In this article I discuss the top 5 favourite books the I read in 2025 and what I think you can learn from reading them:

1 - Other Rivers by Peter Hessler

In Other Rivers, Peter Hessler talks about his experience coming back to teach in Sichuan province 20 years after originally doing so in the 90s. He paints a picture of a dynamic and changing China, one that looks completely different from the reform and opening up era and the outlook his students have on the world. He also shows what it was like to live in China during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures the nation took to curb the spread. This book shows how countries evolve and how the people take on challenges.

2 - Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

Heaven by Mieko Kawakami is a very vivid insight to a student’s experience of bullying and finding ways to cope. Often at times graphic and saddening this book is philosophical at it’s heart and tackles themes of free will and escapism. I recommend this book for fiction lovers and people who want to understand human nature and psychology better. It’s also a great gateway into modern Japanese literature and gives attention to one of the most serious issues the nation currently faces.

3 - Fear and Trembling by Soren Kierkegaard

This was the first work by Kierkegaard that I ever read and I thoroughly enjoyed it, a blend of ethics and theology this book is an extended essay on the events of Genesis 22 and the Binding of Isaac. It’s main theme is faith and what constitutes true faith. A good read for both Christians and non-Christians it makes the claim of ethics having a limit and that true actions of faith can only be explained within the religious way of thinking requiring the person to make a leap of faith. It uses good analogies and metaphors and stands the test of time. This is a great theological work as much as it is analysis on Genesis.

4 - Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche

This is also the first book by Nietzsche that I ever read and it introduced me to a whole lot of new concepts that revolutionised philosophy, from the will to power to morality this book covers a lot and shows Nietzsche’s attempt to shatter conventional morals and thinking. It is structured very well and gives a lot to think about. Definitely a hard read I would suggest reading some background works before leading onto this one but every person interested in 19th Century thought must read this book at least one in their life.

5- Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark

Life 3.0 is a wild read and essential for this day and age. It looks at the technology underpinning AI systems and shows how it is a force to be reckoned with. Can come across dystopian in some areas and optimistic in others but none the less sheds light on the most important scientific venture of the 21st Century. No prior scientific knowledge is required to read this as well which is great. Discusses themes of what it means to be human and AI’s capabilities now and in the future. It would be wonderful if Tegmark writes a follow up to this book given all the AI progress made so far in the 2020s.