The Best Books I've Read in 2025 (so far)
A mid-year recap and updated reading plan for the back-half
It would be easy to open with a comment on how fast the year has gone by. That I can’t believe we’re already half-way through 2025. But that’s not really a surprise is it. We get the same six months at the start of every year, and it passes all the same. And anyways, doesn’t it feel like January was six years ago?
So here we are, staring down the back-half of the year. And I thought it would be prudent to take a beat at such a metaphorical milestone to reflect on what I’ve read so far and how I expect that will progress over the rest of the year.
I started 2025 with a fairly tight reading schedule, focused on reading through all the Founding Father biographies and source materials of the era I had collected over the years. But as Eisenhower would say, no plan makes successful contact with reality. By now I had already expected to be well into a stack of John Adams biographies. Instead I find myself only half-way through George Washington, a whole three months off my planned pace.
That may seem concerning, but really I’m ok with it. Some of this has been a planned reading slow down, but the majority has been from unplanned Benjamin Franklin books (couldn’t stop at just two!) and other non-Founder books I just couldn’t say no to. It has still been a good start to a reading year, one I’ve really savored.
What follows is the best 5ish books I’ve read thus far that I would recommend anyone to read if they are so interested, some YTD stats, and a brief preview of how I expect my adjusted schedule to unfold through the rest of the year, both reading and writing.
So without further ado, lets get into it.
The Best of 2025 (so far)
Ben & Me / The Autobiography of Ben Franklin by Eric Weiner, Benjamin Franklin
I fully acknowledge I’m cheating a bit with this one; sometimes these things just can’t be helped. But I have both here as to me, I think each represents a different side of the same coin. Both are fairly short overviews of Franklin’s life. Both are focused more on the moral takeaways than their comprehensiveness. Both use humor well. Both serve as excellent introductory points to a study of what we can learn from one of America’s earliest and still most prominent self-made men. As Ben would say, the noblest question in the world is: What good may I do in it? I don’t think that’s too far off.
Book of Ages by Jill Lepore -
Proceeding in alphabetical order, next up is a biography of sorts of Franklin’s younger sister, Jane Franklin. I’ve written a good deal on how much I loved this book already, but it’s sublime. There is a good amount of Franklin in here as we mostly know what we do about Jane through her correspondence with him. But really, it’s a meditation on history itself: what survives to us, how it survives to us, how the seiving of history influences the stories we tell ourselves now, hundreds of years later. And Lepore’s writing style is poetic to boot. Can’t recommend this book enough.
The Last King of America by Andrew Roberts -
The first true biography on this list, and probably the oddest selection, Last King covers the life of King George the III. There is probably less to learn from a man who was groomed to be king from an early age. There is no Rise here, no struggle to reach the top of the mountain. But what Roberts does with this book is tell an excellent story. The reader still wants to read and learn more George. But more than anything, I think anyone who wants to make a serious study of the American Revolutionary period should read this book to get a view of events from the British perspective. It is an excellent counterbalance. More of this stuff should be taught in schools. The Revolution was still a seminal event worth celebrating, but suffice to say it was never really about taxes.
Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow -
The longest book on this list, by about a whole ‘nother book, this is probably also the most rewarding on this list. I had about the same feeling when closing this book for the final time as I did when closing War and Peace. Chernow is a master at the writing craft, but what makes this book so compelling is his ability to get inside Washington’s head, his insights into human nature and what motivates all of us, the great and the small. There are some key moments in Washington’s life that I wish got a bit more air time (more to come on this), but truly, the book is a masterpiece. Anyone who makes the attempt at this brick of a book will be well rewarded for the effort.
Working by Robert Caro -
While many of the authors here are masters of their craft, I don’t really even think it is arguable to suggest that Caro is the greatest nonfiction writer living today. If you haven’t read Power Broker or the completed books of the LBJ series, they need placement on your TBR immediately. And here, Caro takes a break from finishing the much clamored for 5th LBJ book to bring us an inside look into how he has created his books, which will undoubtedly stand the test of time as monuments not to their subjects, but to the art of biography itself, and what such all-encompassing study of a life can yield. There is a bit of everything here: more biographical detail on Moses and Johnson, insights into Caro’s writing process, brilliant meditations on what history should and can be, the power it can hold to help shape our lives and how we approach the time we’re given. How we tell the stories of history matters, probably more than this history itself. It needs to be interesting, relevant. A no one tells those stories better than Caro.
And now, time for some stats:
YTD Reading Stats:
Pgs Read = 7,000
Books Completed = 16
Pages/Day = ~38
Avg. Daily Reading time = 1.3 hrs
Avg. Reading Speed = 31 pgs/hr
As I mentioned, I’m a bit off my preferred reading pace so far this year. Looking across the next 6 months, I’d like to course correct a smidge of that, while also baking in adjustments that allow more time for writing and reflecting here. More time spent digesting what one reads and what is worth holding on to, instead of just moving onto the next thing.
My adjusted goal is to get through my stack of books on John Adams, which including the Washington books still outstanding translates to ~4,500 pages over the next 130 days or so, 24 pages/day. I’ll add more “fun” books that have piled up on my TBR on top of this which I’ll listen to via Audible/Libby audiobooks during commutes and such, but this 24-pages-a-day target will be my core reading objective for physical books to close out the year. If I get this right, I should have plenty of time to hit the ground running with Jefferson in the new year and still be on track to wrap up my original plan by July 4th 2026.
You can see the full list (if interested) of what I’ve read throughout the year so far over on my Goodreads, and if you haven’t already you can subscribe by hitting the button below to receive future updates on my monthly reads and recommendations right in your inbox.
And if you’ve read any of the books above, I’d love to hear your thoughts on them in the comments below!
Time is short, thank you for yours today.
Until next time,
David