Damn it. I read just 12 books this year. Last year it was 13. I was hoping to beat last year’s figure, especially when I’ve had one year where I indulged in over 20 books in one calendar year!
However, it’s been a year of change, and recovering from surgery in December 2024 and into January 2025, then leaving my long tenure as the senior digital marketer at Clever Marketing before going freelance and then being employed by Air Social, Guildford’s premier digital marketing agency, I didn’t have as much time as usual to read.
And then there was the AirPods disaster. Around September time, by trusty AirPods, over five years old by now, finally gave up the ghost. No matter what I’ve done to try and clean, fix and reset them, only the left one works. I relied on my AirPods to read my audiobooks as I took my regular walks. And now they’re silent. When there’s some spare cash for luxuries in 2026 I plan to invest in some new AirPods, but until then…
So What Did I Read in 2025?
There was Bill Gates’ “Source Code”. Of course I’m going to read that, I’m a geek, and Bill Gates is a bit of a hero. It felt like a rehash of his earlier biography I read many years ago but also the first in a new set with all the things he’s done since then with his foundation.
Another biography I read was that of Charlie Munger. He was Warren Buffet’s trading partner, so there’s some “hero worship” there too.
Stephen Bartlett’s “Diary of a CEO” was a good read, and I must revisit that one again. Although I do enjoy his YouTube DOAC shows, where he discusses great subjects with his guests such as Joe Dispenza, Gelong Thubten, Evy Poumpouras, Geoffrey Hinton, et al. Maybe watching too much YouTube ate into my reading?!
Rick Rubin’s “The Creative Act” was an excellent read, and it was nice to listen to Paul McKenna again, with his books on manifesting and positivity keeping me afloat.
The most popular book I read was Lao Tsu’s “Tao Te Ching” whilst the least shelved tome was Patrick Forsyth’s “The Economist: Marketing: A Guide to the Fundamentals” which was a bit of a list – weird to listen to as an audio book.
What to Read in 2026?
I’ve still got some “open books” that need finishing, and the audiobooks usually need my AirPods – I’ll get some more in 2026.
But I feel that I’ve read as much self-improvement books as I can stomach – once you’ve read some of the best ones, the rest start to feel a bit repetitive.#
So I may have to be a lot more discerning now, and perhaps I should read more fiction, that might get my creative mind flowing again. Michael Moorcock was always one of my favourite authors, I should see what he’s got on Audiobook (Even though I have a stack of unread 1970s sci-fi novels of his).
Then again I could dive deeper into marketing, or branch out into more data and even some accounting or bookkeeping?
Whatever 2026 brings, it’s going to be interesting, it always is.
And if you want to see what I’ve been reading, it’s all over on my bookshelf.