The Best Books I Read in 2025
I have read many books in 2025; let’s forget most and talk about the good ones.
There is no particular order, but I broke down my recommendations by categories: technical, non-fiction and fiction.
This is a yearly tradition! You can read my book reviews from previous years: 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 and 2024.
Yes, this year is pretty short, but this is all I have for “best books” 🤷♂️
Technical
Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques
If you are already familiar with stock market charts, then you probably are very familiar with candlestick charts. But where do those come from? And what’s the logic behind them?
This book is the answer: this is the book that took an obscure only-in-Japan concept and introduced it to the West.
Candlestick charts are not very complicated, and a few hours (minutes?) might be enough to understand how they work. There are certainly tons of videos available to explain it to you, if you want to skip the book.
Candlestick charts might seem commonplace now, but they were a kind of revolution in data compression. I enjoyed the book, a classic, and the background stories. It’s a bit of a dry read, but the summary part (towards the end) is a good reference.
- book: amazon
Non-Fiction
Blood in the Machine
This book is centered around the history of the Luddites. It also draws parallels with our contemporary situation regarding big tech and AI.
History has not been kind to the Luddites, Merriam-Webster defines a Luddites as
one of a group of early 19th century English workmen destroying laborsaving machinery as a protest
broadly: one who is opposed to especially technological change
And though this is technically true, it doesn’t tell the whole story.
The Luddites were not ideologically against technology; they were against starving to death, which is what literally happened to some of these workers and their families.
Imagine learning a trade (in textile) for years, usually under some kind of indenture, and finally being replaced by a machine, with no viable alternatives. The Luddites would have been pro-technology IF they had been the ones owning the machines…
The author has a more comprehensive pitch here.
Fiction
Tai-Pan
I mentioned last year how much I had loved Shōgun. Now, I have almost finished Clavell’s Asian Saga and can recommend it wholeheartedly.
Tai-Pan goes back to pirates, opium smuggling, and the early days of Hong Kong (1840s). The characters are larger-than-life and we follow the consequences throughout the rest of the Asian Saga.
There’s a definite “Clavell” formula to the books, usually wondering how people will extricate themselves from (seemingly) impossible situations. Certainly, it kept me engaged and (relatively) stressed-out.
I only have Whirlwind left, and I’ll be sad when it’s over.
Closing Thoughts
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