The ten best books I read in 2025.
The ten best books I read in 2025.
Next level communicators consume vast amounts of content- a theme I picked up early when I spent time with my favorite speakers. Their habit inspired me to become a voracious reader. Here’s my top ten books I read this year. I know. I know. The year isn’t over yet, but some of you have asked me to release my top ten list earlier so you can get some ideas for Christmas gifts. Well, with “Black Friday,” looming, no better time than now.
#10- Mark Twain, by Ron Chernow
Ron Chernow is one of my favorite biographers. If you haven’t read his book on Grant, put it on your list. And then of course is his biography on Alexander Hamilton, which Lin Manuel Miranda read and inspired him to write the award winning play. I think Chernow has a thing for prolific cigar smokers, because Grant smoked twenty a day, and Twain doubled that by smoking forty a day! My only critique is the book should be at least a third shorter (well over a thousand pages). But it’s hard not to write an entertaining work on Twain, with all of his wit and humor and tragedy and suffering.
#9- Gratitude, by Cornelius Plantinga
Some books come out of nowhere and surprise you with the depth of impact. I don’t know what it is about this book, but it stuck to my bones. I didn’t read Gratitude because I felt I have a deficit in this area, but more out of curiosity. When I finished I was convicted and inspired all at once.
#8- 1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History- and How it Shattered a Nation, Andrew Ross Sorkin
If you haven’t picked up by now, I love history. I always assumed the stock market crash was felt immediately, but it was a slow, devastating drip. President Hoover still had a good chance at reelection, but his failure to deal with reality and lead courageously opened the door for Franklin Roosevelt to beat him. For example, in the past when the market crashed, the word “panic” was used; but Hoover decided to come up with what he thought was a better word to keep people calm- “depression”. Yeh, that didn’t work. Fascinating read.
#7- The Pale-Faced Lie, David Crow
If you are a father and want motivation to invest in your children with love, then read this heart-breaking book about an abusive dad who lives for himself and rips his family a part in the process. But somehow, David not only survives, but thrives. A real story of strength and resiliency.
#6- Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream, Doris Kearns Goodwin
I finally got around to this Pulitzer prize winning book. My favorite decade in history is the 1960s, and Lyndon Johnson is a key figure. No matter what side of the political aisle you fall on, we have to give Johnson credit for his sheer legislative genius. His ability to win people over to his side continues to reverberate today, as the poor and minorities have resources and freedom because of President Johnson. But as much of a sheer force as he was domestically, his poor handling of the Vietnam War is what led to his undoing. One more thing. President Johnson always had a chip on his shoulder towards what he called, “The Ivy’s”- people who went to elite Ivy League schools. So he would often hold meetings in the bathroom, surrounded by these “Ivy’s,” and give directives all while handling his business. Unreal.
#5- The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt
Every parent needs to read this. Now.
#4- Rejoice and Tremble: The Surprising Good News of the Fear of the Lord, Michael Reeves
What a beautiful soul stirring book, where Reeves argues how fear is a reality of life. The question is not so much what do we fear, but what is our controlling fear? Our fears reveal our affections. So, for example, if I have a deep fear of flying, it’s because I love my life and safety deeply. The way to deal with fear, Reeves says, is not to have God take away our fears, but to crank up our fear (hear not just a sense of being afraid of consequences, but awe and reverence) of Him. When God becomes the controlling fear of our lives, that will make us fear everything else less.
#3- The Invention of Wings, Sue Monk Kidd
My wife Korie reads way more than I do, but it’s all fiction, while I’m all non-fiction. Last year I made a deal with her to have her give me the best fiction she’s come across so I can read and we have more talking points. Not to brag, but that was one of my better husband moves. I couldn’t put this book down. It’s a piece of historical fiction about the Grimke sisters who were on the front lines of the abolition and women’s rights movements.
#2- The Familiar Stranger, Tyler Staton
Best book on the Holy Spirit I’ve read, so there’s that.
#1- Only God Can Judge Me: The Many Lives of Tupac Shakur, Jeff Pearlman
I really hesitated to put this on the list, not because it’s not good- it’s the best book I’ve read this year- but because it has some really graphic passages, but that was Pac’s life, right? He was at the center of what’s been called “gangstar rap,” which is a shame because he was neither a gangster, and his art was so much larger than the label. I’ve never read a more compelling introduction to any book. And when I finished I was filled with deep compassion for a man whose mother was addicted to crack and kicked him out of the house when he was seventeen, and whose father was mostly absent, outside of a few cameo appearances after Tupac made it big. No one really cared for Tupac, which made his unfortunate choices understandable. But as the old adage goes, “Your past may explain you, but it doesn’t excuse you.” If I had to put a rating on this book, it’s for sure Rated R. Oh, and can you believe he’s buried in Lumberton, North Carolina (Cue the conspiracy theorists who don’t believe Pac is dead!)?
So there you have it…my top ten of the year. Please hit me up with your faves. I’ll end with what the novelist, George R.R. Martin famously said, “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies…The man who never reads lives only one.”
Happy Thanksgiving!
