Here is what I enjoyed reading the most in 2025. In no particular order…
When people ask me what I am reading these days, I usually mention 2-3 books I am reading. I seldom read just one book from start to finish. My bedside has a pile which I go through based on what I feel like reading. While compiling this list I realised that no fiction made it through the list this year. Hmm… surely some serious fiction reading needed in 2026! And no, I did not read any AI-related books this year!
Financial Intelligence – Karen Berman + Joe Knight
Superb! As a technology leader I have dealt with finance and finance professionals for a long time. Having a decent knowledge of how numbers work in a business is an edge that every manager must have. Simply explained and you don’t need a degree in finance and accounting to understand it. An essential read for any professional wanting to having a constructive conversation with their colleagues in Finance!
The Long Game – Dorie Clark
Reflective! I had read some of Dorie Clark’s articles in HBR before. She offers a different perspective in standing out as a professional. A perspective of content creation as a professional. Yes, the book has lots of stories from her clients. If you can skip through those, there are some decent suggestions. Worth a read if you want to create a space for yourself in the crowd.
This is Strategy – Seth Godin
Masterpiece! This isn’t your usual strategy book. This is not a toolkit, This is not a framework or a bunch of known strategy matrices. Like other works of Seth Godin, this is thought provoking. Written unusually, it is a collection of nuggets that form the essence of strategy. Warning – If you have not read any of Seth Godin’s other work, don’t read this first. Try his other works first.
The Tao of Pooh – Benjamin Hoff
Charming! I have spent a lot of time reading and watching Winnie the Pooh with my kids when they were younger. This is an interesting take on the characters from The Hundred Acre Wood. A very imaginative amalgamation of Pooh-ism and Taoism. There are some interesting nuggets in here on living life. None of it is new, but seeing it in the perspective of Pooh and his friends is cute.
What I Learned About Investing from Darwin – Pulak Prasad
Unbelievable and unexpected! I am not a great investor, and don’t know much about it. What drew me to the book was to understand how two completely unrelated concepts come together. Just simply and beautifully weaved together. I am not sure if I’ll become a better investor. It surely has sparked my interest to read The Origin of Species in 2026.
Sid Kumar 