs, I'm sad to say I have nothing good to say about Percy Jackson. After reading this first book, I do not understand why Rick Riordan is so popular. His writing is all over the place, never holding a thought. Should-be traumatic moments are glossed over as if nothing happened, which makes any potential pay-off fall flat.
Fiction
Two-Step Devil
Jamie Quatro
It was actually the cover of this one that gripped me—a line drawing of a goat in black and white with red horns drawn overtop. I picked it up and read the synopsis: A geriatric alcoholic with schizophrenia helping save a woman from being sex trafficked because he thinks she's an angel. Excuse me, what? I had to read this book after that. It didn't disappoint either, though it got very stylistically strange at some points.
The Handmaid's Tale
Margaret Atwood
I wish I had read this much sooner, but I think I was afraid to. There are so many similarities to where we're currently pointed as a Western society, it's terrifying. I think everyone should read The Handmaid's Tale. Looking forward to picking up the sequel in the new year.
Mad Honey
Jodi Picoult
Both my wife and I read this simultaneously during our vacation this year after her mother recommended it. I was blindsided by this one. I should have seen the twists coming, and yet it still got me. My only complaint is that it was far too long; otherwise, it was excellently written. We watched an awful made-for-TV movie based on another Jodie Picoult book, starring James Van Der Beek, to celebrate finishing reading this. Recommend both. Can't say much without giving things away.
Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1)
Octavia E. Butler
A dystopian sci-fi future where capitalism has gone into hyper omega super overdrive, everything is scarce, company towns make a comeback, and slavery is back in fascion.
I don't really think you can go wrong with Octavia Butler. This reads similar to The Handmaid's Tale and the future we're headed toward, but more from the perspective of race, slavery and capitalism. Strongly recommend.
Calculating God
Robert J. Sawyer
An alien ship arrives outside a museum in Toronto, seeking to learn from one of the people who works there for reasons.
This one had been sitting on my Kobo for a while, received from a Humble Bundle sci-fi ebook bundle. I picked it out of the pile on a whim, and it didn't take long before I felt pangs of guilt. How had I neglected such an excellent book for so long? The commentary on religion, group-think, mortality, what it means to be human, and existentialism in general is all so wonderful.
The Hand of God (Dark Legacies, #1)
Yuval Kordov
Spencer's favourite genre: post-apocalyptic dystopian sci-fi. Guess what Yuval wrote? Yup.
This is written by my good buddy, Yuval, and is the first in his trilogy born from his old tabletop roleplaying game setting. I honestly had no idea what to expect, but it aligned well for me.
Mossflower (Redwall, #2)
Brian Jacques
Talking animals in an Iron Age setting—what's not to love?
I love Redwall, and always have. I don't consider this YA fiction, as there are a lot more heady topics, a longer length, and, in my opinion, a generally more mature prose. Redwall is one of the main inspirations for my own world of Bug & Claw, so I decided to slowly reread the series over the next couple of years, savouring it.
Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop
Hwang Bo-Reum
This is a collection of short moments and interactions after taking over a bookshop and coffee counter.
This isn't something you binge. This book is meant to be savoured in small moments with a cup of tea, under a blanket, off in a quiet corner.
Lore
Alexandra Bracken
Hunger Games meets Greek mythology.
I wanted so much to like this as one of the many books I read after Song of Achilles, inspired by Greek mythology. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend it. Every time I thought redemption was coming, it let me down.
Galatea
Madeline Miller
Wonderful, short read. I think I will be following Madeline Miller for a long time.
The Song of Achilles
Madeline Miller
The story of Achilles and his boytoy.
Perfection. I really hope this gets a TV adaptation. This is just the right amount of fantasy and historical fiction—one of my favourite reads of the last couple of years.
Another Brooklyn
Jacqueline Woodson
All I can remember about this was that it really upset me. I can't recall who recommended it, why it made it on the pile, or anything else but the feeling I was left with.
The Immortalists
Kyle Mills
Guy discovers life-extending science, goes on the run from evil billionaires.
My wife recommended I read The Immortalists, a cool book about a group of people learning about when they will die. I thought I downloaded that book. I did not—there are two books named The Immortalists. This one was more of an on-the-run adventure, though it still explores mortality in interesting ways. I think I'll still read the other Immortalists.
The Last One
Will Dean
One of the many murder mystery books my wife read first and recommended to me this past year. I was pleasantly surprised. Can't say much about this one without ruining it.
Sand (The Sand Chronicles, #1)
Hugh Howey
Post-apocalyptic sand dystopia.
We'd been binging Silo on Apple TV, I had caught up reading the books, and I wanted to see what Hugh Howey did next. I don't know what I was initially expecting but this ended up growing on me a lot and I may need to check out the next one in the series.
Class Trip
Emmanuel Carrère
A young boy goes on a class trip in the middle of winter while a sinister person lurks about.
I had looked up some of the best short reads to add to my stack the year before and picked up a couple of Emmanuel Carrére's books. I thought this was excellently written and has stuck with me for months. It was also very upsetting.
Dust (Silo, #3)
Hugh Howey
I loved the Silo series, but I do wish this wasn't the end. It's a bit of a disappointment for me, but that may just be that I want to see what happens next.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Oz, #1)
L. Frank Baum
Yellow bricks, LGBTQ icon, flying monkeys, a green lady.
My actual goal for reading the first book in Oz was to get through it so I could experience the other stories that come after. I love Oz lore. I'm one of the only people who loved the weird cartoons, the sequel Return to Oz, and I frequently go down rabbit holes reading all about L Frank Baum's iconic world that many people don't realize goes much further than that one story we all know.
