My 2025 Year in Books
The 12 books that shaped my thinking in 2025, from logic and Rust to Dostoevsky and nutrition.
This year I read 24 books. Not all of them were great. Below are the 12 I found most useful and insightful. The full list is on Goodreads .
The Best of the Year
The Rust Programming Language by Steve Klabnik, Carol Nichols
This was my third or fourth attempt to get through it, and this time I made it. If you’re switching to Rust from another language, this is the book to start with. It has clear step-by-step explanations, tons of examples, and a few projects for hands-on practice.
Many times, when I had a question after reading a paragraph, the very next one answered it. Not many technical books have this quality. 5/5
How Not to Die by Michael Greger, Gene Stone
This book is packed with actionable nutrition advice, and it pushed me to change what I eat. I’m already seeing positive changes. 5/5
I May Be Wrong by Bjørn Natthiko Lindeblad
Deep reflections on a monk’s life. It shows how easily we get lost in plans, ideas, and thoughts about the past and future, while forgetting to live in the only moment we truly have: now.
Three ideas that stayed with me:
- “You won’t always have what you want, but you’ll always have what you need.”
- “This too shall pass.”
- “I may be wrong.” 5/5
The Wealth Ladder by Nick Maggiulli
The only financial book I read this year, and I enjoyed it a lot. It suggests a clear framework for thinking about wealth as a series of levels. The book shows which strategies work at certain levels but not at others, and explains the “why” behind them.
Many sources give you strategies without telling you that at certain levels they just don’t work, which leads to people getting stuck. This book helped me see wealth from a different angle and gave me clarity on what to stop doing and what to start doing. 5/5
The Insulted and Humiliated by Fyodor Dostoevsky
A treasure. It took me over a year to finish, but I didn’t push. I read it occasionally in the evenings.
The story is emotionally deep. It shows how people interact, what they feel, and what they do to each other. Dostoevsky highlights core society problems that remain relevant today. The book was published in 1861, but the human behaviors it captures feel like the author wrote it in 2025. 5/5
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
Another 5-star novel, and one that feels larger than its characters. It’s about a whole generation, about a whole country that will never be the same again, about people who couldn’t accept and adapt to the changes brought by the 1917 Revolution in Russia. A story about love, identity, and survival. 5/5
Writing for Developers by Piotr Sarna, Cynthia Dunlop
A refreshing perspective on blogging. The first part walks through why and how to write a solid post, although I sometimes found it overwhelming, with too many details. The second part is the highlight: real posts, broken down and analysed. It was truly useful, and fun to read. 4/5
Docker Deep Dive by Nigel Poulton
I read the May 2025 edition. Despite the title, I’d call it a solid overview rather than a true deep dive. It was a great refresher that updated my rusty Docker knowledge and filled a few gaps in my understanding of the core concepts. The newer chapters, like running LLMs in containers and WebAssembly apps, were a nice bonus. 4/5
Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott
This book is often framed as a maths story. To me, it’s really about society, hierarchy, and what people do when their worldview gets challenged. It’s short, strange, and still relevant. 4/5
Doom Guy by John Romero
I read Masters of Doom by David Kushner last year and enjoyed it a lot. Doom Guy is a good companion, and it gives a different, mainly subjective, perspective on that period. Still, it’s full of hard lessons, and Romero’s reflections are the best part.
I think I’m finally done with this chapter of gaming history. If you enjoyed Masters of Doom, this is worth picking up. 4/5
AI Engineering by Chip Huyen
This was a tough one and took me a few months to finish. It gives a broad overview of the AI landscape. Some chapters go wide rather than deep, while others, like entropy and fine-tuning, go much deeper. Because of that, the target audience isn’t always clear. Some sections are simple enough for non-technical managers, while others may challenge even experienced engineers.
I don’t think this is a good first AI book. The more experience you have, the more you’ll get out of it. It reminded me of Designing Data-Intensive Applications by Kleppmann. When I first read it early in my career, much of it didn’t make sense, but years later it became far more valuable. I may revisit AI Engineering in a few years to close the knowledge gaps. 4/5
The Logic Manual by Volker Halbach
I started the year with this one, which was a slightly brutal way to begin. It’s hard to follow, and I wish it had more examples and practical applications. A few concepts, like the split between propositional and predicate logic, only clicked later when I started reading How to Prove It by Velleman. I’ll likely come back to it next year. 3/5
The Worst of the Year
How to Write a Lot by Paul J. Silvia
The most disappointing book I read this year. The core message is simple: schedule writing time and protect it. That’s good advice, but it’s delivered early, and the rest felt like filler, mostly aimed at academic publishing. 1/5
Next Year
I have a few long reads in progress, some of which I mentioned in my post on How LLMs Sent Me Back to Logic and Linear Algebra . Next year I plan to focus on fundamentals: system architecture, more maths, and AI foundations rather than trends.
AI might replace some coding tasks. It won’t replace clear system thinking.